Australia (Late Summer 2001)
I had my first birding experience in Australia late in the austral
summer of 2001. I had business in Sydney, Nowra, Adelaide, Hobart, and
Melbourne between Feb. 11 and Feb. 21 and managed to do some birding in
and around each of those places. After completing my business, I stuck
around until Mar. 3 and did some exploring between Melbourne and
southeastern Queensland. I drove about 6500 km. Due to the extensive
driving, hot weather, and lateness in the breeding season, I
managed to see only 180 species. But it was a nice introduction to the birds
of Australia. I used Morcombe’s recently published “Field Guide to
Australian Birds,” which is one of the best field guides I’ve seen.
The text and maps are conveniently located on the pages facing the
illustrations, which are excellent. The maps have the useful feature of
including not only the overall range but also the range of greatest
abundance. Since the opportunity for the trip arose only a week before
departing, I didn’t have much time to study up on the birds of
Australia. The first thing that came to mind was bowerbirds. I had seen
a fascinating documentary on them years ago and was looking forward to
seeing them more than anything else. I was also hoping to see
lyrebirds, which turned out to be an unexpected surprise since I wasn’t
aware of their amazing talents at mimicry.
I arrived in Sydney on 2/11 and drove straight to Centennial Park,
which is an excellent place to get to know common species. I saw Black
Swan, Pacific Black Duck, Musk Duck, Australasian Grebe, Little Pied
Cormorant, Darter, Masked Lapwing, Silver Gull, Australian White Ibis,
Dusky Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Crested Pigeon, Sulphur-crested
Cockatoo, Superb Fairy-Wren, Red Wattlebird, Noisy Miner, New Holland
Honeyeater, Willie Wagtail, Magpie Lark, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike,
Australian Magpie, Australian Raven, Welcome Swallow, and Silvereye.
That afternoon, I went to Cumberland State Forest and saw Galah,
Rainbow Lorikeet, Crimson Rosella, Laughing Kookaburra, Bell Miner, and
Pied Currawong. After completing my business on 2/12, I stopped at the
Royal Botanical Gardens and saw the Flying Foxes that roost near the
palm grove. I also fed the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. I walked along a
fence where a row of them were perched and fed a few peanuts to each
one. But then a wise guy got the idea to reach out and a firmly grab my
hand so I couldn’t move on to the next bird. It released my hand after
finishing off all the peanuts. This was my first experience of being
held prisoner by a bird. On 2/13, I drove down to Nowra for business
and made a brief stop at Bass Point on the way. I saw Wedge-tailed
Shearwater, Great Cormorant, Australian Pelican, Black-shouldered Kite,
Nankeen Kestrel, Crested Tern, Kelp Gull, White-throated Needletail,
White-browed Scrubwren, Gray Fantail, and Red-browed Finch.
I had a free day on 2/14 and visited the Capertee Valley on the advice
of Tony Palliser. This excellent location is across the Blue Mountains
from Sydney. Take the motorway west to Lithgow, go north on Rte. 86 to
Capertee, and then take the tourist road that goes east to Glen Davis.
There is good birding all along this 35-km stretch. I made a few stops
on Rte. 86 and saw kangaroos in the wild for the first and also saw
Gang-gang Cockatoo, White-throated Treecreeper, Noisy Friarbird (it was
fun to watch a gang of them foraging for insects), and Scarlet Robin.
Along the tourist road, I saw Variegated Fairy-Wren, Spotted Pardalote,
Brown Thornbill, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, White-plumed Honeyeater,
Eastern Yellow Robin, Gray-crowned Babbler, Rufous Whistler, Restless
Flycatcher, Dusky Woodswallow (quite an interesting bird), Pied
Butcherbird, Australian Pipit, Zebra Finch, Double-barred Finch,
Plum-headed Finch, Diamond Firetail, and Fairy Martin. On the way back
to Sydney late that afternoon, I made a few brief stops in the Blue
Mountains, including Blue Gum Swamp, and saw Yellow-tailed Black
Cockatoo, Australian King Parrot, Eastern Rosella, Eastern Spinebill,
and Eastern Whipbird. I traveled to Adelaide on 2/15.
