Mike's Excellent Adventure to the South-east - Jan 2011

Day 1

Left Salisbury East at 4am and headed for Tailem Bend and the ferry to Narrung. Huge numbers of Great Cormorants and Australian Pelicans greeted me at the ferry, along with a very cheery ferry pilot, despite it being only 6am! A Swamp Harrier circled overhead, along with a couple of Caspian Terns, against the back-drop of a beautiful morning blue sky.

I reached Pelican Point, my first stop, to discover that access to the barrage had been blocked – however, the drive in was worth it – with great sightings of Cape Barren Geese, Australian Kestrel, thousands of Australian Shelducks, Elegant Parrot (hit one with the car – sorry!), three Wedge-tailed Eagles, Black-shouldered Kite, Brown Songlark and Brown Falcon. The only casualty (apart from the Elegant Parrot!) was my camera, which I left on the back of the car when I headed on. Upon returning, after realising my error some 20kms later, it was nowhere to be seen. The verbal recriminations of myself were colourful and extended. Bird total – 40

Next stop was Salt Creek, and following Kay Parkin’s excellent directions, started off my list here with a Malleefowl, happily working on its nest. Brilliant! Followed this up with a pair of Hooded Plover so I was feeling pretty chuffed. Brush Bronzewing and three Emu wandering past (my first for the year!) completed a nice stop-over. Bird total – 52

A petrol stop at Kingston, and then on to Bool Lagoon, south of Naracoorte. Been here once before many years ago and it was a barren grassland. No more – good rains in the south-east and floods in western Victoria have filled the lagoon and the birdlife was prolific. Hundreds of Masked Lapwings, Black-winged Stilts and Magpie Geese (a first for me in South Australia) were the standouts. Just remember to have a ten dollar note on you before arriving here. Access was $8.50 and the Parks and Wildlife people received a nice $20 bucks from Potter. Bird total – 69

I arrived in Port MacDonnell in time to meet up with the team going on the Pelagic the next day at the Victoria Pub. A very nice meal and conversation and then on to the caravan park where I hit the sack, ready for a boat trip to the Southern Ocean.

Day 2

Awake at 5:00am – Colin was clear that we had to be on the boat by 6am and he wouldn’t be waiting! Took my Kwell tablet – although fortunately sea-sickness has never been a problem. A cool morning, but clear skies, greeted us and we were soon away on the Remarkable with skipper Mark and his son, Jamie. The group consisted of Colin Rogers (group leader), Stuart, Grant, Neil, Roly, Jim, Eddie (a South African chap – lots of great chats about African birding), Chris, Beatrice and Marion (sisters) and me!

We headed out to the Continental shelf – the trip took about 90 minutes. Flocks of Short-tailed and Flesh-footed Shearwaters and a couple of Shy Albatrosses swept across the ocean in our wake, but the first specialty for the day was a Common Diving-Petrel, which seems to be anything but common based on the reactions of those on board. My first “lifer” so things looked positive for the day ahead. We settled on a pre-determined spot and started the task of putting the “burley” out, producing a slick of delicious goodies for the birds.

And then the fun began.....Shy Albatrosses were joined by other Albatrosses – numbers of Black-browed, Indian Yellow-nosed and then a Campbell’s (which has recently been split from the Black-browed – check for the yellow eye!). Great-winged Petrels swept in, along with White-chinned Petrels (lifer No. 2). Flesh-footed Shearwaters were abundant. A Southern Royal Albatross was then spotted (lifer no.3) and it hung around for some time. Five species of Albatross – fantastic!

Black-browed Albatross

And then things hotted up – both White-faced Storm-Petrels and Wilson’s Storm Petrels turned up, the former in very large numbers (lifers No. 4 and No. 5). These were startlingly pretty birds, not much larger than starlings. They would “dance” across the water, rather than actually land – quite enchanting. The second specialty of the day then turned up – the Fairy Prion (lifer No. 6). Mark and Jamie served up a fantastic lunch – snags cooked on the BBQ, along with cold serves of Crayfish! Awesome!

