Our lodgings for the next few days – Walcha Road Hotel
Following the cancellation of our trip to Broughton Island, in the wake of the cyclonic weather system off the NSW coast, we’ve travelled 31/2 hours north-west of Newcastle to the New England tablelands. This extensive high plateau straddles the Great Dividing Range and features rolling grassland plains, world heritage rainforests, dramatic gorges, unique cold-climate vegetation and significant biodiversity. On our way to our lodgings, the historic Walcha Road Hotel est. 1860, we called in at Copeland Tops for some rainforest birding – unfortunately it was raining, so we saw very little! The afternoon was spent doing the notorious bush-ranger ‘Captain Thunderbolt’ heritage trail and birding a couple of lagoons near Uralla. We have two more days sight-seeing and birding before heading home on Thursday.
Eastern Yellow Robin at Copeland – but not the Pale Yellow we were hoping forHorsfield’s Bush Lark seen around UrallaIn the hide at Dangars Lagoon
Out on the boat with Louise and Cyrus, doing the Kooragang shorebird survey
I’m missing my monthly WeBS count back in Norfolk but Dan has got us involved in some Hunter Bird Observers Club surveys instead. Yesterday it was the turn for the Kooragang dykes – a monthly shorebird survey along the banks of the Hunter river. This involved going out on a boat, ably crewed by Louise and Cyrus, with Jane as recorder and me making up the numbers. We had a successful survey, adding several waders to our trip list including: Marsh & Curlew Sandpiper, Great Knot and Sooty Oystercatcher, with Terek Sandpiper and Grey-tailed Tattler added immediately after. But the undoubted highlight of the morning was Common Sandpiper – a Hunter Valley (HBOC) tick! Later, on a separate snipe survey, we added Glossy Ibis and Black-tailed Godwit.
A selection of waders along the dykesThe high tide roost for Grey-tailed Tattler and Terek Sandpiper– with a couple of Whimbrel as well
Osprey was an early bonus on our morning beach survey
We arrived in Newcastle yesterday afternoon, ahead of a tropical cyclone which brought strong winds, torrential rain and spectacular thunderstorms. Fortunately the storm had moved through overnight and we awoke to a dry and warm morning – ready for our Stockton beach bird survey. After a leisurely pub lunch we spent the afternoon doing a spot of bush birding. We closed our trip list this evening on 155. With the weather next week forecast to be unpredictable at best our three day adventure to Broughton Island has unfortunately already been cancelled. We’re working on Plan B. Tomorrow is the monthly wader survey – hopefully add a couple more species.
We had three species of tern on the beach – Australian (Gull-billed), Little and Caspian – with it’s enormous red billWhite-bellied Sea-Eagle – one of a handful seenRed-rumped Parrot – seen at Braeside before heading to Melbourne airport
View of one of the countless settling lagoons at Werribee with the You Yang range in the distance
Yesterday, our last in Victoria before we fly to Newcastle later today, was spent at Werribee – possibly one of the best birding spots in the State, if not the whole of Australia. The Western Treatment Plant (or ‘poo ponds’) – the largest sewage treatment works in the country – covers approx 11,000 hectares and provides a haven for tens of thousands of birds, thanks to ample water and a variety of habitats and plants. The actual treatment facilities cover only a fraction of the site, surrounded by vast settling lagoons, home to nearly 300 bird species. Werribee is recognised as a wetland of international importance under the RAMSAR Convention. Unfortunately it’s the opposite side of the bay from Edithvale, where we are staying, and you have to drive through the centre of Melbourne to get to it – a round trip of three hours. But still well worth the effort. We were there from the earliest time we could collect the key from the Open Range Zoo till it closed at 4.00. We saw some great birds – both in terms of number and variety – and added 25 to our trip list. It’s impossible to do the site justice in a single visit but even with limited time available it never fails to impress. On this occasion the highlights included Brolga, ten species of duck, ten species of wader, seabirds and raptors. The story is better told in pictures.
