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Bristol to Kagu ?
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<blockquote data-quote="Larry Sweetland" data-source="post: 1314258" data-attributes="member: 27337"><p><strong>Tasmania</strong></p><p></p><p>You must go to Tassie Chowie, but all that FNQ living might have softened you to the hailstones we had down here today! I had a celebratory custard for the <strong>Lewin's Rail </strong>by the way, but I'm waiting till I get all the Tassie endemics before allowing myself another.</p><p></p><p>When we were driving onto the ferry we were told you can't take a spare fuel container. Ours was full and so was our tank :eek!: What to do? We didn't have long to sort out this situation,. We left the queue and looked for the nearest garage. A couple of days ago an Aussie birdo asked us if we were that couple doing the mammoth record-breaking year, as they are apparently in Oz right now. Er.... NO..not us. But it did cross my mind when we were waiting for a car to pull up at a pump at a garage so that we could try and get them to buy our petrol instead, that whatever that couple were doing right now, it probably wasn't this. Luckily a nice woman agreed straight away, and we sold her our petrol at the garage! We then offered her all our fruit and veg (also not allowed), and she took them, but traded them with half a bottle of wine. Great stuff.</p><p></p><p>Luckily it was light before we docked at Devonport, so we saw some seabirds before landing. Most were <strong>Short-tailed Shearwaters</strong>, but 2 <strong>Sooty Shearwaters </strong>and a <strong>Shy Albatross </strong>were also identified. We drove south to Hobart, picking up <strong>Tasmanian Native Hen, Black-headed Honeyeater </strong>and <strong>Yellow Wattlebird </strong>en route. <strong>Forest Ravens </strong>were common, and having heard them here I reckon we'd heard them before. Surely there can be nowhere on earth where the genus <em>Corvus</em> is such an id nightmare as Oz, with 5 or 6 very similar species, several of which overlap in range. </p><p></p><p>We took the ferry to Bruny island from south of Hobart, and had enough time to head north for a preliminary search for the rarest endemic, <strong>Forty-spotted Pardalote</strong> which according to Bransbury occurs 3km south of Dennes Point. We had no luck with this bird, but did see two other endemics, <strong>Green Rosella </strong>and <strong>Yellow-throated Honeyeater</strong>, and also 4<strong> Blue-winged Parrots</strong> just south west of Dennes Point. We spent the night at the campsite just south of the isthmus, where there was a <strong>Shining Bronze Cuckoo </strong>and some <strong>Crescent Honeyeaters</strong>, a species we have found to be fairly common.</p><p></p><p>Yesterday was fantastic, and we managed to see 11 out of the 12 birds classified as endemic species in P&K, but still need the pardie before I can go get that custard. I won't moan about the Bransbury book any more, because it's the only gen we've had to go on for Bruny Island and it's been pretty useful, and has even mentioned actual sites for birds you might actually want to see rather than just directions to a good spot for cream tea. Anyway, I can talk. What a waste of space this trip report is for a start.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, so we went to Mangana Peak. If approaching from adventure bay, we bypassed the parking area marked by a lookout sign, and pulled into a layby about 1km passed it. From here there is a narrow trail to a mast. Is this the right one? Well it's got the birds anyway. As we got out of the van a couple of <strong>Strong-billed Honeyeaters </strong>were the first birds to appear (sorry Dave!). Within a very short distance up the trail, by a little wooden bridge, we saw our second species. 2 <strong>Scrub-Tits</strong>! This was a big surprise as I'd heard that this is possibly the second hardest endemic to see. It must be rare to see this bird before the next two species of bird we ran into on the trail, which were <strong>Tasmanian Thornbill </strong>and <strong>Tasmanian Scrubwren</strong>. We saw 2 more <strong>Scrub-Tits </strong>and more <strong>Strong-billed Honeyeaters </strong>after we left this site, at a lookout on the right, a couple of km further along the road. The Mangana trail also produced a few <strong>Black Currawongs</strong>, a couple of female <strong>Pink Robins</strong> (yet to see a male), and <strong>Bassian Thrush</strong>. 2 Olive Whistlers were heard calling at the summit.