Flesh-footed Shearwater

Great-winged Petrel

White-faced Storm-Petrel

After eight hours of fantastic birding, we headed back. I am greatly indebted to Grant who leant me a camera to catch a few snaps. Other birds seen were Fluttering Shearwaters (on the way back in), and Australasian Gannets and Crested Terns. Sixteen species in total! My grateful thanks go to Colin and Stuart for their invitation, patience and guidance. Thanks guys! Bird total – 83

Once back on shore, Chris and I decided to head to Telford Scrub, some thirteen kilometres north of Mount Gambier, to look for the Satin Flycatcher and White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrikes that had been reported there. Following the directions of both Kay and Eddie, we headed to the first picnic site and quickly found the Flycatcher and the Cuckoo-Shrike, along with a couple of Eastern Yellow Robins (all new ones for SA for Mike), and White-throated Treecreepers. A very pleasant afternoon of birding and chatting! Thanks Chris! I then headed back to Port Mac and the caravan park for dinner. Got to watch the first One-Dayer between Aus and England - Watson was brilliant! Then off to bed. Bird total – 90

Day 3

Up early again to chase down the Olive Whistler which is regularly seen near the caravan park. Roly turned up and we spent some time calling for the Whistler without success. Roly suggested I check out the beach at Eight Mile Creek so I headed east along the coast for about 8kms and worked my way down to the beach. Wow! Hundreds of shorebirds were on the beach, including Oystercatchers, Stints, Sanderlings, Turnstones, plus Caspian, Crested, Fairy and nesting Little Terns (the latter species a new one for Australia!). I was also chuffed to see a Kelp Gull – a species I haven’t seen for years. Buoyed with my success, I headed back to have a second go at the Whistler – I pulled out my Michael Morcombe Birds App on my phone (gotta love technology!) and played its call for about five minutes before a beautiful Olive Whistler turned up to have a chat. It came very close, providing brilliant views (lifer No. 7). Where was my camera! I also snaffled a Skylark, which was great. It’s characteristic flight pattern and calling was a great way to start the day.

The rest of the day was spent following the coastline east, and then into the Lower Glenelg National Park. Highlights included Forest Raven, Pied Currawong, Long-billed Corellas (hundreds), and three Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. That night I went owl hunting at the Dry Creek Reserve and along Grubbed Road west of Casterton. The Powerful Owl called to me at Dry Creek but refused to show itself, and the Masked Owl kept silent and hidden – so dipped badly on both. However, it had been a great day. Bird total – 119

Day 4

Spent the night at Pritchards Camp in the Lower Glenelg NP in my swag (thanks Nigel!), and then off on an early morning walk – picked up White-naped Honeyeater, White-eared Honeyeater, Red-browed Finch, Brush Cuckoo, a pair of Olive Whistlers and an Azure Kingfisher (spectacular). Also had Superb Fairy-wrens and Eastern Yellow Robins playing around my feet. Where was my camera!!!!

Packed the car and headed north to Wartook. I began to hear reports that I was entering flood territory. I didn’t take it too seriously until I visited the Nigretta and Wannon falls. OK – there was a LOT of water!! These photos were taken with my iPhone!

Hmmm. Was I going to get through to Wartook, a small village at the base of the Grampians? Reached the Glenelg River at Cherrypool and was relieved that the water had receded enough for me to get through. It was clear that a massive amount of water had passed through Wartook, and several sections of road had been damaged. Again, though, I was able to get through and finally arrived in Wartook. The road to Hall’s Gap, however, was totally ruined so that made birding site decisions easier!