Brolga feeding on the vast grasslands of Werribee – a spectacular crane up to four and a half feet tallA colourful mix of ducks including Pink-eared, Chestnut and Grey Teal and Australian Shelduck.. but none so strange as Musk DuckSharp-tailed Sandpiper was the default shore bird Red-kneed Dotterel take some beating thoughThis Australian Pelican was pretending to be a ‘bush bird‘Whiskered Tern were plentiful – though we did find a Common Tern contender(awaiting adjudication)Star bird was this Pectoral Sandpiper which we relocated on Borrow Pit in the afternoon
What a way to end our week in Victoria with Rob & Gi – great hosts, great food and lovely birds. Thank you…
Emu seen on the recently created Prom Wildlife Walk near the old airfield
We got back from our two day excursion to The Prom at lunchtime. During the time we were there we visited several of our old birding haunts, explored new areas and saw some great birds and mammals in the process. The trip list now stands at 96, with a couple of sightings still under review. Highlights included: Emu – always nice to see these huge birds inconspicuously going about their business, flocks of Needletails, more honeyeaters, Eastern Whipbird – found with my thermal imager before dawn this morning, Black-faced Wallabies, Roos and Wombat, Brown & Peregrine Falcon, a young Tiger Snake in the back garden, several parrot sp. including Gang-Gang and more besides. After lunch today we went in search of shore birds around the bay – found none but did add Musk Lorikeet to our list.
A common enough species on The Prom but gorgeous nonetheless – Eastern SpinebillHorsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo – easier to hear than seeAn early morning Wombat – photographed through the windscreen – as it crossed the road White-faced Heron plentiful around the coastIn amongst the numerous Rainbow Lorikeets … we found a few Musk Lorikeet
Tomorrow – our last full day with Rob & Gi – we’ve got another treat in prospect – a visit to the gigantic Melbourne sewage works at Werribee. It’s an all day affair!
Plenty of Purple Swamphen at Hollow Grove on our morning walk
Our morning walk was to Hollow Grove, a Melbourne suburban park of woodlands and wetlands connected by a network of tracks, bridges and boardwalks, where we finally found a few ‘bush birds’. These included Blackbird, House Sparrow and Goldfinch – I could have been in my Cromer garden – but also thornbill, scrub-wren and fantail. On one of the pools we watched an egret being bullied by a Willie Wagtail! A late morning transfer had us lunching at Rob & Gi’s place on Wilsons Promontory, over-looking the entrance to the National Park, across to Mount La Trobe and beyond. Afternoon walks to two tidal creeks were very pleasant but relatively unproductive.
A Willie Wagtail bullies an egret off the pond and finally away altogetherNot our first views of Australian Spotted Crake but certainly our bestHighlight of the afternoon was a selection of Pacific Gulls – this juvenile was in less familiar plumage
Common enough but a smart bird nonetheless – Straw-necked Ibis on a walk to Patterson River
We had a busy schedule yesterday – visiting a few local birding spots, including Edithvale Wetlands Centre, enjoying a belated 70th birthday lunch with Peter & David and, in the afternoon, taking a ride out to the Dandenongs NP, around Ferntree Gully. We managed to see a few interesting birds including several ‘parrot’ species, Freckled & Pink-eared Duck, Swamp Harrier and Australian Crake – moving the trip list along to 49. Best bird for me was the Needletail (White-throated) briefly overhead in a flock of Welcome Swallow and Fairy Martin. Birding wasn’t helped by the continuing strong winds, but at least they’ve moved round to the south-west (straight from the Antarctic) with a resulting drop in temperature, down to a more acceptable 25 degrees. Today we’re off to ‘the Prom’.
King Parrot around Grants Picnic Ground in the DandenongsAnother regular species but a bit of an upgrade on our pigeons – this is Crested
We finally arrived at Rob & Gi’s place in Melbourne at lunch-time yesterday (Friday) having set off from home in Cromer two days earlier. A long train journey followed by a four hour checking-in and two flights, including a six hour lay-over at Singapore, and we made it.. well almost! We were just heading for the exit at Melbourne airport when I realised I’d lost something – my wallet. Fortunately during the packing process I’d replaced the battery in my Apple tag so, via the airport WiFi, I was able to see it still sitting on the plane. It was quickly retrieved by very friendly and efficient Qantas staff. By the time we eventually got in the car the heat-wave was peaking – the outside thermometer reading 50 degrees on the drive home. A leisurely afternoon & evening was spent catching-up and watching the birds in the bay, including: Australasian Gannet, Short-tailed Shearwater, Crested Tern and the ubiquitous Silver Gull. The evening concluded with a spectacular sound & light show thunderstorm. Although this is strictly a family holiday the birding starts in earnest today!
