Mark Harper
World Birder
South-West Australia
17th October
Arrived in Perth around 2pm and was on the road by 3pm, slightly later than anticipated due to a delay on our flight from Singapore to Perth. Although we couldn’t really complain about that as the only reason the flight was delayed was because it was waiting for us and our fellow passengers on the delayed flight out of Heathrow.
No real time for birding as we had a couple of hundred kilometres to drive to our overnight stop in Dalwallinu, although we did see our first south west specialities on the way with Port Lincoln Parrots and Short-billed Black Cockatoo’s.
18th October
Nallan station where we were heading was still several hundred kilometres further north, but we had a planned for a stop on the way near Mount Magnet to break the journey. One of the advantages of long drives early in a trip is that there are plenty of new birds to keep you interested along the way and we picked up our only Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo’s of the trip shortly after leaving Dalwallinu, plus commoner species like Emu, Wedge-tailed Eagle and Cockatiel.
The directions to the recommended site for Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrush mentioned on Frank O’Connors excellent Western Australia website seemed a little confusing. This was also supported by a number of trip reports I had reviewed. However, Larry Wheatland who had spent a few days at Nallan Station a couple of weeks earlier had found two other sites, one at Austin Downs and the other along the road through the Nallan Station homestead, so I was fairly optimistic of finding the species.
Whilst trawling the internet I had found a years old report from near to Mt Magnet and on a tarmac road so thought it worth a try. The site is along the road to Yalgoo which heads west from the Great Northern Highway just south of Mt Magnet. There is a small road sign to advise that you are 10km from Mt Magnet adjacent to a stony hill on the south side of the road and this hill is where the Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrushes had been reported about 10 years earlier. We scoured the hill for 30 minutes or so and whilst the habitat looked good there was no sign of any Quail-Thrushes and the best we could do was a male Crimson Chat and a few Red-capped Robins. Returning to the car parked on the north side of the road, our attention was drawn to a couple of Crested Bellbirds on the ground about 100mtrs from the car and whilst watching these we noticed that they were associating with three Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrushes, a great start to our trip.
It was already getting hot and by the time we arrived at Austin Downs, to the west of Cue, the heat was fierce, but some birds were still active. We birded mostly to the East of Austin Downs and had great views of White-winged Triller, Chiming Wedgebill, a female Black Honeyeater, White-fronted Honeyeater and Redthroat but could not find Banded Whiteface, which this is a site for and indeed I saw a report of one from here a week or so later.
Back to Cue and we headed north to Nallan Station, but not before stopping just outside the town on the north side by a rocky outcrop to the west of the road which seems reliable for White-backed Swallow as we saw one here each time we passed.
We had booked the cottage at Nallan Station with inside bathroom but outside toilet complete with frogs that live under the rim and fall into the bowl each time it is flushed. The place is owned by Michael and Sandy Clinch and as well as the cottage there is the option to camp or stay in more basic accommodation. Michael and Sandy will also provide breakfast and evening meals if required. There were plenty of birds around the homestead, the highlight being Spotted Bowerbirds that were always around the garden and there is a bower 100 metres to the South of the homestead.
Also around the garden were Yellow-plumed, Brown and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Galahs, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrikes, Fairy Martins and White-browed Babblers. We did not have time to sit and watch these though as Larry had reported Bourke’s Parrot visiting Jackson’s Well, a few kilometres East of the homestead between 3.40pm and 5.00pm and we wanted to make sure that we did not miss these. Whilst waiting at the Well we were able to watch Common Bronzewings and Zebra Finches (or Chestnut-eared Finches depending on your preferred taxonomy). At 3.39pm four Bourke’s Parrots appeared, this eventually increased to eight before we left half an hour later.
The rest of the day was spent birding the road between Jackson’s Well and the homestead, enjoying the wonderful Splendid Fairy-Wrens, and spending some time studying Thornbills, but this day we could only find Chesnut-rumped Thornbill.
19th October
We were up at first light and exploring the track across the airstrip from the homestead, but it was fairly quiet first thing and it took a couple of hours before things started to liven up. Highlights were several Diamond Doves, a pair of Pied Honeyeaters nest building, lots of White-fronted Honeyeaters and more Redthroats. Several Inland and Chestnut-rumped Thornbills were seen, but we could not turn any into Slaty-backed.
By late morning it was very hot so we headed to Lake Nallan, a decent sized body of water in an area that has been in drought for around 10 years. In fact the drought has been so bad that Nallan Station, that covers 33,000 Hectares, currently supports only 150 cattle.