Pulled into the Holiday Caravan Park and booked a really nice cabin – thanks Janet! After a well-deserved and needed shower (!), I headed into the Wartook State Forest for an afternoon bird-walk. What a great place – saw some really nice stuff, but best of all was a number of Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters (lifer No. 8). Mr. Morcombe’s App was invaluable again! Headed back to the cabin for dinner and a good sleep! Bird total – 130

Day 5

Up early (surprise), and back into the Forest – birds were everywhere (well worth visiting). Picked up the Fuscous Honeyeater, and saw many more Yellow-tufted, but dipped on the Black-chinned, which has been seen here. Decided to head back to the Glenelg River at Cherrypool, and almost immediately got the Little Lorikeet (lifer No. 9) – a bird I have been targeting for years. VERY happy!

Then it was a matter of holding my breath and hoping that I could get through Horsham, which had been under water for days. Made it to the southern part of the town and was advised that there was ONE track through the town that was open. I carefully made my way through roads packed with sandbags, glancing down the other roads to see them completely submerged. Emerging the other end I was then advised that the main road to Bordertown was still impassable and that I would need to go via Frances. So off I headed, crossing a number of swollen rivers, one with a house wrapped around a tree in the middle of the water!

Heading north from Frances, I stopped in at Bangham NP, but the only highlights were six more Yellow-tails, a Rufous Whistler and an indignant Echidna!

The e rest of the trip was a relaxed cruise home, with a brief visit to the Monarto CP, where Mr. Morcombe helped me call in a Purple-gaped Honeyeater, the final bird of the trip. I finally arrived home at 7:30pm, tired but content. Totals for the trip were – 139 birds, 23 new for South Australia, 10 new for Australia, and 9 lifers. A great trip – highly recommended! Below is a complete list of the birds seen.

Till next time,

Mike

22^nd January, 2011

 

Mike's Excellent Adventure to the Outback - Sep/Oct 2010

Day 1 (28^th September 2010)

We (Pots, Nigel – a mate from church, Daniel – my 14 year old son, and Jonathan – a friend of Daniel's), headed off at 4am – destination “The Outback”. We had been kindly provided with a very nice and new Toyota Prado by Jonathan’s folks, and, with the sounds of “Eagle Rock” in our ears we embarked on our intrepid journey.

We decided to take the route along the Murray to Mildura to capture as many birds as possible on the first day. Nigel had never been on a birding trip before, so almost everything we saw was a “lifer” for him. The boys dutifully got out at Cobdogla with the binoculars we had brought for them and stared at a Darter, our first bird of the trip. They then retired back to the car and that was the culmination of their bird-watching for the entire trip! (I have clearly failed as a father….).

Cobdogla put on a great show for us, and our birdlist was 40 after only a couple of hours. We next stopped at Monash to chase down the Yellow-throated Miner, which we dutifully saw. Jonathan and Nigel had a go on the big swing (Daniel and I cheered enthusiastically). As we were about to get into the car, two Blue-faced Honeyeaters flew past and conveniently landed in a nearby tree. I had not seen them in South Australia before, so this was an excellent spot.

We detoured past Mildura and headed north to Broken Hill. We stopped in at a road-side bay for lunch and were quickly mobbed by a family of Apostlebirds. They came right up to us, looking expectantly for a free feed. We also began to notice the prolific colour of the bush, and this became one of the overall highlights of the trip – I think I took as many photos of flowers as I did of birds!

Apostlebird

Broken Hill came and went as we continued on to the Paroo-Darling NP at the confluence of the two rivers. We arrived late in the evening expecting to find a sparsely inhabited camping ground near the river. Instead we stumbled into a caravan convention! Every man and his dog seemed to be heading north to see the desert in bloom! We were fortunate to find one last camping spot – so we threw out a tent and swags, had a bite to eat, and hit the sack. Bird total – 66

Day 2

An early morning walk along the Darling River produced some great birding, including White-breasted Woodswallows, Zebra Finches, Pallid Cuckoo and Sacred Kingfishers. Then we headed for Bourke. The Sturt Desert Peas along the road were stunning, as were the large numbers of Spotted Harriers. After a quick lunch just north of Bourke, we continued on to Cunnamulla in south-west Queensland, destination – Bowra Station. We stopped at a billabong near Cunnamulla and were greeted by the sight of six Brolga. Very nice!