On the way to a meeting on 2/16, I made a brief stop at a small marsh
that is located next to the road between Adelaide and Salisbury and saw
Great Egret, White-faced Heron, Black-winged Stilt, Black-fronted
Dotterel, and Clamorous Reed-Warbler. On 2/17, I visited Cleland
National Park, which is just outside Adelaide, and the Victor Harbor
area, which is about 80 km south of Adelaide. It was hot that morning
at Cleland, where I saw “Adelaide” Rosella, Crescent Honeyeater, Golden
Whistler, and Tree Martin. A Brown Snake crossed the trail just ahead
of me. I made it to Victor Harbor early in the afternoon and took a
walk out to Granite Island, where I saw two immature Little Penguins in
a crevice between two boulders, Black-faced Cormorant, and Singing
Honeyeater. I saw an Australian Hobby on the way back to the car. I
stopped at a marsh on the way back to Adelaide and saw a Southern
Emu-Wren. I travelled to Hobart on 2/18. On the way to a meeting on
2/19, I saw a flock of about fifty Short-tailed Shearwaters from
Battery Point in Hobart. Late that afternoon, I drove up Mount
Wellington and saw Green Rosella, Tasmanian Scrubwren, Tasmanian
Thornbill, Yellow Wattlebird, Yellow-throated Honeyeater, Pink Robin,
Olive Whistler, Black Currawong, Forest Raven, and Blackbird. I had a
free day on 2/20 and visited Hartz Mountains National Park, which is
about an hour and a half south of Hobart, and the coast near
Southport. I picked up Tasmanian Native-Hen, Sooty Oystercatcher,
Striated Fieldwren, Strong-billed Honeyeater, and Goldfinch. I also saw
an Echidna. I traveled to Melbourne that evening.
After completing my business on 2/21, I visited The Birding Shop, which
is located outside Melbourne, and obtained some tapes, books, and
suggestions from Bret Salinger, who was very helpful. On 2/22, I
visited Wilson’s Promontory, with stops at Shallow Inlet, Miller’s
Landing, and Lilly Pilly Gully trail. I saw Emu, Straw-necked Ibis,
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Collared Sparrowhawk, Painted Button-Quail, Pacific
Gull, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Little Wattlebird, Brown-headed
Honeyeater, White-fronted Chat, Gray Currawong, Little Raven, and
Bassian Thrush but was disappointed by the lack of shorebirds. I
departed for Sydney at dusk and was fortunate to find a gas station
just before it closed. I stopped for a short rest near the New South
Wales border and heard Southern Boobook. Early on 2/23, I made a few
stops along the road and heard Eastern Whipbird for the first time. It
seemed that this bird was an amazing ventriloquist until I realized
that the end of the song was given by the female. I also saw Chestnut
Teal, Little Eagle (which gave an impressive call), Striated Thornbill,
and Jacky Winter. I stopped on a grassy hill along the coast and was
approached by two tame Australian Magpies that landed on the ground
within a yard of my feet. I gave these beggars a leftover slice of
pizza, and one of them immediately started singing. After getting their
fill, they started caching the rest of it. I arrived at Royal National
Park late in the afternoon and took a walk along the north part of Lady
Carrington Drive and saw Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Superb Lyrebird, Crested
Shrike-Tit, Gray Shrike-Thrush, Rufous Fantail, and Green Catbird. I
was eager to drive further north that night but couldn’t resist
sticking around to do some more exploring at Royal National Park. On
2/24, I spent several hours on the south half of Lady Carrington Drive
and finally saw a Satin Bowerbird along with Wonga Pigeon, Azure
Kingfisher, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Brown Gerygone, Yellow
Thornbill, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, and Black-faced Monarch. I also
saw another Brown Snake. I was amazed at the beautiful lilac color of
the eyes of the Satin Bowerbird. I kept hearing what seemed to be
someone throwing a stone in the water but finally realized that it was
just the Azure Kingfisher plunging into the water. Late in the day, I
returned for another brief walk on the north part of Lady Carrington
Drive and enjoyed an amazing display by a Superb Lyrebird. I had a nice
frontal view and couldn’t believe the imitations of Laughing
Kookaburra, Pied Currawong, Eastern Whipbird, and other species. This
species is definitely one of the wonders of the bird world.
On 2/25, I drove up to Lamington National Park in southeastern
Queensland. That afternoon, I noticed that Dorrigo National Park is
fairly close to the highway and decided to make a “quick” stop there.
