Stunning Mammals & Reptiles of South Australia

I've been lucky and seen some great animals around the world when I've been out on birding trips/holidays such as Orangutans and Proboscis Monkeys in Borneo, Gibbons in SE Asia, the 'Big 5' and lots more in Africa, Iberian Lynx in Spain, Orca's and Bears in/off Canada, and Jaguarundi in Costa Rica. However, last years trip to Australia really got me hooked on non-avian 'targets'... Platypus, Koala, Kangaroos, cool snakes, lizards and frogs... lots of options.

So, this trip to Australia, as well as being focused on the birds I might see (that was my main job!), I was also very keen to try and see lots of other wildlife, inspired by all of the cool things I'd seen last time. I have to thank my friends Dave and Sue in Adelaide, and Rob and Di in Brisbane for helping to inspire me (and getting me to the places to actually be able to look for them, and in most cases for telling me what I was looking at!).

Here are a few of the highlights from my time in South Australia - a couple of nights driving round the Strzelecki Track and while out birding during the day. Pictures below too... Info on other wildlife seen during the Birding Ecotours Australia tour will be in the trip report coming very soon, and details of what I had in Queensland after the tour will be coming to the blog soon too...

Mammals

• AMPURTA (Crest-tailed Mulgara) - Rare and Endangered (also a known-range expansion!) carnivorous marsupial - to top it off, two seen! This is the first confirmed record in the Strzelecki Desert and represents a range extension! Only known previously from recent physical evidence in the form of scats and tracks... 
• Kowari - A Vulnerable carnivorous marsupial, an adult with baby on its back.
• Red Kangaroo - Just the largest living marsupial! 
• Euro - A Vulnerable kangaroo.
• Fat-tailed Dunart - a small carnivorous marsupial.
• Fawn Hopping Mouse - does as its name suggests, found on the gibber plains.
• Dusky Hopping Mouse - as above but found in dune habitat and is considered Vulnerable.
• Sandy Inland Mouse - a small rodent found in the desert.
• Dingo - Primitive dog introduced into Australia many thousands of years ago, some say 4,000, some say 10,000...
• Rabbit - Unfortunately this introduced herbivore is pretty much everywhere...
• 'House' Cat - Unfortunately this is a real problem in Australia, these feral cats are huge and massive killing machines, they would kill at least 7 of the 10 species above it on this list. We even saw one loafing about in a kite nest up a tree...

Reptiles

• Shingleback.
• Central Bearded Dragon.
• Tessellated Gecko.
• Bynoe's Gecko.
• Eyrean Earless Dragon.
• Variegated Dtella.
• Beaded Gecko.
• Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko.
• King Brown 'Mulga' Snake (Dangerously Venomous).
• Myall 'Curl' Snake (Dangerously Venomous).
• Woma (Python) (Rare and Endangered).

Ampurta (Crest-tailed Mulgara) © Andy Walker 2015

Worth mentioning again... This is the first confirmed record in the Strzelecki Desert and represents a range extension! Only known previously from recent physical evidence in the form of scats and tracks... 

Ampurta (Crest-tailed Mulgara) © Andy Walker 2015

Worth mentioning again... This is the first confirmed record in the Strzelecki Desert and represents a range extension! Only known previously from recent physical evidence in the form of scats and tracks... 

Dingo © Andy Walker 2015

Dusky Hopping Mouse (Adult) © Sue Harper 2015

Dusky Hopping Mouse (Baby) © Sue Harper 2015

Feral Cat © Sue Harper 2015

Sandy Inland Mouse © Sue Harper 2015

Beaded Gecko © Andy Walker 2015

Bynoe's Gecko © Andy Walker 2015 

Eyrean Earless Dragon © Andy Walker 2015

King Brown 'Mulga' Snake © Andy Walker 2015

Myall 'Curl' Snake © Andy Walker 2015

Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko © Andy Walker 2015

Tessellated Gecko © Andy Walker 2015

Woma (Python) © Andy Walker 2015

Woma (Pyton) © Andy Walker 2015

South Australia - Hitting The Outback (The Birds)

Before my Birding Ecotours trip to Tasmania and Eastern Australia (Victoria, NSW, Queensland) this October and November (trip report coming to the Birding Ecotours website soon) I met up with my friends Dave and Sue in Adelaide (see here for last years trip report).

We had planned on going on a pelagic but as in 2014 the weather got the better of us and that got cancelled. So after a think about the most productive use of our time we decided to make a quick dash into The Outback to try and find a few birds I needed and to see if we could find any cool reptiles and mammals.

The trip was really successful given the short time we had and we really made the most out of it with birding during the day and herping through most of the night! It was not without suitable reward and we found some really great wildlife.

