New South Wales Chapter 2

After returning from our brief but sweet visit to Tasmania, Pertti put in a request for some touristy activities--namely visiting the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. So we did that... then got the hell outta there, heading straight to the Capartee Valley via the gorgeous Blue Mountains.

Here we are in the Royal Botanical Gardens looking across to some familiar landmarks. While Pertti soaked in the beautiful Sydney civic vibe, Jukka and I ran around madly checking every fig tree for roosting Powerful Owls (apparently this is a known spot). We found some big trees near the government house that had some suspicious white-wash, but unfortunately no owls were in evidence. After getting our fill of Sydney's famous harbour, we crossed the bridge then headed west into the mountains.

It feels kinda weird using this photo to represent our entire birding adventure in the Capertee Valley.  We spent the better part of two days birding the dry forests on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, near a village called Glen Davis. This spot is famous for Regent Honeyeater (but not at this time of year), but is also great for a number of other mid-west specialties including those guys pictures above--PLUM-HEADED FINCHES. This record-shot was taken at dusk somewhere along the roadside near Glen Davis. We also lucked into a single TURQUOISE PARROT (a close relative of the Scarlet-chested), but struck out on a few other targets including Southern Whiteface (wtf?), and
Speckled Warbler.

This photo sums up our futile quest for Rock Warbler.  A combination of  frustration over hearing but never seeing the bird, but being super-stoked/psyched/blow-away by the mind-melting vistas of the Blue Mountains--in this case Pierce's Pass. Although we didn't see Rock Warbler, we had great looks at PILOTBIRD and CHESTNUT-RUMPED HEATHWREN, and about every other drab thing that hops on rocks.

I believe this is Dharug National Park, where we stopped on our way NE out of the Blue Mountains. Our targets were Spotted Quail-thrush and Glossy Black-Cockatoo. Unfortunately we only heard the QTs, and while we heard several black-cockatoo-like things in the distance, we were never able to ascertain beyond all doubt that they were Glossies. The main story that came out of Dharug was that it's the first time I've ever seen Jukka get lost. We had split up to work some grassy ridges for QTs, and I began to realize that he was no longer nearby. I called and searched all over but couldn't find him. Jukka's always impressed me with his amazing sense of direction, even in places he's never been to before, so I didn't even consider that he might be hiking the wrong way. Therefore I figured he had either fallen and been knocked unconscious, or maybe had a heart attack. So for about 20 minutes I ran back and forth all over the area we had been birding, then finally he returned my call way off in the distance. Well turns out he did get lost, and had walked for over a kilometer to the north instead of west. All's well that ends well.
Oh, the photo is of a rather cooperative FAN-TAILED CUCKOO [Jukka Jantunen]

After Dharug, the Gloucester Tops section of Barrington Tops National Park didn't seem to far away. Well it turned into a full day drive, and we finally rolled into our illegal roadside campsite around 9pm. In the morning we heard but did not see our main bird target: RUFOUS SCRUB-BIRD--several were heard singing in the high Antarctic Beach forests of Gloucester Tops. At night, our other bird highlight was a pair of TAWNY FROGMOUTHS feeding their downy fledglings who were all lined up on a branch begging away. Classic nature moment!

Another great pic by Jukka--this was our first AZURE KINGFISHER of the trip.

From Gloucester Tops, we battled Christmas traffic for the rest of the day, all the way to the Queensland border. Along the way we stopped into a few places near Coff's Harbour (home of the "Big Banana") and finally bagged a few "RELIC RAVENS" (Possible split from Forest Raven). We tried for shorebirds near a place called Red Rock, but the beaches were packed with humans so not a lot in the bird department. And yes, it was December 23rd at this stage--so nearly Christmas... and yet it was 35deg Celsius out there. Well at least these people (pictured above) are embracing a more Aussie-style x-mas--so weird seeing shop windows covered in fake-snow etc. To be honest it didn't feel like Christmas in summer; it felt like summer... with a bunch of crazy people playing Christmas music. Australia I love you but I vow never to be away from the Northern Hemisphere at this time again! We left NSW with just under 200 species for the state, and somewhere under 400 for the trip---500 is in sight!