On arrival at the lake we could immediately see that there were some waders in the North East corner so we walked in that direction finding a good muddy area that was initially out of sight and a drier area that in years of good rain would presumably be underwater. Fortunately for us as it was dry it proved attractive to 2 Oriental Plovers and a Little Whimbrel. Other waders to excite British birders were 4 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, 1 Red-necked Stint and a Long-toed Stint along with Black-fronted and Red-kneed Dotterels.
Scanning across the lake produced a small group of Black-tailed Native-Hens, the only ones we were to see in Western Australia, but seen in their thousands in South Australia and Victoria later in our trip. The lake also had a small selection of common Australian wildfowl.
Back to Nallan Station we sat out the Midday heat around the cottage. Whist talking to Sandy she explained where Frank O’Connor had seen Grey Honeyeater a couple of months earlier, but the track would not be driveable in our 2WD car, so she lent us her 4WD to go to the site. Unfortunately we could not find any Grey Honeyeaters, but did get lucky with Slaty-backed Thornbill on the way back between Jackson’s Well and the homestead.
We opted to spend the hour before dusk at Nallan Lake to see if anything came in here to drink and whilst lots of Common Bronzewings appeared the only new bird was Orange Chat, with a couple of presumably immature males as they were very different to the male and female Orange Chats we saw later in the trip, in fact looking more like the field guide illustrations of Yellow Chat.
20th October
We drove 798 kilometres on this day from Nallan Station all the way to Narrogin, so birding opportunities were limited but we did manage to pick up Budgerigars at Damboring Lakes and around 80 Western Corellas between Northam and Toodyay. . The Corellas could easily have been missed as they were all in one flock feeding on the ground by Mistake Creek and in fact we did miss them driving in one direction only seeing them when we returned on the opposite side of the road from which they could be more easily seen.
It was nearly 5pm by the time we arrived at Narrogin and given the distance we had already driven we did not head up to Dryandra Woodland that evening which would have given the opportunity of an evening walk to look for mammals. Fortunately the hotel was opposite a small nature reserve called Foxes Lair and we enjoyed an hour walking around here, turning up Elegant and Red-capped Parrots, Western Spinebill, Golden Whistler, White-cheeked and Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters, Weebill and Western Gerygone
21st October
Dryandra Woodland is a great place to see several of the South West endemics and specialities and we were there not long after dawn. Our first stop was at the village where the paddock had lots of Bush Thick-knees and Short-billed Black Cockatoos, later on when we returned the Bush Thick-knees had all disappeared.
Larry Wheatland had recently seen the Western race of Crested Shrike-Tit close to the junction of Tomingley Road and Norn Road, if treated as a separate specie, as some authorities choose to do, this becomes one of the hardest South-West endemics to see. In this are Rufous Treecreeper was plentiful, we had a very obliging Fan-tailed Cuckoo plus Collared Sparrowhawk and Restless Flycatcher but after an hour still no sign of the Crested Shrike-Tit so we began to expand our search area, eventually striking lucky about 200 metres further along Tomingley Road.
Back towards the village we stopped at the Ochre Trail to look for Painted Button-Quails, but this ultimately proved unsuccessful. Speaking with Philip Maher later, he said that they used to be common at Dryandra and you could expect to several, but he had also failed to see any when he last visited.
Our next site was Old Mill Dam close to the village where we saw Western Rosella, Purple-crowned Lorikeets, and Blue-breasted Fairy-Wren.
Another long drive was planned for the afternoon to Fitzgerald River so we had a good meal in the Duke of York pub in Narrogin, before setting off. Not too far from Narrogin and close to our route was Lake Parkeyerring from where 15,000 Banded Stilts had been reported a few weeks earlier. There were only around 1,000 at the time of our visit and they were quite distant, but as they were the only ones we saw during the whole trip they were most appreciated.
Our next accommodation was the Fitzgerald River B&B and the main reason for coming here was to see Malleefowl, as this was a recommended site to see them according to trip reports and Frank O’Connor’s website. Unfortunately for us new owners had taken over the farm a couple of years ago and when we asked about going to look for Malleefowl their response was that we would be very lucky to see one. Despite this one of the owners agreed to take us to a mound that had been active a year ago the last time he had been there.
Off we set in our hire car, following the owner, across the farm, the dirt roads were a little bumpy, but passable with care. That did not last for long as the road ended and we were then just driving through crops of Cranola, at one point beaching the car on a ridge, requiring the passengers to get out so that I could get the car over. After several kilometres of this the owner came to a halt and got out, he was not prepared to drive his own car any further, but said we could walk the rest of the way. He was pointing to a wooded area a couple of kilometres away and it would be dark within an hour. Considering how bad the drive this far had been there was no way we would try it in the dark, so we declined his offer and headed back to the farm.
The B&B itself was nicebut given the cost, this was the most expensive place we stayed the whole trip, and the lack of Malleefowl, if planning the trip again I would not go there without first confirming that they have an active Malleefowl mound.
