birding-aus
Dear Birding Ausers
A brief trip report (7-12 February) from Kangaroo Island, the relative
paucity of which shows that I had a great time lying around inert: 93
species over 6 days. Tsk tsk. The only excuse is windy weather for the
first 3 days.
I will happily send a complete list for anyone interested, but the
highlights for me were:
[Birds marked * unfortunately are additions to AFGRAB]
Black Faced Shag. At both ends of the ferry trip across Backstairs Passage.
Beautiful Firetails, in many spots. Including the Cape Borda picnic tables.
*Purple-gaped Honeyeaters (best at the car park end of the track to Ravine
de Casoars: a magic walk)
*Rock Parrots (Cape du Coedic - several flocks between 5 and 20 near the
car park). None elsewhere
Elegant Parrot (Cape Borda road, 7km from the lighthouse, several put up by
the car)
Fluttering Shearwater 3 (Backstairs Passage)
A Marsh Sandpiper and a Common Greenshanks feeding together on Middle
River, providing a wonderful photo opportunity illustrating differences.
Unfortunately the tripod sank in the mud.
Hooded Dotterel (Snelling's Beach 14 and Stokes Bay 20+)
Caspian Tern (Snelling's Beach) An adult and an immature taking turns
(sorry) to patrol the beach and harry the local Sea Eagle.
Brown Songlark? (Possible. Baxter suggests this is unusual. Near the
Ranger's Station at the entrance to Cape Ganthaume. Glad to hear anyone
with better alternative bird to explain such a sighting: song fits the
standard stretched wire description, mid to dark-brown bird, about 18-20cm,
curving away at speed in the wind after being put up from longish grass.
Definitely not a Skylark).
Otherwise pretty uneventful. No luck with the western Whipbird or the KI
Glossies, despite visiting the recommended spots, and a false alarm - I
assume from the company that joined it, I saw not a Glossy but a Yellow
tailed Black that was unusually quiet, glossy and had no yellow mark on the
face. (Cape Borda Rd near Snug Cove turn-off).
Many thanks to those who provided me with mostly very accurate info in
response to my RFI. Unfortunately Tony Russell marred his considerable
generosity in this respect by perpetrating the old Purple Crowned Lorikeet
trick and made me spend hours staring into suburban trees in Kingscote. I
didn't think a place like that would have an armed response squad, though
they were reasonably polite - if brutal - and quite understood about the
lori joke.
Pat O'Malley
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