Up Next: A QUEENSLAND X-MAS!

Tazzie! (Epic Aussie Roadtrip Part something#)

This is probably extreme birding at its best and worst. On one hand I was excited to be visiting the famous island of Tasmania, with all its unique flora & fauna, NZ-esque scenes, and cool temps. On the other-hand. We were flying to and from Hobart (from Sydney) in a span of 3 days, meaning... this trip was about getting the birds and getting out. Not the greatest way of seeing the country but how else can one do it if you only have 35 days for the whole shabang?

The night before we flew out of Syndey, I should also mention that we stopped in at Royal National Park and instantly heard calling SOOTY OWL at an apparently traditional spot. It didn't seem to be bothered by all the street-racers that were having some sort of a spontaneous convention nearby. We also heard a few OWLET-NJs and BOOBOOKS but alas no Powerful Owls.

And now to Tazzay:

Jukka and I with our Nissa Micra--served us well for our two days of twitching and camping.

Despite calling this post "Tazzie," we spent virtually all of our time on Bruny Island. A gorgeous gem of an island  not too far from Hobart, Tasmania's capital. Why? Because all of Tasmania's 12 endemic birds are here. For the less perceptive in the crowd, this is a photo of the Bruny Island ferry.

Here's a little taste of the tall eucalypt forests on Bruny. To have all 12 endemics you can imagine that the island is quite diverse. This is the road over Mt Mangana where we were trying for things like SCRUBTIT. By late afternoon, I think we had all of the endemics bagged, but still wanted better looks at a few things plus there were several other non-endemic things that are quite cool any day, any where.

Such as the WHITE-CAPPED (SHY) ALBATROSSES passing by off Cape Bruny, alongside the thousands of SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATERS.

I think this is a view from the Cape Bruny Lighthouse, looking north toward the LH-keeper buildings and a picturesque bay. We're pretty close to the extreme southern tip of Tasmania. Nothing but water between us and Antarctica.

The middle of Bruny narrows to a narrow (yes narrow) "Neck" of sand-dunes. There is decent-sized SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER colony here as well as a FAIRY PENGUIN (Little Blue) colony as well... so this seemed like a good place to soak in the sunset and wait for the mommy n daddy seabirds to come home.

Here we met an American all-birder family (currently living in Jakarta). Not often you see a Mom/Dad/Daughter/Son unit with equal keen-ness and equally-expensive optics but there ya go. This turned out to be a memorable evening with hundreds of Short-tailed Shears circling our heads, calling, as dusk fell; then crash-landing to the hillside before scuttling into their burrows. The penguins also performed well, marching up the beach in tightly-packed squadrons of clumsiness. Just another one of those bird spectacles that everyone should see at least once!

Pertti scans for penguinos as I try and remember the name of the guitarist from "Rush."

More impressive Bruny Island forest. This area reminded me of the giant gum trees in SW Western Australia.

Big Tree

Me touching one of the largest Tree Ferns I've ever set-eyes on.

We ferried back in the afternoon of our second Tassie day, then explored the Hobart area (which I don't seem to have any photos of). Man, this blog is running on fumes! Okay... ummmm... how about some bird shots?

This is a PINK ROBIN. Most of the world's Oink Robins breed on Tasmania, then winter in SE Australia. Since we weren't planning on sticking around until winter, it was decided that we better find one of these things on Bruny. Mission = Success [Photo Jukka Jantunen]

To prove that we saw at least one of the true endemic birds, here is one of Jukka's photos of the TASMANIAN NATIVE-HEN. This is back on the mainland at a place where we were trying to find 40-spotted pardalotes.
Met a local man there who complained about the hot 26-degree weather.
I wonder what he thought when it got up to 40 a month later?

I apologize for being so brief, but it was a long time ago, I'm lazy, I'm sick, and I'm just trying to get this thing done! In summary, Tasmania is a truly amazing place that deserves a a month or more to properly explore (not 2 days). Even Bruny Island, where we spent most of our time, could easily warrant a week of hiking and relaxing. I hope to return some day to this part of the world, and hopefully Tasmanian Devils will still be around somewhere (they're currently crashing due to some kind of face-tumor epidemic)---alright squeezed in a natural history fact in the end there. We left the island state with a whopping 82 species in 2ish days.