22nd October
Stubble Quail were singing from the fields around the B&B at dawn and I got a brief view of one in flight, but it dropped out of sight before I could get my binoculars to my eyes. Vocally Stubble Quail were common in agricultural areas throughout Western Australia, but this proved to be the only sighting in the State.
Back onto Quiss Road that runs into the Fitzgerald River NP we made our first stop just a couple of hundred metres from the B&B entrance and immediately found a pair of Southern Scrub-Robins that showed really well. Shy Heathwren and Purple-gaped Honeyeater were next into the notebook, although the Heathwren took a little persuading to provide good views.
Western Whipbird, here is of the race “oberon”, which may be split off as Mallee Whipbird along with races from further East. They proved quite common vocally, but were much harder to see. We eventually struck lucky with two birds that were feeding on the ground about 50 metres along the first firebreak to the east, after the park self pay station.
With all our targets seen except Malleefowl, and the next to impossible Ground Parrot, we set off for Stirling Range Retreat.
We checked into our chalet and set out to explore the Kanga Walk. There were lots of Short-billed Black-Cockatoo’s in the area providing a constant background noise and Scarlet Robins added a dash of colour, a good selection of Honeyeaters and a photogenic Dusky Woodswallow.
Nearing the end of our walk we had still not seen Western Yellow (aka Grey-breasted) Robin, but fortunately the camping area proved to be a good spot for these with several birds posing for photographs.
23rd October
We opted for the Ongarup Creek walk this morning. Many of the same birds as the previous day were seen, with the addition of nesting Varied Sitella’s and a White-breasted Robin by the creek.
We spent some time searching for Regent Parrots, but they eluded us. A pair of Little Eagles soared overhead whilst we ate an early lunch at the Bluff Knoll Café
Cheyne Beach was our destination for the next couple of days, but as we had to drive close to a site for Long-billed Black Cockatoo’s on the way we made a slight detour. This was to the Lower Kalgan bridge area to the East of Albany, we spent a while driving the roads here without success and had decided to move on to Cheyne Beach when I spotted a group of 8 Cockatoos feeding in a field along Mead Road. Fortunately as they were feeding it was easy to see their bill shape well and confirm them as Long-billed Black Cockatoo’s. When their bills are closed the feathering on the face makes it quite difficult to see clearly.
Arriving at Cheyne Beach we were provided with all the latest information on where to see the special birds of the area, so after buying some food and dumping our luggage in the chalet we were out exploring. Red-winged Fairy-Wren was the first addition to our list just behind our chalet, the first one on the right hand side as you enter the caravan park.
Down on the beach Sooty Oystercatchers, Great Crested Terns and Pacific Gulls could be seen, but further out in the bay a number of all dark seabirds could be seen, so we headed up to the headland where we would get a better view. These seabirds turned out to be Great-winged Petrels and there were hundreds of them going past with quite a few Yellow-nosed Albatrosses mixed in.
The bushes behind the beach are the favoured haunt of Noisy Scrub-bird, but before looking for that we came across a Red-eared Firetail, which was apparently nesting in the area. The Noisy Scrub-bird is most easily seen early in the morning crossing the road adjacent to a culvert, but when we arrived it was singing from a patch of bushes further along the road and would need to cross a track to the beach to get to its favourite crossing point. After singing almost constantly for 15 minutes, during which time it had moved closer to this track it went quiet so we headed to the junction of the track and the road and this decision was rewarded shortly afterwards, at 5.30pm, it slowly crossed the track. Having nailed this skulker it left us free the following morning to search for Western Bristlebird and Western Whipbird, this time of the subspecie “nigrogularis”.
24th October
Brush Bronzewing, Brown Quail and White-breasted Robins greeted us on exiting the chalet, but the wind was fairly strong, not what we wanted for chasing skulking birds. Leaving the campsite we turned right up a sandy track that is the best area for seeing the Whipbird and Bristlebird. The strong wind meant that very little could be heard singing, a couple of Noisy Scrub-birds being the exception as their voices are so loud they could be heard above the wind.
Reports of 10 Bristlebirds singing a couple of weeks earlier was something we could only dream of, in fact we never heard one singing in 2 days. Fortunately after an hour or so a Western Whipbird began to sing quite close to us and was located sat atop a small bush posing for photos. A short time later at the same spot we got lucky with the Bristlebird as it began climbing up in a shrub only 3 or 4 metres away, no photo this time but a pretty good view before it dropped out of site and vanished.
More searching was rewarded with another brief view of a Bristlebird rapidly crossing the track and the Whipbird singing from the tops of bushes a couple more times. Other birds found in the area were Southern Emu-Wren and White-cheeked Honeyeaters amongst the commoner New Hollands.
