This year I was joined by David Secomb and Conor Jamieson. I grabbed
David from the team who was our main competition last year (a bit
like Sam Mitchell joining the West Coast Eagles) and some overseas
talent. We entered the 12 Hour Champagne event. We had limited time
to recce before the event, and what we did showed it would be
difficult to get 130, even though we were starting at Wearne Road
which should hopefully add 10 to our total from previous years. This
did not look like the year to reach the elusive 150 based from Perth.
The alarm was set for 02:40, and we left Perth at 03:25. The start
was to be at Wearne Road in a patch of wandoo woodland about 90
minutes from Perth near North Bannister. After avoiding the large
number of Western Grey Kangaros and a couple of Western Brush
Wallabies we arrived at 05:00. The car registered 1C! The plan was to
recce the area again, find the Hooded Robin and call the start when
we had another two high target birds. David located the Hooded Robin
twice but both times it disappeared. Very little was calling. We were
planning on about a 05:30 start. But at 05:40 we gave up the Hooded
Robin when we had the black cockatoo trifecta and we were go. A great
start. Restless Flycatcher, Rufous Songlark and Sacred Kingfisher
were quickly on the list. And then a real bonus as we hard a small
group of Purple-crowned Lorikeets. No Hooded Robin so we decided to
head further down the road for a couple of key species and then
return. On the way to the car we found the pair of Hooded Robins! We
went to the new site and quickly had Blue-breasted Fairywren. But
where was the Western Yellow Robin? Rufous Treecreeper kept us
waiting a little longer than planned, and then two bonus birds of
Gilbert's Honeyeater and Brown-headed Honeyeater. And finally Western
Yellow Robin. We returned to the first site and finally nailed
Elegant Parrot and Rainbow Bee-eater, but Western Rosella eluded us
but chances for that later. White-browed Babbler, Painted Buttonquail
and Crested Shriketit were faint hopes but we missed them.
We needed Western Spinebill and Western Thornbill before we returned
to Albany Highway. We heard Weebill and kept going, and then though
we had passed the site I found on Friday and turned around. We heard
the Weebills again and I thought they are often in a mixed flock. A
little pishing and we struck gold with Scarlet Robin, Western
Spinebill, Western Thornbill, Inland Thornbill and Western Gerygone.
We reached Albany Highway exactly on our planned time at 07:00. Grey
Currawong proved more difficult than expected but we saw one before
we turned off Albany Highway to Boddington on our way to Dwellingup.
A few common birds along the way including Dusky Woodswallow. Our
total was 40 by the time we reached Dwellingup at 08:00. This is
where I normally start. We had already found a number or our usual
targets. We started well with Western Whistler, Spotted Pardalote,
Red-winged Fairywren, White-breasted Robin and finally a Shining
Bronze-Cuckoo. David found one of our best sightings of the day with
a Pallid Cuckoo. But no Fan-tailed Cuckoo or Western Wattlebird which
were calling on Friday, and no Red-eared Firetail or Western Rosella.
We moved on and quickly located Emu. But no success with the others
at several sites, so we returned to our main site. Red-eared Firetail
was a relief and then a Brown Goshawk circled over us. But we failed
on the others. We still had chances for Western Wattlebird but the
other two were our biggest dips for the day. We were 25 minutes
behind schedule at 09:25 with our total at 56.
We headed for Pinjarra, stopping on the way with success for
White-fronted Chat, but we failed with White-winged Triller and Brown
Songlark. Along Greenlands Road, Yellow-throated Miner was where it
had been the two times we checked in the recces. Further along
Wedge-tailed Eagle was a bonus (I can't understand why we didn't see
this earlier where it was far more likely) and Mistletoebird was at
its usual site. We added the more common species with Regent Parrot
at Lake McLarty. We were still 15 minutes behind schedule with our
total on 81. 130 looked like a chance.
We arrived at Nairns at11:20. It was quiet. We added a few common
species and checked the lagoon where Ruddy Turnstone was a bonus.
Curlew Sandpipers were fairly common this year. We missed the Marsh
Sandpiper we had seen a week before. We were back on schedule with 93
species. We then went to The Chimneys. The waders were there and we
quickly added Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Red Knot, Great Knot (a
bonus not seen on the recce), Eastern Curlew and Whimbrel. But where
were the 150 Fairy Terns we saw on the recce? No where to be seen.
Conor picked up the Common Sandpiper and so we had passed the 100 at
just after midday. Nothing much at Samphire Cove and Wedge-tailed
Shearwater was easy at Halls Head. 104 at 12:45 as we headed for
Perth. As we crossed the bridge we saw the Fairy Terns in Soldiers
Cove. Heading up the Freeway a Swamp Harrier was being harassed by a
raven. We looked for Western Wattlebird at the north end of King Road
but failed. Next stop was Stirling Road near the Armadale Golf Course
and we quickly got White-necked Heron and White-winged Triller. We
then headed to Bibra Lake for the sure fire Australian Hobby on the
way to Alfred Cove, but someone forgot to tell the hobby and we
dipped! The Black-tailed Godwit was easy at Alfred Cove and then
Western Wattlebird was easy at Wireless Hill. 118 at 14:45. We were
happy to see Little Black Cormorant as we crossed the Narrows Bridge
as we went to Bold Park. Conor spotted a Collared Sparrowhawk as we
drove along Cambridge Street. Variegated Fairywren took a little
time. No Little Eagle, Painted Buttonquail or Square-tailed Kite. 121
at 15:20 as we headed to Herdsman Lake.
