Report of a bird-watching trip to the Perth. region of western Australia

Transcription

1 Report of a bird-watching trip to the Perth region of western Australia October 2010 By Robert Oates, United Kingdom of Great Britain Contact: robert.oates1@btinternet.com 1

2 Arrangements This report describes the birds and other wildlife seen during a one week visit to the Perth region of Western Australia in October I had travelled to Perth to attend the 13 th International Riversymposium. This was my first visit to the continent of Australia, so I had made arrangements to stay on for one week to see as many birds and other wildlife as possible. After the symposium finished on Thursday 14 October, I collected a pre-booked campervan from Backpacker Rentals, 471 Great Eastern Highway near Perth airport. This is conveniently located close to Perth Central Caravan Park, where I spent the first and last nights of my birding trip. Apart from one night at the Yanchep Inn, I spent every night in the campervan. This enabled me to be up and out early each day with wildlife literally on my doorstep. There was no problem finding paid caravan parks to stay in, as there are many guides and maps which show their location. There is also an abundance of places to stay overnight off road in this vast and sparsely inhabited region. Weather The weather was fine and dry for the whole period, with midday temperatures averaging 25 degrees Celsius. Nights and mornings were cool, but not unpleasant. The region was in the grip of drought as rainfall has declined by 40% in the past ten years and there had been almost no rain for the past two years, although how this affected my sightings is hard to say. Wildlife On the trip I identified 14 mammal species of which thirteen were lifers, and 4 reptile species all lifers (Annexe A) and 77 bird species, of which 72 were lifers (Annex B). Being mostly alone and on my fist visit to this amazingly different continent there were many birds that I unfortunately failed to identify or see when pointed out to me, so I have not counted them. Although I went no further than 150 km from Perth, there was an abundance of wildlife to see. In fact I did not have time to visit many other good places around Perth such as Herdsman Lake and Rottenest Island. As the majority of soils in Western Australia are poor in nutrients, most plants protect themselves with chemical defences. Consequently, animals are thinly spread, but of high diversity. Wetlands and coastal islands held the most abundance of species. But even in woodlands and open country, the species that I saw were so amazing as to be well worth the effort. Even better, most species of birds and animals were much more approachable and photographable than in Europe. Costs In this economically booming region costs were about the same as in the UK. Hotels were more expensive but petrol was cheaper. Hiring a campervan is the best, easiest and most economical way to see the country. 2

3 Planning your trip There is an abundance of good information, guides and maps available for this area, from the internet and local tourist offices. The Guide to the wildlife of the Perth region by Simon Nevill is a fantastic resource, highly recommended. But be aware that distances are vast in this country and sites that look close on the map can take hours to get too. I chose to spend more time out of the vehicle than in it. That meant that I did not get more than 150 kilometres from Perth but saw a fantastic variety of species in one week. People This trip was made even better by the friendliness and helpfulness of the people everywhere I went. I must especially thank Jill Richardson of Katanning Landcare Centre (kalandcare@westnet.com.au) for putting me in touch with some useful contacts. I must also thank Wayne Elliott, Regional Manager, Wheatbelt Region, Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia (wayne.elliott@dec.wa.gov.au) for his warm hospitality and good advice. Wayne kindly arranged for Matthew Harding, Parks and Visitor Services Officer, to take me with him on his nightly feeding round of the rare native marsupials at the Barna Mia Sanctuary. My thanks are due to Matthew for that glimpse of what unspoilt Australia must have looked like. In Bungendore Forest Park I was kindly helped to identify several difficult small species by Tony Kirby, a researcher with the Cockatoo Project of the Western Australia Museum (akirby@vtown.com.au). At Dryandra Woodlands Reserve, the busy caretaker, of the Lions Club campsite, John Lawson, gave me helpful advice. And at the Congelin Dam campsite I met Colin and Jen Heap (colinheap@iinet.net.au). Colin is an expert local birder who helped me to see many species, though not as many as his quick eyes and ears. Photo: Wandoo woodland at Yanchep national park (R Oates) 3

