Wonderful Western Australia

Late last November, and into early-December I spent some time in Western Australia. I focused on the southwestern area of the state and on the state endemics of that region, of which there's quite a few.

After arrival in Perth I headed south to the wonderful Dryandra Woodland, home of the gorgeous Numbat (a very rare carnivorous diurnal marsupial), and range of the target endemic birds. I then continued down to the Stirling Ranges before hitting the coast down at the gorgeous Cheynes Beach and Two People's Bay (magical landscape down there) and home of the 'Big Invisible 3' - three of Australia's toughest birds - Western Whipbird, Western Bristlebird, and Noisy Scrub-bird. I then drove north back to Perth via some inland water. It was a great trip, really enjoyable birding and interesting landscapes, the plants seemed more akin to Africa than the rest of Australia! I'll be heading back out to Western Australia at the same time this year so very much looking forward to that! Details here: http://birdingecotours.com/tour/birding-tour-australia-the-southwest-2017?type=country&where=Australia

I managed to get some photos of most of my target birds and I've included these below, along with some notes on those. There was also several species I saw but didn't manage photos of... I actually, eventually got views of all three of the 'Big Invisible 3' but sadly no photos. I had Western Whipbird at Stirling Ranges and Cheynes beach - these two birds are of different sub-species and may warrant full species status, Western Bristlebird was heard at Cheynes Beach and seen very well at Two People's Bay, with Noisy Scrub-bird heard a matter of feet away from me at Cheynes Beach, but no sign as it hid in the undergrowth, only for one to finally give up views later in the day at its usual spot!

But as for the ones I got photos of, see below..... the first set of photographs show some of the main specialist birds of Western Australia (some stretch just into western South Australia also - like the Blue-breasted Fairywren, and Rufous Treecreeper) but the others are totally restricted to Western Australia.

Blue-breasted Fairywren - got some incredible views of this really beautiful species,this male was very interested in my presence.

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo - several large flocks seen while in the south

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo - often found perched

Gilbert's Honeyeater - this one was coming to a waterbath!

Red-capped Parrot - a really beautiful parrot but rather shy when I had my camera to hand!

Red-eared Firetail - better pics required!

Red-winged Fairywren - great views but they weren't looking as flash as the Blue-breasted.

Rufous Treecreeper - very common

Western Corella (local Muir's Corella sub-species)

Western Rosella - a much smaller bird than the other rosellas of Australia

Western Thornbill - fairly common, a typical thornbill....

Western Wattlebird - not as commonly seen as I'd expected but still seen a few times (here with the very abundant Purple-crowned Lorikeet)

Western Whistler - A recent split from Australian Golden Whistler

White-breasted Robin - typically friendly robin but often in the shaded areas

The following species either are of interesting sub-species, and possible potential future splits (mainly with disjunct populations in the east), or just photos I'm pleased with!

Australian Ringneck (Twenty-eight Parrot)

Brown-headed Honeyeater

Bush Stone-curlew

Common Bronzewing

Fan-tailed Cuckoo - this young bird was being looked after by a White-browed Scrubwren

Nankeen Night Heron

Red-capped Robin

Shining Bronze Cuckoo

Splendid Fairywren

Tawny Frogmouth

Varied Sitella

White-browed Scrubwren (Spotted Scrubwren sub-species)

It wasn't all birds though, there were some great animals about too and I got great views of the very rare and localized Numbat, as well as Short-beaked Echidna and Kangaroos!

Numbat - a diurnal carnivorous marsupial specialized on hunting termites!

Short-beaked Echidna

Western Grey Kangaroo

Eastern Australia Highlights

I'm currently about to fly from Adelaide to Brisbane to head off on another Outback adventure, this time through Queensland (and probably dropping into northeastern South Australia again, maybe even New South Wales!). Got a few specific targets in mind and looking forward to seeing some more of this wonderful country.

However, I'm still playing catch-up on my blog so here is a brief summary of my Australia trip from late last year - the trip report that I wrote for this Birding Ecotours trip can be found here: http://birdingecotours.com/trip-reports/australia (October-November 2016).

On this trip I visited Victoria, a brief stop in New South Wales, Queensland (north and south), and then finished up in Tasmania. I've covered these areas a few times now and it's nice to go back to places I'm familiar with and to see the same birds again, as well as get the odd different and new one (be that a lifer, year tick, or even a state bird - keeps it interesting!)... There are so many incredible birds in Australia it's difficult to know where to start.

