DnA's Birding Adventures | Not a business

DnA's Birding Adventures

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22.01.2022 We had planned to spend a few more days out in the areas east of Wiluna, but a second flat tyre in three days sent us back to so called civilization. Not having a spare out there just was not a sensible situation to put yourself in. Sometimes, it does not matter how much effort you put in, some birds still manage to evade detection. Either that or they are simply not there. Many hours of this last trip was spent searching salt lakes for Slender-billed Thornbills, areas of scr...Continue reading

20.01.2022 Home again. Anita and I flew back from Broome yesterday afternoon and this bought an end to another two weeks of birding in the Kimberley region. We had hoped to rack up another forty species, but only managed twenty new birds for our year. Thursday morning found us back at the Derby Wharf and to our delight a Fork-tailed Swift made a brief appearance and then disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Luckily for us, four birds then showed up and despite our best efforts, onl...y a couple of very poor images were captured. A new tick just the same. Over two days we visited the site four times and the much desired Great-billed Heron failed to show. Before leaving Derby we made a stop off at the Munkajarra Wetlands in the hope of picking up something new, but all species encountered had already made our list for the year. There were plenty of Australian Pratincoles about and Little Woodswallows. It is so strange to see this later species out in flat areas away from hills and rock outcrops, which is there preferred habitat down in the Gascoyne. We also saw a single male Varied Lorikeet come down to the water for a drink and then it just popped back up into a near-by tree allowing us to get quite close to him. It was decided that we would return to Broome early and Thursday afternoon once again had us sitting at the Broome Waste Water Plant scanning for ticks. Nothing new, but a sheer delight was to bless us in the form of two Lesser Frigatebirds that decided to make a visit for a quick drink and then off they went again. Our last morning had us up at 4.30 and out searching for the elusive Little Bronze-cuckoo. This was our fourth stay at the Broome Bird Observatory this year and up until then this little fellow had failed to present, despite being heard several times. I was heading over to the shadehouse for the necessary morning cup of coffee, when bang, a male showed up. I quickly shot over to get Anita and on return he had done a vanishing act. Not to be put off, we started searching the area and shortly after, Anita picked up a juvenile female eating a caterpillar in a tree within six meters of the shadehouse. A quick check of her pics confirmed the ID. Tick number 377 for our year. With now less than two months left of our year, we are not really hopeful of achieving our desired target of 419+ species for the year, but we are not about to give up just yet. There is a Pelagic off Perth on the 22nd November, a week out on the edge of the Nullarbor in December and hopefully a trip out to the Abrolhos at some point before the end of the year. Add to these a few more short four day trips and the numbers should look a little better. All you can do is keep trying and fight to the end.

20.01.2022 Perth Canyon Pelagic Yesterday we participated in our third pelagic boat trip for the year and fortunately it turned out a lot better than our last attempt off Albany. We were hoping for three or four new species for our year. The boat headed out of Fremantle at 6.50 and we were not too far past Rottnest Island when a large group of feeding birds were sighted ahead. On catching up with the group, we found a large pod of Dolphins and a mixed group of the following bird species.... Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Shy Albatross (1 only), Flesh-footed Shearwaters, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Crested Terns, stacks of Australian Gannets and our first new tick for the year, several Hutton's Shearwaters. On several occasions, Hump-backed Whales made an appearance. As this feeding frenzy moved on rather quickly, it was decided not to give chase and we carried on out to sea. On putting out the first lot of chum, we added Great-winged Petrels, White-faced Storm-petrels and number two new species for the year, the beautiful Soft-plumaged Petrel. Despite moving a bit further on and re-deploying the chum bag, no additional species presented themselves. We were just about to start heading back towards Fremantle when great excitement came over the entire boat. A magnificent Southern Giant Petrel flew past the stern of our tour craft and settled a bit away on the edge of our chum slick. Reasonable views were had by most, but just to cap the day off, it took to the wing again and flew back to the boat. This bird was on Anita and my real wish list for the day and it certainly made the day all worth while. Anyhow, we managed three new species for the year and all were lifers for us both. Tally now stands at 354 species. We will be heading off to the drier areas of inland WA next Saturday and lets hope the results keep coming.