4 Friday 15 October In the morning I took an early walk around the Perth Central Caravan Park and noted the following bird species (underlined when first seen): Spotted Turtle Dove - 2 Pacific black duck in the swimming pool! 2 Red wattle bird - 3 Rainbow Lorikeet - 3 Australian magpie - 1 Magpie lark - 1 Singing honeyeater 1 Willie wagtail - 1 Photo: The Yanchep Inn, Yanchep National Park (R Oates) Then I drove north for an hour to the Yanchep National Park ( where I saw: Kookaburra 1 Welcome swallow 3 White-cheeked Honeyeater - 1 Red wattled honeyeater 4 Australian Ring-necked parrot (28 th race semitorquatus )- 4 Striated pardalote - 1 Pacific black duck 6 Yellow-billed spoonbill 1 Purple swamphen 6 Whistling Kite 1 Silvereye 3 Australian Shelduck 35 Grey teal 50 + Black-winged stilt 15 Australian raven 4 Galah parrot - 4 4

5 Short-billed (Carnaby s) Black Cockatoo 8 flew in to old trees at the picnic site by the lake at 6pm, and then moved on to roost further away in the forest. Photo: Short-billed (Carnaby s) Black Cockatoo, female (R Oates) Walking around the lake at Yanchep I saw the following reptiles. Black-backed snake - 1 Long-necked turtle - 1 In the trees by the visitors centre there were several Koalas, which were a main reason for visiting this national park. Koalas are not native to western Australia but this could have been my only opportunity to see one in a natural habitat. Also, by the lake in the afternoon there were dozens of very approachable Western (Grey) Kangaroo. This animal has only recently been proven to be a separate species from the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, so is an endemic species to Western Australia. Its long protection at Yanchep has made the species easy to see there, which is not the case elsewhere. Photo: Western (Grey) Kangaroos, male, female and young (R Oates) 5

6 Saturday 16 0ctober I stayed one night at the comfortable Yanchep Inn. After a comfy bed and huge breakfast, a morning stroll around the golf course produced the following new species; but no cassowary, though this is reputed to be the best area to see them: Tree martin many flying around the inn Little black cormorant 7 Australian wood duck 4 Sacred kingfisher 1 After a lunch in the shade of the campervan I drove inland up to the Perth hills. I was heading for the Karakamia Sanctuary of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy ( to book tours). On the way the road ran past the John Forest National Park, where I stopped to observe four huge Red-tailed black Cockatoos which swooped over the road. Photo: Red-tailed Black Cockatoo at John Forest NP (R Oates) At Karakamia I waited on a typical lonely road for the tour guide to turn up at 5.15pm. Karakamia specialises in night spotlighting tours to see the rare marsupials protected behind its electric fence from introduced foxes, cats and other predators. As dusk fell I joined a group of around ten people on a night walk through the reserve. We had good views of the following species, most of which are hard to see elsewhere: Tamar wallaby many Brush-tailed Bettong (Woylie) several Southern Brown Bandicoot (Quenda) - 3 Common Brushtail Possum 5 Western Ringtail Possum 2 Western (Grey) Kangaroo - 2 I spent a quiet night in the campervan outside the gates of Karakamia. 6

7 Sunday 17 October In the morning I walked for four hours slowly around one section of the perimeter fence of Karakamia and saw no humans but noted: Western yellow robin 1 Golden whistler - 1 Common Bronzewing 1 Scarlet Robin (campbelli race) pair Australian ring-necked parrot - several Red-capped parrot 2 Western gerygone 2 White-breasted robin 1 White-naped honeyeater - 1 White-browed scrub wren - 1 I also came across a splendid Gould s Monitor Lizard around three feet long. Photo: Gould s Monitor Lizard (R Oates) In the afternoon I drove down from the Perth Hills to Kelsmscott, near Armadale and stayed at the Kelmscott Caravan Park. There I saw another Southern Brown Bandicoot or Quenda in the native Noongar aboriginal language. It was moving around between the caravans and seemed to live there. So in some places they can survive the predation of cats etc. Photo: Galah parrots (R Oates) 7