Up Next: We fly back to Sydney and start NEW SOUTH WALES Chapter Dos! (2)

Epic Roadie 5: New South Wales (Chapter 1)

So after leaving Victoria we were of course now in the glorious state of New South Wales. This is officially "Chapter 1" of our quest through the state since it was broken up by a mad-dash to Tasmania.

Going back in time; this is actually from the day before the pelagic but anyhoo. As we  drove the long drive from Melbourne to Wollongong, we had but one major target: SUPERB PARROT. This eastern relative of the Regent P is only found in the River Red Gums of the interior of NSW/Vic so we pretty much had to find one somewhere before heading north. We birded a few backroads until finally coming upon a stubble-field with over a dozen of these beauties! I feel like there is more to this story but it's so long ago... and now this tale is getting boring. Oh well... Look at the picture. Nice bird. Decent photograph by Jukka Jantunen (considering it was considerably back-lit).
My photos of the same bird look like they're from the 1920's.

After the pelagic we headed over to the sanctuary of Nigel's parents--Ian and Carla. As suspected, Jukka and Pertti were thrilled with the magnificent property, and it didn't take long until Pertti was sun-tanning near-nude in the back garden while the rest of us went birding. Oh ya, this is a Wonga Pigeon [Photo: JJ]

Here we are (minus Jukka). Thanks again for the hospitality and Gang Gang Cockatoos!
It looks like I'm not very comfortable with physical contact. #JustHoverin'

I could easily turn this part of our journey into an epic tale about our quest  to find a Rock Warbler, but after all these months and all these birds, I'll try and summarize it: We worked our asses off for Rock Warbler over a span of 4 or 5 days, visiting several sites in Nowra (such as Ben's Walk above) multiple times, as well as FitzRoy Falls, Pierce's Pass, Glen Davis, etc etc. We didn't even hear one until our last day in the Blue Mountains when a couple called at the Wall Look-out near Pierce's Pass. Needless to say, this was the "most tried-for" bird of the trip.

After failing ONCE AGAIN to see a Rock Warbler at Bomaderry Creek near Nowra, I decided to take up entomology. Apparently this is a Bogong Moth--which breeds in the Snowy Mountains (Australia's highest mountain range) before descending en masse to the lowlands. After weeks of tuna, I reckon this thing could give me a good feed. Twas a fattie

Classic "Live Action" pose. Here I am polishing off my dinner (Pizza-flavoured 'Shapes') just as a foggy thunderstorm sets in over Barren Grounds Nature Reserve. Somewhere behind me EASTERN GROUND PARROTS are singing their dusk song. This was the worst camping night of the trip for me, since I woke up in a massive puddle. Still worth it for ~5 GPs and a handful-o-bristlebirds.

I'm not actually sure but I think this is FitzRoy Falls (more or less in the Blue Mountains). As you can see, the sandstone outcrops are quite scenic...but distinctly devoid of Rock Warblers today.

Jukka's capture of the "business end" of a SUPERB LYREBIRD. A fairly tame individual but decidedly unphotogenic.

Epic Aussie Road Trip Part 4: Wollongong Pelagic

Well this is probably the most "after the fact" pelagic trip report of all time, so I'll make it relatively brief. After making our way out of Victoria, the Finnish boys and I essentially headed straight for Wollongong, New South Wales, where we were scheduled to be on a pelagic trip on December 15th. A pelagic is when crazy birders pay money to get chucked about ~30 nautical miles offshore in an effort to see ocean-going birds such as albatross. This would be my first Aussie pelagic so I was excited, despite the fact that December is known as one of the more boring months in terms of potential species, plus Jukka and I saw most of these things back in NZ in 2008. But who knows what prizes "Big Blue" had in store for us. That's why we do these things!

Jukka and I getting psyched alongside the famous Sandra K.

Once out on the open ocean, good numbers of WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATERS appeared, and were soon joined by the (apprently) first major influx of FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS of the austral summer season. In this photo, the large birds in the background are immature BLACK-BROWED ALBATROSS.

