November 1-21, 2024 with Jay VanderGaast
Twenty years had passed since my last tour with a Denis Kania group, so when the opportunity to head up a tour in Australia came along, I was more than happy to fill the role as leader. Seeing some familiar faces from past travels in Venezuela and Costa Rica, and getting the chance to revisit some favorite, familiar parts of Australia that I hadn't seen in some time were an enticing combination, and this trip brought back some fond memories as we racked up the miles and a fantastic list of awesome birds on our travels across the southern parts of the continent, and on up into the red center. Our trip started out in Sydney, then on to Melbourne, out along the Great Ocean Road, then up through the Grampians to Little Desert National Park and northward to Hattah-Kulkyne NP, before moving westward to Adelaide. From there we flew out to Perth, spending roughly a week seeking out the specialties of the southwest before flying to Alice Springs and wrapping things up with some desert birding in the center of the continent. We covered a lot of ground, and saw a lot of great critters along the way, including a whole bunch of iconic Australian birds, mammals, and reptiles.
Kicking things off in Sydney, we targeted the largest Passerine in the world--Superb Lyrebird--at Royal NP, finding them easily, and adding a great supporting cast of species like Topknot and Wonga Pigeons, Pacific Baza, Satin Bowerbird, Green Catbird, and a surprise flock of White-browed Woodswallows. As a fitting end to this great first day, we tracked down a pair of glowering Powerful Owls in a small city park. Next up was Melbourne, where the Melbourne Cup threw a wrench into our plans, forcing us to improvise a bit on our first day, but we got back on track with our fantastic boat trip to see the Little Penguins in St. Kilda that evening. The next morning saw us do a condensed visit to Werribee that was jam-packed with great birds like Cape Barren Goose, Pink-eared and Musk Ducks, stately Brolgas, Red-necked Avocet, both species of spoonbill, White-fronted Chat, and our only Brown Songlark of the trip. Working westward along the Great Ocean Road, we stopped in for scarce Freckled Ducks at Lake Lorne, the Vulnerable Hooded Plover on the beach at Point Roadknight, and the local Rufous Bristlebird at Split Point before finishing our day with a couple of Koalas at Kennett River!
The next morning saw us finding even more Koalas, plus coastal species like Olive Whistler, Crescent Honeyeater, and Forest Raven, at our picnic breakfast spot, before we turned inland and began to work our way up towards the Grampians. An exploratory side trip to Beauchamp Falls turned out to be a great success as we tracked down 3 species of much-wanted robins, getting beautiful males of Rose and Pink Robins, though just a female of Flame Robin, as we were unable to track down the male that our driver, Andrew, had photographed a few minutes before we returned to the bus. A bonus find on our way there was the first of two Short-beaked Echidnas for the trip! We never count on seeing this cool mammal, so it was a thrill to find. Reaching the Grampians, we saw our first wild Emus, and added great birds like the charming Gang-gang Cockatoo, Long-billed Corella, beautiful Spotted Pardalotes, White-browed Babbler, and a pair of magnificent Wedge-tailed Eagles that circled low overhead as we birded along the evocatively-named Asses Ears Road. Just outside the park, we ran into our first White-winged Choughs, one of the two members of the Australian mud-nesters family, along with a huge Sand Goanna lumbering across a sunburnt pasture.
Wending our way northward, we began birding the arid mallee scrubland near Little Desert NP, basing ourselves at the wonderful Little Desert Lodge (which, tragically, was completely destroyed in a bush fire in January). Here we added plenty of mallee specialties like Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Purple-backed Fairywren, Tawny-crowned and Black-chinned honeyeaters, Shy Heathwren, Rufous Fieldwren, Gilbert's Whistler, Southern Scrub-Robin, the dapper Diamond Firetail, and many more. Continuing north, a stop in at Wyperfeld NP garnered us great looks at Spotted Harrier, Cockatiel, Greater Bluebonnet, Striped Honeyeater, Red-capped Robin, and the skulking Chestnut Quail-Thrush, among other more widespread species. Further north still, we spent a fantastic morning at Hattah-Kulkyne NP where our main targets fell easily. We picked up amazing looks at some elusive species like Striated Grasswren, Mallee Emuwren, and Crested Bellbird, before capping the morning with super views of a stealthy Malleefowl walking inconspicuouly not far off the track, thanks to some incredible spotting by Daryl! One hoped-for bird eluded us here, the gorgeous Pink Cockatoo, but it was one of those days when almost everything falls into place, and as we ate our picnic lunch in Ouyen, we looked up to see a pair of these lovely cockatoos roosting quietly in a hollow tree above the table!
Next up was a brief stop in Adelaide where we picked up things like Black-tailed Nativehen, a bunch of Australian Crakes, Black-faced Cormorant, and Slender-billed Thornbill, before hopping on a plane bound for Perth. We hit the ground running the next morning, and were soon racking up some of the western specialties, finding Red-winged Fairywren, Gilbert's Honeyeater and Western Gerygone at Wungong Dam, Red-capped Parrot and Western Spinebill at Bungendore Park, and Western Rosella, White-breasted Robin and Western Wattlebird at Gleneagles, before arriving at the wonderful Dryandra Woodland. Here we tallied Bush Thick-knee, Regent and Elegant parrots, plenty of lovely Rufous Treecreepers, Varied Sittella, and our only pair of Blue-breasted Fairywrens for the tour. Leaving Dryandra on our way to Albany, the two species of western endemic black-cockatoos had so far eluded us, but as we approached the city we started seeing lots of birds (mainly Western Rosellas, Elegant and Red-cheeked parrots, and Common Bronzewings) feeding on spilled grains along the road, and our first Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos were doing the same.