Searching for Rock Parrots, we walked east along the beach and explored the dunes below the village. Possibly because of the strong wind we could not find any but another Bristlebird was seen crossing the beach access track. A Southern Right-Whale only 100m offshore in water barely deep enough to cover it proved an interesting distraction. On the walk back towards the caravan park we encountered a Red-eared Firetail singing from a telephone wire in the village, showing much better than the brief view the previous day.
As we had seen Albatrosses close in shore earlier in the day we decided to spend the afternoon seawatching from the headland. There was a constant stream of Great-winged Petrels some very close in-shore, Yellow-nosed Albatrosses were a constant sight and eventually we picked out a few Shy Albatrosses. The potential for something better kept us watching and eventually was rewarded with a distant Pterodroma petrel and then another. In total we made about 10 sightings of these over three hours with at most two birds in sight at once, whether it was 10 individuals or 2 circling the bay I cannot be sure, but all birds appeared to be the same specie. The most likely specie I believe would have been Soft-plumaged Petrel, however our birds had pale heads and tails and no collar and whilst distance prevented us from seeing a dark mark around the eye we were confident that they were White-headed Petrels.
25th October
The wind this morning was even stronger than the previous day, so our first port of call was the headland, but it was blowing so strongly that it was impossible to hold either binoculars or telescope steady and we soon gave up. Returning to the site of our previous days success with both Whipbird and Bristlebird, the wind was slightly less fierce, but still very strong and after a couple of hours we had seen nothing so decided to call it a day and head for Albany.
A walk around Lake Sepping was pleasant enough, at least the wind was bearable and we added a few species to the list, the best being Buff-banded Rail.
Two Peoples Bay was completely windswept and in the short time we spent there we didn’t see anything of note. Expecting the worse we headed to Tondirup NP and The Gap, one of the areas best seawatching sites, but the wind was unbearable. We headed to the other side of the peninsular and were sheltered slightly from the wind enabling us to at least stand upright. A short time seawatching here produced one of the trip highlights, a close inshore white-phase Southern Giant-Petrel.
26th October
With the forecast today, more of the same wind, we decided to head for Cape Leeuwin rather than spend more time around Albany. By this stage we had seen all our South-West land bird targets except Rock Parrot and we still had three days to go. It really felt as though we were just killing time until our flight to Adelaide, but better this way than still missing difficult species with only a short time to find them.
Our chosen route took us past Lake Muir and the potential for the “pastinator” subspecie of Western Corella, a potential split. As soon as we hit Rocky Gully, a town a short distance to the East of Lake Muir we started seeing them and in total must have seen over 100 birds in 7 or 8 flocks.
Cape Leeuwin has a lighthouse, which means you have to pay to get to the best seawatching point, but it also has the potential for Rock Parrots and one of the staff in the shop was happy to tell us that there had been several on the lawn that morning including a leucistic individual. Much searching ensued, but failed to turn up any in the strong wind.
The seawatching was much better with both Flesh-footed and Little Shearwaters new to the list, but perhaps more spectacular were the Humpback and Southern Right-Whales of which there were many.
Also tried Hamelin Bay for Rock Parrots, but failed again although our first Fairy Terns were reward for our efforts.
27th October
Back to Cape Leeuwin first thing, the lighthouse did not open until 9.00am so we were left to scan the lawns from beyond the fence, but still no Rock Parrots. Seawatching turned up the same species as the previous day, with the addition of the only positively identified Black-browed Albatross of the trip.
Our next destination was Cape Naturaliste, which I was very disappointed with, the lighthouse there must be a kilometre from the sea and with the path to the best looking spot for seawatching closed we gave up and headed to Sugarloaf Rock.
Sugarloaf Rock, is only 50 metres offshore and is famous for its Red-tailed Tropicbirds, however numbers have been diminishing and in 2007 and 2008 there was only one pair and in both years they failed to raise any young. Within 10 minutes of arriving I got onto a bird sat on the sea which I felt sure was a Tropicbird, but it drifted behind the rock within a couple of seconds. Four further hours watching revealed no further sightings and made me question what I had seen originally. Do Tropicbirds sit on the sea? Was I seeing what I wanted to see and was it just a Silver Gull of which there were many on the rock? In the end I couldn’t bring myself to tick it.
28th October
Heading back to Perth we broke the journey with a stop at the Peel Inlet, where there was a good selection of waders including, Grey-tailed Tatler and our first Curlew Sandpipers.
Back in Perth we spent a few hours at Herdsman Lake finding, Glossy Ibis, Australian Reed Warbler and greatest selection of ducks seen so far. In essence it was an easy paced day, we had run out of target species and were ready to move on.
