Western Australia Week 4

Cheynes Beach
October 12th 2009
Week 4
Monday - Day 22
I had promised Glenda that I would not wake her this morning as she was feeling quite tired after yesterday’s travel. Consequently we turned in around 8.30 p.m. This was always going to be a mistake and from midnight onwards the night’s sleep became a restless one.
Around 4 a.m. I had almost had enough but continued for an hour before trying to leave the van quietly. My skills of stealth have become a tad rusty I must admit, boiling the kettle to make a coffee before I left indicative of my lack of intellectual acuity at this ungodly hour. When I shut the car door after retrieving my hat the alarm went off, ending Glenda’s frustrated attempt at sleep and probably everybody else’s within earshot.

It wasn’t worth sneaking back inside to apologise so I headed down the road to look for the elusive birds that had brought us here. The park owner had told me that the calls of the three birds were unmistakeable and the literature I’d read also emphasised this. The dilemma of course was isolating calls from the dawn chorus and then ascertaining which ones were new to me. Quite a task.

It was overcast and some spots of rain fell. I managed to best guess that the loudest voice was either the bristlebird or the scrub wren; the whipbird I decided would sound a bit like its eastern cousin. Alas after walking around through deep sandy tracks and along the main road I wasn’t having much luck save a few new sightings for the trip.

A van pulled up with about eight high paying American birdos led by a guy named Chris. He asked if I’d seen anything and I gave him a detailed and honest answer; “Not the ones I came for”. He moved his group off in the direction I’d come from while I returned to the van to ditch my jacket. It was getting warmer and I thought the red color might not be helping my quest. As I returned to the entrance to the park I noticed the Americans spreading out in the middle of the road. Chris was playing a tape of the noisy scrub wren to attract the male!

Some bird enthusiasts and experts frown on this practice as it may upset the mating pairs or might be just plain “cheating”. I’d never used one before but when the group told me that they’d already nailed the western bristlebird I decided to latch on to them. As a result a few of us had a fleeting glimpse of the noisy scrub bird as it ran across the main road in search of Chris’s taped call.

A sleepy and not amused Glenda met me on my sheepish return so a cup of tea was in order as a peace offering. Following breakfast we went into our cleaning routine as it was Monday. This completed we drove to investigate the small group of houses on the foreshore and onto the Waychinicup N.P.

The National Park included Many Peaks Nature Reserve and we ended up at a spectacular bay with tent camping and good facilities. We tried to photograph some of the wild flowers but overcast skies and windy conditions etc etc.

Actually I remarked to Glenda today that I’m just starting to get a little tired of the rain and wind albeit it made a grandiose start to this trip.

We returned to the van and stopped briefly to observe three whales and their calves in the bay. Must be stragglers as its starting to get very late in their migration. I tried again to look for bristle birds on the sandy track leading up the hill from the park but nothing was about.

Just on dusk I did one last walk and ran into a young guy from South Africa named Keith. He’d just flown from Victoria where he was looking for the plains wanderer at Terek Terek N.P. That’s home! He informed me that he has brought the tapes to attract the special birds here so we are meeting tomorrow at 5.30 a.m. “to have some fun”.
Bird sightings: White breasted robin, Golden whistler, Noisy scrub-bird, White cheeked honeyeater, Brown quail
118 birds 2 new birds

Cheynes Beach
October 13th 2009
Tuesday - Day 23

The rain began in the early morning and increased to more than drizzle around 4 a.m. By 5.30 I wasn’t too enthusiastic about bird watching but I dutifully arose and made my way down to the park entrance to meet Keith.

I eventually found him down by the main road corner with an Englishman named Larry Weatland. Larry and his girlfriend had left England two years ago and made it to Australia via land through Russia, China and so on. Some good tales to tell and like Keith who turns out to be a bird tour guide for Americans, quite experienced.