Photography on a rocking boat is tricky, but you'll never see these birds on land so Jukka's toughin it out starboardside.

This was Pertti's first-ever pelagic and he was lovin' it! There are always a few sorry victims to sea-sickness. Luckily we all managed to hold on to our... whatever we ate that morning... more tuna?

An added excitement of Wollongong pelagics is that they often try and catch a few birds to measure and band.  Wedge-tailed Shear is the main target but I think they also caught a GREAT-WINGED (GREY-FACED) PETREL. Awesome to see these birds in the hand!

Our major highlight of the first hour was this young YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS. Apparently a very rare bird in December for this neck of the Austral pelagic woods. Lifer for Jukka, and the closest view of one for me!
[Photo: Jukka Jantunen]

And here is my lifer--a NZ endemic that I missed in 2008. This is a BLACK PETREL (aka "Parkinson's Petrel). It's somewhat expected for this time of year but still a nice bird to get. I was not complaining.
[Photo: Jukka Jantunen]

Then came the bird of the day! Looks like the same bird as above right? Well note the more extensive black on the bill, the relatively beefier bill, and the worn plumage. These feature combine to suggest WESTLAND PETREL, the larger cousin of the Parkinson's... another NZ endemic, one Jukka and I saw thousands of in 2008...... BUT, it turns out this is only the 9th record EVER for Australia. It's all about context mate! Would have preferred something like a Tahiti or Gould's Petrel but heck--I'll take any tubenose any day!
[Photo: Jukka Jantunen]

Another shot of the Westland. Off the top of me head, I think these guys are supposed to be in Chile at the moment. They breed mostly in winter (once again--if I recall correctly)--all in a very small patch of coastal rainforest near Punakaiki on the west coast of the South Island (NZ).
[Photo: Jukka Jantunen]

So that was the trip! I was a little disappointed we didn't get any "big" albatross like Royal or Wandering, but  the birds mentioned above, along with Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters, a Wilson's Storm-Petrel, and several other regular odds and ends made for a great day out on the sea.

Up Next: New South Wales Part Uno!

Epic Aussie Road Trip Part 3: Victoria

We crossed over the South Aus-Victoria border at night, passing through yet another fruit quarantine (Australian Travelling Rule #247: If you buy apples in Australia, be sure to eat them all before leaving the parking area as someone is bound to quarantine them within the next 45 minutes).

We were still high on our Malleefowl experience and relieved that we wouldn't have to do any massive side-trips to keeping trying for them. Today we had two principle targets: Striated Grasswren (which we tried so hard for at Gluepot), and the critically endangered Mallee Emu-Wren--which is limited to a few small patches of spinifex clumps in NW Victoria. Thanks to habitat destruction from humans and wildfires, this poor flier may become extinct within the next decade. That all boils down to "a bird we better see."

Our typical camping set-up. Me in the tent with the two Fins crashing in the car. Here we are at a known  'MEW' location in Victoria. Once again, Jukka and I rose early and started zig-zagging through the spinifex. 

Et VOILA! It only took about 10 minutes and after following some high-pitched squeaks, we ran into a family party of MALLEE EMU-WRENS! Above is the patriarch in typical 'obscuring habitat.' We ended up finding two different groups on this walk so we were quite happy with ourselves. A sweet-tasting cherry on top came in the form of a pair of STRIATED GRASSWRENS that finally popped out to give us decent looks. After all those spikes to the feet and groin area, we were 4/4 in the grasswren department!  [Photo: Jukka Jantunen]

While we had tremendous luck with some birds, we had a few frustrating misses in mallee country, not the least of which was Blue Bonnet (an awesome-looking parrot). So we basically spent the rest of the morning driving backroads in NW Victoria trying to find parrots. Nothing with a blue bonnet, but Jukka was stoked to get his first Cockatiels of the trip!

We made it to the coast just before sunset, and enjoyed a pleasant walk around a nice lagoon in Portland, Victoria.  Turns out this is a great spot for KOALAS! We saw no less than 4 on the walk.