17th October
Arrived in Perth around 2pm and was on the road by 3pm, slightly later than anticipated due to a delay on our flight from Singapore to Perth. Although we couldn’t really complain about that as the only reason the flight was delayed was because it was waiting for us and our fellow passengers on the delayed flight out of Heathrow.
No real time for birding as we had a couple of hundred kilometres to drive to our overnight stop in Dalwallinu, although we did see our first south west specialities on the way with Port Lincoln Parrots and Short-billed Black Cockatoo’s.
18th October
Nallan station where we were heading was still several hundred kilometres further north, but we had a planned for a stop on the way near Mount Magnet to break the journey. One of the advantages of long drives early in a trip is that there are plenty of new birds to keep you interested along the way and we picked up our only Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo’s of the trip shortly after leaving Dalwallinu, plus commoner species like Emu, Wedge-tailed Eagle and Cockatiel.
The directions to the recommended site for Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrush mentioned on Frank O’Connors excellent Western Australia website seemed a little confusing. This was also supported by a number of trip reports I had reviewed. However, Larry Wheatland who had spent a few days at Nallan Station a couple of weeks earlier had found two other sites, one at Austin Downs and the other along the road through the Nallan Station homestead, so I was fairly optimistic of finding the species.
Whilst trawling the internet I had found a years old report from near to Mt Magnet and on a tarmac road so thought it worth a try. The site is along the road to Yalgoo which heads west from the Great Northern Highway just south of Mt Magnet. There is a small road sign to advise that you are 10km from Mt Magnet adjacent to a stony hill on the south side of the road and this hill is where the Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrushes had been reported about 10 years earlier. We scoured the hill for 30 minutes or so and whilst the habitat looked good there was no sign of any Quail-Thrushes and the best we could do was a male Crimson Chat and a few Red-capped Robins. Returning to the car parked on the north side of the road, our attention was drawn to a couple of Crested Bellbirds on the ground about 100mtrs from the car and whilst watching these we noticed that they were associating with three Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrushes, a great start to our trip.
It was already getting hot and by the time we arrived at Austin Downs, to the west of Cue, the heat was fierce, but some birds were still active. We birded mostly to the East of Austin Downs and had great views of White-winged Triller, Chiming Wedgebill, a female Black Honeyeater, White-fronted Honeyeater and Redthroat but could not find Banded Whiteface, which this is a site for and indeed I saw a report of one from here a week or so later.
Back to Cue and we headed north to Nallan Station, but not before stopping just outside the town on the north side by a rocky outcrop to the west of the road which seems reliable for White-backed Swallow as we saw one here each time we passed.
We had booked the cottage at Nallan Station with inside bathroom but outside toilet complete with frogs that live under the rim and fall into the bowl each time it is flushed. The place is owned by Michael and Sandy Clinch and as well as the cottage there is the option to camp or stay in more basic accommodation. Michael and Sandy will also provide breakfast and evening meals if required. There were plenty of birds around the homestead, the highlight being Spotted Bowerbirds that were always around the garden and there is a bower 100 metres to the South of the homestead.
Also around the garden were Yellow-plumed, Brown and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Galahs, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrikes, Fairy Martins and White-browed Babblers. We did not have time to sit and watch these though as Larry had reported Bourke’s Parrot visiting Jackson’s Well, a few kilometres East of the homestead between 3.40pm and 5.00pm and we wanted to make sure that we did not miss these. Whilst waiting at the Well we were able to watch Common Bronzewings and Zebra Finches (or Chestnut-eared Finches depending on your preferred taxonomy). At 3.39pm four Bourke’s Parrots appeared, this eventually increased to eight before we left half an hour later.
The rest of the day was spent birding the road between Jackson’s Well and the homestead, enjoying the wonderful Splendid Fairy-Wrens, and spending some time studying Thornbills, but this day we could only find Chesnut-rumped Thornbill.
19th October
We were up at first light and exploring the track across the airstrip from the homestead, but it was fairly quiet first thing and it took a couple of hours before things started to liven up. Highlights were several Diamond Doves, a pair of Pied Honeyeaters nest building, lots of White-fronted Honeyeaters and more Redthroats. Several Inland and Chestnut-rumped Thornbills were seen, but we could not turn any into Slaty-backed.
By late morning it was very hot so we headed to Lake Nallan, a decent sized body of water in an area that has been in drought for around 10 years. In fact the drought has been so bad that Nallan Station, that covers 33,000 Hectares, currently supports only 150 cattle.