It turned out to be an hour from the highway and it took a few hours to
bird the 5.4 km Rosewood Creek trail, where I picked up White-headed
Pigeon, Logrunner, and something else that I didn’t become aware of
until later. I completed the walk just as it was getting dark and
stayed around for another hour to enjoy the Southern Cross, Coal Sack,
Magellanic Clouds, and other wonders of the southern sky. Since this
stop ended up taking five hours, I would have to drive most of the
night to reach Lamington by daybreak. In the wee hours, I stopped for a
brief rest but was still exhausted. So I stopped at a gas station to
get refreshed. I walked into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and
noticed that I was covered with blood. It looked like I had been shot.
I was still groggy and it seemed like a bad dream. I had no idea what
had happened until I returned to the car and found a bloated leech on
the floor. I had picked up four of them. A few days later, I picked up
four more of them. They are apparently common in damp forests in
eastern Australia. On the road to Lamington, a Tawny Frogmouth flew up
and landed in the beams of my headlights. A Southern Boobook also flew
in front of the car.
I arrived at Lamington at daybreak on 2/26 and saw Australian
Brush-Turkeys, a female Regent Bowerbird, and lots of Satin
Bowerbirds. I took a walk on the Box Forest Circuit and saw
Long-billed Scrubwren, Pale-yellow Robin, and a female Paradise
Riflebird. Later that day, some of the very knowledgeable naturalists
who work at O’Reillys (Annie, Warren, and Michael) gave me some tips
and mentioned that it was the time of year when it’s tough to see male
Regent Bowerbirds. I walked down the Wishing Tree trail hoping to see a
roosting Australian Owlet-Nightjar. I missed that bird but lucked into
a beautiful male Regent Bowerbird. I then checked out an impressive
Satin Bowerbird bower. It was about five feet long and decorated with
blue plastic spoons among other items. Late that afternoon, I took a
walk out Duck Creek Road, which has a stretch of open eucalypt forest,
and saw Pallid Cuckoo (my only cuckoo of the trip) and Torresian Crow.
On the way back, I saw a Carpet Python and heard the eerie calls of
Green Catbirds as they began to roost. After an all-night drive
followed by about 20 km of hiking, I found myself exhausted on 2/27 and
just took some short walks. I spent some time studying the interesting
Logrunner and hand feeding the Australian King Parrots and Crimson
Rosellas near O’Reillys. That evening, I participated in a fabulous
trip to see Glow Worms that Annie led. On the way there, we saw several
Red-necked Pademelons and a Bandicoot. After we turned off our
flashlights, hundreds of Glow Worms on a steep bank on the opposite
side of a creek looked like a starry sky. It was quite a sight. On the
way back, we saw Ringtail Possum, Mountain Brushtail Possum, and a huge
and colorful cricket. We also saw a small bird (possibly a fledgling
Eastern Yellow Robin) asleep on a small branch at eye level just off
the trail. We had a very close view but could not positively identify
it since its head was tucked in. We got a great look at a Tiger Snake
just before getting back to the bus.
I departed Lamington early on 2/28 and made several stops along the
open forest on the way back to Nerang and finally saw a Mistletoebird
as well as a beautiful Pacific Baza. I tried to find the mouth of the
Coomera River to look for shorebirds, but I kept getting lost in the
Disneyfied area know as the Gold Coast. This is the only place in
Australia that I’ve been that I don’t like. There is construction going
on everywhere. While driving around this area, I picked up Pale-headed
Rosella and Blue-faced Honeyeater. A few hours later, I found some good
places along the coast in New South Wales and saw Brahminy Kite,
White-breasted Sea-Eagle, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eastern Curlew, Pied
Oystercatcher, White-fronted Tern, and Little Tern. During the morning
of 3/1, I made several stops in the Myall Lakes area, where I saw Royal
Spoonbill, Peaceful Dove, and Figbird. That afternoon, I took a walk at
the McGraths Hill Sewage Treatment Plant in Windsor and saw Hardhead,
Australasian Shoveler, Brown Falcon, and Little Grassbird. I then
hurried to Moss Vale hoping to arrive at Barren Grounds Bird
Observatory at dusk to look for Ground Parrots but didn’t make it in
time. On the way, I got a close look at some beautiful Red-rumped
Parrots. On 3/2, I headed to Barren Grounds before dawn and arrived
during a light drizzle. I saw Superb Lyrebird, Eastern Bristlebird, and
Beautiful Firetail but missed the Ground Parrots. I departed for
Melbourne around noon. Late that afternoon, I stopped at the Chiltern
Box-Ironbark National Park shortly after crossing the border into
Victoria. At this interesting location, I saw Brown Quail, Blue-winged
Parrot, Brown Treecreeper, Little Friarbird, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater
(which was abundant), White-browed Babbler, and a fox. That evening, I
learned that hotels were packed in the Melbourne area due to a Grand
Prix race. So I stayed at a hotel a few hours east of Melbourne, which
made the long trip back to Virginia the next day a little longer.
