Western Australia Week 9

Cheynes Beach
November 16th 2009
Week 9
Monday - Day 57

White cheeked honeyeater

Miraculously I was up around 5.45 a.m. I’d been awake for some time, exhaustive dreams keeping my mind active. I met Michael at the corner where he’d been walking about for 20 minutes trying to find a noisy scrub bird.
I retrieved my laptop and returned to try and play the bird’s call using my computer. I didn’t think it was loud enough but we soon had a bird calling from the edge of the road about 50 meters from the corner. It didn’t cross the street however and eventually I left Michael there and headed up the sandy track in search of the bristlebird that had eluded me last time.
It was cloudy and lots of flies were waiting for me. There was little sound about but I kept on playing the bird call until I reached the area where the scrub had been burnt. On my return I heard a clear western bristlebird call and this raised my hopes. After a long time things went silent. Che sara sara.

Michael returned to the park to pack and head “somewhere east”. I returned to the van for a coffee and waited till all the other vans had gone before looking about with my camera. Around midday I headed down to the road leading along the parkway to investigate the call of a fledging red wattlebird which I thought might be an interesting shot. Lo and behold a red eared firetail finch was having a fossick in a vacant tent site nearby.

These little beauties are quite elusive, often creeping singly through dense foliage. I couldn’t believe my luck and managed to get a few distant shots off before the bird reverted to the aforementioned behaviour.

Around 3 p.m. I decided on a walk to the beach in the hope of photographing a sea eagle. It was windy but the flies to their credit were still about in droves. I ended up trekking to the top of the cliff following the track that leads to the south of the town. There was not much here save acres of heath land where three years ago a ground parrot had been seen.....

By the time I began my return a car pulled up and the occupants laughed at the huge number of flies I was carrying. We exchanged a few light hearted observations and the driver then turned and drove down the hill, not wishing to offer “us” a lift back. Back at the beach a couple from South African were using a scope to try and identify a Pacific gull. They asked if I was the person at site 15 who had photographed the western whipbird. We’re becoming famous!

Glenda had an enjoyable afternoon doing appliqué (apart from washing and housekeeping stuff).

Cheynes Beach – Bremer Bay
November 17th 2009
Tuesday - Day 58

We slept in until after 8 a.m. but only because of a restless night. Apart from a recurring dream a brush bronzewing decided to try out its relentless and monotonous booming call for most of the dark hours. Glenda believes I awoke grumpy but I’m not sure.

We headed east to Bremer Bay, about 120 kms from Cheynes Beach. This allowed us to arrive around 11 o’clock which was plenty of time to look at the two caravan parks. The beach location won us over and we set up on a grassy but shaded site a fair distance from the ablution block. After a coffee we drove to the Info Centre where a helpful girl left a phone message from us to the local birding guru.

We had a look at the estuary and followed it down to the beach where a sand spit stops it from entering the sea. Here we were able to drive onto the sand and this enabled us to get close to some waders enjoying the estuary’s edge. A couple looked interesting so I snapped away and believe I’ve caught a grey plover on film. Another bird looked like a lesser sand plover, the grey legs tinged greenish and the partial breast band being the main points of identification.
Finally, a third wader was isolated but we couldn’t positively identify it. The three photos below will hopefully help in identifying these birds.

Grey Plover lesser sand plover (and red necked stint) unknown wader

The local tourist drive took us to some great little beaches with houses ranging from shacks to expensive retreats. With all these “hidden” paradises I suspect the lack of power and the dangers of strong winds and currents must always be factored in when deciding on making a stake in these more pristine places. We saw the signs of new subdivisions being opened up, so it won’t be long before this area becomes less of a wilderness.

An old homestead has been renovated into a museum and accommodation place. It was closed at the time of our visit but looked like a good place to have a wander around for a couple of hours.

We returned to the van and later checked at the info centre to see if the bird lady had returned the call. Unfortunately not so we’ll look about tomorrow on our own. We’ll probably take in Fitzgerald River N.P.

