Hi Marlene,
Interesting report, and glad you had a good time. Forty-spot at
Seven Mile Beach is well out of its normal range!
John Tongue
Ulverstone, Tas.
On 03/12/2007, at 5:17 PM, Marlene Lyell wrote:
Hi All,
Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who replied to my RFI for
Tasmania and the Scrubtit.. I received a wonderful response and
found the
bird very easily at a couple of sites.
On our 10 day trip, we travelled from Wynyard, Strahan, 7 Mile
Beach,
Eaglehawk Pelagic then down to Bruny Island. Tahune Airwalk ,
Dover and
then returned to Wynyard (family) via Lake Hwy along the western
side of the
Great Lake where we were literally driving 'in the clouds' by the
time we
reached the Lake Pine Boardwalk.
I was surprised with the level of drought being experienced in
Tasmania.
Highlights included:
Strahan area: Southern Emu-wren, Olive Whistler, Crescent & Tawny-
crowned
Honeyeaters, Swamp Harrier and Red-capped Dotterels on the runway.
The
wildflowers were magnificent.
Peoples Park: Black-headed Honeyeater, Tasmanian Thornbill and
White-browed (Tas) Scrubtit.
Travelling from Queenstown to Derwent Bridge: Where the Lyell Hwy
crosses
the Collingwood River in the western carpark: Scrubtits (2),
Fantailed
Cuckoo, Spinebill, Golden & Olive Whistler, Black Currawong and
possible
Tasmanian Thornbill..
Seven Mile Beach: 40 Spotted Pardalote, Yellow Wattlebird, Yellow-
throated
Honeyeater
Eaglehawk Pelagic. Wandering, Shy, Black-browed & Yellow-nosed
Albatross,
excellent close-up views of Cape Petrel, and Hump-backed Whales..
Bruny Island: We stayed in the Captain James Cook Memorial Park
and were
surrounded with numerous Swift Parrots. Others birds for the park
included Shining & Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo, Yellow Wattlebird,
Black-headed & Strong-billed Honeyeater, Scrubwren, Green
Rosella. Saw or
heard over 30 species from this park.
Also, a few k's out of town on the small parking area opposite the
old tip
site (marked) added Dusky, Scarlet and Flame Robins. Worthwhile
checking out
the tracks from here which lead down to Coal Point.
Tahune Airwalk: About 100 metres along the track to the Swinging
Bridges
from the main entrance: Scrubtit, Scrubwren, Honeyeaters, etc.
Although I
saw nothing new here, there was a lot of bird activity.
Bothwell. (Lake Hwy) On the lake (weir?) just as you're leaving
town,
numerous waterbirds including Blue-billed, Musk, Black Duck,
Australian
Shelduck, A.Shoveller, Hardhead, Hoary-headed Grebe, Black-fronted
Dotterel,
plus others. A very large Tiger Snake, under some cut dry grass,
made us
very wary.
Wynyard. There is a walk from Table Cape Road to the Bass Hwy
( return 6ks)
along the Inglis River. About 1k from the Table Cape Road walking
upstream on the southern side, there is a creek (Big Creek, see map
at Table
Cape Rd entrance) where I saw an Azure Kingfisher on consecutive
days. The
first time it was fishing in the Inglis River on an outgoing tide
and the
second time it was along Big Creek just sitting patiently waiting
for the
fish to pass by on the outgoing tide. It would dive, sometimes
successfully, then resume its position on a branch quite close to
the small
bridge crossing Big Creek. I spoke to other walkers and quite a
few of them
had seen the kingfisher. I was able to obtain some photos of this
usually
difficult bird to photograph.
Another bird that was easily seen was a pair of Satin Flycatchers
which were
nesting in the area.
Some of the other endemics, especially honeyeaters, can also be
seen closer
to the Table Cape Rd end.
Thornbills, Scrubwrens , Fantails etc tend to be on the northern
side of the
river where there is a small pocket of rainforest closer to the
Bass Hwy
end, but it's very dry at the moment.
Birdwatching can be rather hazardous...a Black Tiger Snake, too
close for
comfort, along the Inglis River. Again, this snake was under some
dried cut
grass. We tend to walk around with our eyes in the trees and not
on the
ground!!
If anyone would like further information, please contact me.
Happy birding all and thanks once again to everyone who kindly
forwarded
suggestions for the RFI.
Marlene
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