Fitzroy Crossing along WA coast and hinterland to Perth 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

30/10/18  265km

We arose not long after dawn and started to pack up. It took until 9.45 to do so, with such jobs as cleaning the roof and solar panels of bird pooh to do. I had time to do a last survey of Tarunda Caravan Park, before we dropped off our IGA shirts and name tags, filled up the tank and jerry-cans at the Caltex self serve as it was 13cpl cheaper than the BP or Shell. We then went down to the Fitzroy River crossing to do a survey there and then we left town heading west. It was already in the high 30’s so birding was uncomfortable, and required a good dose of cold water after each survey. We stopped at Leopold Downs Rd 1 then Lakeside camp Mt. Wynne Ck for lunch. The water level is getting quite low but it was jam packed with birds as there’s no water elsewhere in the region. Next was Erskine Ranges which had a Wedge-tailed Eagle and an Australian Bushlark that was reluctant to leave its shady spot under a bush, but was still difficult to photograph. Camballin Rd was very quiet in the now 41 degree heat. The next stop at Yeeda Rd S of Derby was still 41 degrees but there was much more activity. As we neared Derby the temperature dropped back to 31 degrees. We stopped at Derby wetlands, which are a lot drier than last time, I guess there are less people in town, so less toilets being flushed, so less outflow from the sewage plant. There were still heaps of birds here despite the shrunken nature of the wetlands.

31/10 314km

Up with the sun and went for a walk around the wetlands and fenced off sewage ponds, ending with 44sp. We headed into Derby at 6.50 with the hope that the police would look after our caravan for a few days so we could go see Mitchell Falls, but they weren’t open until 8.00 so we went down to the Derby jetty and got Yellow White-eyes. Back to the police station only to find that they wouldn’t take it because there were too many wrecked cars in the yard, but I had a peek in the yard and there was plenty of room, anyway we were told the caravan park was reasonably secure lately so we paid $40 for 4 nights with power to keep the fridge running and filled up with diesel at $1.869cpl got some food for the 4 days and headed off up the Gibb River Rd at 10.30. May River Meda Station still had a big pool with Black-necked Stork and a pair of Nankeen Night Herons. Kimberley Downs Rd was searingly hot and dry with 3 male Variegated Fairy-wrens in full colour. We had lunch at Lennard River which was a raptor fest with Wedge-tailed Eagles being harassed by a Hobby Falcon and a Spotted Harrier down in the river. Dollarbirds have become common around any water. On to Boundary Ck King Leopold NP with only 3sp in the afternoon heat. There were a few thundery showers around, which dropped the temperature down to 25 degrees as we drove through them, but they didn’t even settle the dust. 240Km E of Derby had 4sp and we stopped just before dark at Galvan’s Gorge. The birds were active here and I got 20sp as it got dark, with Pheasant Coucal, Koel and Pallid Cuckoo calling, and just after dark a Boobook Owl.

 

 

 

Painted Grasshawk Dragonfly

1/11 361km

Up at dawn. The first job was to change a tyre that was flat, I found a bolt in it so it just needed a plug to fix it. Along with a good compressor, tyre plugs are an essential part of my tool kit. I then went for a walk down to the gorge, which is really just a gully, but there was a pool with a Black Bittern. Set off at 6.40 with 40sp, so a good site. First stop north was floodway 15km N of Burnett Roadhouse where the birds were still active, 16sp. Hann River only had a small fetid pool with some Blue-faced Honeyeaters. The pool to the west of the road at Kennedy Ck was almost dry, but to the east there was still a trickle going over the mini falls of what I think is a calcite structure. There were still a few Freshwater Crocodiles and some Crimson Finches. Kalumburu Rd 1 had a Black-tailed Treecreeper and Leaden Flycatcher. Floodway 1 Kalumburu Rd had a few pools of fresh rainwater, some of the eucalypts had erupted into flower attracting 70 Red-collared Lorikeets and a Collared Sparrowhawk, also some Silver-crowned Friarbirds. Lowya Ck was hot, dry and burnt, and didn’t look promising, but there were some Sitellas, Long-tailed Finches and a lone Jacky Winter. Up until now the road had been pretty good, an easy cruise at 70-80kph, but the track into Mitchell River NP was another matter, the corrugations were endless on the rough slow track, we set off at 13.30 and got to the campground at 16.40 with a 20min stop at Laterite CP where there were some more Sitellas. We found a log across the track into the campground, so found one of the rangers who told us that the park was closed, that despite us seeing 2 signs on the way in both assuring us that it was open, we had already paid our camp fees $11.00 full and $7 concession, so he let us into the Mitchell River NP camp and we went for a walk down to Little Merton falls which were dry, though there were pools in the creek, and got 20sp before dark with a Torresian Pigeon and Silver-crowned Friarbirds. We had dinner in the mozzieless dark then bed.

Pygmy Percher Dragonfly

2/11 78km

Up at the break of day, breaky, and we headed off down to Mitchell Falls, we stopped at Little Merton Falls, in the flowering figs there were lots of friarbirds but I found a lone White-lined/Kimberley Honeyeater and a Barred Honeyeater. Continuing on in the gathering heat we took about 1¾hrs to get to the main falls all up with a stop at Big Merton Falls. None of the falls had any water going over them, but all had pools here and there. The background to the two larger falls is dramatic, so it would be a fantastic place in the wet. We went for a dip in the pool directly above Mitchell falls. All too soon it was time to leave the Rainbow Fish and grunters behind and head back. At one point the track follows the Merton Ck it was alive with Buff-sided Robin, Shining Flycatcher, several species of lizard including a Kimberley Rock Monitor and Desert Rainbow Skink and butterflies, also here was a Nabarlek and what I think was a Monjon but it was so quick to depart that all I saw was a small rock wallaby as it scampered over the rocks and away. The track back although never steep was energy sapping in the 37 degree heat and I was quite knackered by the end. We were soon back on the jarring road heading back. We stopped at Laterite CP which had both Pied and Grey/Silver-backed Butcherbirds, and we stopped at the crossing of the King Edward River for lunch and to camp. Not long after we’d finished lunch the storms started to come in, one after another until after dark, when their lightning lit up the sky in a night-blinding flash, fantastic! At one stage Bev said she’s stepped over a snake, so I grabbed the camera and we went in search of it, it turned out to be a Kimberley Death Adder, WOW! I never thought I’d get to see one of these wonderful little snakes, I don’t know if it was torpid after the rains, but it lay very still and let me get a good shot of it after several minutes of struggling with my awful un-user friendly un-cooperative  Canon G3X.

 

 

 

Desert Rainbow Skink

 

 

 

 

 

3/11 458km

Up at dawn and walked the road past the river crossing that was now flowing, and then the other way, ending with 36sp. Overnight the last of the cold dissipated from the esky, so my milk was warm, as was everything else, so the 10L of ice in bottles had lasted 5 days in the 70L Coleman esky. We set off at 6.40 back down the Kalumuru Rd, not far away was Lowya Ck that now had 15sp and a light shower. Floodway 1 Kalumuru Rd had lots of Red-collared Lorikeets and a pair of Brolgas. Kalumuru Rd 1 had 10sp. Back onto the Gibb River Rd at Kennedy Ck there were 21sp with Long-tailed Finch, Banded Honeyeater and Grey-fronted Honeyeater.We had lunch at Hann River as the clouds gathered for the afternoon’s storms. We drove through a huge storm with driving rain and very little visibility, just on the other side of it was Galvan’s Gorge with a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles cavorting in the wind ahead of the approaching storm that we’d driven through. We went into Adcock’s Gorge, where there were only Little Corellas and Brown Honeyeaters active, the next storm wasn’t as bad but was still 25km wide. We stopped at Boundary Ck King Leopold NP which had received a good dose of rain at some stage and now had puddles of water in the creek bed, the rain had also triggered a flowering event that wasn’t there yesterday with 4 honeyeater species getting stuck in to the flowers. We arrived at Lennard River in the middle of a smaller storm, which soon rumbled away from us leaving a calm balmy evening, which a Nankeen Night-heron was keen to enjoy.

 

 

4/11   265km

We had a few showers overnight, so it was a bit muggy in the morning. Had my usual wander around the area, then headed west. Kimberley Downs Rd was productive again with 17sp despite being a dry site. May River Meda Station had a Greenshank and Long-tailed Finch amid 19sp. We stopped at Derby Wetlands which was heaving with birds including a pair of Yellow Wagtails, a new Australian species for me. The Derby jetty was hot and sweaty with Yellow White-eye again, we bought a strawberry waffle ice-cream cone each at $3.50ea, but it was a nice big scoop that melted faster than I could lick it in the withering heat. We then went back to the caravan park and paid $5ea for a shower, then hitched up the van, and should have had another shower after that, then headed off after filling up one of the fuel tanks at the same BP servo as the other day. and headed down to Yeeda Rd S of Derby for lunch in the 37 degree heat. Stopped at the cattle fouled Cockatoo Ck which was still attracting lots of birds, then on to Nillibubbica camp which is on the main highway arriving at 16.30 and relaxed in the shade of the van.