Bird Sightings: Grey Plover, Lesser sand plover, 160 birds 7 new birds

Bremer Bay
November 18th 2009
Wednesday - Day 59

It rained for a long time during the night and I was a bit unsure driving onto the spit around dawn. I was hoping for some good sightings and managed a few shots at birds I’d already seen. Dawn was as always spectacular.

I returned to the spit a bit after 8 a.m. and caught a group of pelicans too close to the shore. I noticed the grey plover again and took a better photo of it than yesterday’s effort.

The sky was overcast but showed signs of breaking up. Given the strong wind we thought a drive to Fitzgerald River N.P. might be a useful thing to do.

We set off around mid morning and left the bitumen for a 45 km drive over a gravel road which although wide seemed to deteriorate the closer we got to the entrance. When the park was eventually reached it greeted us with corrugations.

We noticed a profusion of plants and wild flowers, the later pretty much spent as summer approaches. The park has a number of mountains lying singly in what looked like a vast, flat ocean of low growingtrees and shrubs. The royal hakea (see photo) seems a signature plant here with a range of grevilleas. We stopped at West Mount Barren to consider a 2 hour walk to the summit but the sky suddenly took a turn for the worse.

A heavy storm hit and we decided to get out quickly, the lessons from days one and two reminding us how quickly gravel and sand can turn to mud.
We were worried too that the wind might do mean things to our van awning back at the park.

Fortunately the wind was not so furious when we returned and apart from wet towels and chairs left outside everything was fine.

I telephoned old friend Barry Govan to see how the visit to Ballarat of our Karate Grand Master was going and he assured me all was going smoothly. He made a comment about our blog however and complained about the pages and pages about birds!! Mate! I’m an ornithologist!!
My email check had a comment or two from Rose Mecca who also made positive comments about the visitors staying in Ballarat. Hope she’s not becoming bird watched out too.

In case my writing is becoming too bird specific, here is my last bird shot for a while, together with the royal hakea which looks like a large lettuce gone to seed big time.

Tonight’s meal is beef in black bean stir fry with udon noodles. Glenda is trying to use up all the food in the Waeko so that we won’t have to worry about powering it on the trip across the Nullarbor. This fact should make for some interesting concoctions this week.

Bremer Bay - Esperance
November 19th 2009
Thursday - Day 60

I woke around 6 a.m. and gave Glenda at least 30 minutes before agitating to get moving. Not a good strategy for a friendly day’s travel.
Spit at Bremer Bay
The destination was Esperance before heading out to Cape Arid for two days with a ground parrot research group. This entailed planning meals and fuel to maximise our opportunity and the chance of seeing this critically endangered bird. I wasn’t joking when I wrote yesterday that there wouldn’t be any bird photos for a while.

The trip went smoothly despite some rain. Interestingly it’s been the wettest November in 20 years over here, most of the rain falling in the last 48 hours. Conversely S.A. and Victoria are experiencing heat waves, Ceduna reaching 47 degrees today. Cape Arid will hopefully be mild for the next two days so that when we start across Nullarbor the heat wave will be over. A tail wind would be appreciated too of course.

The caravan park owner told us that we couldn’t camp at Cape Arid because of a fire. I persisted with our plan and phoned the ranger to see what the story was. It was an embarrassing moment when the voice on the other end eventually identified himself as Barry Govan. I had phoned him by mistake and typically he played along. In the end he said, “you need a holiday, Mate!” Vengeance will be mine!

The real ranger, David said the fire was last week and that the camp was open. He has organised for us to meet with the research group and perhaps go on an early morning listen for the parrots. I can imagine Glenda being excited about a 3 a.m. start!

Tonight we’re in Esperance and will head out in the morning. We spoke to the boys who are both up to their armpits in end of the year reports. Gee we miss those!

Esperance – Cape Arid
November 20th 2009
Friday - Day 61

“A few showers in Esperance, clearing in the morning with an expected high of 19,” or so said the weather report. If this were true then we should have had those showers by 6.00 a.m. when I was awake. Fortunately it stopped raining while we showered and packed up but more were to come.