I stood with them as Keith’s recording brought in a noisy scrub bird. I had a better look this time as I knew what to expect but still it was only a fleeting run across the road. We moved back passed the caravan park and up along the sandy track where I had trudged yesterday. Eventually Keith’s tape brought in a western bristlebird but they were the only ones to see it as it landed briefly on the track.
We pushed on but around 7.45 a.m. I said farewell and headed back for breakfast. We agreed to go out tomorrow morning if they weren’t fortunate in finding the two remaining birds. Midmorning as I was relaxing over Glenda’s homemade fruit bread and coffee word came down that they had spotted both the bristlebird and the whipbird about five minutes after I had left. Tears of blood!

Glenda was checking her email and on completion thought we should take a walk to the area they had seen the birds in. She doesn’t like deep sand so I was really pleased when she was okay in making our way slowly uphill through the stuff. Keith had remarked how much the country reminded him of Cape Town. I guess Australia did contribute a huge menace with the introduction of the acacia plant, known as I recall as the “yellow curse” by less than impressed South Africans.

And as we neared the bird place I heard the whipbird call. We stood very patiently until Glenda spotted a female in a low branch. A male appeared and for several great minutes we moved forward and followed them along. To cap it off I managed to photograph them just to prove to my South African and English colleagues that it can be done without a tape (as long as you have Glenda and knowledge of the call).

A sandwich for lunch hit the spot. Glenda spent the afternoon doing her crafty stuff while I played around with photographs on the computer.

Just as I left the park for another search I was alerted by a rustling sound near the telephone box at the entrance. Initially I thought it was a rat with a gland condition but fortunately a southern brown bandicoot appeared. Mid afternoon? It is supposed to be nocturnal!
I walked the beach circuit and around 4 p.m. hiked back through the sand to the spot where we spotted the whipbirds. Two older guys from Perth, Nick who was quite the experienced birdo and Bluey from the Western Eagles (he has a place in the admin of this team I think) met me and we had a look around together. The place has a number of bird observers tonight and I can liken it to Julatten out from Cairns as a Mecca for local birds.
Bird Sightingds: Western whipbird, Tree martin, 120 birds 3 new birds, SOUTHERN BROWN BANDICOOT

Cheynes Beach - Albany
October 14th 2009
Wednesday - Day 24

Sadly, despite clearer skies the success of yesterday morning’s birding didn’t repeat. Keith, Larry and his partner, Nicky were on the sandy track at 5.30 a.m. but unfortunately the birds weren’t. We stood ten meters in front of a shrubby spot where a bristle bird was calling, taking the Mickey out of us as we scanned the foliage for a sighting. Next time.

We said our goodbyes and I eventually returned to the van satisfied with two of the three rarities found at this spot. Glenda had a coffee ready and by 9.15 a.m. we were away. Albany is only about 70 kms from Cheynes Beach so we didn’t have a long haul to deal with. We had some initial difficulty finding the van park we wanted but eventually old images tuned in and we found the place we had stayed in on two previous occasions (only the name of the place eluded us!)

The Kalgan River Caravan and Chalet Park lies on the Kalgan River east of Albany on the road to Two People’s Bay. We enjoyed a memorable stay in 2001 when the kids and us travelled to Perth for the National Kendo Championships. The park is essentially the same with a spread out mob of kangaroos lazing about. We set up and then drove to the Albany Info Centre before doing some shopping at Woolworths.
Behold Larry and Nicky were there. Larry asked about my dismal birding effort this morning and unwittingly rubbed salt into my wound by telling me that they had spotted a square tailed kite near Two Peoples Bay. It is amazing how you run into people on your travels but this was unexpected. Always generous with his knowledge, Larry told me of a chance meeting with a bird observer earlier today who gave him fairly concise directions to a place where ground parrots could be reliably found at Cape Arid. He and Nicky might be heading there before they fly to Bali in the chance of spotting this extremely rare bird. I’m interested…

Glenda and I drove to Two People’s Bay and walked about but saw little. We heard a noisy scrub-bird (I’ve seen one!) and returned to the van around 5 p.m. We’re going to watch some TV tonight to catch up on some worldly news and generally spend tomorrow in subdued tourism….right!
Bird Sightings: Elegant parrot, Inland thornbill, Osprey, Western rosella, White naped honeyeater,125 birds 3 new birds

Albany
October 15th 2009
Thursday - Day 25

Today was very clear with little wind. My early morning walk netted me little but it was good being out and about with the kangaroos which viewed me with mild suspicion. We decided on toast for breakfast and managed a load of washing before heading off to Torndirrup N.P.