 

 

5/11 196km

When I got up at about 5.30, I noticed a steady stream of Long-tailed Finches heading to the toilet block, I went to investigate and found that there was a leak from a pipe under the building, the finches had found it and were exploiting it to the full, there were at least 150 of them, with many being juveniles, my worry is that some efficient workman will fix the leak and deprive the birds of their water supply. We kept heading to Broome and did one stop at Kilto station Rd E of Broome where there were Brush and Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoos. We booked the car in for its 10,000km service and went to the Broome Bird Observatory. There was no one there. Very disappointing. We walked down to the viewing platform where it was high tide and there were a number of waders roosting there. We then had a look at the bird hide which has a water pool, but in the late morning there was nothing using it, back to the platform, but the tide was now going out and most of the birds had gone feeding. Into Broome to do shopping then went down to my site at the bottom end of Cable Beach which had 150 Common Terns and a pair of Little Terns, then it was time to head up to Barred Ck on the Dampier peninsula. When we got there after a slow run on the corrugated road the tide was out with some Whimbrel and a Grey Plover on the sandy river flat. We had dinner just before dark, during which the tide came surging back up the creek.

Torresian Crow

Sand Monitor

6/11 86km

Added Mangrove Grey Fantail and had a Mangrove Gerygone preen itself out in the morning sun, so got passable shots of it. As we were having breaky the morning’s tidal surge occurred and one of the beasts to take advantage of it was a sizable shark, finning its way around in the shallows. We headed up to Quandong Point and got a number of tern species as well as Lesser Frigatebird. Further north is James Price Point, this time we made it down through the rusty canyons to the point which had 80 Lesser Crested Terns as well as a few Greater Crested Terns. The track north slowly got narrower as we headed to Coulomb Point NR 1 and stopped at the creek which is plugged by the sand creating a pool with a few birds on it. We then returned back to Barred Ck for lunch and a lazy afternoon slowly adding to the bird list. There was less wind today and as the afternoon wore on the nasty little no-see-ums emerged from the mangroves, they are really tiny, but their bite is not commensurate with their size, and for some reason these ones were attracted to my left hand, which now itches. Late in the arvo I went for a walk to escape the little itch makers and found that there are more than one species of Fiddler Crab, these one lived side by side with the larger red and black ones, though in separate colonies and are half the size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7/11 203km

Yesterday there hadn’t been enough charge going into the battery and the fridge sucked the battery dry overnight. Our old Air Command fridge died recently, so we had a new 110L Dometic fridge put in, and so far we’ve been happy with it, apart from the fact that on the Tanami road it broke its mount, so now it is just tied down with rope. My milk was off so I had some of Bev’s coconut milk with tumeric, it tasted strange and looked awful, a sickly snotty yellow, sometimes it’s better not to look at what you’re eating. Drove into Broome to Broome Auto Excellence to get the car serviced at 7.30, they let us use their wifi, as we waited. They repaired the star in the windscreen and the 10,000km service for $674. We filled the car up with $200 of fuel at $1.775 at the United servo, it being the cheapest in town, then went to the Coles shopping centre to do our washing, had a very nice sausage roll at the Cabana Cafe in the shopping centre for $5.50ea. Then went to Broome Bird Observatory. This time there was a notice saying the office was closed and they’d be back soon, so I did a ½hr survey down to the observation platform at the point and to the bird hide that still had nothing using it in the heat of the day. After the survey there was still no one there so we left. We decided that the nasty little no-see-ums in the mangroves were enough reason for us to move on so we went via the Roebuck Plains Roadhouse to pick up some milk and stopped at Roebuck Plains rest area on the edge of the grassy plain and the woodland.

8/11   487km

Today was just a hot dry run down the highway, first stop was 210km NE of Sandfire then Goldwire camp, Shelamar Station Rd, Ck 1 Great Northern Hwy and culvert E of Sandfire before a lunch break at Wallal Downs 80 mile Beach. At Sandfire the temperature got to 43 degrees. On to Boreline Rd E of Pardoo, 11km W of Pardoo was birdless,We stopped at De Grey River, but the main campsite is closed at the moment due to an outbreak of Noogoora Burr, it’s toxic to stock so when it’s found there’s a great hullabaloo about it, but all the invasive grasses that the stock love and that all our native species won’t touch there’s not a peep about. EVERYTHING around here revolves around the cattle. We found a track on the other side of the river that got us down to the river, but no facilities.

In the washing machine

There’s sweat on my brow

But I ain’t working hard

There’s sweat in my eyes

There’s sweat on my thighs

And no matter what I do

My shirts won’t come clean

In the washing machine

There’s grit on my brow

But I ain’t working hard

There’s grit in my eyes

And grit on my thighs

And no matter what I do

My pants won’t come clean

in the washing machine

My socks are so smelly

My undies so rank

But no matter what I do

They won’t come clean

In the washing machine

The shower is ineffectual

A swim is brief relief

And I doubt I’d come clean

In the washing machine

 

 

 

9/11 287km

The stars of the morning were about 1500 Budgerigars swirling around one of the pools of water in the river. It’s one of the great birding experiences in the world I think. Just down the road at Strelley River there was also a pool with some Plumed Whistling Ducks, then a floodway 40km e of Port Headland was totally birdless. We got into Port Headland a bit after 8am and headed to Beaurepairs, last night I spotted some scalloping on a tyre and no weight on the rim, so they rebalanced my tyre for me. We then went to Blackrock caravan park in South Headland where they charged us $25for a week, or any part thereof to store the caravan, we also paid the usual $5ea for an ineffectual shower, as within 5min I needed another one. We moved the mattresses from the caravan to the car and filled up the esky with a $7 bag of ice and food, picked up fuel at the diesel only self serve Puma nearby. We then went to my site at Front Beach Port Headland for lunch, we had some Lesser Frigatebirds go right overhead, but I failed to get a photo of them. We picked up more supplies at the Woolworths supermarket then headed off at 14.00. We backtracked to floodway 40km e of Port Headland where this time there were some Variegated Fairywrens, then down the Marble Bar Rd stopping at Carlindie Ck, then on to Doolena Gap. We arrived amid a nearby storm with lots of lightning and thunder, but we only got the wind.

10/11

We had two of my favourite bird calls last night, the first to call was a Spotted Nightjar, which sounds like the bird is crazy, and then the Bush Stone-curlew, which sounds like a wailing woman. Got an Australian Ringneck Parrot in the morning, I went to where I heard the Bush Stone-curlews calling from last night but they weren’t there. First stop was at some ponds E of Marble Bar which had some ducks and a pair of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. At floodway 1 Ripon Hills Rd there were Red-browed Pardalotes. Yalgalong Ck had the very handsome Spinifex Pigeon and the star of the day, some Painted Finches. The Telfer Rd T junction had a lone Budgerigar and a Spinifexbird. The area here isn’t heavily stocked, and doesn’t have the huge burn scars that seem prevalent along the highway, all this allows the spinifex to thrive which is what Spinifexbirds need, big clumps of spinifex, horrible stuff to walk through though! We had intended to take a small track down to the Karlamilyi NP, but at Woodie Woodie we found the road was restricted. I went into the mine office and talked with the manager, who told me that the track past the mine was disused, so not practical to use. So we back-tracked a bit to Brumby Ck Woodie Woodie Rd which had a good flow to it, and we had lunch. We then took the Skull Springs Rd west, and stopped at Terrella Ck which was dry but had a Crested Bellbird and 3 Red-backed Kingfishers. The storm that had missed us last night had dropped a lot of rain all along Skull Springs Rd, so many of the floodways had pools of water as did Floodway 1 Skull Springs Rd, which had a pair of Spinifexbirds in the big clumps of spinifex as well as a pair of Little Button Quail. There were also a few pools of water in Five Mile Ck E of Nullagine with a Rufous Songlark and 4 Sacred Kingfishers. We turned south at Nullagine and camped by a small waterhole at Wild Dog Ck S of Nullagine. We had some Ring Necked Parrots, a flock of 19 Star Finches and the first Willie Wagtail to make it onto a survey for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/11 454km

