September 27-October 17, 2024 with Chris Benesh & Jesse Fagan
Our trip began in Sydney on a cool, misty morning. We met up mid-morning for our first getting together. We headed over to Centennial Park where we saw a nice mix of birds, including a variety of waterbirds, nesting Australasian Darters, Little Pied and Pied cormorants. Our first kingfisher was a Sacred hanging out over one of the islands. Continuing around the paperbark woodland, we encountered Olive-backed Oriole, Figbird, a nesting Tawny Frogmouth, and a huge colony of Gray-headed Flying-foxes. After a tasty lunch, we headed north of the city center, crossing the famous Harbour Bridge (with a view of the opera house) to Cumberland State Forest, home to a huge colony of Bell Miners. We also had a good luck at Australian Brush-turkey, Eastern Whipbirds, Rainbow, Scaly-breasted, and Musk lorikeets. Not a bad day considering the changeable weather.
The following day was a cool one at The Royal National Park with our guest Steve Anyon-Smith. Most of the birds played well, and topping the highlights was a great study of Superb Lyrebird. Our walk along Lady Carrington Drive had many highlights, including a Beautiful Firetail.
Then it was on to Melbourne where we hit the ground running, heading to the Western Treatment Plant. One of our first birds there was a fabulous Little Eagle that Jesse spotted. It was cool, but conditions were quite good for our time there. Australian Fairy Terns, Australian Crake, Brolga, Red-necked Avocets, both species of spoonbills, Striated Fieldwren, Golden-headed Cisticola were among the highlights. From there were headed back to St. Kilda for a boat ride out to see the Little Penguins nesting on the breakwater there. Over 165 were tallied there.
The next day we headed down to Geelong to look for (and find) several Freckled Ducks at a small lake, and then a flock of Banded Stilts at another wetland. After that, we started our journey along the Great Ocean Road. Conditions were really fabulous. A few albatrosses and gannets were offshore, but it was the Rufous Bristlebird and a family of Hooded Plovers that topped the highlights. A Kelp Gull and a couple of Pacific Gulls were treats at Point Roadknight. Then it was off to Apollo Bay for the night.
The next day we started off with a little bit of birding in Great Otway National Park, where an Olive Whistler and Rose Robin were highlights. Then it was off to Colac for lunch and a scan of the lake. Then on to Lake Purrumbete, where there were a great number of ducks. One of the highlights was a bit group of Australian Terns roosting on the far side of the lake. the grouping was so large it tripped eBird filters. Then it was on to the Grampians where we did a bit of nightbirding after dinner. There were some Brush-tailed Possums and remarkably, a Powerful Owl perched out with the few remains of a possum. Wow!
The weather was starting to change again. The following morning in the Grampians was cold and windy. After a comfort stop at Zumsteins, we birded Asses Ears Road and connected with Buff-rumped Thornbills right away. We also hit Wartook State Forest before heading to Horsham for lunch. After lunch we had a really successful visit to the Mt. Arapiles area where we had stunning Gilbert’s Whistlers and our first Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters. We knocked off Rufous Fieldwren, Slender-billed Thornbill, and Tawny-crowned Honeyeater on our way to the Little Desert Lodge.
The following day we birded around the Little Desert Lodge. Scarlet Robin was an eye-popper. We also birded Four Mile Road near Lake Hindmarsh, and Regent Parrots were a treat there. Unsettled weather was the order of the day, and drizzle and downpours were featured. That evening we did a night walk that produced a Southern Bookbook, some Brush-tailed Possums, and a wonderful Western Pygmy Possum!
The next day we headed to Wyperfeld National Park. A wet start gave way to a fine day. Greater Bluebonnets started things off and then once we got to our birding spot in the park, Erin spotted a Malleefowl crossing the road just ahead of us! We also had nice Chestnut Quail-thrushes and some beautiful Striped Honeyeaters. On our way out of the park we had a wonderful Pink Cockatoo feeding with some Galahs. Then it was on to Mildura with a small detour to get us Orange Chat and White-winged Fairywren.
The 7th of October was the day we birded Hattah-Kulkyne. After enjoying the antics of some Apostlebirds, we hit the spinifex-mallee in search of emuwren and grasswren. The Mallee Emuwren showed up right away and we had fabulous looks. It took a lot more searching before we connected with Striated Grasswren, but wow, the views were insane. After wrapping up there, we spent the afternoon hours making our way to Adelaide for the night.