We headed out to Cape Arid around 9 a.m. A strong tail wind helped fuel consumption which will be crucial for this trip as there is only one petrol source on the way. At Thomas River most sites were taken but we found the one at the far end vacant. The shrubs provided a good break from the wind and we set the shower tent up straight away to convince ourselves that we mean business.

After a light lunch I walked down to the beach to try and get some waves breaking for a photo but they just didn’t quite seem strong enough.

We set our trip meter as we left for Poison Creek where my English mate, Larry had given us directions to find the ground parrot. The ranger was nowhere about so we hoped that we might find “a clump of vegetation on the right with a single palm tree growing in the middle”. The two maps we were using had conflicting names for the roads and camps so we weren’t too sure of where we would find this spot if in fact we would at all.

Our calculations put the spot 58.4 kms from our camp. As we approached the place we noticed a gaggle of tents along a Management Road. This was the “parrot whisperers” group, researchers from the Conservation Dept who were doing research on the ground parrot. At exactly 55.8 kms Glenda spotted the palm tree in the clump of vegetation. I did a quick bush bash type stomp around the area but immediately recognised a minefield of tunnels and run throughs under the shrubs. This bird will live up to its reputation for being difficult to see.

We drove on to Poison Creek and checked it and the nearby Seal Cove Camping sites out for future reference. A walk over the dunes to the beach reinforced the wilderness of this area. Pristine white sand, a very ordinary little creek in hectare upon hectare of Banksia trees all about one meter in height.

The trip showed the spot to be 16.3 kms from the creek on our return trip, just a km or so from the researchers’ camp. They arrived soon after I walked over to their camp. Geoff and Abbey seemed to be in charge of about four or five people including themselves. They were expecting me and we had a good chat. They have been here for three weeks and will stay for probably another three. They gave me a training CD for the ground parrot calls and we might meet up in the morning.

Sunrise is at 4.40 a.m. The parrot starts calling circa 3.40 a.m. It takes an hour to drive here because of the gravel and the roos. Bloody hell!! A 2.30 a.m. start!

We played the CD on the way back to Thomas River camp ground and I’m hopeful that we can distinguish it if the dawn chorus isn’t too complex. Glenda said she will make me a thermos before we go to bed if I promise not to wake her. The ranger dropped by and nearly dropped his false teeth when I said I was driving over in the morning before dawn. You gotta do it if only to say that you’ve done it.

Cape Arid
November 21st 2009
Saturday - Day 62

Bloody alarm! Technology and I are not always friends, and my 2.30 a.m. setting failed to work. As a consequence I woke at 4 a.m., a drive to the Poison Creek area not worthwhile.

I cut my losses and drove up to the area near the information and registration wall. The ranger had told me that he’d heard them there and Abbey suggested a look there as she’d heard that they were there also (probably from the same source). I was sceptical and angry with my alarm so by the time I arrived I wasn’t fully awake.

As I approached the cross road I played the training tape just to refamiliarise myself. The sky was quite light and there was a strong breeze. Fortunately there was not much of a dawn chorus going. It was about 4.15 when I turned the engine off and started to listen. I initially thought I’d left the tape going for there it was; a calling ground parrot. I could hear several in the vicinity so the adrenalin kicked in.

Each time I managed to get a bearing the call seemed to stop or move. I was conscious that I only had about 15 minutes before they would stop so I was moving fairly fast. I spent an hour looking about, the callings stopped as expected. I managed to photograph a tawny honeyeater calling from a branch and heard a rufous calamanthus but unfortunately no ground parrots. I’ll try again at dusk and hopefully the alarm will work tomorrow.

I returned to the van and went back to bed, sleeping in til mid morning. Eventually Glenda and I did the dishes on the table outside and then had a brunch of spaghetti on toast which equals more dishes later. We drank from Glenda’s thermos.