Glossy Ibis, Pink-eared Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Musk Duck,
Australasian Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grassbird and
Yellow-billed Spoonbill were relatively easy but we dipped on Nankeen
Night Heron, Freckled Duck and Australian Hobby..Hoary-headed Grebe
was easy at Lake Monger and we finally saw a pair of Spotted Doves.
132 at 16:00 and so we were in bonus territory. Banded Lapwings were
not at the Stirling Train Station this year and so we kept going to
Iluka Foreshore Reserve for our reliable White-winged Fairywren and a
chance of Pacific Gull that we saw on Saturday. Failed in the strong
wind. But David found our most extraordinary sighting of the day as
he spotted an adult Nankeen Night Heron flying over the houses. So we
went to Burns Beach. Still no fairywren but we did find a Pacific
Gull. Time was now limited so we headed to the east side of Lake
Joondalup and quickly found a small flock of Long-billed Corella.
Nowhere else to go, so we waited on the edge of the lake hoping for a
raptor such as the hobby, a Black-shouldered Kite, a White-bellied
Sea-Eagle or even the Crested Honey Buzzard we found there last year.
But time ran out and our final total was 135.
We were very happy with 135. I had thought that 130 would be
difficult. We had bonus birds with Purple-crowned Lorikeet,
Brown-headed Honeyeater, Pallid Cuckoo and Nankeen Night Heron. We
found difficult birds such as Baudin's Black Cockatoo, Carnaby's
Black Cockatoo, Hooded Robin, Red-eared Firetail, Brown Goshawk,
White-fronted Chat, Mistletoebird, Ruddy Turnstone, Great Knot, Swamp
Harrier, White-winged Triller, Collared Sparrowhawk and Pacific Gull.
But we missed Fan-tailed Cuckoo (calling on the recces at Wearne Road
and Dwellingup), Western Rosella (good chance at Wearne Road and
Dwellingup), White-browed Babbler (seen during the recce at Wearne
Road), Painted Buttonquail (heard during the recce at Wearne Road),
Brown Songlark (seen on Friday near Pinjarra), White-bellied
Sea-Eagle (not nesting at Lake McLarty this year), Australian Hobby
(not at Lake McLarty, Bibra Lake, Herdsman Lake or Lake Joondalup -
seen along the freeway as we returned home!), Freckled Duck (Herdsman
Lake), White-winged Fairywren (Iluka and Burns Beach), Little Eagle
(Bold Park).
And there were so many birds we would normally get that just were not
around this year. Chestnut Teal, Tawny Frogmouth, Southern Boobook,
Eastern Cattle Egret, Buff-banded Rail, crakes, Black-tailed
Native-hen, Red-necked Avocet, Banded Stilt, Black-fronted Dotterel,
Red-kneed Dotterel, Banded Lapwing, Grey-tailed Tattler, Wood
Sandpiper, Long-toed Stint, Pectoral Sandpiper, Ruff, Whiskered Tern,
White-winged Tern and Tawny-crowned Honeyeater. This was partly
because the Twitchathon was held much earlier this year at the end of
October, and partly because of the high level of rain this year did
not push many of the birds towards the coast. We also had to visit
backup sites for birds such as Western Wattlebird, White-necked
Heron, White-winged Triller, White-winged Fairywren (and still
dipped), etc which was time we could have used going further to say
Pipidinny Road or even Lancelin where we finished last year.
Thanks to Stewart Ford for organising the event this year. And this
year WA participated in the fundraising and to date $540 was raised
towards more support for the Australasian Bittern in WA. You can
still donate at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Twitchathon-WA
(and more donations were made directly to BirdLife Western
Australia). And congratulations to all the other teams spread across
the state. The Twitter feed this year was disappointingly quiet with
only three teams tweeting. Our team was limited as I was driving this
year. But good to hear a few items from the Roebuck Ruffians and the
sWAmpy Harriers. I hope more people think about joining the event
next year. You don't need to win. It is a challenge and a fun event.
I will probably be unavailable tough as I hope to be birding on
Mauritius, Seychelles and Reunion!!!
So our total was 135. We travelled 420kms (from Wearne Road to Lake
Joondalup) plus 150kms getting to Wearne Road and getting home at the
end. Our best bird was probably Black-tailed Godwit or Purple-crowned
Lorikeet but our best sightings were Nankeen Night Heron,
Brown-headed Honeyeater, Pallid Cuckoo, Collared Sparrowhawk, Brown
Goshawk and Wedge-tailed Eagle. Our biggest dip was Fan-tailed Cuckoo
followed by Western Rosella, Australian Hobby and White-winged Fairywren.
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA
http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
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