Our morning in Adelaide began with a visit to the Glenelg shoreline where we watched a huge number of Black-faced Cormorants on Patawalonga Breakwater. There were also lots of Crested Terns, Silver and Pacific gulls, and a few other cormorants. We then headed over to the West Beach Stormwater Basin, which got us Brown Quail, some Black-tailed Native-Hens, another Australian Crake, Black-fronted Dotterel, and a few other goodies. Then we had time for one more site, Oaklands Wetlands and Reserve. We had a small mix of ducks and some really great views of Musk Lorikeets as highlights here. Then it was on to the airport for our flight to Perth.
We met up with our driver Stephen and headed out to Wungong Dam where we spent the morning seeing the first of our western specialties. Splendid and Red-winged fairywrens were new, as was Western Gerygone, Red-capped Parrot, and Gilbert’s Honeyeaters. Then it was off to Bungendore Park where we connected with some wonderful Baudin’s Black-Cockatoos and Western Spinebill. Then lunch in Armadale where there were two Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos right at the shopping mall. Then we made a stop at the Gleneagle Rest Area where we had some furtive Western Wattlebirds and another Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo. Then we had a bit of a drive to Dryandra Woodlands, where we saw a number of new birds, including Blue-breasted Fairywren, Western Yellow Robin, Elegant Parrot, Rufous Treecreeper, and a brief Western Rosella before heading on to Narrogin for the night.
The 10th of October found us back at Dryandra to do some clean up work on some of the specialties. Western Shrike-tit, Western Thornbill were new, though nesting Square-tailed Kites stole the show bird-wise. However, the highlight of the morning was the fabulous encounter with a Numbat that Jesse spotted. WOW!
After Dryandra, we headed to Wagin for White-cheeked Honeyeater then on to Salt River Road for Western Fieldwren before heading to Albany for the night.
The next morning we were off to Cheynes Beach, east of Albany. It is a beautiful, somewhat windy day. We have great looks at Western Bristlebird, but the Noisy Scrubbird and Western Whipbird are heard only. We did see a few Southern Right Whales frolicking in the bay. A brief stop on our way back to Albany produces a couple of Western Rosellas. The afternoon is spent at Torndirrup National Park doing a bit of a sea watch. Mostly Flesh-footed Shearwaters seen from our vantage point.
The 12th of October began with a pre-breakfast walk at Lake Seppings in Albany where we found a Red-eared Firetail that stayed low in the vegetation, making it difficult for some to lay eyes on. A nice smattering of waterfowl were also present. Then it was off to Rocky Gully (with great studies of Western Corella) and a late afternoon stop at Hamelin Bay for Rock Parrots and cooperative Southern Emuwren.
We started October 13th in Margaret River where we picked up our first Nankeen Night Heron and for some a Southwestern Bandicoot (or Quenda) as it is often known by. We saw some breaching Humpback Whales at scenic Sugarloaf Rock, and then headed north to Mandurah at The Chimneys where we had a nice mix of waterbirds, including a big number of Australian Fairy Terns.
October 14th found us flying early from Perth to Alice Springs. After the sticker shock of excess baggage fees, we had a mostly uneventful flight. The weather in Alice Springs was a bit unsettled and it thunder-stormed soon after our arrival. But we made a visit to the Olive Pink Botanic Garden for our first few interior birds. Western Bowerbirds were putting on quite a show. Then we headed over to the Telegraph Station where we had a lot of Cockatiel, Red-browed Pardalote, Gray-crowed Babblers, and a Black-footed Rock Wallaby.
October 15th was our first full day in the red centre, and we headed off to visit Simpsons Gap, Ormiston Gorge, and then a late lunch at Standley Chasm. The highlight of the morning for some wasn’t a bird, but rather a Perentie, Australia’s largest monitor lizard. Spinifex Pigeon, Spinifexbird, Painted Firetail, Dusky Grassbird, Crested Bellbird, and Little Woodswallow were among the many highlights.
October 16th saw us birding down the Santa Teresa Road. Highlights included Banded and Southern whitefaces, Red-backed Kingfisher, Crimson Chat, and Rufous-crowned Emuwren. Our afternoon visit to the sewage ponds is canceled for unknown reasons, and we headed over to Emilys Gap and Jessies Gap for some late afternoon birding to wrap up our birding before our final group dinner.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/278651
-- Chris Benesh