The sun struggled to get through for most of the day. The western wattlebirds dominate the park now, fighting and calling loudly over the many banksias in bloom. This was quite different a month ago when we were here and the New Holland honeyeaters ruled. There are some still about but not in the numbers like last time.

Glenda and I drove out to the cross road where I had heard the ground parrots this morning. On listening to the tape Glenda agreed with me that the calls were ground parrots. Should I try here again or go for the area near Poison Creek with the researchers?

A group of youngster set up camp this afternoon and have been fairly rowdy for much of the night. Rain has been falling steadily which I hope will put a dampener on their enthusiasm for partying (pun intended). Hopefully the weather will be clear in the morning.

Cape Arid – Esperance
November 22nd 2009
Sunday - Day 63

My phone alarm worked! I was up and about at 2.30 a.m. as planned. The sky was clear and the rain had stopped so it looked like a good day ahead.

There were some kangaroos about as expected so I didn’t get much over 60 kms an hour on the 55 km trip to the spot I thought I might have some luck at. On the way a couple of western quolls scampered across the road which was a surprise. I haven’t done much in the way of might spotting this trip. I was hoping that the researchers would be about but being Sunday they may have been taking a day off.

I found the clump of vegetation with the lone palm tree and waited. I’d listened to the tape on the way over and thought I might also have a serious look for the rufous fieldwren. Alas there were no calls that I could discern as being from the ground parrots. I recognised the tawny honeyeater and the fieldwren but the cupboard with ground parrots was bare.

Further down the track a lone Kangaroo stood in the middle of the road. It raised itself to its full height, looking something like a gunman waiting at high noon. It was a standoff as I slowed down to a crawl, confident because I definitely out gunned him in the Territory. He quickly turned a bounded off into the banksia scrub. A dint that didn’t happen…. this time.

The return trip was sombre. I listened to The Doors and Chris Rea for much of it. A feral cat lay on the edge of the road and must have just succumbed to 10 80 poison as it was still warm. Only the milky eyes of something being poisoned gave the cause of death away.

I was satisfied with my trip although I had failed to see this critically endangered bird. We soon packed up and were away by 10 o’clock. It would have been earlier but the soma puzzle in the form of the shower tent kept us thinking. How to fold it up and put it in its bag is a mystery that would challenge the greatest contortionist.

Back in Esperance and in network Range we received a call from Rod Hilton in Brisbane. He had flown down to Ballarat for the Karate Club’s official opening and presentation dinner before flying back to Brisbane. He spoke in glowing terms of the two days he was there and confirmed my thoughts that I’d missed a significant milestone in our Club’s history. There’ll be other moments ahead.
Good news that Rod’s son, Andrew has landed a job at Sea World on the Gold Coast. After settling him in to a place to board they’re driving back to Ballarat before heading over here. We just might meet them on the way.

Glenda went shopping for the trip over the Nullarbor which starts tomorrow. It’ll be the beginning of week 10 and the last entries in this journal. I hope its writing has been useful and worthwhile to family and friends.

Bird Sightings: Western Ground Parrot (heard) 160 birds 7 new birds, WESTERN QUOLL

Western Australia Week 8

Manjimup
November 9th 2009
Week 8
Monday - Day 50

Today didn’t get over the low 20’s which was great for driving and walking. After toast and coffee we headed east into forest country for one last attempt at a numbat. A ranger down Pemberton way suggested northern road in the Perup area. We drove at a slow speed along the 15 odd kms observing every termite mound and log in eye sight from the road. Alas no numbats.

We turned south and stopped at a bridge wayside stop for lunch. This was fortuitous for a small flock of western corellas were there. There is a subspecies of the western corella called the Muir’s corella which is the one we spotted. It may one day be a species of its own and split from the western corella found north and south of Perth. It is listed as vulnerable and its range is limited to the Lake Muir Tone Bridge area which is where we spotted it. It looked very much like Victoria’s long billed corella with the exception of having no red line on the throat.