Crested Tern patrolling the foreshoreThe car thermometer reaches 50 degrees on the way from the airport
Night time view from our La Pena patio, across Tarifa town to Morocco
Regular readers of this blog will remember that at about this time last year we were heading off to Spain for our traditional week watching autumn migration in Andalusia. That was before I was turned back from boarding the aircraft because of the ‘ten year rule’. In my naivety I’d assumed that with nearly eight months left to run on my passport I’d be free to travel, but that was before the EU bureaucrats got busy. Anyway to cut a long story short we ended up in Turkey – https://trevorontour.me/2024/08/28/unexpected-change-of-birding-destination/ Last week, equipped with my new passport, we ventured forth to take advantage of the accommodation booking of an apartment in the hills above La Pena, very kindly deferred by the owners from last year. The place was lovely, with stunning views across Tarifa and the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco, and convenient for most of the regularly visited sites of Cadiz province. We’d already spent a couple of nights at our favourite rural hotel – ‘the Old Pig Farm’ – near Grazalema seeing plenty of birds that pass through this stunning mountain national park.
Our favourite accommodation in Grazalema – El HorcajoRock Sparrow enjoying a drink in Llanos de LibarAnd Woodchat Shrike enjoying a grasshopper snack at the same locationView of the track up Llanos de Libar
During the week we visited most of the regular birding sites in Cadiz Province including: La Janda, Bolonia & Barbate, Laguna Medina and sites along the Guadalquivir. Generally it was tough going with small migrants in short supply and the raptors we did see were usually very high up. We finished the week with a trip list of 146 – down on previous years – but we did manage to tick-off most of the ‘celebrity’ species including: Bald Ibis, Ruppell’s Vulture and Elegant Tern. We concluded our stay with a bit of local tourism enjoying the spectacle that is the festival of Romeria Virgin de la Luz.
Bald Ibis from the local reintroduction – never easy to track down but this pair were by the road to TarifaWe had to wait a couple of hours at Barbate before the Elegant Tern finally put in an appearanceAnother wait – this time for the Ruppell’s Vulture to decide to leave it’s cliff-side roost for a fly aroundRaptor passage got better as the week went on – mostly Honey Buzzard & Booted Eagle– mixed with a few White Stork – 530 in this flock (spot the lone Spoonbill!)The arrival of the Virgin through the old town gate – four hours after leaving her mountain sanctuary Accompanied by hundreds of Vaquero, dressed in their Sunday best
Another great week in Andalusia. After more than 25 years of visiting this southern province I’m still excited by the birdlife, scenery and culture.
Berylline Hummingbird – one of a dozen new birds on our recent Tex-Az trip
We arrived back at Heathrow early yesterday morning and were home by noon. After unpacking and sorting out the things that happen when you are away for a month we finally turned in at 9.00pm. We awoke this morning at 10.00! Looking back over our GABRaT lV / Neil’s Big Birthday Bash / Tex-Az trip it turned out pretty well. Despite a very average Spring migration along the coast (universal agreement from those birders we talked to) caused by continuous gentle south-easterlies and a lack of bad weather to ground migrants we did see a lot of good birds – our provisional final tally of 373 far exceeding our pre-trip target and, after week one on the Gulf coast, our real-time expectations. After our early success of twitching the Siberian (Amur) Stonechat at Anahuac on day three we did miss a few ‘sitters’ but still managed to add a dozen new birds to our all time USA list: Siberian Stonechat, Berylline & Costa’s Hummingbird, Botteri’s, Five-stripped & Rufous-winged Sparrows, White-rumped Sandpiper (mad that I’d see a good few in the UK before I finally catch-up with them in America!) Whiskered Screech Owl, Sulphur-bellied & Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Montezuma Quail (only heard previously) and the comparatively recent split of Chihuahuan Meadowlark. I’ll take that…
Trevor On Tour 