On arrival at the lake we could immediately see that there were some waders in the North East corner so we walked in that direction finding a good muddy area that was initially out of sight and a drier area that in years of good rain would presumably be underwater. Fortunately for us as it was dry it proved attractive to 2 Oriental Plovers and a Little Whimbrel. Other waders to excite British birders were 4 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, 1 Red-necked Stint and a Long-toed Stint along with Black-fronted and Red-kneed Dotterels.
Scanning across the lake produced a small group of Black-tailed Native-Hens, the only ones we were to see in Western Australia, but seen in their thousands in South Australia and Victoria later in our trip. The lake also had a small selection of common Australian wildfowl.
Back to Nallan Station we sat out the Midday heat around the cottage. Whist talking to Sandy she explained where Frank O’Connor had seen Grey Honeyeater a couple of months earlier, but the track would not be driveable in our 2WD car, so she lent us her 4WD to go to the site. Unfortunately we could not find any Grey Honeyeaters, but did get lucky with Slaty-backed Thornbill on the way back between Jackson’s Well and the homestead.
We opted to spend the hour before dusk at Nallan Lake to see if anything came in here to drink and whilst lots of Common Bronzewings appeared the only new bird was Orange Chat, with a couple of presumably immature males as they were very different to the male and female Orange Chats we saw later in the trip, in fact looking more like the field guide illustrations of Yellow Chat.
20th October
We drove 798 kilometres on this day from Nallan Station all the way to Narrogin, so birding opportunities were limited but we did manage to pick up Budgerigars at Damboring Lakes and around 80 Western Corellas between Northam and Toodyay. . The Corellas could easily have been missed as they were all in one flock feeding on the ground by Mistake Creek and in fact we did miss them driving in one direction only seeing them when we returned on the opposite side of the road from which they could be more easily seen.
It was nearly 5pm by the time we arrived at Narrogin and given the distance we had already driven we did not head up to Dryandra Woodland that evening which would have given the opportunity of an evening walk to look for mammals. Fortunately the hotel was opposite a small nature reserve called Foxes Lair and we enjoyed an hour walking around here, turning up Elegant and Red-capped Parrots, Western Spinebill, Golden Whistler, White-cheeked and Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters, Weebill and Western Gerygone
21st October
Dryandra Woodland is a great place to see several of the South West endemics and specialities and we were there not long after dawn. Our first stop was at the village where the paddock had lots of Bush Thick-knees and Short-billed Black Cockatoos, later on when we returned the Bush Thick-knees had all disappeared.
Larry Wheatland had recently seen the Western race of Crested Shrike-Tit close to the junction of Tomingley Road and Norn Road, if treated as a separate specie, as some authorities choose to do, this becomes one of the hardest South-West endemics to see. In this are Rufous Treecreeper was plentiful, we had a very obliging Fan-tailed Cuckoo plus Collared Sparrowhawk and Restless Flycatcher but after an hour still no sign of the Crested Shrike-Tit so we began to expand our search area, eventually striking lucky about 200 metres further along Tomingley Road.
Back towards the village we stopped at the Ochre Trail to look for Painted Button-Quails, but this ultimately proved unsuccessful. Speaking with Philip Maher later, he said that they used to be common at Dryandra and you could expect to several, but he had also failed to see any when he last visited.
Our next site was Old Mill Dam close to the village where we saw Western Rosella, Purple-crowned Lorikeets, and Blue-breasted Fairy-Wren.
Another long drive was planned for the afternoon to Fitzgerald River so we had a good meal in the Duke of York pub in Narrogin, before setting off. Not too far from Narrogin and close to our route was Lake Parkeyerring from where 15,000 Banded Stilts had been reported a few weeks earlier. There were only around 1,000 at the time of our visit and they were quite distant, but as they were the only ones we saw during the whole trip they were most appreciated.
Our next accommodation was the Fitzgerald River B&B and the main reason for coming here was to see Malleefowl, as this was a recommended site to see them according to trip reports and Frank O’Connor’s website. Unfortunately for us new owners had taken over the farm a couple of years ago and when we asked about going to look for Malleefowl their response was that we would be very lucky to see one. Despite this one of the owners agreed to take us to a mound that had been active a year ago the last time he had been there.
Off we set in our hire car, following the owner, across the farm, the dirt roads were a little bumpy, but passable with care. That did not last for long as the road ended and we were then just driving through crops of Cranola, at one point beaching the car on a ridge, requiring the passengers to get out so that I could get the car over. After several kilometres of this the owner came to a halt and got out, he was not prepared to drive his own car any further, but said we could walk the rest of the way. He was pointing to a wooded area a couple of kilometres away and it would be dark within an hour. Considering how bad the drive this far had been there was no way we would try it in the dark, so we declined his offer and headed back to the farm.
The B&B itself was nicebut given the cost, this was the most expensive place we stayed the whole trip, and the lack of Malleefowl, if planning the trip again I would not go there without first confirming that they have an active Malleefowl mound.