White-breasted Woodswallows

We stopped at Cunnamulla for supplies and enjoyed the walk through the town. Then it was on to Bowra Station, a few kilometres north-west of the township. Two more Brolgas on the drive to the Station were an added bonus.

After booking in, we pitched our tent and swags by a lovely little billabong, and then Nigel and I attended the evening bird-count. We were most encouraged by the sightings of the day on the Station, including a possible sighting of the mythical Grey Falcon, and this fired us up for some great birding in the morning. The boys helped cook up a great BBQ and then we were all in bed by 9pm. Bird total – 90

Day 3

Nigel and I launched ourselves upon Bowra Station with great enthusiasm as soon as the sun was up. The birding at the “creek crossing site” on the main track was fantastic – White-winged Triller, Crested Bellbird, Mistletoebird, Olive-backed Oriole, Hooded Robin, Splendid Fairy-wren, Red-capped Robin, Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Diamond Dove, Rainbow Bee-eater, Little Friarbird, White-browed and Black-faced Woodswallows, Mulga Parrot, Pallid Cuckoo, and then great sightings of Bourke’s Parrot (lifer No. 1) and Chestnut-breasted Quail-Thrush (lifer No. 2) topped off a brilliant morning – 43 species seen all up. We retired back to the campsite – the boys had arisen and were happily kicking the footy to each other. They also had a show and tell time – during the night they had crept out of their tent and taped Nigel’s profoundly loud snoring and were delighted to play it back to us. Nigel took it well! While at the campsite we were alerted to a Spotted Bowerbird nest and had wonderful views of both the bower and at least four Bowerbirds in very close proximity (lifer No. 3).

Splendid Fairy-wren

Red-capped Robin

Black-fronted Dotterel

After a relaxing lunch by the billabong, we headed out again, this time targeting particular species. Our first target was the Hall’s Babbler (lifer No. 4) which we found without too much trouble – a small party foraged just ahead of us for at least half an hour and we were able to get great views. We also picked up Chestnut-crowned Babbler, Apostlebird, White-breasted and Masked Woodswallow, Chirruping Wedgebill, Red-backed and Sacred Kingfisher, Collared Sparrowhawk, Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo and nesting Ground Cuckoo-Shrike (our second target species – only seen once before by me in the Peterborough region).

Red-wing Parrot

We were chuffed to be able to be an active part of that night’s bird-count, and there was much animated discussions usually beginning with “Oooh, where did you see that?!!!” We collapsed into bed very happy and content. Bird total – 110

Day 4

Our target birds for Day 4 were the Plum-headed Finch and the Red-browed Pardalote. Unfortunately, we dipped on both! However, we did pick up Noisy Friarbird, Brown and Rufous Songlark, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Major Mitchell Cockatoo, White-necked Heron and Red-winged Parrot (a favourite!). We also found time to relax by a billabong and Nigel got some well-earned rest in his hammock! Birding was tiring him out! The evening bird-count was held around our campfire, during which we thanked the Birds Australia hosts for a wonderful stay and promised to return. We totalled 81 species at Bowra – a wonderful example of salvaged Mulga woodland. Bird total – 119

Day 5

We left Bowra Station early and continued on our journey, this time driving due west until we reached the town of Thurgamindah. Along the way we found a small reserve designated to “Bird-watchers” and we had great views of Bourke’s Parrots again.

Our next order of business was to tow a very large dead cow off the road. The smell was uninviting. It had clearly had a confrontation with a road-train and had come off second best. We also crossed a fantastic billabong a little further on and spent about an hour birding there – Great Crested Grebe, Plumed Whistling Duck, Budgerigar, Rainbow Bee-eater, White-winged Fairy-wren, Black-tailed Native-hen, and a great number of other water birds were all present.