Emu, Australian Brush-Turkey, Brown Quail, Black Swan, Musk Duck,
Australian Wood Duck, Gray Teal, Chestnut Teal, Hardhead, Pacific Black
Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Australasian Grebe, Little Penguin,
Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Short-tailed Shearwater, Darter, Great
Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Pied
Cormorant, Black-faced Cormorant, Australian Pelican, Great Egret,
Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egret, White-faced Heron, Royal Spoonbill,
Australian White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, Brahminy Kite, Little Eagle,
Wedge-tailed Eagle, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite,
Pacific Baza, Collared Sparrowhawk, Nankeen Kestrel, Australian Hobby,
Brown Falcon, Dusky Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Tasmanian Native-Hen,
Eurasian Coot, Painted Button-Quail, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eastern Curlew,
Black-winged Stilt, Pied Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher,
Black-fronted Dotterel, Masked Lapwing, Pacific Gull, Kelp Gull, Silver
Gull, Crested Tern, White-fronted Tern, Little Tern, White-headed
Pigeon, Crested Pigeon, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Wonga Pigeon, Rock Dove,
Peaceful Dove, Spotted Turtle-Dove, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Gang-
gang Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Galah, Rainbow Lorikeet,
Australian King Parrot, Green Rosella, Crimson Rosella, Eastern
Rosella, Pale-headed Rosella, Red-rumped Parrot, Blue-winged Parrot,
Pallid Cuckoo, Southern Boobook, Tawny Frogmouth, White-throated
Needletail, Azure Kingfisher, Sacred Kingfisher, Laughing Kookaburra,
Superb Lyrebird, Eastern Bristlebird, Brown Treecreeper, White-throated
Treecreeper, Superb Fairy-Wren, Variegated Fairy-Wren, Southern
Emu-Wren, Spotted Pardalote, Large-billed Scrubwren, Yellow-throated
Scrubwren, White-browed Scrubwren, Tasmanian Scrubwren, Striated
Fieldwren, Brown Gerygone, Yellow Thornbill, Striated Thornbill,
Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Brown Thornbill, Tasmanian Thornbill, Yellow
Wattlebird, Red Wattlebird, Little Wattlebird, Noisy Friarbird, Little
Friarbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Bell Miner, Noisy Miner, Lewin’s
Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Yellow-throated Honeyeater,
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, White-plumed Honeyeater, New Holland
Honeyeater, Crescent Honeyeater, White-throated Honeyeater,
Strong-billed Honeyeater, Brown-headed Honeyeater, Eastern Spinebill,
Mistletoebird, White-fronted Chat, Pink Robin, Scarlet Robin, Eastern
Yellow Robin, Pale-yellow Robin, Jacky Winter, Logrunner, White-browed
Babbler, Gray-crowned Babbler, Eastern Whipbird, Crested Shrike-Tit,
Olive Whistler, Golden Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Gray Shrike-Thrush,
Black-faced Monarch, Restless Flycatcher, Rufous Fantail, Gray Fantail,
Willie Wagtail, Magpie Lark, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Figbird, Dusky
Woodswallow, Gray Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie,
Pied Currawong, Black Currawong, Gray Currawong, Paradise Riflebird,
Australian Raven, Forest Raven, Little Raven, Torresian Crow, Green
Catbird, Regent Bowerbird, Satin Bowerbird, Australian Pipit, Zebra
Finch, Double-barred Finch, Plum-headed Finch, Diamond Firetail,
Beautiful Firetail, Red-browed Finch, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Welcome
Swallow, Tree Martin, Fairy Martin, Clamorous Reed-Warbler, Little
Grassbird, Silvereye, Bassian Thrush, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Starling,
Myna, Blackbird