I hadn’t gone far from the pool last night, so on my morning’s round I found that most of the area has had a hot fire through it, particularly to the west. This area is lightly stocked, but this waterhole is permanent, so it is frequented often by the cattle, the result of that is that the smaller pools are heavily damaged by the stock. The larger pool has a small mound in the middle that the cattle can’t get to, and this is the roosting place for the Star Finches, however I doubt that it’s enough for them to breed in, there were no juveniles in the flock that I found, so my fear is that this flock will eventually die out, because of the damage to the environment that the cattle are doing by eating all the streamside vegetation… SNAFU. Ended the survey with 30sp, so it’s not a bad site as far as diversity goes. Not far to the south of Nullagine is Garden Pool Nullagine. There was only water at the top end of the pool, a narrow track leads through the scrub to here from the picnic spot, I found a Black Honeyeater here. 50km N of Nullagine in the spinifex hills we got a Spinifex Pigeon, but the spinifex was rather small clumps. The ponds E of marble Bar were still full of Pink-eared Ducks. We went into Marble bar for an ice cream, it was only 37 degrees, so nothing to make headlines with. We had lunch at Doolena Gap where I surprised a flock of 8 Grey-crowed Babblers sheltering from the heat in the shade of the rock. Carlindie Ck added Black-faced Woodswallow to the list of the area, and Floodway 40km E of Port Headland had a lone Singing Honeyeater bringing the total  bird list for the site to 3. Front Beach Port Headland had 3 juvenile Ospreys with no adults. We picked up some food, had a shower at the Black Rock caravan park, hitched up the caravan, drove around to the diesel only self serve Puma servo, and headed out of town and got to Peewah River camp just on dark to camp.

12/11 419km

The river was still dry, so there wasn’t much around, just the usual horde of Little Corellas, a few Torresian Crows and White-plumed Honeyeaters etc. Then just as we were leaving a lone Australian Bustard flew by, so I ended with 14sp, still a poor site. We drove up to the Balla Balla Rd end to the mangroves and got a Mangrove Golden Whistler and had a Mangrove Grey Fantail come within 6inches of me, presumably nabbing a pesky fly. It had been flitting around on the edges of the mangroves for a few minutes, never stopping long enough for me to photograph it, but as soon it got the fly it was gone. Not far away, along the creek is Balla Balla creek camp. This site suffers from a continual invasion of cattle, so there’s not much ground cover, just a few trees along the bank. A desolate park bay E of Roeburn only had a Torresian Crow as a fly by. Point Samson causeway had the tide rushing in through the bridge, there were a number of turtles feeding just on the seaward side. On the banks were a number of waders and a young Osprey sitting on the wires was quite settled enough for me to get close enough for me to photograph it. We had lunch at the very attractive Hearson’s Cove Murujuga NP, it’s also inevitably quite popular with people. cars, dogs, and even horses all along the blindingly white shelly beach. We stocked up with food at the Dampier store and headed south stopping at RAP53.9 Millstream Rd, which although looked like good spinifex habitat only had 3 active species in the afternoon heat. We got to the Millstream Chester NP and found that the Snake Gully campsite was closed, they had put the sign about ½km up the road which meant it was difficult for me to turn the caravan around, we then had a much longer and rougher road to travel to get to the only campsite available at this time of the year, the Milliyanha camp. There is a $13 day fee $7 concession, plus camping fee. One of the big pluses of camping at NP camps in particular is that some of the birds and animals become human tolerant, letting you get much closer that usual to them. Here I got almost to touching distance to a male Variegated Fairywren, and had a very relaxed Euro with joey, both had their portraits taken.

 

 

 

 

 

13/11 219km

There is a very pleasant walk through the Cadjeput woodland to the small wetland near the old homestead, but I only ended with 24sp which is a bit poor. A short drive away is Deep Reach, a long permanent waterhole in the Fortesque river, and again I was disappointed with only 10sp. It was then the 40km of dirt road back to the bitumen where we dumped the caravan and drove down to Python Pool via the scenic view from Mt Herbert. This would be a spectacular place after rain, with a cataract that would shoot water over the precipice into the pool, the waterfall was dry but there was water in the pool and although we found no pythons or snakes, not even a reptile, we did get 33 Spinifex Pigeons which is the most I’ve ever seen together. We retrieved our caravan from the side of the road and returned to the highway with a lunch stop at RAP53.9 Millstream Rd which had a lone Grey-headed Honeyeater this time. We got fuel from the Shell on the highway at the T junction at $1.719cpl with a discount voucher, and headed east. Mairee Pool is a pleasant large pool in the Maitland river, though it looks like it could get crowded in the peak season, We stopped at Gnoorea point which has camping fees during the tourist season which ends on the 1^st October so we got to camp for free. The point is a favourite with the waders at high tide. Just below our spot is the junction of the sand and the rocks, and here a little snippet of the web of life is being played out. The players are some unidentified small fish, a lone Brahminy Kite, some Caspian Terns, a lone partially pelagic Pelican, a small flock of 11 Silver Gulls, a lone Lesser Crested Tern and the people in the caravan parked next to us. The Brahminy Kite is stationed on a pole overlooking the scene, and the gulls are stationed along the shore on the rocks and the sand. The first entrant is the pelican who finds the shoal of fish and clumsily manages to get a mouthful, a passing Caspian Tern also spots the fish and makes several plunges into the shallow water, he then seems to claim the spot as his own and chases off any other passing Caspian Terns, the bird is quite successful returning again and again to nab a fish, take it up into the air toss it up, catch it in such a way that it can swallow the fish, and fly off satisfied, returning soon to take another fish. In the interim the pelican has had enough and flies off. Enter the Lesser Crested Tern, after a few attempts it also gets a fish, but as soon as it does so the three nearest gulls mob the bird (it is a bit smaller than a gull, whereas all the other players are larger than they are), it panics and drops the fish onto the rocks, the fastest gull down gets the fish. The kite that was stationed on the pole has seen this and makes an attempt to steal the fish from the gull, but is too slow. Now the people in the caravan next to us enter the scene by tossing some food scraps of indeterminate nature out. The gulls spot this and race up the hill to grab what they can, they take some of it back to the beach and start to squabble over it, the Kite has not returned to the pole, so is much closer to the action this time, and attacks the gulls, they scatter, and the kite makes off with the tidbit. Meanwhile the lesser Crested Tern is having a hard time getting another fish, finally it gets one, but again the gulls chase it, this time dropping it back into the sea. It was probably half an hour later by now and the only players left on the scene are a few gulls and the Lesser Crested Tern, still doggedly trying to catch a fish. At last it grabs another fish and this time beats the gulls out to sea, the gulls soon give up and return to the shore. Just about everyone got a feed out of this story including me, though I was just the observer I had a few handfuls of nuts as I watched, of which the expectant gulls got the usual nothing from me.

Blue Ringtail damselfly female

 

 

 

14/11      346km

There are some mangroves around the point and some grasslands behind the beach, my morning stroll added a few species in each habitat to end the survey with 35sp. We drove down to the T junction to the road that leads to the Fortesque River mouth and dropped the caravan there for the 22km drive in. There are some good looking mangroves here with a gravelly substrate, but there is an awful stench of rotting fish, as there is a boat ramp here, and I suspect that fishermen dump the unwanted parts of the fish here before they take off. There is camping allowed here, but no facilities. back and picked up the caravan and headed on south, stopping at a mast S of Fortesque roadhouse for 6sp most of which were sheltering under the solar panels which afford good shade in the morning heat, a late soarer overhead was a Grey Falcon, low enough for me to see the bright yellow legs and yellow cere. A dry Peedamulla E Ck only had 5sp, and we stopped for lunch at the Onslow T junction park bay, the tables were filthy, so we had to use a table towel. Up the Onslow road we went and stopped at a park bay Onslow Rd cape River CP, the habitat was good spinifex shrubland, but it was too hot and I only got a pair of Singing Honeyeaters. We went to the Ocean View caravan park where they let us use their washing machine. We did some shopping during the wash and then backtracked to pick up some fuel at the diesel only Caltex self serve depot in the middle of nowhere. A bit further back is the Old Onslow Rd, a reasonably good road to get us to 3 Mile pool Ashburton River arriving at 17.15. We hung out the washing then I relaxed by the bank to count the birds. There are camping spots for several kilometers along the bank, but this is the best spot for the birds, as there are shallows here, with lots of rocks for the birds to roost on and drink from, had 28sp by dark, the most unfortunate of them being a lone Red-necked Stint that was constantly being chased by the Red-kneed Doterrels, and seemed to barely ever get to get its beak into the water to feed. The Common Greenshanks which are bigger than the Red-kneed Doterrels were left to feed at will.