After leaving Thurgamindah behind us, we then started the journey south the Sturt National Park in north-west NSW. We came across our first Australian Pratincole and then both Crimson and Orange Chats. We passed through the Dingo Fence, and we were quite stunned at the sudden change in scenery. Desert scrub stretched to the horizon, and it was resplendent in colour.

After setting up camp at Tibooburra, we decided to venture into the town to enjoy the evening entertainment of the annual rodeo. We were welcomed warmly by the locals, who clearly do it tough on the pastoral lands of central Australia, but who were clearly enjoying both the day and the sustained rainfall of the last few months. Jono got chatted up by one of the locals so just prior to the line-dancing commenced we quietly excused ourselves and went back to camp! The music kept going till at least 4am. Bird total – 135

Day 6

Nigel and I headed out for a short drive through the national park, and had almost instant success. Six Flock Bronzewing (lifer No. 5) landed near the vehicle and we were able to get really good views of them. We then decided to go for a short walk through the scrub to see what we might flush and we came across a small party of Gibberbird (lifer No. 6). I was stoked!

The team then headed further west, almost to the South Australian border, and camped for the night at Fort Grey – the aim being to search for Grey Grasswren in the morning. An evening walk down to the Fort Grey basin – which was full, produced amazing views of both Cockatiels and Budgerigar. It seemed that every tree had a budgie hole with an expectant youngster sticking its neck out for food. An extended game of “marks up” with the footy culminated a long but fulfilling day. Bird total - 142

Little Corella

Budgerigar family

Day 7

We passed through Cameron Corner and were thrilled to see that both the Merty-Merty Road and the Strzelecki Track were OPEN. The Merty-Merty track had only recently been graded and was fantastic to drive on. We stopped on occasions to hunt for the Grey Grasswrens, but the vegetation was so thick, even on the crests of the sand dunes, that it was almost impossible to track anything down. We therefore, determined to head straight for the Track and the Montecollina Bore.

Upon reaching the track, we eventually crossed the Strzelecki River and were stunned by the amount of water that must have passed through. Further south, we followed my brother, Steve’s, directions to the old track where we had wonderful views of three Letter-wing Kites (lifer No 7). Back near the main track we also found Banded Whiteface (lifer No. 8) sitting on the very thorn bush Steve indicated in his directions. Amazing!

We arrived at the Bore to find lots of folk in 4WD vehicles heading up the track to check out the desert. We leapt in and had a great swim. Daniel had admitted earlier that morning that even he thought he was starting to stink, having not washed for a week! We readily agreed and so I produced a cake of soap and scrubbed him down! A quick jaunt into the nearby bush flushed an Australasian Bittern and about one million mozzies, so we retreated very quickly!

We then continued south, picking up a number of species along the way, including Little Button-quail and the Inland Dotterel. We stayed the night at the Mt. Lyndhurst Station shearers quarters – very pleasant indeed, and had a most welcome sleep on a bed! Bird Total – 148

Day 8

Our final birding was early the next morning. Nigel and I headed to the “rusty car” site and the “two gates” site to try our luck for the Chestnut-banded Whiteface. Unfortunately, this elusive little bird did just that, but we did have great views of the Cinnamon Quail-thrush and Rufous Fieldwren. We then did our final pack-up at Mt. Lyndhurst and began the long drive home back to Adelaide. We arrived home late in the evening after covering 3,100kms across four States, seeing a total of 152 birds.

Daniel and Jono seemed to survive it without too much fuss, and it was great to share a new adventure with my son. Nigel had a brilliant time away, collecting 118 lifers!! Now that’s birding! Thanks for being such a great mate and such an enthusiastic student! I was really pleased with the eight new ones I saw, although you always wonder about the ones that got away – the Plum-headed Finch, Red-browed Pardalote, Painted Honeyeater, Grey and Eyrean Grasswrens, Chestnut-banded Whiteface, Australian Bustard and the mythical Grey Falcon, but that’s why there must always be a next time! Thanks finally to the Lloyds for the loan of the vehicle – it was awesome!

Till next time!

Mike