8 Monday 18 October My target this morning was the Bungendore Park or State Forest and the Wungong Valley. In fact Bungendore is 500 hectares in size and it took me all morning to get around part of it. I was going to go slowly as usual because everything was new to me. But even so, this is a massive park compared to what we are used to in the UK. On fact it is a forest nature reserve and should be approached as such. When visiting places like this, it is worth taking a compass. Despite there being a system of marked trails I did get lost until I met a dog walker who set me on the right path back to my vehicle. That was fortunate as the day was getting hot and I had no water bottle with me. But in this excellent native forest habitat I saw between and 11.00: White-cheeked honey eater - 1 Brown honey eater - 1 White-naped honeyeater - 1 White-browed scrub wren - 1 Western spinebill - 1 Red-capped parrot - 2 Splendid Fairy Wren group Spotted Pardalotte 1 Rufous Tree Creeper 3 Silvereye 1 Galah 2 Western Thornbill 1 Rufous Whistler 1 Also I saw one Rabbit by the entrance. I was helped in identifying species in this park by a chance encounter with Tony Kirby, a researcher with the Cockatoo Project of the Western Australia Museum (akirby@vtown.com.au). This park has both the short-billed and Long-billed species of black cockatoo. Unfortunately, I saw only four birds in flight and was unable to distinguish which species they were. Photo: Bungendore Park (R Oates) 8

9 At I drove on down Admiral Road to the Wungong Dam picnic site. This would have made an excellent place to stay overnight but I would then have been late getting to the coast and seeing Penguin Island. So I looked around the lake behind the dam for an hour and saw: Grey Fantail 2 New Holland Honeyeater 2 Pacific Black Duck 1 Australian Wood Duck 2 Silvereye 1 The walk down the Wungong Gorge from the picnic site is recommended in the guidebooks as one of the best in the Perth region for seeing endemic bird species of Western Australia. But as was already midday, I decided that it was probably too late to see good birds and best to spend the heat of the day driving on. By 3pm I was at Thompson Lake, south of Perth where there was still some water and in two hours I noted: Rainbow Bee eater 3 Little Eagle excellent views of two birds perched and on the ground harassing ibis. Australian White Ibis 150+ Black Swan 100+ Australian Pelican 13 White-faced Heron 1 Great Egret 1 Black-winged Stilt 150+ Australian Shelduck 10 Red-capped Plover c. 200 Black-shouldered Kite 1 Straw-necked Ibis 2 Whistling Kite - 1 I then pushed on to the coastal town of Rockingham where I stayed at the town caravan park near Lake Richmond. Photo: The flowers and nuts of Australia s many species of Eucalyptus trees are important foods for many birds and animals (R Oates) 9

10 Tuesday 19 October By 9 am I was on the first ferry from Mersey Point Jetty, Safety Bay Road to Penguin Island, a part of the Shoalwater Islands National Park. This was a tropical version of the Farne Islands in the UK, with birds nesting under every bush. Walking around the island paths I saw: Australian Pelican 1 Pied Cormorant 5 Silver gull hundreds of birds nesting Crested Tern 50+ Bridled Tern hundreds of birds nesting Singing Honeyeater 1 Little Blue Penguin 1 chick under a bush, waiting for its parents to return at night with food. Many others were hidden under bushes. Buff-banded Rail 1 walking in and out under the boardwalk Photo: Little Blue Penguin chick (R Oates) Along the paths around the island I saw many Kings Skink; which is a foot long lizard exterminated by predators on the mainland. At the Penguin Rescue Centre on the island there were close-up views of rescued adults. On a boat trip from Penguin Island around some smaller islands there were more Australian Pelicans and Pied Cormorants nesting and one Osprey. On one beach was a group of 12 splendid male Australian Sea Lions. Photo: View of Penguin Island (R Oates) 10