 

 

 

15/11 298km

I was displeased to find a herd of cattle in the shallows, drinking and defecating in the water that the birds are using, I firmly believe that this shouldn’t be allowed. I was pleased to find a large flock of Flock Pigeons come in for a drink after the cattle had left, the problem for me was that they only spent a few seconds at the water before taking off again, so I never got a photo of them, and had to content myself with spoonbills, pelicans, terns and a Greenshank. We slowly made our way back to the bitumen. We found a Western Ring-tailed Dragon at the Onslow Rd T junction park bay site, and then down to the Paraburdoo Rd T junction, then east along the Nanutarra Rd  No42 Well Wittenoom Rd was the first then Metawandy Ck Wittenoom Rd which had 12 Grey-crowed Babblers, the most I’ve seen in one flock, then 150km E of Nanutarra, and stopped at Beasley River camp, which is still dry for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

16/11 322km

Late yesterday the clouds rolled in, but they brought no rain, so all they did was seal in the heat, the result was a very hot and sweaty night. It was 28 degrees when we got up. I added only a few birds to a poor site, the woodland looks okay, but there are only a few shrubs and the grasses are a monoculture, so there’s probably not enough diversity here. We headed east, stopped at Kara Well then through Paraburdoo and stopped at Bellary Ck Paraburdoo and got a Hooded Robin then gully S of Tom Price. We stopped at a lookout Karijini Rd, south of Tom Price and disengaged the caravan, then went on into Karajini NP. We paid our $7 concession day fee and went to water point Karajini NP for lunch. The water point is a tank on stilts for water supply, so there was no access to water for the birds, read there weren’t many. Next we looked at Joffre Falls which would look great after rain, the falls were still dry, though there were pools in the chasm. We decided on the Lower Weano gorge walk, which isn’t all that hard especially given the reward at the end, being Handrail Pool, which reminds me of the access to Petra in Jordan, except at the end of the narrow defile there is a pool instead of a treasury. The water was too cold for me to swim, so I just dabbled my feet in the shallows, I noticed quite a few black worms moving around in the shallows, I had a look at one and found it moved like a leech, I removed my feet from the water and nearby Bev was out of the water rather quickly too. We found a Silver Wisp damselfly which I struggled to get a passable photograph of as usual, anything with any degree of difficulty and the Canon G3X just makes hard work of it, particularly macro as, if there is anything in the background it chooses that to focus on. We then returned to the lookout and our caravan to camp for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

17/11 248km

It ended up being a pleasant cool night and we both slept well. The site though is dry with a sparse Mulga woodland, so I didn’t add many birds to my list, in fact nearly all the birds were got on their call or fleeting glimpses, the view across the valley wasn’t too bad though during both the late evening last night and the early morning light. We were soon on our way again retracing our sites from yesterday. The Bellary Ck site turned up a pair of Chestnut-rumped Thornbills this time. We picked up fuel at Paraburdoo at $1.759cpl and stopped at the Beasley river camp for an early lunch then camped at Metawandy Ck in 42 degree heat. I spent the afternoon in the riverbed under a river gum in its shade, but it was still too hot, with not much bird activity, nevertheless I did end up with 17sp for the avo with an Owlet Nightjar calling which they occasionally do during the day. I amused myself for much of the time destroying the flies, the never ending flies, and feeding them to the ants, like manna from heaven for them.

18/11 273km

I’d heard a night bird that I didn’t recognise last night. In the early morning I heard some honeyeaters in harassing mode, so made my way down towards the cafuffle, as I approached the noise I flushed 3 Boobook Owls out of a hollow, so I suspect one was a juvenile, which is what I heard last night. I re-found the large flock of Grey-crowned Babblers but there were only 11 now. Snooping around the vicinity was a Hobby Falcon, perhaps not as hungry as the other day. We went back to the end of the Paraburdoo Rd and headed south, stopping at the Nanutarra roadhouse to pick up some milk that was nearly $6 for 2L, their diesel was $1.92.9cpl, thankfully we didn’t need any, a good place to steer clear of! Park bay S of Nanutarra Roadhouse had some Two-spotted Line-blue butterflies, but in the wind they were unphotographable, and a brief look at our first Crimson Chats to get on a survey in this region. The Barradale camp is horribly over-used with only a few trees along the riverbank as habitat, everything else is dust. We had lunch at park bay Burkett Rd Giralia Reserve, in hot windy poor habitat and moved to park bay 2 Burkett Rd Giralia Reserve at the west end of the reserve which was only slightly better habitat but was just as hot and windy, this was our stop for the night, and during the afternoon I only got 3sp, so we’ll see what else I can find in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

19/11 186km

My morning saunter around the area hadn’t produced much, I was watching a group of Singing Honeyeaters when a Spotted Harrier came from behind me perhaps 20m away, I whisked out the camera and fired off a few shots, expecting them to be no good, but every now and then my camera plays good guy and this was one of those times. I still only ended up with 6sp for the site, so not top birding. We drove into Exmouth via another park bay S of Exmouth that wasn’t productive either. We went to the Parks and Wildlife office and bought our 1 year parks pass, that now covers all WA day fees for $58 concession. We then had problems booking into a campsite for the night which has to be done on line, eventually the office lady had to do it on her computer. We stocked up with food at the local IGA and went to Bundegi Reserve for lunch, again the land birds were largely absent and there were a few waders in shore. Around at the Jurabi turtle observation point, there were some probably Green Turtles not far off shore. Down into Mangrove Bay Cape Range NP the bird hide offered a few birds like White-bellied Sea Eagle and Reef Egret, the mangroves nearby had a Yellow White-eye and Striated Heron. It was then down to our campsite at Kurrajong camp Cape Range NP. There was a ferocious wind blowing from the south which was going to make going for a swim to the reef an unpleasant experience, so I sat in the shade for the remainder of the avo, and briefly saw a Western Bowerbird on the opposite sand dune. At night we went for a walk along the beach, it was no good for turtles, but there lots of crabs out.

 

20/11 192km

The wind eventually moderated, and in the morning it was calm, so I donned my wetsuit and went to put my swim goggles on and snapped the old rubber, so I spent a long while out on the reef with one hand holding my goggles onto my face. The reef starts only a few feet from the beach, and gradually gets better the further out you get. In the end I was starting to get cold and tired so headed back in. had breakfast then went and had a look at Oyster Stacks where I found some Rufous Fieldwrens. There is better reef even closer to the shore here, we had put some elastic on the goggles which improved the situation, but I decided to go to Exmouth and buy a kit which ended up costing $111 for goggles, snorkel, flippers and reef socks which are more comfortable than ordinary socks. We then organized to get some work done at an auto electrician tomorrow, then went back to Bundegi reserve, which is a lot easier without the caravan, and got an almost completely different suit of birds including 90 Grey-tailed Tattlers, the most I’ve ever seen in a feeding group. On to resurvey Mangrove Bay Cape Range NP, and got Zebra Finches in the mangroves, not their usual haunt. Back to the caravan for a late lunch, then went to Lakeside reef, which is a 500m walk south along the beach to a signposted spot at the point. The wind was now blowing hard again, so there was a strong current and the waters were cloudy, but I still had a great time amid the huge blue brain corals with lots of interesting fish like the Hawaiian Trumpetfish and the Humbug. I found that the best way to see the reef was to walk up current then swim an arc out to the reef and back shore as it was difficult to hold station against the current, never mind swim against it. It was now dinner time, so we went back to camp.

 

21/11 187km

It was another early rise for another snorkel off the Kurrajong camp beach, again I saw heaps of new fish of which I managed to identify a few, I got closer to the breakers this time, but were still a long way from them. As I started to get cold I headed back and found an isolated piece of coral which had a Common Lionfish languishing inside the coral growth, fascinating little animal. We went back for breaky, then went to the Oyster Stacks, which I think are the best snorkeling, as there are more fish closer in shore. Again I went out to the point where there was more coral than around the stacks, and was rewarded with more species of fish, a few huge blue starfish one of which had a Nudibranch next to it, what a colourful little slug! I got much closer to the breakers here but it was too shallow and I risked being dragged across the coral so I headed back. We returned to camp, hitched up the caravan and went to the Mangrove Bay site, then into town, Bev had to go to the chemist to get a prescription filled, then we went to Mumby’s Auto-electricians to get a higher wattage solar controller and an Anderson plug so I can now plug my controllerless solar panels into the caravan. We then went down to the sparse site at park bay S of Exmouth for a late lunch and stopped at park bay 2 S of Exmouth which was equally as sparse with only 3sp by dark.