Some of the birding highlights included: Diamond Dove, Flock Bronzewing, Letter-winged Kite, Black-breasted Buzzard, Little Eagle, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Spotted Harrier, Black Falcon, Buff-banded Rail, Australian Spotted Crake, Banded Lapwing, Australian Pratincole, Little Buttonquail, Blue Bonet (pallescens), Red-rumped Parrot (caeruleus), Budgerigar, Red-backed Kingfisher, Eyrean Grasswren, Red-browed Pardalote, Pied Honeyeater, Crimson Chat, Orange Chat, Chestnut-crowned Babbler, Cinnamon Quail-thrush, White-backed Swallow and Zebra Finch.

Here are a few photos of the birds. I'll do a separate post on the other critters soon... A HUGE THANK YOU to Dave and Sue for again putting me up, driving me round, feeding me, and being a good laugh to hang out with, it was a seriously great trip!

Letter-winged Kite © Andy Walker 2015

Letter-winged Kite © Andy Walker 2015

Letter-winged Kite © Andy Walker 2015

Letter-winged Kite © Andy Walker 2015

Letter-winged Kite © Andy Walker 2015

Australian Pratincole © Andy Walker 2015 

Banded Lapwing © Andy Walker 2015

Black-breasted Buzzard © Andy Walker 2015 (Iphone)

Black Falcon © Andy Walker 2015

Black Kite © Andy Walker 2015

Black-fronted Dotterel © Andy Walker 2015

Budgerigar © Andy Walker 2015

Cinnamon Quail-thrush © Andy Walker 2015

Emu © Andy Walker 2015

Eyrean Grasswren © Andy Walker 2015

Flock Bronzewing © Andy Walker 2015

Little Corella © Andy Walker 2015

Musk Lorikeet © Andy Walker 2015

Rainbow Lorikeet © Andy Walker 2015

Superb Fairywren © Andy Walker 2015

Wedge-tailed Eagle © Andy Walker 2015

Wedge-tailed Eagle © Andy Walker 2015

Whistling Kite © Andy Walker 2015

Zebra Finch © Andy Walker 2015

Letter-winged Kite at dusk © Andy Walker 2015

Australia Happened (again)

Just back from another awesome trip round Australia (South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland). I led a tour for Birding Ecotours and had some free time before and after the tour where I did my own things with my friends in South Australia and Queensland.

Saw a ton of cool birds, including some really rare species, and other highlights included some very rare mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Is it too soon to plan my next trip back there!

Over the next few weeks I'll be putting my trip report online, along with a selection of photos of the above.

Rainbow Lorikeet - an abundant and gaudy parrot

Heading back Down Under

So another trip comes looming (in a good way) round the corner very soon. I'm heading back to Australia for Birding Ecotours for a Tasmania tour followed by a 3 week mainland tour (Victoria, NSW and N & S Queensland). I've also got time before the tour starts in South Australia, and then afterwards in Queensland. I'll try and get some updates on here when I can! Going to be another exciting trip! Hopefully lots more cool birds and wildlife await! Stay tuned....

New Holland Honeyeater - one of my favorites last time! 

In Search of the Endemic Birds of Taiwan

At the weekend I headed down to Cambridge to give my talk 'In Search of the Endemic Birds of Taiwan' to the Oriental Bird Club for their Autumn meeting. It was a humbling experience to be asked to talk to to the group so a massive Thank You for the opportunity. I hope I did ok!!!

There was a wide range of really great, varied, and interesting talks during the day such as:

• 'China's Grippers - a talk on the most sough-after birds of China' by Pete Morris, Bridquest
• 'Baer's Pochard: responding to a critical situation' by Dr Debbie Pain, Director of Conservation at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
• 'In Search of the Endemic Birds of Taiwan' by Andy Walker, Birding Ecotours
• 'Restoration of Indonesian Rainforest - sustainable model or Government whim?' by Andrew Impey, Head of Global Habitats, RSPB
• 'Bangladesh's Spoon-billed Sandpiper and World Shorebirds Day' by Mya-Rose Craig (aka Birdgirl)
• 'Videoing around the Philippines' by Keith Blomerley

The OBC should be commended for such a great job on the day, and no doubt in all the planning before hand. The cakes were a particular highlight! Looking forward to next years meeting already! Really enjoy being part of the OBC!

It was great to meet such a wide range of people, all ultimately with a goal of conserving the special Oriental region. There is a lot of positive stuff going on over there now, but (as in the rest of the world) some pretty horrific and concerning stuff too (Baer's Pochard is in dire straits for example). It was also great to finally properly meet Mya-Rose 'Birdgirl' Craig (and Chris & Helena of course!), Mya was giving a talk on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, a species I'm looking forward to seeing again in the New Year in Thailand during a couple of customized tours.

Here are a few random photos of some of the slides from my talk: 

And although not an endemic it would be rude not to consider the wonderful Fairy Pitta, the main reason I went to Taiwan in the first place, and the best place in the world to see it!

Have to give a huge shout out to everyone who let me use their photos - some of the above are even my own!

Can't wait to get back over to Taiwan for some more great birding - check out the exciting itinerary we have here: http://birdingecotours.com/tours/destination/country/taiwan