Wednesday 1st October
Another early walk around Cheynes Beach for me. It was still windy but the
rain was largely
gone. I had a Western Bristlebird* calling only feet from me but it failed
to emerge. Noisy Scrub-bird and Western Whipbird were also calling. Eight
Western Grey Kangaroos were near the caravan park. After checking out from
the caravan park we drove along the road to the point. Here, through the
scope, we got views of Great-winged Petrels* and Yellow-nosed Albatrosses*
offshore, among the Flesh-footed Shearwaters. At one point I was watching to
an Albatross to the accompaniment of a Noisy Scrub-bird just behind me!
We stopped off at Lake Seppings, Albany before heading north. Here I had no
problem finding a Musk Duck* and 20+ Blue-billed Ducks. I thought I heard a
Red-browed Firetail calling but couldn't locate it.
We spent the night at Mount Bakewell Caravan Park, at York, east of Perth.
Thursday 2nd October
We left York and headed north along the Brand Highway. By lunchtime we had
got to Jurien Bay and the sun had reappeared - on with the shorts again!
We spent the night at the Big4 Dongara-Dennison Beach Caravan Park. We went
for a short walk north along the coast from here. We saw an Osprey carrying
a fish, two White-winged Swallows and a couple of White-winged Fairy-wrens.
Friday 3rd October
We spent the day in the Kalbarri area. We saw little of consequence. We
stopped along the highway through the National Park but failed to find
any White-fronted Honeyeaters. We spent the night at a crowded caravan park
in Kalbarri.
Saturday 4th October
Our destination this day was Shark Bay. We stopped at a parking area
some 20 kms south of the Overlander Roadhouse. Southern Whitefaces and
White-browed Babblers were easy to see here. A calling Chiming Wedgebill*
finally showed itself. Then, after a little while my attention was caught by
a flash of red - Crimson Chat*! A male was feeding an attendant juvenile,
while a female was close by. We had fabulous, close, views.
Along the Denham Road, we stopped by the first of the two windmills along
this road. This was an excellent spot - Splendid, Blue-breasted &
White-winged Fairy-wrens (at one stage I had males of all three species in
view together), 18+ Crimson Chats (including one leucistic bird), Hooded
Robin and White-winged Triller. After this we checked in at the Hamelin Pool
Caravan Park. This proved to be an interesting place to say the least, where
the power is switched off at night, even if you've paid for a powered site!
Beyond that I'll say nothing more!
In the afternoon we walked to the nearby stromatolites (which were
fascinating). Bird highlights in the area were 12+ Pied Honeyeaters
(including 5 males), giving superb views, 23 Crimson Chats and 5 Chiming
Wedgebills. Variegated Fairy-wrens were plentiful here.
Sunday 5th October
We made the short drive to Denham, where we checked into the Denham Beach
Tourist park (and stayed three nights). In the afternoon we drove to Little
Lagoon, just east of the town, where we saw a couple of Striated Herons near
the mangroves and a few Chiming Wedgebills. We saw no mangrove passerines.
Monday 6th October
Our first visit to Monkey Mia Reserve. On our arrival we quite quickly saw
Thick-billed Grasswrens* in the car park - one singing. We soon got used to
seeing them bounce around between vehicles! We saw 7 in all. We did the
Discovery Walk and saw a further 4. On the walk we also saw 3 White-browed
Babblers and 5 silent Chiming Wedgebills. Later in the morning we went to
see the Long-beaked Bottlenose Dolphins coming in for fish. Despite all the
hype about it, we thought it was a great experience. Luckily there were not
too many people around by late morning, the day-trippers on the tourist
buses
having left earlier.
In the afternoon we went for a cruise on Shark Bay, where we saw more
dolphins and 4 Dugongs, including a calf.
Tuesday 6th October
In the morning we went back to Monkey Mia. The Discovery Walk produced
nothing new, though we did see 4 Thick-billed Grasswrens. Unfortunately we
still hadn't been able to find any Southern Scrub-Robins. Back at the car
park we saw another 4 Thick-billed Grasswrens (2 nestled under the wheel of
a vehicle!). We went in with the Dolphins again - this time I was chosen to
feed one! Just after driving out of the Reserve we saw another Thick-billed
Grasswren flying across the road.
Wednesday 7th October
We said our goodbyes to Denham and headed back towards the North West
Coastal Highway. At the Overlander Roadhouse we turned north towards
Carnarvon. At the Edagee Rest Area, north of Woramel, we saw 5 more Crimson
Chats and plenty of Australasian Pipits.
We arrived at Carnarvon late morning and checked in at the Wintersun Tourist
Park. After lunch we visited Pelican Point, on Babbage Island. The tide was
falling so there was a good selection of shorebirds here - Bar-tailed
godwit,
Common Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler, Red Knot,
Sanderling, Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Red-capped Plover and
Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers.
Thursday 9th October
We decided to head up to the Blowholes, to the north of Carnarvon. On the
way we stopped a few times - highlights were Hooded Robin, Crimson Chat (6),
Chiming Wedgebill and our first Crested Bellbird, singing away on the top of
a bush. The Blowholes were quite spectacular, giving lots of photo
opportunities. Offshore we saw at least two Humpback Whales blowing and
slapping flippers on the surface, many Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and several
Lesser Crested terns. On the rocks near us we had superb, close views of a
Grey-tailed Tattler.
Later, at the Carnarvon Water Treatment Plant, we saw our first Black Swans
of the trip. On Babbage Island we saw 2 Brahminy Kites, more shorebirds and
several White-winged Fairy-wrens.
Friday 10th October
We spent the whole morning on Babbage Island. We walked down a track running
south-east from Pelican Point Road, towards mangroves. We found a couple of
Mangrove Grey Fantails and several Yellow White-eyes but had no luck with
Rufous Fieldwrens. Nor did we have any luck with this bird on a walk down to
the Gascoyne River from Silver City Road. As we were approaching our van, I
was lagging behind. Kay called that she'd found something interesting. I
could hear a bird singing and traced the sound to a Rufous Fieldwren*
sitting high up a bush! Two others were in the surrounding area. In
celebration we decided to walk the mile long jetty!
On our way back to town we saw 7 Whiskered Terns at the Carnarvon Water
Treatment Plant. We finished the afternoon with an entertaining tour of the
nearby banana plantation with the owner (a bit like Tom Selleck doing a
Basil Fawlty!).
To be continued
Robert Grimmond
Kent, UK
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