We visited here last time and again lamented that if the weather was bad the place would be spectacular. We’ll eventually get it right but still it’s an awesome place with the ocean disappearing over the horizon to Antarctica.

This time we climbed Stony Hill and enjoyed panoramic views of Albany to our left and King George’s Sound to the right.

Glenda photographed some wild flowers and a holly leafed banksia while we were there.

After lunch we did our own thing, Glenda more appliqué while I photographed around the river. A fisherman told me about an osprey’s nest along the coast so I headed down for a walk through the low tide. I found the nest but the osprey was a long way away. Some gulls gave it the short shift but again it flew just too far away for a good shot.

On return the same fisherman showed me what he called a plover’s nest. When the pied oystercatcher came by to claim its nesting spot I was able to correct his mistake. The egg lay in a small depression about a meter from an old pine tree up from the boat launch in the river. I’d have never found it on my own.

We watched “Getaway” on television and got a bit enthused for England and Europe. It’ll happen eventually but in the interim let’s enjoy our South West of W.A.
Bird Sightings: Australian shelduck, Shining bronze cuckoo, Common sandpiper, 128 birds 3 new birds

Albany – Stirling Ranges
October 16th 2009
Friday - Day 26

A beautiful day which reached 20 degrees by lunchtime. The Stirling Ranges lay only 80 kms from where we were so we took things slowly as we headed north.

The range stood out from the flat surrounding pasture / wheat land much like the Grampians in Victoria. We arrived around 10.30 a.m. just in time for the ranger to collect the $14 fee for the night. He was heading for Coral Bay for an assignment and said there would be no one around for the weekend.

The camp is called Moingup Springs and is fairly close to the main highway that travels through the range. There was only one caravan in the small park so we set up in a fairly large site. By 5 p.m. the place was crowded with caravans, tents and cars. Everyone is friendly and cautious so it’s all okay. There are good toilet facilities but no showers so we might set up our shower tent tomorrow.

We are a bit disappointed at the lack of wild flowers as we expected many from reports about these ranges. Other campers have reassured us that they are out there but not perhaps as prolific as in the south where we have come from.
I spent the day tracking and photographing birds while Glenda did her appliqué stuff. A swarm of bees made its way progressively closer to us from the other side of the small creek nearby. I worried about a red capped parrot that was excavating a hollow in the tree next to them but thankfully the bees quietened down midafternoon and left the bird alone. We talked to a few people around tea time and generally the place has a good feel to it. Hopefully tomorrow will bring out the flowers.
Bird Sightings: Chestnut teal, Splendid wren, Scarlet robin, 131 birds 3 new birds

Stirling Ranges
October 17th 2009
Saturday - Day 27 About ten vans and tents were set up last night and early morning a tour bus of older Australians arrived for morning tea and to see the wildflowers. A gentleman camped nearby told me about some spider orchids along the road and walked me to the place just to help out. Turns out he once ran the Bendigo College of Advanced Education (Teachers College). He was there from 1966 until after the time we were at Ballarat Teachers College.
The temperature reached above 30 today and we felt it. We did the 42 km Stirling Ranges Drive, stopping to photograph wildflowers and get a feel for the place. Parts were very much like the valleys in the Grampians in Central Victoria as were some of the wildflowers. Nowhere however were they as prolific as there or the coastal places we have come from.