I stopped in at the Department of Conservation and had a chat with a guy named Ian who I accidentally ran into at the Info Centre yesterday. He couldn’t recommend any birding sites other than the ones I intended looking at so the visit was disappointing. Glenda visited a local doctor to renew a script so the afternoon was reading and researching.

Manjimup Goju Ryu – Self centre, Sensei Klaus Mueller 5th Dan to my right, Craig Crampton 3rd Dan to my left.

The Manjimup Karate Club made me most welcome around 7 p.m. and Klaus Mueller was a fine teacher who ran a great class. I was very impressed with the dedication of his students and the obvious respect they have for their teacher. It was good to up my training but the lack of solid exercise over the past seven weeks was certainly felt. The body will be letting me know its feelings in a day or two.
Bird Sightings: Western corella (Muir’s), 158 birds 6 new birds

Manjimup
November 10th 2009
Tuesday - Day 51

I slept very well. Training in a martial art has always released the well know endomorphines associated with exercise, but after the wind down and debrief with Glenda the body shuts itself down for the night with precious little effort.

I awoke around 6 a.m. feeling good and did a quick walk around the park which doesn’t have much in the way of bush attractions. Glenda made bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms a bit later which set us up for a drive south to Shannon N.P.

Shannon was again all about the three giant trees and apart from some special spots had a 20 plus km forest drive which we took in the 30 degree heat. A radio broadcast filled us in on the history of the place and bits of the ecology. The broadcast didn’t mention the myriad of bush flies that seemed to be waiting every time we stopped to get out (I strongly suspect that they had hitched a ride on the vehicle itself). We’ve become very attached to these huge trees which grow to over 90 meters, putting them in the “highest trees in the world” bracket.

We couldn’t capture the might of these trees nor the feel for the bush despite our best efforts. It was peaceful apart from the flies and made for a restful morning.

We returned to the van and had a delicious roast chicken and vegetable lunch with a bottle of wine to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall (20 years ago yesterday). Okay, a day late but then, lunch was last night’s meal which we didn’t feel like eating. It was the first time we have sat down with a bottle of wine for lunch on this trip, quite a feat given the number of surrounding vineyards. We opted for a local Manjimup wine, a “Woodgate” sauvignon blanc.

Around 5 p.m. I visited Klaus’s property about 7 kms from town. A true martial artist, he has his own dojo on his 2½ acre property with a beautiful ornamental pool with Japanese carp. If only Victoria would allow us to keep them. Various well established bamboos made a great touch. We worked through some Bo and Sai techniques before I returned to the van.

At 7 p.m. it was his normal iaido and jodo class so I made my way over to the local hall we trained in yesterday. Glenda worked on the blog site and put up week seven on the net. Two hours of Bo, Jo and Iai and I was ready for a good night sleep. I’ll remember Klaus as a gentleman of the old Budo guard……not many of us left! We’ll meet again.

Manjimup - Walpole
November 11th 2009
Wednesday - Day 52 “Lest We Forget”

Today was mild and didn’t get past 24 degrees. A power failure caused a complete loss of hot water at the park so we left without the invigoration of a shower. We headed south towards Walpole through the Shannon N.P. again, enjoying slight changes in vegetation as we crossed varying soil types.

Walpole was reached around 11 a.m. and we moved straight to the Coalmine Beach Caravan Park. It is a bit all over the place but each site has its own border made up of trees and shrubs, the standout being a pale green kangaroo paw which is everywhere. We set up and enjoyed the showers. A quick dish wash and we were ready to hit the Info Centre. Unfortunately the car wasn’t.
A flat battery?? After a good trip it should have been stoked but not a spark despite many a choice word. The park owner drove down with jumper leads and got us going. What would have happened if we were bush camping on the Nullarbor? A visit to Stan, a local mechanic saw us buy a new battery for $140. Stan was a character, ex Vietnam vet, the Celtic tattoo on his forearm being a mid life crisis thing after the death of his first wife. Not his Cornish heritage; “I just liked the look of it”.