</p><p></p><p>We then continued to Cape Bruny in the far south west of the island, where we spent the night. This was mostly inh order to search for <strong>Tawny-crowned Honeyeater</strong> and <strong>Striated Calamanthus</strong>. We failed to find these, but found the 11th endemic, <strong>Dusky Robin</strong>, to be quite plentiful in this area, with several pairs feeding spotty young birds.The camping spot is delightful here, and you can see the <strong>robins</strong>, and 6 other endemics (<strong>scrubwren, Rosella, YT, BH, SB </strong>and <strong>YT Honeys</strong>) without getting out of bed. I finally got to see an <strong>Olive Whistler </strong>here, along the track between the campsite and the lighthouse. </p><p></p><p>Yesterday the weather was fine, and Tassie is indeed a beautiful place, with great views of rugged coasts and snow-topped mountains. But today a storm came in, which is crap for looking for passerines in heathland (bringing back grim memories of Barren Grounds!). Spent a lot of time in the van, but a break in weather caused a flurry of bird activity around the van, and I was forced outside to check out a <em>Myiagra</em> type call which turned out to be a male <strong>Satin Flycatcher</strong>.</p><p></p><p>Other birds not mentioned that we've seen on Tassie, roughly in the order they came in , have been: <strong>Australasian Gannet, Crested Tern, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Grey Currawong, Australian Magpie, Grey Fantail, White-fronted Chat, Australian Pipit, Silvereye, Striated Pardalote, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Superb Fairywren, Brown Falcon, Australian Shelduck, Pacific Gull, Silver Gull, White-faced Heron, Welcome Swallow, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Noisy Miner, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Swamp Harrier, Masked Lapwing, Banded Lapwing, Black Swan, Kelp Gull, Little Wattlebird, Laughing Kookaburra, Black-faced Cormorant, Tree Martin, Spotted Pardalote, Brown Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Oystercatcher, New Holland Honeyeater, Crescent Honeyeater, Shining Bronze Cuckoo, Maned Duck, Brush Bronzewing, Grey Shrike-Thrush, Pallid Cuckoo, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike, Golden Whistler, Dusky Woodswallow, Scarlet Robin, Beautiful Firetail, Chestnut Teal, Great Cormorant, Pied Cormorant </strong>and <strong>Sooty Oystercatcher.</strong> Along with the same introduced species that we've been encountering regularly since about Adelaide, namely <strong>Skylark, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Starling, Spotted Dove, Rock Dove and Blackbird</strong>.</p><p></p><p>So still one more endemic to look for, and a few other hoped for lifers. Will I get <strong>Ground Parrot </strong>back on Nicky???</p><p></p><p>1215 Sooty Shearwater</p><p>1216 <strong>SHY ALBATROSS</strong></p><p>1217 <strong>FOREST RAVEN</strong></p><p>1218 <strong>TASMANIAN NATIVE HEN</strong></p><p>1219 <strong>BLACK-HEADED HONEYEATER</strong></p><p>1220 <strong>YELLOW WATTLEBIRD</strong></p><p>1221 Kelp Gull</p><p>1222 <strong>GREEN ROSELLA</strong></p><p>1223 <strong>YELLOW-THROATED HONEYEATER</strong></p><p>1224 <strong>BLUE-WINGED PARROT</strong></p><p>1225 <strong>STRONG-BILLED HONEYEATER</strong></p><p>1226 <strong>SCRUB-TIT</strong></p><p>1227 <strong>TASMANIAN THORNBILL</strong></p><p>1228 <strong>TASMANIAN SCRUBWREN</strong></p><p>1229 <strong>BLACK CURRAWONG</strong></p><p>1230 <strong>PINK ROBIN</strong></p><p>1231 <strong>OLIVE WHISTLER</strong></p><p>1232 <strong>DUSKY ROBIN</strong></p><p>1233 <strong>SATIN FLYCATCHER</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Larry Sweetland, post: 1314258, member: 27337"] [b]Tasmania[/b] You must go to Tassie Chowie, but all that FNQ living might have softened you to the hailstones we had down here today! I had a celebratory custard for the [B]Lewin's Rail [/B]by the way, but I'm waiting till I get all the Tassie endemics before allowing myself another. When we were driving onto the ferry we were told you can't take a spare fuel container. Ours was full and so was our tank :eek!: What to do? We didn't have long to sort out this situation,. We left the queue and looked for the nearest garage. A couple of days ago an Aussie birdo asked us if we were that couple doing the mammoth record-breaking year, as they are apparently in Oz right now. Er.... NO..not us. But it did cross my mind when we were waiting for a car to pull up at a pump at a garage so that we could try and get them to buy our petrol instead, that whatever that couple were doing right now, it probably wasn't this. Luckily a nice woman agreed straight away, and we sold her our petrol at the garage! We then offered her all our fruit and veg (also not allowed), and she took them, but traded them with half a bottle of wine. Great stuff. Luckily it was light before we docked at Devonport, so we saw some seabirds before landing. Most were [B]Short-tailed Shearwaters[/B], but 2 [B]Sooty Shearwaters [/B]and a [B]Shy Albatross [/B]were also identified. We drove south to Hobart, picking up [B]Tasmanian Native Hen, Black-headed Honeyeater [/B]and [B]Yellow Wattlebird [/B]en route. [B]Forest Ravens [/B]were common, and having heard them here I reckon we'd heard them before. Surely there can be nowhere on earth where the genus [I]Corvus[/I] is such an id nightmare as Oz, with 5 or 6 very similar species, several of which overlap in range. We took the ferry to Bruny island from south of Hobart, and had enough time to head north for a preliminary search for the rarest endemic, [B]Forty-spotted Pardalote[/B] which according to Bransbury occurs 3km south of Dennes Point. We had no luck with this bird, but did see two other endemics, [B]Green Rosella [/B]and [B]Yellow-throated Honeyeater[/B], and also 4[B] Blue-winged Parrots[/B] just south west of Dennes Point. We spent the night at the campsite just south of the isthmus, where there was a [B]Shining Bronze Cuckoo [/B]and some [B]Crescent Honeyeaters[/B], a species we have found to be fairly common. Yesterday was fantastic, and we managed to see 11 out of the 12 birds classified as endemic species in P&K, but still need the pardie before I can go get that custard. I won't moan about the Bransbury book any more, because it's the only gen we've had to go on for Bruny Island and it's been pretty useful, and has even mentioned actual sites for birds you might actually want to see rather than just directions to a good spot for cream tea. Anyway, I can talk. What a waste of space this trip report is for a start. Anyway, so we went to Mangana Peak. If approaching from adventure bay, we bypassed the parking area marked by a lookout sign, and pulled into a layby about 1km passed it. From here there is a narrow trail to a mast. Is this the right one? Well it's got the birds anyway. As we got out of the van a couple of [B]Strong-billed Honeyeaters [/B]were the first birds to appear (sorry Dave!). Within a very short distance up the trail, by a little wooden bridge, we saw our second species. 2 [B]Scrub-Tits[/B]! This was a big surprise as I'd heard that this is possibly the second hardest endemic to see. It must be rare to see this bird before the next two species of bird we ran into on the trail, which were [B]Tasmanian Thornbill [/B]and [B]Tasmanian Scrubwren[/B]. We saw 2 more [B]Scrub-Tits [/B]and more [B]Strong-billed Honeyeaters [/B]after we left this site, at a lookout on the right, a couple of km further along the road. The Mangana trail also produced a few [B]Black Currawongs[/B], a couple of female [B]Pink Robins[/B] (yet to see a male), and [B]Bassian Thrush[/B]. 2 Olive Whistlers were heard calling at the summit. We then continued to Cape Bruny in the far south west of the island, where we spent the night. This was mostly inh order to search for [B]Tawny-crowned Honeyeater[/B] and [B]Striated Calamanthus[/B]. We failed to find these, but found the 11th endemic, [B]Dusky Robin[/B], to be quite plentiful in this area, with several pairs feeding spotty young birds.The camping spot is delightful here, and you can see the [B]robins[/B], and 6 other endemics ([B]scrubwren, Rosella, YT, BH, SB [/B]and [B]YT Honeys[/B]) without getting out of bed. I finally got to see an [B]Olive Whistler [/B]here, along the track between the campsite and the lighthouse. Yesterday the weather was fine, and Tassie is indeed a beautiful place, with great views of rugged coasts and snow-topped mountains. But today a storm came in, which is crap for looking for passerines in heathland (bringing back grim memories of Barren Grounds!). Spent a lot of time in the van, but a break in weather caused a flurry of bird activity around the van, and I was forced outside to check out a [I]Myiagra[/I] type call which turned out to be a male [B]Satin Flycatcher[/B]. Other birds not mentioned that we've seen on Tassie, roughly in the order they came in , have been: [B]Australasian Gannet, Crested Tern, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Grey Currawong, Australian Magpie, Grey Fantail, White-fronted Chat, Australian Pipit, Silvereye, Striated Pardalote, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Superb Fairywren, Brown Falcon, Australian Shelduck, Pacific Gull, Silver Gull, White-faced Heron, Welcome Swallow, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Noisy Miner, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Swamp Harrier, Masked Lapwing, Banded Lapwing, Black Swan, Kelp Gull, Little Wattlebird, Laughing Kookaburra, Black-faced Cormorant, Tree Martin, Spotted Pardalote, Brown Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Oystercatcher, New Holland Honeyeater, Crescent Honeyeater, Shining Bronze Cuckoo, Maned Duck, Brush Bronzewing, Grey Shrike-Thrush, Pallid Cuckoo, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike, Golden Whistler, Dusky Woodswallow, Scarlet Robin, Beautiful Firetail, Chestnut Teal, Great Cormorant, Pied Cormorant [/B]and [B]Sooty Oystercatcher.[/B] Along with the same introduced species that we've been encountering regularly since about Adelaide, namely [B]Skylark, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Starling, Spotted Dove, Rock Dove and Blackbird[/B]. So still one more endemic to look for, and a few other hoped for lifers. Will I get [B]Ground Parrot [/B]back on Nicky??? 1215 Sooty Shearwater 1216 [B]SHY ALBATROSS[/B] 1217 [B]FOREST RAVEN[/B] 1218 [B]TASMANIAN NATIVE HEN[/B] 1219 [B]BLACK-HEADED HONEYEATER[/B] 1220 [B]YELLOW WATTLEBIRD[/B] 1221 Kelp Gull 1222 [B]GREEN ROSELLA[/B] 1223 [B]YELLOW-THROATED HONEYEATER[/B] 1224 [B]BLUE-WINGED PARROT[/B] 1225 [B]STRONG-BILLED HONEYEATER[/B] 1226 [B]SCRUB-TIT[/B] 1227 [B]TASMANIAN THORNBILL[/B] 1228 [B]TASMANIAN SCRUBWREN[/B] 1229 [B]BLACK CURRAWONG[/B] 1230 [B]PINK ROBIN[/B] 1231 [B]OLIVE WHISTLER[/B] 1232 [B]DUSKY ROBIN[/B] 1233 [B]SATIN FLYCATCHER[/B] [/QUOTE]
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