22/11 313km

It was a quiet road overnight, in the morning I found a pair of Little Button-quails, and not many other birds. We went into Coral Bay and found a place to park the caravan as one isn’t allowed in the car park at the end of the road, we walk out to the point and into the cold water I went. The coral was just off the beach again, huge rose flower like coral mostly, not much colour, and not as many fish close to the shore. I did get a ooh! Moment when I found a Cleaner Wrasse at its station with 4 clients that it would peck at briefly one by one, too soon I started to get cold, so headed back. On the beach was a Spanish Dancer, she was no good as she’d got her heels stuck in the sand and was beached, so I used my flipper to pick her up and put her out in deeper water, there she lifted up her pink frilly skirts and danced for me, wonderful! We had a $3 almost cold shower at the Bayview caravan park, bought some bread and desserts at the bakery, they had a vanilla slice and apple strudel for $2ea as a deal. And headed south, stopping at Lyndon River camp. At Minilya Roadhouse the habitat took a turn for the better with lots of shrubs by the road. Manyarra Ck had a Chimming Wedgebill and Crested Bellbird, and further south at Cooralya Homestead Rd there were 20 Crimson Chats. We went up to Quobba Point camp by the blowholes which were active on a rugged coastline.

 

 

23/11 250km

The wind never let up overnight so we rocked and rattled all night, which meant for a poor sleep. I had thought that there was a reef here, but in the morning the tide was out and there were just rocks in the bay, so I didn’t venture into the water, instead I spent my time counting all the terns, nearly 2000 of them, 7 different species, including a Bridled Tern. We stopped at the Rotary Park Gascoyne river, the river was dry, and the birds were pedestrian. We filled up with $245 of fuel at the Caltex diesel only self serve south of town, near the road train assembly area at $1.689cpl, we also filled up the water tank here. Did our washing in the laundromat and stocked up with food, all taking until nearly midday. We then headed east up beside the Gascoyne River, stopping at Meeragoolia Rd which had a Chiming Wedgebill, and Nalbra Well grid. The well was gone, but there was a waterhole on the east side of the road with White-browed Babbler and Red-capped Robin. The water here meant that there were a lot of cattle in the area, which meant that the ground cover was knackered and the sand dunes damaged. We stopped at Fred’s Landing Hacker’s Hectare on the banks of the Gascoyne river. There was a pool here, but it wasn’t favoured by the birds, so I didn’t get anything interesting. I followed a wasp around for ages as it foraged along the ground, it only stopped for a few seconds to clean its antennae every now and again, it only ever stopped in one spot that was okay for me to get a shot of it, luckily I got it right, I kept on following it hoping for another shot, but never got one.

 

 

 

24/11 129km

We used the toilets in town then headed up the Killili Rd stopping at Coongarracoodoo floodway which was jumping with birds like Redthroat, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill and lots of Zebra Finches in the dry creek. We could see the Kennedy Range off to the left as we drove up the road, and it didn’t look like much, as we turned left at the Lyons River Rd to get into the NP one might go Hmph. As you get closer you may go over a rise and the range looks bigger all of a sudden, and one might go Hmmm. As you come up to the range and it begins to loom over you, one is likely to go Ooh! We walked The Honeycomb Gorge first, then the Temple Gorge and lastly the Draper’s Gorge, all are walks worth doing, none are particularly hard or long, but the tracks are basic with no aids to get you over the rocks. I like this place! The camping is basic and free in the off season, I love this place! It’s dirt road all the way from Gascoyne Junction so we left our caravan there and did it as a day trip, we got back at 14.00, and lazed the rest of the avo.

 

                          Australian Bee Fly

 

 

 

25/11 231km

Added a few birds to the site list like Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, reused the toilets in town and headed west. We had a look at the Khyber Pass Kennedy Range, that is on the other side of the river on the loop road. Resurveyed Nalbra Well grid, there were 200 Zebra Finches in the shrubs around the dam, but no feed for them here. This is the only finch in Australia that has adapted to flying long distances from water to feed, the only one that comes close is the Double-barred Finch, it’s no coincidence that these two finches are the most common, many of the others are threatened with extintion because of the damage being done to water scources or food scources by humans. On to Meeragoolia Rd, which is several kilometres from water, so there aren’t many cattle here, thus more feed for the birds, a new bird for the site was a pair of Southern Whitefaces. We had lunch at the Rotary Park Gascoyne River, here I struggled for ½hr to get a photograph of a Small Grass Yellow butterfly. It was a windy afternoon, and the butterflies would only settle for a few seconds before moving on to the next flower, plus the usual problems with getting the camera to focus on close things, I eventually got a good shot, more luck and perseverance than skill I think. Refilled the tank at the Caltex servo near the road train assembly area and headed south into a stiff wind. We stopped at New Beach S of Carnarvon. It has a $5.50pp fee $4 concession. The road in was freshly graded and as smooth as a babies you know what. We found a track that didn’t have deep sand and camped meters from the water. The wind was coming off the ocean and as the afternoon wore on got quite cool. There aren’t many birds here, but there are good numbers of Silvereyes, and a small flock of Slender-billed Thornbills leapfrogged their way through the scrub and were gone.

 

26/11 383km

I found a cooperative Mangrove Grey Fantail and Silvereye in the mangroves in the morning. We were soon on our way south stopping at Edaggee camp which rather than clearing all the shrubs in the camp area they have left a good number of them, so birds like Chiming Wedgebills can be seen in the camp, well done guys. Park bay S of Wooramel had more Chiming Wedgebills, but a shrubland 20km N of Overlander Roadhouse only had a lone Singing Honeyeater. We went up to Hamelin Pool to see the stromatolites, well worth the 5km side trip. I stopped at Shark Bay Rd claypan to see if there was anything in the samphire but only got that ever-present bird here, the Singing Honeyeater and a few passing Little Crows. We dropped off the caravan at Fowler’s Camp and drove into Denham to pay the $15 fee, which is unfair since there are no facilities here, nice little bay though. We then went up to Big Lagoon Francois Peron NP, the drive in did need 4wd for a few deep sandy patches, but I didn’t need to let my tyres down as the sign suggests. I found some Inland Thornbills here. Back to Denham where we bought dinner at the Servo Cafe next to the bakery, I had my usual hamburger giving it 7 out of 10, they say that they will be getting local fish for their fish and chips from December, so they could be worth a try after that as their chips were very good. We got back to Fowler’s camp at 18.30, the tide was out with quite a few waders in the bay and 60 Welcome Swallows zooming around.

 

 

27/11 352km

The camp site was sheltered enough from the strong southerlies to get a good night’s sleep, though our camp is at the end of a gully so an occasional gust would come thundering down towards us. The nearby mangroves were only enough habitat for a few Yellow White-eyes, and a juvenile Caspian Tern offered to have its photo taken, as I spent a few minutes getting shots of it from the shore the Red-necked Stints got brave and were feeding close enough for me to shoot them too. We headed south and stopped at Shelly Beach made up entirely of small cockle shells from the bay. We dropped the caravan off at a park bay near the end off Useless Loop Rd then headed west along it, the bitumen ran out, then it was a good road to the beginning of the proposed Edel Land NP, We stopped twice, once at Useless Loop Rd 1 in excellent shrubland with lots of honeyeaters, and also at Foster’s Outstation Useless Loop Rd in good shrubby grassland. At the NP the road became quite corrugated, at one stage there was a warning to deflate tyres to 20psi, it was at the start of a run up a sand-dune, I nearly made it with road pressure tyres but the gradient was a bit too steep and the sand a bit too soft for me to get through, so I deflated the tyres to 25psi and that was enough to get me up. It was then a long slow but very nice drive along the coast to Steep Point, the western most point on the mainland, we did a selfy and a survey of the windswept rocky headland then retraced our steps, at the Foster’s Outstation site I had a Crimson Chat male give me the injured bird stumbling through the bush ploy to draw me away from its nest. The Useless Rd 1 site though was now dead, I managed to get a few of the honeyeaters playing hide and seek with me, they mostly won though. It was 18.30 when we arrived back to the caravan, so it was a 4hr trip each way for us. We did see one guy trying to do it in 20min, he was tearing along the road, and showered me with stones, what a selfish, inconsiderate, irresponsible driver, there are way too many of them out here now, way too many. One big stone took a chunk of paint off the bonnet and another smaller one smacked into the windscreen, but it was too small to do any damage, no thanks to him. We hitched up the caravan and stayed put for the night at Shark Bay Rd park bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28/11 271km