20.01.2022 Just when you are about to throw your hands up in desperation. Yesterday morning started with a 6.30am departure from Halls Creek to allow for us to get into Camballin before midday. It was hoped that this site might produce a Black Falcon and with luck on our side a Flock Bronzewing. Well, as luck would have it, we came up empty handed again. Our day finished in Derby with a visit to the local Water Treatment Plant (DWTP) and the mangrove lined port area, a well know site fo...Continue reading

18.01.2022 Our Kimberley plans are on track. Well at least at this point in time. When we hopped on our flight to Broome on the 22nd, our goal was to locate between 40 and 50 additional species for our year. Calculating in the fact that we are returning home on the 6th November, to achieve this goal we would need to get between 3-4 species on each of the 14 full birding days available to us. Well, so far so good. With three days birding under our belts, we have picked up nine species. T...Continue reading

16.01.2022 Nice to see people paying attention to our posts. Last night I put up a post in a very tired state and amongst the images was one of a possible Broad-billed Sandpiper. This was wrongly labeled and should have been a Curlew Sandpiper. Just to show that we did get a Broad-billed Sandpiper, I am putting up a few pics of two birds we got on the beach below the Broome Bird Observatory.

15.01.2022 When we last checked in we were birding in Kununurra and had high hopes for the balance of our time in this wonderful part of Aussie. Despite spending many hours out in the irrigated areas and up to Lake Argyle itself, we came up empty handed in regards to new species for the year. Numerous trips to the storage dams failed to produce the thirty plus Little Curlews that had been recently found out there. Finally on the afternoon before moving from Kununurra out to Wyndham we p...icked up a Baillon's Crake. Even though this species is to be found in Perth, it had managed to evade us up until this time. Our move to Wyndham had been motivated by our need to access the Mangrove areas of the Cambridge Gulf. Our two primary targets were the Chestnut Rail and the Black Butcherbird. Frank O'Connor had joined up with us for this part of the trip, as he required the Black Butcherbird for his WA Species List. We had arranged with a local chap Rodney Fischer (Wyndham Kimberley Adventures) to take us out and we picked up the rail without too much effort. Four individuals were sighted over the two mornings. Unfortunately we did not locate the Black Butcherbird and Frank had to return home without his target bird. Day two produced our first confirmed sighting of the Large-billed Gerygone. Rodney mentioned that there was some Spangled Drongos actually living in the town itself and despite hearing the bird calling from a local backyard, we had to leave town without seeing them. Not happy about that, but that is birding for you. Rodney had also recently seen and photographed a Black Falcon out near Marglu Billabong. This bird was still required by us and yesterday afternoon found us out there scanning the countryside for this masterful winged hunter. We were just about to give up for the day when a sleek falcon appeared some distance off and was in a bit of a dog-fight with a Whistling Kite. As the two birds moved closer a Brown Falcon decided that it also wanted to get involved and to our distress, all three birds turned back away from us and disappeared from sight. All we could manage was a couple off poor pics, so the species had to go unrecorded. When we first arrived in Wyndham, we came across a Helmeted Guineafowl wandering near the local sports oval and Anita was so keen to have this included on our list, but there was no evidence to prove that this fellow was part of an established feral population, so no tick. With our results not being what we had hoped for to date, we find ourselves putting in a lot of effort for the possibility of a new bird. Today we followed up on a recent sighting of a Black Bittern at Caroline Pool south of Hall's Creek and when the bird could not be found, we drove further out to Palm Springs. The 80kms round trip was on really bad roads and again we came back with no tick. Note: A very special thank you to Rodney Fischer for his help.