The next day we were on a mission, a mission to find some of the most elusive birds in western Australia. With that goal in mind, we headed down to Cheyne's Beach early, arriving on site shortly after dawn. The day started nicely with great views of Sooty Oystercatchers and massive Pacific Gulls along the coast. But then the real work began, and we headed inland along a sandy track, finding some cooperative Brown Quails and an injured Red-eared Firetail early on, as well as the first of our three big targets, a very outgoing Western Bristlebird. More Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos entertained us for a bit before the next target appeared, a pair of Western Whipbirds, which were a little less forthcoming. Sadly, the 3rd big target, the always difficult Noisy Scrub-bird, gave us the slip. Though we heard plenty of them, they all remained steadfastly out of sight. But hey, two out of three ain't bad, and we did get a decent look at a Brush Bronzewing in the process! Howling winds made that afternoon difficult, but a pair of Southern Emuwrens in a sheltered spot in Torndirrup NP made the visit a success! We left Albany with just a handful of targets remaining, and time growing short, but things continued going our way (except for our being a few days too late for the Emperor Penguin!) At Rocky Gully, Western Corellas appeared quickly, a striking Western Shriketit came down to eye level to check us out at One Tree Bridge, and the Rock Parrots at Cape Leeuwin couldn't have been easier. Then, on our last day in the west, we finally came across a big flock of Baudin's Black-Cockatoos feeding on the ground on the edge of a vineyard, and followed up with a flock of Australian Fairy Terns on a crowded seashore at Point Walter, leaving just one important target on the table. With Western Yellow Robin on our minds, we used our last remaining time to search a site not far from our hotel. Here, after an hour of traipsing through the open woodland, we finally nailed down a pair of the robins! Success!
The final leg of our journey took us to the "Red Centre" at Alice Springs, for what was to be the toughest birding of the tour. Things warmed up early here, and the heat suppressed activity, making it difficult to find some of the tricky desert targets we hoped for. Plus, the flocks of nomadic birds reported in the region a month earlier had mostly wandered off elsewhere, but such is birding in the desert! We still did quite well, tracking down White-winged Triller and Western Bowerbird-a male defending his intricate avenue bower- at the Olive Pink Botanical Gardens, and Zebra Finch and a nice male Redthroat at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Reserve on our initial afternoon in Alice. The next morning we were off early to Ormiston Gorge, picking up great looks at a rare Black-breasted Kite along the way, then finding a pair of much-wanted Spinifex Pigeons and several Spinifexbirds at the gorge. A lunch stop at Standley Chasm gave us some Little Woodswallows, and a Diamond Dove was a good pick up at Simpson's Gap. They'd apparently been plentiful a month earlier. The following morning saw us heading out along the Santa Teresa Road, where our first roadside stops netted us good views of a pair of scarce White-backed Swallows, Mulga Parrots, Southern Whiteface, and Hooded Robin. Unfortunately, by the time we got to one of the main birding areas, bird activity had ground to a halt, and we couldn't conjure up a handful of rare targets in the spinifex, though, bizarrely, we did see an Australian Owlet-Nightjar fly along the base of a ridge, then perch briefly in a bare tree, in an area without any trees large enough to roost in!
That afternoon, we made a return visit to the Telegraph Station Reserve, where we finally connected with Red-browed Pardalote, then finished the day at the Kunoth Bore, getting fantastic looks at a few Red-backed Kingfishers, and watching a parade of birds come to the dwindling waterhole to drink, a parade that included a solitary Budgerigar, the lone remainder of large flocks here a month ago, and one of our final birds of the trip. I say one of them, as our very last bird came the following morning as we prepared to leave Alice, as a pair of Little Crows were hanging around just outside of the terminal building, our final, final species.
Bird of the trip voting was all over the place for this tour. The 12 first place votes went to 11 different species, with only the Superb Lyrebird taking top spot for two people! And there was no real clear frontrunner as bird of the trip. That said, by the narrowest of margins, Superb Fairywren took that honor, with Superb Lyrebird right on its heels in second. In a three-way tie for third were Pink Cockatoo, Pink Robin, and Malleefowl.
This was such a fun trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time traveling with you all. It was so nice to see several of you after so many years, and wonderful to meet some of the newer Kania groupies. I hope I don't have to wait another 20 years to guide my next Kania group!
Mammals seen on the tour:
Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus): one caught on the roadside near Beauchamp Falls, another foraging near the trail at Mt Arapiles.
Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus): One dashed across the track at Cheyne's Beach.
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus): Two at the Kennett River, then at least 6 (with others heard) the next morning along the Shelly Beach Road.
Common Brush-tailed Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula): One during the owl walk at our Grampians Hotel, and several on the night walk at Little Desert Lodge.
Black-footed Rock-Wallaby (Petrogale lateralis): Great looks at a couple near the waterhole at Simpson's Gap.
Eastern Gray Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus): Plenty grazing and lounging on the hotel grounds in the Grampians, then seen again daily around Alice Springs.
Western Gray Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus): Once we left the Grampians, this was the common large kangaroo we encountered daily until we left Perth.
Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor): A couple in the Grampians, including a beautiful doe with a joey in her pouch along the track at the botanical gardens.
Gray-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus): huge numbers at their roost in Sydney's Centennial Park.
European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus): Introduced. Small numbers scattered throughout the tour.
Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae): A couple of distant ones at Sugarloaf Rock.
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes): Introduced. A couple of sightings at Wyperfeld NP and Hattah-Kulkyne NP.
Wild Horse (Equus ferus): Introduced. Seen by some on the drive out to Ormiston Gorge.
Common Fallow Deer (Dama dama): Introduced. One dashed across the Shelly Beach road ahead of the bus.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/290045
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/au124pTRIPLIST.pdf
Jay