We took in the Info Centre and drove around the inlet to get a feel for the place. We like it! A stop or two along the Knoll circuit (no, not the “Noel” circuit) enabled some photo opportunities. I did a walk from the park along a heritage trail and walked under a Baudin cockatoo less than 10 meters above me. A return with my camera saw it nick off before I came even close.

Tonight as we were cleaning up a young kookaburra perched on our awning strut and just waited. We gave up and handed it a few meat scraps which it systematically beat against the strut. It was a good laugh. The park is quite sweet so maybe an extra night here will be the case. I talked to my brother Wayne and my sister Kerri by phone late afternoon. Good to touch base with family and friends.

It’s sad that the kookaburra doesn’t belong here. Its introduction to W.A. in the late 19th Century has caused an ecological disaster amongst the natural order of the area. Not many people realise this. Can we swallow the hard pill and try to eradicate them from W.A.? Soon we will have the DNA technology to achieve this through a systemic killing agent. Hmm…

Walpole
November 12th 2009
Thursday - Day 53
The tub we place our range of footwear in greeted us this morning by being substantially full of water. Bad placement on my behalf left it partly exposed at the front of the van where a natural drainage point for the roof overflowed. Given the steady rain that fell during the night and continued until midday it was hardly surprising.

My early morning walk was delayed because of the rain and netted me very little in the way of good photographs. A family of splendid wrens and a wallaby pretty much summed it up.

Pink Fairy Orchids were everywhere

We drove in the rain to Mt Frankland, about 30 kms north east of Walpole. It was humid under a very overcast sky but we decided to do the base walk of 1.5 kms. The top of the mountain is a granite outcrop but the trail around it went up and down numerous times making it a level 3 – 4 trek. We stopped to photograph a cheeky rufous treecreeper consuming a moth and a pair of inland thornbills along the way. .

The views of the surrounding country were good but had the sun been out they would have been much better.

The trek took us over some aged board walks which saved us clambering over slippery moss laden rock or soggy ground. In the drizzle it would have been disastrous without it.

The Fernhook Falls were a further 13 kms along a circuit so we pushed on. They weren’t too spectacular and the water seemed dirty. This is a common misconception over here as the tannins give the water its dark tea colour. According to the literature the water here is 95% pure. Huge karri timbers were used as pylons for the bridge.
We looked at the local camping ground but again caravans weren’t invited.

By the time we returned to the van the showers beckoned. A late lunch gave us some down time before Glenda drove me back into town so I could do the heritage walk through the swamp. Talk about flies! I thought my back pack had extra weight by the time I returned but it was the masses of pesky hitchhikers.

Glenda prepared pumpkin and feta pizza with chorizo for the evening meal. How does she do it?? Below are shots from the Mt Frankland walk.


Barking owl (heard) ,not counted, 158 birds 6 new birds

Walpole
November 13th 2009
Friday - Day 54

More rain overnight but nothing too heavy despite much thunder and lightning earlier on. We managed to sleep in a bit before slowly getting up.

Two people from Buninyong happened to be parked across from us. While chatting I found that they were bird observers so we were able to share some information. He was after a red winged wren which I’d photographed around their van site yesterday. It didn’t appear on cue and unfortunately they were heading for Denmark and up to the Stirling Ranges. Hope it’s not too hot for them and that they have some luck.

Glenda made pan cakes with jam and cream for breakfast so we were full of energy by mid morning. We drove to the Giant Tingle Tree which was about 10 kms from Walpole. These big gum trees are amazing, they look thoroughly burnt out and dangerous but above the dead looking trunk are healthy limbs and leaves. This particular tree had a significant history as an early attraction for tourists dating back to the 1920’s. There are quite a few photos of families on horseback and even a VW Kombi van standing in the hollow of the tree.

We moved on, still hoping for a sighting of the western thornbill. The Circular Pool was next. A delightful swimming place albeit the dark tea coloured water might be a deterrent. Many seats and parking bays made it look quite the weekend fun spot for the locals.

