I have just spent the weekend down at Albany on the south coast of WA.
We spent 45 minutes at The Gap and nearby Cable Beach on the Torndirrup
Peninsular. We saw :
Yellow-nosed Albatross 100+
Shy Albatross (race cauta) 3
Black-browed Albatross 1
(Southern?) Giant-Petrel 1
Little Shearwater 1
Great-winged Petrel 1
Australasian Gannet 6
I have never seen so many albatross stream past in such a short time. They
were flying east to west into a very strong westerly wind.
We went to Waychinicup to look for the "big three". I had a quick glimpse of
a Western Whipbird, but the Noisy Scrubbird and Western Bristlebird called
(the latter very close) but no sightings. I find that February / March is a
better time.
This morning at Little Beach car park at Two People's Bay I saw a Western
Bristlebird run across the road, and Dave Quady (a visitor from the US) saw
three. The Noisy Scrubbird and Western Whipbird could be heard but not
seen. A Great Skua and a Peregrine Falcon were also good sightings. The
latter was harassed by a Pacific Gull.
At the Stirling Range, our best sightings were Regent Parrot, Elegant Parrot
and Purple-crowned Lorikeet plus Southern Emu-wren and Purple-gaped Honeyeater.
These will be my first Atlas records as soon as I get the forms ... (next
week I hear on the grapevine?)
____________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Argyle Diamonds
8C Hardy Road PMB 11
Nedlands WA 6009 West Perth WA 6872
Phone +61 8 9386 5694 +61 8 9167 1445
ICQ 14655047 Fax +61 8 9167 1438
Email
Birding WA http://www.iinet.net.au/~foconnor/
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