12.01.2022 You have to love the Kununurra area of the Kimberley Despite the daily temperatures getting up to 42c, this area of the world is just special. It is not just the amazing birdlife/wildlife that excites, but also the country itself. Dry areas can have so much more appeal when there is water and Kununurra certainly has plenty of this great resource. The water-bodies that have been created for the Ord Irrigation System create the perfect haven for nature’s wonderful creatures. An...yhow, getting on with business. New ticks are not coming thick and fast as we would have hoped, but things are plodding along. Despite clocking up a fair amount of kilometres yesterday, we only achieved one new species for the year. The great thing is that we got amazing views of the Eastern Koels feeding, courting and at rest. This has to be one case where the female certainly out-does the males in the glamour department. We had also hoped to get the Channel-billed Cuckoo at the same location, but the resident bird was keeping a very low profile. Day two in this part of the world started with a 5.00am get up and out the door at 5.30am. We headed straight up to a site only a couple of kilometres away and we had not been out of the car for two minutes when the very distinctive call of a Channel-billed Cuckoo came from quite near. A quick search revealed a beautiful specimen at the top of a large eucalyptus. Done and dusted! We then walked along the lakes edge and bingo, an Azure Kingfisher. Two new species in about thirty minutes. The rest of the morning was spent patrolling various water holding areas out of town in search for the Little Curlews that had been seen out there. No joy with them, but we did see more Australian Bustards, stacks of Brolgas, Black-necked Storks and plenty of other avian goodies. These repeat species allow for Anita to capture better pics for her collection. By this time it was getting up to the 40c mark, so we decided to head back to the comfort of our air-conditioned cabin by Lake Kununurra. Time for some lunch, catch up with the cloths washing and an afternoon siesta. Will head out again later, when the temp drops a little. The tally now stands at 369 species. Anita has ID pics of all bar two species, but two others are very poor images.

08.01.2022 A hunting we did go. Yesterday we decided that we should head over to Penguin Island and try for an additional tick in the form of a Little Penguin. Even though these guys are not rare, they are a challenge to get unless you pick them up at a colony and even then this does not make for an easy sighting. Around this time of the year the birds on Penguin Island have finished breeding and begin going into moult. This theoretically would make life easier. That is if things are al...l on track. As it turned out the birds in this colony bred late and most have yet to moult. The only Little Penguin we found was dead under one of the boardwalks and a dead bird does not count as a tick. Oh well, we will just have to go back next month. Obviously, the day was not a complete waste of time, as the other island inhabitants were in full breeding mode. Bridled Terns were courting, Australian Pelican bubs were growing well, Crested Terns had clutches at various stages and this also went for the very plentiful Silver Gulls. Buff-banded Rails wandered around on the lawns looking for an opportunistic snack and the King Skinks (Egernia kingii) snacked on the various flowers on offer. After three hours the winds started picking up, so we decided to catch the ferry back to the shore and partake in a bit of tucker ourselves. No new birds for the year's tally, but it was a pleasant morning just the same. Half way back to the jetty, we noticed a dark bird harassing the Silver Gulls out over the open water and recognized it as a Jaeger species. As soon as the ferry docked we shot down to the beach and very quickly located the bird in question. As it turned out, there were four Arctic Jaegers intercepting the gulls returning to the island. We managed a few pics of these guys as they shot around in the very stiff breeze. Not the best captures, but enough to record our 378th species for the year. Just spent this morning making bookings for our third trip to the Kimberley for the year. We are going to be in the Kununurra/Wyndham area from the 7th - 15th December. With time running out, this area has the potential to produce the best results for time spent. Fingers crossed it works out that way.