22nd October
Stubble Quail were singing from the fields around the B&B at dawn and I got a brief view of one in flight, but it dropped out of sight before I could get my binoculars to my eyes. Vocally Stubble Quail were common in agricultural areas throughout Western Australia, but this proved to be the only sighting in the State.
Back onto Quiss Road that runs into the Fitzgerald River NP we made our first stop just a couple of hundred metres from the B&B entrance and immediately found a pair of Southern Scrub-Robins that showed really well. Shy Heathwren and Purple-gaped Honeyeater were next into the notebook, although the Heathwren took a little persuading to provide good views.
Western Whipbird, here is of the race “oberon”, which may be split off as Mallee Whipbird along with races from further East. They proved quite common vocally, but were much harder to see. We eventually struck lucky with two birds that were feeding on the ground about 50 metres along the first firebreak to the east, after the park self pay station.
With all our targets seen except Malleefowl, and the next to impossible Ground Parrot, we set off for Stirling Range Retreat.
We checked into our chalet and set out to explore the Kanga Walk. There were lots of Short-billed Black-Cockatoo’s in the area providing a constant background noise and Scarlet Robins added a dash of colour, a good selection of Honeyeaters and a photogenic Dusky Woodswallow.
Nearing the end of our walk we had still not seen Western Yellow (aka Grey-breasted) Robin, but fortunately the camping area proved to be a good spot for these with several birds posing for photographs.
23rd October
We opted for the Ongarup Creek walk this morning. Many of the same birds as the previous day were seen, with the addition of nesting Varied Sitella’s and a White-breasted Robin by the creek.
We spent some time searching for Regent Parrots, but they eluded us. A pair of Little Eagles soared overhead whilst we ate an early lunch at the Bluff Knoll Café
Cheyne Beach was our destination for the next couple of days, but as we had to drive close to a site for Long-billed Black Cockatoo’s on the way we made a slight detour. This was to the Lower Kalgan bridge area to the East of Albany, we spent a while driving the roads here without success and had decided to move on to Cheyne Beach when I spotted a group of 8 Cockatoos feeding in a field along Mead Road. Fortunately as they were feeding it was easy to see their bill shape well and confirm them as Long-billed Black Cockatoo’s. When their bills are closed the feathering on the face makes it quite difficult to see clearly.
Arriving at Cheyne Beach we were provided with all the latest information on where to see the special birds of the area, so after buying some food and dumping our luggage in the chalet we were out exploring. Red-winged Fairy-Wren was the first addition to our list just behind our chalet, the first one on the right hand side as you enter the caravan park.
Down on the beach Sooty Oystercatchers, Great Crested Terns and Pacific Gulls could be seen, but further out in the bay a number of all dark seabirds could be seen, so we headed up to the headland where we would get a better view. These seabirds turned out to be Great-winged Petrels and there were hundreds of them going past with quite a few Yellow-nosed Albatrosses mixed in.
The bushes behind the beach are the favoured haunt of Noisy Scrub-bird, but before looking for that we came across a Red-eared Firetail, which was apparently nesting in the area. The Noisy Scrub-bird is most easily seen early in the morning crossing the road adjacent to a culvert, but when we arrived it was singing from a patch of bushes further along the road and would need to cross a track to the beach to get to its favourite crossing point. After singing almost constantly for 15 minutes, during which time it had moved closer to this track it went quiet so we headed to the junction of the track and the road and this decision was rewarded shortly afterwards, at 5.30pm, it slowly crossed the track. Having nailed this skulker it left us free the following morning to search for Western Bristlebird and Western Whipbird, this time of the subspecie “nigrogularis”.
24th October
Brush Bronzewing, Brown Quail and White-breasted Robins greeted us on exiting the chalet, but the wind was fairly strong, not what we wanted for chasing skulking birds. Leaving the campsite we turned right up a sandy track that is the best area for seeing the Whipbird and Bristlebird. The strong wind meant that very little could be heard singing, a couple of Noisy Scrub-birds being the exception as their voices are so loud they could be heard above the wind.
Reports of 10 Bristlebirds singing a couple of weeks earlier was something we could only dream of, in fact we never heard one singing in 2 days. Fortunately after an hour or so a Western Whipbird began to sing quite close to us and was located sat atop a small bush posing for photos. A short time later at the same spot we got lucky with the Bristlebird as it began climbing up in a shrub only 3 or 4 metres away, no photo this time but a pretty good view before it dropped out of site and vanished.
More searching was rewarded with another brief view of a Bristlebird rapidly crossing the track and the Whipbird singing from the tops of bushes a couple more times. Other birds found in the area were Southern Emu-Wren and White-cheeked Honeyeaters amongst the commoner New Hollands.