11 I tore myself away from the tropical paradise of Penguin Island and headed inland over the Darling Hills to the town of Narrogin in the inland wheatbelt. Except that there was not much wheat to see after a second winter of almost no rain in the region. In fact rainfall has declined by 40% here in the past ten years. Outside Narrogin I encountered an Echidna crossing the road. After five hours or so of driving on almost empty roads I arrived at Narrogin and found the home of Wayne Elliott, Regional Manager, Wheatbelt Region, Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia. Wayne and his family gave me a warm welcome and over a welcome cold beer on his veranda we saw at the small bird bath he had constructed at the edge of his small but significant wood of native trees: Rufous Whistler 1 Common Bronzewing pigeon 1 Crested Pigeon many coming to drink Rufous Treecreeper 2 Red-capped Parrot - 1 Wednesday 20 October The next day, Wayne gave me directions to the Dryandra Woodlands reserve and kindly arranged for Matthew Harding, Parks and Visitor Services Officer, Narrogin Office, Great Southern District of the Department of Environment and Conservation to take me with him on his nightly feeding round of the rare native marsupials at the Barna Mia Sanctuary. It is possible to book evening spotlighting visits to this reserve through the DEC website, though they run only on some evenings of the week. I arrived at the Dryandra Woodlands Reserve and was given advice on good sites in the forest by John Lawson, the Lions Club campsite caretaker; another Englishman who had moved here from Yorkshire seven years ago. I drove on to the remote Congelin Dam Campsite, which took about an hour in rare heavy rain and strong winds. There I parked the camper next to just two others. In one were Colin and Jen Heap, who had emigrated from Leicestershire forty years ago and never looked back. Colin is an expert birder and when the rain stopped he invited me to walk around and I saw the following species (though Colin saw and heard much more than me): Short-billed (Carnaby s) Black Cockatoo - 2 Western Thornbill -1, at last a definite sighting with Koln s help Grey Currawong 1 Scarlet Robin 1 Wedge-tailed Eagle - 2 After dark, we walked around with torches and saw three Western Brush Wallaby. Also we heard the distinctive call of a Southern Boobok owl. At 6pm, Mathew Harding collected me for the night feeding visit to the Barna Mia Sanctuary, where I had the following rare marsupials literally at my feet 11

12 Burrowing Betong, 8; Banded (Western) Hare Wallaby, 3; Rabbit-eared Bandicoot, 1. Matthew returned me to Congelin Campground, where I had a late supper at a picnic table, joined by the world s friendliest Common Brushtail Possum. Photo: the world s friendliest Common Brushtail Possum (R Oates) Thursday 21 October On an early morning walk with Colin around the Camp Ground and tracks leading up to Congelin Dam I saw the following, though Colin was onto more birds quicker than me: Australian Ring-necked parrot several Wedge-tailed Eagle 1 White-breasted Robin 1 Scarlet Robin 1 Grey Currawong 1 Weebill 1 Western Gerygone 2 At mid-morning I said goodbye to Colin and Jen who were returning to Perth. I then drove slowly back up to York Williams Road and right down Margaret Road. I spent some two hours crawling along these few kilometres hoping to see a Numbat, but no luck. I did however see: Black-faced Wood Swallow 1 Dusky Wood Swallow 1 Western Rosella 1 Tree Martin 4 Yellow-plumed Honeyeater 1 Purple-crowned Lorikeet 5 Brown Goshawk pair, the female of which allowed me to photograph her. 12