Today was again quite humid so we opted for some reading in the van under the air conditioner. Around 2 o’clock I decided to walk the heritage trail again, not to see how many flies I could pick up but to hopefully see a new bird as it’s been a few days since a new spotting. Armed with camera, binoculars and a mosquito head net which made me look a bit like a sniper I headed out. After an hour I had had enough.

I phoned friends Bob Cartledge and later Ross and Wally Smith (Wally is actually female) to catch up on some gossip. Seems the longer I’m away the more I miss family and friends. Regardless it was the fix I needed to brighten up the day. Tomorrow we’re off to Denmark, the town nearest to the Valley of the Giants as opposed to O.S. (overseas). It’s on the beach and more karri forests.
Tonight’s dinner was echidnas (alias porcupines) with a side of steamed greens. Bloody delicious!
Bird Sightings: Barking owl (heard) not counted, 158 birds 6 new birds

Walpole - Denmark
November 14th 2009
Saturday - Day 55

The news last night revealed that Eucla reached 45 degrees yesterday which makes the thought of travelling across the Nullarbor at this time of year a little daunting. Hopefully when the time comes for our crossing the weather will be a bit kinder towards us. Hell, after the battering we had on the way over we deserve a decent break.
We stopped at the Walpole market which was never going to have much. Some fresh vegetables and a sausage in bread for breakfast and we were off. Denmark W.A. is only 60 kms away so we took our time getting there. Eventually we booked in to the Ocean Beach Caravan Park which is very modern judging by the amenities block. Not a lot of bush about for me so we soon headed down to the beach for a look in the windy conditions.

The Info Centre soon had us heading north to a wine and puzzle farm followed by a cheese and wine spot. Can’t remember the last time we visited a winery and didn’t do a tasting. We eventually got lost and ended up 30 kms from Walpole! A U turn put us back and we sampled an ice cream at a wine and honey farm. Amazing little boutiques everywhere!!
The ocean was too windy at the Elephant Rocks which were interesting. Stairs led down through large boulders to a rocky beach which would be great fun depending on the currents.

Being Saturday night we decided on a bottle of wine which we eventually bought in Denmark at a liquor store. A guy giving free tastings of his “Poacher’s Ridge” brand convinced us to buy a bottle of his cabernet sauvignon for $20. It turned out a neat drop.

Denmark
November 15th 2009
Sunday - Day 56

It was a warm night and I must have been half asleep at about 3 a.m. Nature called so I decided to use the amenities across from the van. In any case it wasn’t until I was coming back that I was confronted by the biggest kangaroo I’ve seen on this trip, standing under a light pole. He was equally surprised to see me, probably by the way I must have walked straight at him.

Roos can be quite dangerous and his body language suggested menace when he stretched himself to his full height. I was in for some trouble. I doubt that even in the testosterone filled years of my adolescence I would have stood my ground facing such a situation. I stood very still for a time then started to edge my way backward and to the side. Where does a 100kg kangaroo sleep?
Anywhere he likes!! I got back to the van very quickly and remained awake for a long time.

We got away reasonably early and reached Albany late morning. The town was enjoying its agricultural show which isn’t our scene. We were heading for Cheynes Beach where we stayed earlier in the trip. There was a slight tail wind in our favour which we hope might stick around for a while.

The day was clear and reached the low 20s. We booked in and did some housekeeping. A walk mid afternoon and again around 5 p.m. showed little activity bird wise. Indeed, the spring blooms are mostly over so I have a suspicion that things will be nowhere near the frenetic pace of our visit just a few weeks ago.

A gentleman by the name of Michael Akrill from the Hunter Valley in NSW dropped by unexpectedly. The park owner had given him their bird observers’ diary and told him that the people who had donated the photos of the whipbirds (us) were on site 15. He has been travelling for 8 weeks but has gone from the Hunter Valley to Darwin, Broom and down the west coast. He has amassed a staggering 300 plus sightings on this trip which included cannon netting at the Broom Bird Observatory.

We had a pleasant chat about the “places we have been and the things we have seen”. We will probably meet up in the morning. Let’s hope the birds are a bit more active in the early hours.