Searching for Rock Parrots, we walked east along the beach and explored the dunes below the village. Possibly because of the strong wind we could not find any but another Bristlebird was seen crossing the beach access track. A Southern Right-Whale only 100m offshore in water barely deep enough to cover it proved an interesting distraction. On the walk back towards the caravan park we encountered a Red-eared Firetail singing from a telephone wire in the village, showing much better than the brief view the previous day.
As we had seen Albatrosses close in shore earlier in the day we decided to spend the afternoon seawatching from the headland. There was a constant stream of Great-winged Petrels some very close in-shore, Yellow-nosed Albatrosses were a constant sight and eventually we picked out a few Shy Albatrosses. The potential for something better kept us watching and eventually was rewarded with a distant Pterodroma petrel and then another. In total we made about 10 sightings of these over three hours with at most two birds in sight at once, whether it was 10 individuals or 2 circling the bay I cannot be sure, but all birds appeared to be the same specie. The most likely specie I believe would have been Soft-plumaged Petrel, however our birds had pale heads and tails and no collar and whilst distance prevented us from seeing a dark mark around the eye we were confident that they were White-headed Petrels.
25th October
The wind this morning was even stronger than the previous day, so our first port of call was the headland, but it was blowing so strongly that it was impossible to hold either binoculars or telescope steady and we soon gave up. Returning to the site of our previous days success with both Whipbird and Bristlebird, the wind was slightly less fierce, but still very strong and after a couple of hours we had seen nothing so decided to call it a day and head for Albany.
A walk around Lake Sepping was pleasant enough, at least the wind was bearable and we added a few species to the list, the best being Buff-banded Rail.
Two Peoples Bay was completely windswept and in the short time we spent there we didn’t see anything of note. Expecting the worse we headed to Tondirup NP and The Gap, one of the areas best seawatching sites, but the wind was unbearable. We headed to the other side of the peninsular and were sheltered slightly from the wind enabling us to at least stand upright. A short time seawatching here produced one of the trip highlights, a close inshore white-phase Southern Giant-Petrel.
26th October
With the forecast today, more of the same wind, we decided to head for Cape Leeuwin rather than spend more time around Albany. By this stage we had seen all our South-West land bird targets except Rock Parrot and we still had three days to go. It really felt as though we were just killing time until our flight to Adelaide, but better this way than still missing difficult species with only a short time to find them.
Our chosen route took us past Lake Muir and the potential for the “pastinator” subspecie of Western Corella, a potential split. As soon as we hit Rocky Gully, a town a short distance to the East of Lake Muir we started seeing them and in total must have seen over 100 birds in 7 or 8 flocks.
Cape Leeuwin has a lighthouse, which means you have to pay to get to the best seawatching point, but it also has the potential for Rock Parrots and one of the staff in the shop was happy to tell us that there had been several on the lawn that morning including a leucistic individual. Much searching ensued, but failed to turn up any in the strong wind.
The seawatching was much better with both Flesh-footed and Little Shearwaters new to the list, but perhaps more spectacular were the Humpback and Southern Right-Whales of which there were many.
Also tried Hamelin Bay for Rock Parrots, but failed again although our first Fairy Terns were reward for our efforts.
27th October
Back to Cape Leeuwin first thing, the lighthouse did not open until 9.00am so we were left to scan the lawns from beyond the fence, but still no Rock Parrots. Seawatching turned up the same species as the previous day, with the addition of the only positively identified Black-browed Albatross of the trip.
Our next destination was Cape Naturaliste, which I was very disappointed with, the lighthouse there must be a kilometre from the sea and with the path to the best looking spot for seawatching closed we gave up and headed to Sugarloaf Rock.
Sugarloaf Rock, is only 50 metres offshore and is famous for its Red-tailed Tropicbirds, however numbers have been diminishing and in 2007 and 2008 there was only one pair and in both years they failed to raise any young. Within 10 minutes of arriving I got onto a bird sat on the sea which I felt sure was a Tropicbird, but it drifted behind the rock within a couple of seconds. Four further hours watching revealed no further sightings and made me question what I had seen originally. Do Tropicbirds sit on the sea? Was I seeing what I wanted to see and was it just a Silver Gull of which there were many on the rock? In the end I couldn’t bring myself to tick it.
28th October
Heading back to Perth we broke the journey with a stop at the Peel Inlet, where there was a good selection of waders including, Grey-tailed Tatler and our first Curlew Sandpipers.
Back in Perth we spent a few hours at Herdsman Lake finding, Glossy Ibis, Australian Reed Warbler and greatest selection of ducks seen so far. In essence it was an easy paced day, we had run out of target species and were ready to move on.