Finding a legitimately "countable" Mallard in Australia has become somewhat of an obsession of mine. They're quite common in New Zealand (where they're hybridizing the Pacific Black Duck to extirpation), and they're in all Aussie fieldguides... so surely there are some good ones somewhere? Victoria and Tasmania allegedly posses the greatest numbers of "pure birds" so maybe I'd strike gold here. If we're gonna try for 500 in 30+ days, we'll need every one. So it comes down to this. In all my Australian travels, this (above bird) was the best I could find. An obvious barnyard duck weighing at least twice as much as a wild Mallard. And he's got a companion--a Northern Pintail! Yeah right...
So I guess we dipped on Mallard...

After a pleasant supper at the Portland Dominos (we asked about Subway, but some local boys thought were trying to find a subway-train), we headed east along the dark coast to the start of the famous tourist drive: The Great Ocean Road.  Above is a picture of me surveying the cliffy coastline, moments after picking up my lifer Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swifts.

Clearly we chose our illegal campsite wisely, as this RUFOUS BRISTLEBIRD was a solid "near endemic to Victoria:" to pick up. This completes the "Bristlebird Triple Crown" for me! The Rufous is only found in thick coastal heath in Victoria and SE South Aus. There used to be a western subspecies near Perth but these birds are now thought to be extinct.

Being a narrow, winding road popular with American and Japanese tourists, there are plenty of signs reminding us to DRIVE ON LEFT.

Made it to the outskirts of Melbourne in the late afternoon. Before heading to the city we paid a visit to one of Australia's most adored birding sites: The Werribee Sewage Farm. It poured rain most of the time but the birding was still great. Out first BLACK FALCON of the trip resulted in some Finnish-style high-fives. Werribee is a large area of grassland, pasture, wetland, ponds, and seashore habitat. Ducks and shorebirds are usually in abundance (eg We had over 1000 Pink-eared Ducks on one pond!), and it's also one of the most important wintering sites for the crazy/massively endangered Orange-bellied Parrot (which are unfortunately all in a remote corner of Tasmania at this time of year).

Also at Werribee: My lifer MARSH SANDPIPER.
[Photo: Jukka Jantunen]

We had some time to kill before dark, so we headed into Melbourne (Australia's second largest city, and the capital of Victoria). We felt a little dirty doing it, but our two targets were distinctly European (Introduced species): Song Thrush & Eurasian Tree Sparrow. According to the "Thomas & Thomas" birdfinding guide, both are easy at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Well... we watched and listened (as above) for 1.5 hours and had absolutely zero luck on both fronts. If Song Thrushes were present, one would assume they'd be singing up a storm at dusk along with all the Common Blackbirds... so perhaps things have changed since 2011 update of T&T. Anyway, if it feels bad twitching introduced species in a country willed with amazing native species, it feels horrible MISSING THEM!

Our last day in Victoria, we headed north out of Melbourne into the dry hills near the border with New South Wales. Here, Jukka stands ready for photographic action, in Chiltern National Park--one of the last good patches of Box-Ironbark woodland. Along with the habitat there are several species that are also struggling. The prized bird here is the Regent Honeyeater. Unfortunately, no one really knows where these birds go in the summer (it doesn't help that there are so few of them). So we tried, but no dice. Did however pick up a few lifer honeyeaters such as Fuscous & Black-chinned.

UP NEXT: New South Wales Part 1!

New stuff coming soon I promise!

Okay so I ended up staying in Borneo longer than initially planned. I'm back in Perth now and will have the rest of Australia posted within the next day or two--along with some super-fresh photography from Jukka Jantunen.

Also coming soon--BORNEO 2013!!! Lots of fun there.

Thanks for hangin in there!

Russ

Next blog post won't come until late February!

Hello people of the internet;

Appologies for those following along so loyally, but I won't be able to update the blog until the end of February since I'm currently backpacking around Borneo without a computer. But YES, that does mean you can expect a Borneo post at some point!

Stay tuned for more roadtrip stories from the eastern states of OZ: Victoria, Tasmania, New South Whales (x2), and Queensland.

Bubye for now,

RC