07.01.2022 Our last Chat species done and dusted. When we headed off on this latest trip on Saturday 19th, a species that was high on our wanted list was the Orange Chat. Securing this bird would then mean that we would have all four Western Australian Chat species under our belt for the year. Both the White-fronted and Crimson Chats had been ticked off early in the year, but Anita was chasing better pics of both of these. We then got the Yellow Chat in Broome on our July Kimberley trip.... We had been given a possible location by a mate Jon Middleton for Orange Chats and just recently Frank O'Connor checked out the site and confirmed that there were some present. Anyhow, we headed north of Pindar yesterday morning and very soon after arriving at the dry salt lake, we got a male Crimson Chat and a male Orange Chat within two minutes of each other. As quickly as they appeared, both disappeared again. Fortunately Anita managed one shot before the Orange Chat vanished, never to be seen again. Fifteen minutes later we found a male White-fronted Chat. It is not too often that you pick up these three species at the one location. After about an hour we came across a whole swag of Crimson Chats and Anita was finally able to get her pic of a fully coloured cockbird. I should also mention that on day one we popped into Lancelin to hunt down some Common Noddies and found a whole heap of them off Lancelin Island. Unfortunately there was strong winds and the birds were staying close to the island itself, so we only managed very poor photos of them The pic attached shows one picking up some seaweed of the waters surface, presumably to be used for nesting material. Yesterday afternoon and today was mostly dedicated to trying to find a Grey Honeyeater at Milly Soak on Nallan Station. One was reported there a couple of weeks back, but unfortunately luck was not on our side this time round. We did however see a beautiful mature pair of Black-breasted Buzzards on all three visits there. Tomorrow we head inland for seven nights of camping/birding. There will be no electricity or internet out where we are heading, so our next update will be a week or so away. Lets hope that our target species present themselves and these include the Grey Honeyeater and another little pain in the bum species, the Slender-billed Thornbill. With the two new species mentioned above, the years tally now stands at 356 species.

05.01.2022 How far in how many days? Between leaving home 19th September and arriving home last night (28th) we covered 3762 kms. Unfortunately, all this travel did not lead to the results that we had hoped for. Following our last post, we headed over to Nallan Station near Cue in the hope of picking up a Grey Honeyeater that had been recently reported there. After much scrutinizing of dozens of small grey birds over two days, no desired result was achieved. From here we headed out thro...Continue reading

02.01.2022 It was bound to happen. With our WA Birding Big Year being nearly ten months in, it is certainly getting very hard to fill the gaps on our list for the southern half of WA. We went away last Thursday for four days and at the end of the 2100km trip, came home empty handed. We had set out with a list of four target species and the main focus was the beautiful Scarlet-chested Parrot. About four weeks previously, a sighting was made at a location to the north of Coolgardie and we... were aware that it was a big ask for the bird to still be up there, but there may have been some breeding going on. It was worth giving it a go anyway. Day two found us heading to the site at 6.00am and we put in a solid six hours, but no joy on the Scarlet front. It is funny how things happen. We spent so much time early in the year chasing Gilbert's Whistlers and on this trip we encountered numerous birds and they hardly raised an eye-brow. A bit sad to pass up beauties like these simply because you are so focussed on getting that new species. Eventually we decided that we needed to move on and keep looking for the other three main targets. We then searched area of Lake Ballard and the eastern end of Lake Barlee for the Slender-billed Thornbill. Once again, these little blokes evaded us, that is if they were there at all. Looks like we will be heading up to Carnarvon for them before the year is out. By the end of day three, we were once again wandering through a couple of know sites for the Sandhill/Rusty Grasswren. One of these areas have been visited by us already three times previously this year and we found ourselves crisscrossing our footprints from our last visit. Next morning we tried again and eventually just gave up in discuss. Hard bird to find without using call-back. One of the rules for our year is that we cannot use recorded calls to attract our birds. By mid morning Sunday we heading back home still watching the roadside areas for our fourth target, the Inland Dotterel. You know these birds are out there, but it is if they are invisible. The country up in the lower Gascoyne is just so very dry this year. As I indicated at the beginning of this post, this four day trip did not produce a single new species. On Thursday we board a flight to Broome and begin an intensive two weeks of birding. By the time we get home from this trip, we will have a very good idea whether we can equal Alan Collins big year total of 419 species. We are not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Stay tuned!