The shrubland to the south was quite good, there were Pied and Black Honeyeaters, on my way back I saw what looked like a Brown Falcon attack another on the ground, upon inspection it turned out to be a juvenile that was being fed by an adult. We returned to Hamelin Pool Stromatolites, which this time were under water, but being early I got a lot more bush birds than last time. We turned south and stopped at Butcher’s track and found a confiding Red-capped Robin to photograph. At Nerren Nerren rest camp they had left many shrubs and trees again, so there were birds like White-browed Babbler and Rufous Whistler that were easy to see. A rest stop NE corner of Kalabarri NP was quite the opposite, it must be one of the most rubbish strewn stops I’ve seen, on top of that there had been a small fire at the rest area. The surrounding scrub was okay, but it was too hot now, so I didn’t get many birds, this is also the start of the cropping area and there was nothing in the barren field here. We headed west into Kalbarri NP proper and had a look at Ross Graham Lookout, nothing spectacular, but a nice walk down to the river, where a few birds were active. Not far west a gravel pit Kalbarri NP was good enough to stop for the night. The scrub is a bit low here so the wind that comes howling out of the south every afternoon was unavoidable. This meant that the only birds that were active were some White-fronted Honeyeaters, not the prettiest birds to look at all afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

                          Verticordia

                          Calothamnus and Verticordia

29/11     253km

I found some White-cheeked Honeyeaters in the morning and whilst I was crouched down trying to sort out a wren’s ID one fed from a Banksia not far away, so this often shy bird got its photo taken. Otherwise the shrubland was rather quiet despite quite a few flowers still on show. We stopped at Natural Bridge Kalbarri NP, the more spectacular shot though was of Castle Cove, again the birding wasn’t great with a few coastal Kestrels one of the few to be found here. Park Bay Hutt Lagoon was rubbish strewn despite having a rubbish bin, there was a nest with 2 Brown Goshawk chicks in and a mother calling nearby. Protheroe Rd Nabawa was mostly farmland with a small patch of habitat. We filled one tank up at the Puma servo in S Geraldton at $1.554cpl and went down to Cape Burney Greenough river. The wind here was awful with a lone sand blasted Sanderling on the beach and no people. The shire here has done a very stupid thing, they have put up signs warning of waders and what to do to not disturb them as they feed, one of the points is keep your dog on a lead, so far brilliant, right next to this sign is the regulations for the beach, no driving no camping etc, and right there it states that the beach is an off leash area for dogs! What! So much for looking after the waders guys. We stopped at a slightly less windy Crampton rest area.

White-cheeked Honeyeater feeding on Banksia

Castle Cove

30/11 241km

The road was too busy last night and the rest stop too popular with truckies, so with the continuing strong winds it was another poor night’s sleep. There is mostly birdless barren wheatfields here with a few trees, so not great birding. We took the smaller road up to Table Top rd Allanooka Rd which had a wider verge of remnant habitat in the usual barren fields, the habitat was jammed full of birds feeding on the nectar of the shrub’s flowers including some Black Honeyeaters. Further along the road is Depot Hill reserve with a running stream, so quite a few bush birds here. Further along still is Yandanooka which is mostly open space, but there’s a well vegetated garden and some remnant woodland across the railway tracks here. There were some Tree martins nesting. We went down to the bottom of the Yarra Yarra CP which must be a joke of a conservation park as it only covers the salt lake which really doesn’t need conserving, all the land around has been cleared for farming, leaving a thin line of remnant woodland here around the lake, it was now quite warm and the wind was starting to pick up again so I didn’t find many birds. We had lunch at Tathra NP 1, there is still some flowering going on here but only some Brown Honeyeaters and Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters to take advantage of it. By now the wind was roaring out of the south again, so when we arrived at Lake Indoon camp and found that there were no fees, we decided to stop early and found a camp spot out of the wind at the west end of the camp. I had heard some strange cluncking as we took off and stopped, and found that the nut to my towing system had come loose. It did that every now and then on the old Amarok, but it had a long tow lip so there was no probs, this car has a short tow lip, my tow system is a Treg hitch and the previous owner for some reason had cut off the lugs on the side of the hitch, so now when it comes loose it is able to swivel around, and with the short tow lip the hitch bangs into the back of the car’s bumper bar, so I now have a few dents in the back of the car, I’m not having a lot of luck with this car. I tightened up the bolt and spent the rest of the avo relaxing, later I had a shower which is cold but not horribly so and salty, too salty to get any lather.

1/12 259km

I found a Gilbert’s Whistler on my morning round, otherwise ordinary birds. Went down to Coolimba beach, a pleasant little spot, on my way out I thought I could get over a sandy track to save reversing, I was wrong and we got bogged in the sand, so I let the tyres down and we struggled out, though my diff-locks didn’t work until I’d freed myself, not very useful! We had a look at the pretty little Dynamite Bay Green Head, where I found some unusually tame Southern Emu-wrens in the heathland near the lookout, then Drover’s Cave NP 1. The track in was soft sand so we parked out on the main road and walked in to do the survey. We had lunch at Kangaroo Point Nambung NP, during the survey I had crouched under a bush to watch an Inland Thornbill and White-browed Scrubwren feed, I was most of the way through my lunch when something crawled in behind my ear, I managed to grab it and found a miniature tick perhaps 1mm wide, I quickly stripped outside the caravan and found 30 or so more of them crawling around my clothes and one big one that I’m guessing had arrived on me and then sent her young off to feed on me, only one managed to get me, and it was the only one to die, the others we flicked off into the scrub. I found another one once I’d got my clothes on which which was a worry. We drove up to the Pinnacles walk Nambung NP,  which has a day fee and went for a walk around them, they aren’t exactly spectacular but they are fascinating, and they cover a huge area, there are thousands of them. Down on the Wedge Island road at Wanagarren CP 1 there were some Emus, we’ve been seeing a few more down south, they were non-existent up north, all been shot in non-traditional method by the T/Os no doubt. Couldn’t resist a late look at Seabird and nearly got through the survey without seeing one, but right at the end a pair of Silver Gulls flew into the area. We stopped at Gin Gin Ck Neargabby at 18.00 and had 23sp by dark, which wasn’t long, with Red-capped Parrot and Western Corella, and the first White-backed Swallow for this trip. All afternoon every little itch had to be investigated but apart from another large tick found on Bev’s seat we have been tickless.

Blue Ringtail

                                                          Blue Ringtails

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Southern Emu-wren

The Pinnacles Nambung NP

Satin Azure

                                           

Grey Fantail

Red-capped Parrot

                                                       Western Corella

2/12  71km

In the morning I realized that I had 3 ticks in me, so we removed them, yesterday’s one is getting uncomfortable and may be infected, we’ll see over the next few days. When I got back from my walk I found another 2 ticks in me, I hope that’s all! We did the short drive to Yanchep NP lake and went for the walk around the lake which was a bit disappointing as there were no views of the lake, the bushland though was good and we got quite a few birds, we then relaxed by the lake which is very low, with not many birds on it, a lone Pelican though was feasting on the fish almost having a 100% success rate on its lunges. After lunch we did the short drive down to Perth to stay at Emma and Jim’s.

Photos from Herdsman Lake S Perth

Photos from Lake Joondalup Perth

Photos from Thomson’s Lake Perth

Photos from Rottnest Island

Bird list for the trip including time in Perth post the trip. % is of the 297 surveys done. B is for breeding.

• Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae 1 (0.44%)
• Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna eytoni 4 (1.75%)
• Wandering Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna arcuata 1 (0.44%)
• Blue-billed Duck Oxyura australis 1 (0.44%)
• Pink-eared Duck Malacorhynchus membranaceus 7 (3.06%) (B)
• Black Swan Cygnus atratus 15 (6.55%) (B)
• Radjah Shelduck Radjah radjah 1 (0.44%)
• Australian Shelduck Tadorna tadornoides 15 (6.55%)
• Hardhead Aythya australis 19 (8.30%)
• Australasian Shoveler Spatula rhynchotis 6 (2.62%)
• Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa 30 (13.10%) (B)
• Grey Teal Anas gracilis 26 (11.35%)
• Freckled Duck Stictonetta naevosa 4 (1.75%)
• Musk Duck Biziura lobata 7 (3.06%)
• Australian Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata 11 (4.80%)
• Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus 1 (0.44%)
• Stubble Quail Coturnix pectoralis 1 (0.44%)
• Brown Quail Synoicus ypsilophora 7 (3.06%)
• Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus 1 (0.44%)
• Australasian Grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae 13 (5.68%) (B)
• Hoary-headed Grebe Poliocephalus poliocephalus 4 (1.75%)
• Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus 7 (3.06%) (B)
• Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis 7 (3.06%)
• Laughing Dove Streptopelia senegalensis 13 (5.68%)
• White-quilled Rock-Pigeon Petrophassa albipennis 1 (0.44%)
• Spinifex Pigeon Geophaps plumifera 10 (4.37%)
• Common Bronzewing Phaps chalcoptera 8 (3.49%)
• Brush Bronzewing Phaps elegans 1 (0.44%)
• Flock Bronzewing Phaps histrionica 1 (0.44%)
• Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes 41 (17.90%)
• Diamond Dove Geopelia cuneata 19 (8.30%)
• Peaceful Dove Geopelia placida 38 (16.59%)
• Bar-shouldered Dove Geopelia humeralis 15 (6.55%)
• Torresian Imperial-Pigeon Ducula spilorrhoa 1 (0.44%)
• Pheasant Coucal Centropus phasianinus 10 (4.37%)
• Eastern Koel Eudynamys orientalis 3 (1.31%)
• Channel-billed Cuckoo Scythrops novaehollandiae 4 (1.75%)
• Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo Chalcites basalis 2 (0.87%)
• Black-eared Cuckoo Chalcites osculans 1 (0.44%)
• Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Chalcites lucidus 2 (0.87%)
• Brush Cuckoo Cacomantis variolosus 4 (1.75%)
• Pallid Cuckoo Heteroscenes pallidus 8 (3.49%)
• Australian Bustard Ardeotis australis 5 (2.18%)
• Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides 7 (3.06%) (B)
• Spotted Nightjar Eurostopodus argus 1 (0.44%)
• Australian Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles cristatus 1 (0.44%)
• Buff-banded Rail Hypotaenidia philippensis 6 (2.62%)
• Australian Spotted Crake Porzana fluminea 4 (1.75%)
• Spotless Crake Zapornia tabuensis 2 (0.87%)
• Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio 13 (5.68%) (B)
• Dusky Moorhen Gallinula tenebrosa 7 (3.06%) (B)
• Black-tailed Native-hen Tribonyx ventralis 1 (0.44%)
• Eurasian Coot Fulica atra 23 (10.04%) (B)
• Brolga Antigone rubicunda 5 (2.18%)
• Bush Stone-curlew Burhinus grallarius 3 (1.31%)
• Australian Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus longirostris 10 (4.37%)
• Sooty Oystercatcher Haematopus fuliginosus 2 (0.87%)
• Banded Stilt Cladorhynchus leucocephalus 2 (0.87%)
• Red-necked Avocet Recurvirostra novaehollandiae 2 (0.87%)
• Black-winged Stilt Himantopus leucocephalus 22 (9.61%)
• Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola 8 (3.49%)
• Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva 2 (0.87%)
• Red-capped Plover Charadrius ruficapillus 13 (5.68%)
• Lesser Sand Plover Charadrius mongolus 5 (2.18%)
• Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii 5 (2.18%)
• Black-fronted Dotterel Elseyornis melanops 17 (7.42%)
• Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles 8 (3.49%)
• Red-kneed Dotterel Erythrogonys cinctus 11 (4.80%)
• Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus 14 (6.11%)
• Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis 1 (0.44%)
• Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica 5 (2.18%)
• Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa 3 (1.31%)
• Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres 7 (3.06%)
• Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris 2 (0.87%)
• Red Knot Calidris canutus 1 (0.44%)
• Ruff Calidris pugnax 1 (0.44%)
• Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata 5 (2.18%)
• Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea 2 (0.87%)
• Long-toed Stint Calidris subminuta 1 (0.44%)
• Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis 7 (3.06%)
• Sanderling Calidris alba 1 (0.44%)
• Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos 1 (0.44%)
• Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus 2 (0.87%)
• Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 19 (8.30%)
• Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes 13 (5.68%)
• Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 14 (6.11%)
• Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola 5 (2.18%)
• Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis 1 (0.44%)
• Little Button-quail Turnix velox 4 (1.75%)
• Australian Pratincole Stiltia isabella 2 (0.87%)
• Silver Gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae 38 (16.59%)
• Pacific Gull Larus pacificus 2 (0.87%)
• Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus 2 (0.87%)
• Little Tern Sternula albifrons 5 (2.18%)
• Fairy Tern Sternula nereis 2 (0.87%) (B)
• Australian Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon macrotarsa 11 (4.80%)
• Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia 8 (3.49%) (B)
• Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida 12 (5.24%)
• Common Tern Sterna hirundo 3 (1.31%)
• Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis 3 (1.31%)
• Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii 10 (4.37%) (B)
• Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus 2 (0.87%)
• Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus 23 (10.04%)
• Australian Little Bittern Ixobrychus dubius 2 (0.87%)
• Black Bittern Ixobrychus flavicollis 1 (0.44%)
• Nankeen Night-Heron Nycticorax caledonicus 14 (6.11%)
• Striated Heron Butorides striata 6 (2.62%)
• White-necked Heron Ardea pacifica 6 (2.62%)
• Great Egret Ardea alba 17 (7.42%)
• Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia 2 (0.87%)
• White-faced Heron Egretta novaehollandiae 26 (11.35%)
• Little Egret Egretta garzetta 12 (5.24%)
• Eastern Reef Egret Egretta sacra 11 (4.80%) (B)
• Australian White Ibis Threskiornis moluccus 25 (10.92%)
• Straw-necked Ibis Threskiornis spinicollis 16 (6.99%)
• Yellow-billed Spoonbill Platalea flavipes 9 (3.93%) (B)
• Royal Spoonbill Platalea regia 2 (0.87%)
• Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus 14 (6.11%)
• Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel 2 (0.87%)
• Australasian Gannet Morus serrator 1 (0.44%)
• Brown Booby Sula leucogaster 1 (0.44%)
• Little Pied Cormorant Microcarbo melanoleucos 24 (10.48%)
• Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 5 (2.18%)
• Little Black Cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris 23 (10.04%)
• Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax varius 10 (4.37%)
• Australasian Darter Anhinga novaehollandiae 18 (7.86%)
• Osprey Pandion haliaetus 9 (3.93%)
• Oriental Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorynchus 2 (0.87%)
• Square-tailed Kite Lophoictinia isura 2 (0.87%)
• Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax 6 (2.62%)
• Little Eagle Hieraaetus morphnoides 1 (0.44%)
• Swamp Harrier Circus approximans 9 (3.93%)
• Spotted Harrier Circus assimilis 6 (2.62%)
• Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus 15 (6.55%) (B)
• Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrocephalus 2 (0.87%)
• White-bellied Sea-Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster 7 (3.06%)
• Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus 37 (16.16%) (B)
• Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus 6 (2.62%)
• Black Kite Milvus migrans 10 (4.37%)
• Barn Owl Tyto alba 1 (0.44%)
• Barking Owl Ninox connivens 3 (1.31%)
• Southern Boobook Ninox boobook 8 (3.49%)
• Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus 39 (17.03%)
• Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis 14 (6.11%)
• Sacred Kingfisher Todiramphus sanctus 38 (16.59%)
• Red-backed Kingfisher Todiramphus pyrrhopygius 6 (2.62%)
• Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae 10 (4.37%)
• Blue-winged Kookaburra Dacelo leachii 24 (10.48%)
• Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides 23 (10.04%) (B)
• Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo 1 (0.44%)
• Australian Hobby Falco longipennis 10 (4.37%)
• Brown Falcon Falco berigora 8 (3.49%)
• Grey Falcon Falco hypoleucos 1 (0.44%)
• Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 4 (1.75%)
• Cockatiel Nymphicus hollandicus 14 (6.11%) (B)
• Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii 12 (5.24%) (B)
• Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo Zanda latirostris 6 (2.62%) (B)
• Galah Eolophus roseicapilla 45 (19.65%) (B)
• Long-billed Corella Cacatua tenuirostris 1 (0.44%)
• Western Corella Cacatua pastinator 1 (0.44%)
• Little Corella Cacatua sanguinea 52 (22.71%) (B)
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita 1 (0.44%)
• Red-winged Parrot Aprosmictus erythropterus 9 (3.93%)
• Red-capped Parrot Purpureicephalus spurius 4 (1.75%)
• Northern Rosella Platycercus venustus 3 (1.31%)
• Western Rosella Platycercus icterotis 3 (1.31%)
• Australian Ringneck Barnardius zonarius 34 (14.85%) (B)
• Varied Lorikeet Psitteuteles versicolor 2 (0.87%)
• Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus moluccanus 11 (4.80%) (B)
• Red-collared Lorikeet Trichoglossus rubritorquis 16 (6.99%)
• Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus 14 (6.11%) (B)
• Western Bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus guttatus 2 (0.87%)
• Great Bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis 11 (4.80%)
• Rufous Treecreeper Climacteris rufus 6 (2.62%)
• Black-tailed Treecreeper Climacteris melanurus 1 (0.44%)
• Blue-breasted Fairy-wren Malurus pulcherrimus 2 (0.87%)
• Variegated Fairy-wren Malurus lamberti 36 (15.72%)
• Splendid Fairy-wren Malurus splendens 14 (6.11%) (B)
• Red-backed Fairy-wren Malurus melanocephalus 15 (6.55%)
• White-winged Fairy-wren Malurus leucopterus 25 (10.92%)
• Southern Emu-wren Stipiturus malachurus 1 (0.44%)
• Black Honeyeater Sugomel niger 3 (1.31%)
• Silver-crowned Friarbird Philemon argenticeps 3 (1.31%)
• Little Friarbird Philemon citreogularis 37 (16.16%)
• Banded Honeyeater Cissomela pectoralis 4 (1.75%)
• Brown Honeyeater Lichmera indistincta 51 (22.27%)
• New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae 7 (3.06%)
• White-cheeked Honeyeater Phylidonyris niger 2 (0.87%)
• Blue-faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis 3 (1.31%)
• Black-chinned Honeyeater Melithreptus gularis 2 (0.87%)
• Brown-headed Honeyeater Melithreptus brevirostris 1 (0.44%) (B)
• White-throated Honeyeater Melithreptus albogularis 8 (3.49%)
• White-naped Honeyeater Melithreptus lunatus 3 (1.31%)
• Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Glyciphila melanops 2 (0.87%)
• Pied Honeyeater Certhionyx variegatus 5 (2.18%)
• Rufous-throated Honeyeater Conopophila rufogularis 18 (7.86%)
• Bar-breasted Honeyeater Ramsayornis fasciatus 2 (0.87%)
• Crimson Chat Epthianura tricolor 11 (4.80%) (B)
• White-fronted Chat Epthianura albifrons 1 (0.44%)
• White-gaped Honeyeater Stomiopera unicolor 8 (3.49%)
• White-lined Honeyeater Microptilotis albilineata 1 (0.44%)
• Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Acanthagenys rufogularis 16 (6.99%)
• Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata 24 (10.48%) (B)
• Singing Honeyeater Gavicalis virescens 89 (38.86%) (B)
• Grey-headed Honeyeater Ptilotula keartlandi 6 (2.62%)
• Yellow-plumed Honeyeater Ptilotula ornata 5 (2.18%) (B)
• Grey-fronted Honeyeater Ptilotula plumula 2 (0.87%)
• Yellow-tinted Honeyeater Ptilotula flavescens 14 (6.11%)
• White-plumed Honeyeater Ptilotula penicillata 31 (13.54%)
• White-fronted Honeyeater Purnella albifrons 6 (2.62%)
• Yellow-throated Miner Manorina flavigula 36 (15.72%)
• Red-browed Pardalote Pardalotus rubricatus 8 (3.49%)
• Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus 30 (13.10%) (B)
• Green-backed Gerygone Gerygone chloronota 2 (0.87%)
• White-throated Gerygone Gerygone olivacea 5 (2.18%)
• Large-billed Gerygone Gerygone magnirostris 1 (0.44%)
• Dusky Gerygone Gerygone tenebrosa 5 (2.18%)
• Mangrove Gerygone Gerygone levigaster 2 (0.87%)
• Western Gerygone Gerygone fusca 22 (9.61%)
• Weebill Smicrornis brevirostris 48 (20.96%) (B)
• Redthroat Pyrrholaemus brunneus 2 (0.87%)
• Rufous Fieldwren Calamanthus campestris 4 (1.75%)
• White-browed Scrubwren Sericornis frontalis 15 (6.55%)
• Southern Whiteface Aphelocephala leucopsis 1 (0.44%)
• Yellow-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza chrysorrhoa 11 (4.80%)
• Inland Thornbill Acanthiza apicalis 10 (4.37%)
• Slender-billed Thornbill Acanthiza iredalei 1 (0.44%)
• Chestnut-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza uropygialis 11 (4.80%)
• Western Thornbill Acanthiza inornata 2 (0.87%)
• Grey-crowned Babbler Pomatostomus temporalis 23 (10.04%)
• White-browed Babbler Pomatostomus superciliosus 6 (2.62%)
• Varied Sittella Daphoenositta chrysoptera 3 (1.31%)
• Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Coracina novaehollandiae 47 (20.52%)
• White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Coracina papuensis 8 (3.49%)
• White-winged Triller Lalage tricolor 26 (11.35%)
• Varied Triller Lalage leucomela 1 (0.44%)
• Gilbert’s Whistler Pachycephala inornata 1 (0.44%)
• Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris 60 (26.20%) (B)
• White-breasted Whistler Pachycephala lanioides 1 (0.44%)
• Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis 1 (0.44%) (B)
• Mangrove Golden Whistler Pachycephala melanura 3 (1.31%)
• Grey Shrike-thrush Colluricincla harmonica 32 (13.97%) (B)
• Sandstone Shrike-thrush Colluricincla woodwardi 1 (0.44%)
• Crested Bellbird Oreoica gutturalis 7 (3.06%)
• Chiming Wedgebill Psophodes occidentalis 10 (4.37%)
• Olive-backed Oriole Oriolus sagittatus 7 (3.06%)
• Yellow Oriole Oriolus flavocinctus 3 (1.31%)
• Grey Currawong Strepera versicolor 2 (0.87%)
• Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen 28 (12.23%) (B)
• Pied Butcherbird Cracticus nigrogularis 37 (16.16%)
• Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus 21 (9.17%) (B)
• Masked Woodswallow Artamus personatus 6 (2.62%)
• Dusky Woodswallow Artamus cyanopterus 4 (1.75%)
• Black-faced Woodswallow Artamus cinereus 11 (4.80%)
• Little Woodswallow Artamus minor 5 (2.18%)
• White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucorynchus 11 (4.80%) (B)
• Spangled Drongo Dicrurus bracteatus 1 (0.44%)
• Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys 72 (31.44%)
• Mangrove Grey Fantail Rhipidura phasiana 4 (1.75%)
• Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa 24 (10.48%)
• Torresian Crow Corvus orru 48 (20.96%) (B)
• Little Crow Corvus bennetti 18 (7.86%) (B)
• Australian Raven Corvus coronoides 36 (15.72%)
• Leaden Flycatcher Myiagra rubecula 5 (2.18%)
• Shining Flycatcher Myiagra alecto 1 (0.44%)
• Restless Flycatcher Myiagra inquieta 21 (9.17%)
• Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca 71 (31.00%)
• Scarlet Robin Petroica multicolor 2 (0.87%)
• Red-capped Robin Petroica goodenovii 12 (5.24%)
• Jacky Winter Microeca fascinans 4 (1.75%)
• Buff-sided Robin Poecilodryas cerviniventris 1 (0.44%)
• Western Yellow Robin Eopsaltria griseogularis 1 (0.44%)
• White-breasted Robin Quoyornis georgianus 1 (0.44%)
• Hooded Robin Melanodryas cucullata 1 (0.44%)
• Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum 25 (10.92%)
• Painted Finch Emblema pictum 1 (0.44%)
• Crimson Finch Neochmia phaeton 5 (2.18%)
• Star Finch Neochmia ruficauda 2 (0.87%)
• Long-tailed Finch Poephila acuticauda 5 (2.18%)
• Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata 48 (20.96%) (B)
• Double-barred Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii 7 (3.06%)
• Australasian Pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae 15 (6.55%)
• Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava 1 (0.44%)
• Horsfield’s Bushlark Mirafra javanica 4 (1.75%)
• Golden-headed Cisticola Cisticola exilis 3 (1.31%)
• Brown Songlark Cincloramphus cruralis 3 (1.31%)
• Rufous Songlark Cincloramphus mathewsi 12 (5.24%)
• Little Grassbird Poodytes gramineus 5 (2.18%)
• Spinifexbird Poodytes carteri 2 (0.87%)
• Australian Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus australis 14 (6.11%)
• White-backed Swallow Cheramoeca leucosterna 1 (0.44%)
• Fairy Martin Petrochelidon ariel 27 (11.79%) (B)
• Tree Martin Petrochelidon nigricans 20 (8.73%)
• Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena 27 (11.79%) (B)
• Yellow White-eye Zosterops luteus 9 (3.93%)
• Silvereye Zosterops lateralis 29 (12.66%) (B)
• Domestic Duck 1 (0.44%)

If you would like to contribute the the well being of this world, our world, your world, an easy and effective way to do it is to join a quality environmental group. There are many spread across the world all plugging away trying to make the world a better place for wildlife. We belong to Birdlife Australia, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). You can donate your time and or money to these and many others knowing that the world will be a slightly better place because of your effort.