Below I've included some some photos and notes on some of my highlights (that I managed photos of), of course there were many more I didn't get chance to photograph (refer to the actual trip report for more detail). Hopefully the below will give a good selection of Aussie birds and birding.

Beautiful Firetail is just that, beautiful, and more. A really stunning birds and this year I got my best ever views and photos of it whilst in Tasmania.

Orange-bellied Parrot - one of the rarest birds in the world. Unfortunately as each year passes this species falls closer and closer to extinction (at least as a viable wild population). There are projects underway to help save this species, and I really hope they are a success. I really love this gorgeous little parrot.

Plains-wanderer is one strange bird. Its closest relatives are the Seedsnipes of South America (I'll mention those again when I get round to writing my Peru report!). It's always a very satisfying moment when we see the Plains-wanderer as there is a lot of habitat and not that many birds about, and it's night time too! Think needle in a dark haystack!

Blue-faced Parrotfinch is one of the most-difficult of the Atherton Tablelands/Mount Lewis birds and finally we caught up with some - this was the highlight of my birthday - my third in a row in Australia, this year I'll be somewhere else for my birthday (hint somewhere below!). 

Australian Golden Whistler is a common bird, but it looks stunning and it has a very nice song so it's always nice to re-familiarize myself with this one.  

The Willie Wagtail is a very common bird found throughout most of Australia, here it shows its don't-mess-with-me attitude in mobbing and Australian Hobby!

Black-eared Cuckoo can sometimes be a pain to catch up with so I was very pleased when we got this bird very early on in the tour, and it actually probably ended up being my best views yet.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher is a must-see bird when birding in tropical north Queensland and we did not leave disappointed with some great views of several birds just arrived from New Guinea (Hint my birthday this year will be spent hopefully enjoying some different Paradise-Kingfishers). 

The odd-looking (I think) Cape Barren Goose is an interesting bird and one I enjoy finding whist in southern Australia.

My favourite of the many sub-species of Crimson Rosella this one was down in Victoria and showed remarkably well - a phone-scoped photo taken on my IPhone 5 and Swarovski ATX-95 scope.

Endemic to Tasmania, with a tiny global distribution, the cute little Forty-spotted Pardalote is always a great bird to find.

Not a great photo I know, but this is Glossy Black Cockatoo which is actually very rare and was a lifer for me.

This beast is one of the largest herons in the world, is fairly rare and is best seen in tropical north Queensland, Great-billed Heron.

The Hooded Plover or Hooded Dotterel is an Endangered endemic shorebird found around Australia's coasts. Unfortunately, due to their breeding habitat requirements this puts them in direct competition with many thousands of Australians who also spend a lot of time enjoying the beaches right at the time the plover is nesting.... this species needs more protection. 

Laughing Kookaburra - THE sound of Australia. I love these giant kingfishers!

It is always nice to see a buttonquail and on this day I saw at least three of these Little Buttonquails!

Found this one in Queensland, I'm gradually getting to a place where I'm happy with this photo, but just too much 'stuff' in the way - maybe tomorrow...

Russet-tailed Thrush is one great bird, especially when I found the nest of one (below). We got insane close-up views of this bird feeding away, totally not bothered with us looking at it!

Russet-tailed Thrush on nest in Queensland

Satin Bowerbird - always delivers great views

Often considered one of the most difficult of the Tasmanian endemics to catch up with we again had fantastic views of them (difficult to photograph though in the dark forested gullies they live in!).

Sooty Oystercatcher - a really smart shorebird!

This Spotted Harrier was hunting along a sidetrack off a main road in Queensland, great timing allowed me to pull off and then it dropped down to the ground right near the vehicle. Took this pic through the window as didn't want to flush it/waste time!  

Spotted Pardalotes are common birds and very photogenic, one of my favourite birds in Australia.

Superb Fairywrens are very common birds but I've never got a decent picture of them, I'm getting pleased with this one, but still got a long way to go until I'll be totally happy...

AND FINALLY..... Australian Robins are gorgeous birds, here's a few to end this post but look back soon for my Western Australia post (so many cool birds there!):

Pink Robin from Tasmania where this species showed well. 

Eastern Yellow Robin

Flame Robin

Red-capped Robin

Scarlet Robin