Still we stopped where ever and whenever something caught our eye and we were quite pleased with what we saw although capturing flowers sharply is not easy.

At White Gums Flats Picnic area we came across a large stick nest about 10 meters from the ground. The occupants couldn’t be seen so we dropped in again on the way back when the bus group had gone. This time I could see a pale head and yellow eyes peering down from the safety of the nest. Two adults suddenly flew and I panicked to get a photo, not concentrating on the identifying marks. I recalled the rufous red colouring, pale yellow eyes, black “fingers” and longish tail. Researching when we got back to the van suggests a square tailed kite, a very rare bird but one known to breed here.

We put the generator on after a few hiccups with the power outage and lazed about in the shade, reading or fixing photographs. A few tenters are starting to arrive now that it’s after 3 p.m. so it’ll be interesting to see how many there are come nightfall.

…nightfall came and the camp didn’t grow too much. Dusk was brilliant with dappled light and a profusion of insects drawn out by the warm conditions. I expected lots of birds hopping about to enjoy the bootie but strangely there were none. Opportunity lost guys!

The night was quite pleasant and we enjoyed eating and sitting outside until after 7 p.m. when we adjourned to the seclusion of the van. I’ve come to the conclusion that just about anywhere in the bush that man’s incursions aren’t obviously apparent becomes a quiet haven when you have time to settle in and relax with the environs. I didn’t like the Stirling Ranges when we first arrived. Having stayed two nights and taken it easy getting to know it I’m coming around.
Bird Sightings: Square tailed kite, 132 birds 4 new birds

Stirling Ranges - Narrogin
October 18th 2009
Sunday - Day 28

We had a shocker of a night sleeping. Might have been the warmer than usual night but we were both awake on and off, from about midnight onwards. For me the mind was active and I was reliving past glories and disasters in my professional and personal life. It was a not so great way to enjoy a beautiful bush setting.The stars were brilliant as there was no moon so their own illumination lit up the sky. If I wasn’t so grumpy at 3.30 a.m. I’d probably have savoured it more. By 7 o’clock I was on the road, alone and driving the 30 kms to the nest we had discovered yesterday. Yes folks, part of the night’s ruminations included my sighting; what if I was wrong? Was it pale yellow eyes or an albino? Square tailed kite or little eagle? Ridiculous thoughts like these make me the manic person I’m turning into.

I missed a western grey and had to slow for a nail tail wallaby of some sort but I arrived 30 minutes from the van. I approached the nest with camera focused on the gauged distance to the nest and binoculars at the ready. An adult bird raised itself up on the nest giving me good views of its eyes and breast feathers. It soon took off but I couldn’t focus the camera on it as it flew through the canopy. It circled effortlessly until my time ran out and I beat my record on the return trip. I showed Glenda my shots and she and two neighbours were impressed. Our morning cuppa was spent to good advantage outside enjoying the scenery. I had noticed on arrival an immature red capped parrot “excavating” a tree hollow. Then yesterday I observed what looked like a rufous treecreeper or honeyeater catching bugs in the same spot. When today I noticed a red wattle bird followed later by two white naped honeyeaters entering the hollow I realised that they were taking honey from a native bee nest. It’s so exciting to find new aspects of bird life that you haven’t read of before! How I envy Darwin and Wallace and their time.

We packed up soon after and headed off to the north before turning west into a strong wind. Around 12.30 we arrived at Narrogin after travelling through “The Great Southern”, a touristy name for W.A.’s wheat belt. “More natural environment disturbed here than anywhere in the west”, and that’s what the tourist brochure says. The caravan park looks dirty and run down but with the temperature in the low 30s it was heaven to turn on the air conditioner, not to mention the showers.

We drove out to Dryandra to have a look at the camp ground and environs and are pretty excited at bush camping there for 2 – 3 days. No phone coverage unfortunately but a long talk to the kids today was great.
Bird Sightings: Rainbow bee eater,133 birds 4 new birds WALLABY