13 Photo: Brown Goshawk, female (R Oates) Plus two more Echidna and two rabbits. I could have stayed a week in this forest reserve and not seen everything it had to offer, but I had to get back to Perth. I headed north and on the old road outside Wandering by a bridge over the Hotham River saw a pair of Yellow-billed Spoonbill. Exiting the town there was a Black-Shouldered Kite quartering a field and just beyond it a flock of twenty six Short-billed Black Cockatoos in a roadside tree. I arrived at Perth Central Caravan Park at dusk. Photo: Yellow-billed Spoonbill (R Oates) Friday 22 October An early morning walk around the park next to the caravan site produced a last two new species before I had to head for the airport and return to the UK. But if I can ever return to Western Australia I certainly will. Western Wattlebird 1 Little Corella

14 Annexe A Animal species recorded in the Perth region of western Australia, October 2010 Mammals This list follows the order, taxonomy and nomenclature in A Field guide to the Mammals of Australia 2 nd edition, Peter Menkhorst and Frank Knight, Oxford University Press, Short beaked Echidna 2 Southern Brown Bandicoot (Quenda) 3 Rabbit-eared Bandicoot (Biliby) 4 Koala 5 Common Brushtail Possum 6 Western Ringtail Possum 7 Burrowing Betong 8 Brush-tailed Bettong (Woylie) 9 Banded (Western) Hare Wallaby 10 Tamar wallaby 11 Western (Grey) Kangaroo 12 Western Brush Wallaby 13 Australian Sea Lion 14 European Rabbit Reptiles This list follows the order, taxonomy and nomenclature in A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, second edition, Steve Wilson and Gerry Swan, New Holland Publishers, Long-necked turtle 2 Kings Skink 3 Gould s Monitor Lizard 4 Black-backed snake 14

15 Bird species recorded in the Perth region of western Australia, October 2010 Annexe B This list follows the order, taxonomy and nomenclature in the Field Guide to Australian Birds, Michael Morcombe, Steve Parish Publishing, It includes all birds positively identified by me and omits many that were not. 1 Black Swan 2 Pacific black duck 3 Australian wood duck 4 Australian Shelduck 5 Grey teal 6 Little Blue Penguin 7 Australian Pelican 8 Pied Cormorant 9 Little black cormorant 10 White-faced Heron 11 Great Egret 12 Australian White Ibis 13 Straw-necked Ibis 14 Yellow-billed spoonbill 15 Black-shouldered Kite 16 Whistling Kite 17 Osprey 18 Little Eagle 19 Brown Goshawk 20 Wedge-tailed Eagle 21 Buff-banded Rail 22 Purple Swamphen 23 Black-winged stilt 24 Red-capped Plover 25 Silver gull 26 Crested Tern 27 Bridled Tern 28 Spotted Turtle Dove 29 Crested Pigeon 30 Common Bronzewing 15

16 31 Red-tailed black Cockatoo 32 Short-billed (Carnaby s) Black Cockatoo 33 Little Corella 34 Galah 35 Rainbow Lorikeet 36 Purple-crowned Lorikeet 37 Red-capped parrot 38 Western Rosella 39 Australian ring-necked parrot 40 Southern Boobok owl 41 Sacred kingfisher 42 Laughing Kookaburra 43 Rainbow Bee eater 44 Rufous Tree Creeper 45 Splendid Fairy Wren 46 Striated pardalote 47 Western Thornbill 48 White-browed scrub wren 49 Weebill 50 Western gerygone 51 Western Thornbill 52 Red wattle bird 53 Western Wattlebird 54 Singing honeyeater 55 White-cheeked Honeyeater 56 Red wattled honeyeater 57 New Holland Honeyeater 58 Brown Honey eater 59 Yellow-plumed Honeyeater 60 White-naped honeyeater 61 Western Spinebill 62 Scarlet Robin (campbelli race) 63 Western yellow robin 64 White-breasted robin 65 Rufous Whistler 66 Golden whistler 16

17 67 Willie wagtail 68 Grey Fantail 69 Magpie lark 70 Black-faced Wood Swallow 71 Dusky Wood Swallow 72 Australian magpie 73 Grey Currawong 74 Australian raven 75 Welcome swallow 76 Tree martin 77 Silvereye End 17