Broome Bird Observatory ~ Lynn's 600th

And on Saturday, 2 April 2016 Lynn Richardson saw her 600th bird species in Australia. And then saw two more for a total of 602. Yay! I am so deeply grateful. But first, let’s catch up…

Friday afternoon, following a morning of looking at Little Curlews at the ovals (see blog before this one) then hanging out in the library, we hunkered into our air-conditioned room here figuring to have a nap. Then there was a tap on the door. Jamie Jackett said in a put-on American accent (she is Canadian), “I got y’all a plover.” Meaning that John Graff had located an Oriental Plover in a flock of waders only about a kilometer from the Observatory. It is a bird that they all knew we wanted badly. She gave us directions and we leapt into Troopi and took off. Soon, after much sand and dirt flying, we rocked up (literally) behind John’s BBO Landcruiser overlooking the bay, and were soon having beautiful views of this awesome plover. Although he was leading a paying tour, they had waited for us to get there and see that one bird. Very cool! And I was and am, very grateful! It also put Lynn’s Aussie life list at 599.
   

Oriental Plover right there in the middle.

Saturday morning we were up at the crack of dark and rolled out of the Observatory at 5:30am for a morning of birding with Nigel and John. We were heading inland to look for some new birds. After about an hour’s drive, we arrived at a lagoon, and in just minutes, Nigel had us Painted Finch. A bird that Lynn and I had dipped on repeatedly, a bird that is stunningly beautiful and a bird that put Lynn’s Australian life list at 600 species.

Painted Finches at last (four in this shot).

Lynn's #600 official Lifer Selfie with Nigel Jackett and me.

I am so grateful that Lynn is a birder. That simple sentence means more to me than I can put into words. It is wonderful to be able to share this noble passion. I do get a bit more (too much perhaps?) intense about it, but I do. So I will just say again simply that I am so grateful that she is a birder!

As we continued to look around the lagoon area, John said, “Flock Bronzewing! Flying over those two cows.” We both got straight on it and we had about ten full seconds of watching a flying Flock Bronzewing. Tick 601, I am very grateful (and once again, thank you, John!).

We headed along to another stop at a dry lake and amongst the trees nearby, once again, Graffy (as John Graff is sometimes called) found us a life bird, Yellow-tinted Honeyeater. We have heard that they will be ubiquitous further along our journey, but this one was our first. So it popped Lynn to 602! I am grateful.
       

Yellow-tinted Honeyeater

Sunday we headed to town for a bit of Honeyeater looking, checking the flowering trees. We saw quite a few Honeyeaters included a stunner of a gorgeous “Golden-backed” Black-chinned, but alas, no Banded Honeyeater yet. I honed my honeyeater pishing skills and had crazy success with Brown Honeyeaters. I thought they might perch on my head at times. We will keep looking. Sadly, the library is closed on Sunday, so there was no wifi and a/c time for us there, and this blog did not get posted.
               

Red-collared Lorikeet... so lovely and an armchair tick for us a while back.

Black-chinned Honeyeater (once called the Golden-backed Honeyeater and you can see why)

Brown Honeyeaters love my pishing.

So now it is Monday and we are at the library... after a frustrating morning looking at hundreds of terns (some of which were probably Roseate) on a sandbar about a kilometer from the land. Our scope is good, but not that good. We needed an astronomer’s telescope… or a boat. 

Terns... hundreds of them... they were on both ends of that sandbar WAY out there.

We birded a bit on the way into town before having a bite and hitting the library. I am grateful indeed. Stay tuned there will be more coming soonish...
       

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos on the way back into town.

Pheasant Coucal, always a cool bird to see.

Lifer on Saturday, 'town bird' on Monday... Yellow-tinted Honeyeater.

Birds. Peace. Love.

Broome Bird Observatory ~ Part Two

Ok… let’s catch up. Tuesday, Lynn and I were checking the sports ovals in town (possibly Little Curlew or Oriental Plover) when we saw a snipe lounging in the shade of some trees. We watched it for a while without getting any determining looks or photos. Then the maintenance truck flushed it and it seemed to have flown “away.” Later in the day we saw it and two more on the same ovals. So there were three snipe hanging about there. John and Dave came by, but again no one could get an i.d. look or photo. That means we had three Pin-tailed/Swinhoe’s Snipe.

Wednesday morning early and reasonably bright, Lynn and I hit the double oval again and there in the shade of the few trees between the ovals were three snipe. We began stalking them, with me holding the camera ready should they spread their tails (Google: Pin-tailed vs Swinhoes and see the difficulty in determining which is which. I will not go into it here. Just realize that basically you have to see the tail spread). A Magpie Lark bothered two of them and I managed a poor, yet possibly identifiable photo. I sent it to Nigel and it was! He confirmed it as a Swinhoe’s. Other photos were taken later, and at one point it was thought we also had a Pin-tailed, but that was premature identification. However, we definitively had Swinhoe’s (at least two) and that is a wonderful thing and I am grateful!
       

The first i.d. shot... Swinhoe's!

Swinhoe's Snipe

After the ovals, Lynn and I went into the shops to pick up a couple of things and I got a call from Adrian Boyle. He was looking at a Eurasian Curlew at Crab Creek. Since Lynn and I had twitched the one at Bunbury last month, we were not going to dash down to mangroves to try and see it. Then we found out that he had also seen Little Curlew! A bird that we badly wanted, but the tide was rising and we could not get from town to the creek in time (the tides here are massive, running about 8 meters now I think).

Thursday morning a Brown Goshawk gave me a glare and then said good morning to me while I had my coffee. 

     

Shot through the fly-screen but I love that "stink eye" look that he is giving me.

I think he said good morning.

Then a bit later in the morning, Lynn and I headed down to catch the tide at the correct level and (hopefully) get out and have a look for the Little Curlew. Our new friend, John Graff, the Assistant Warden here at the BBO, was also heading out to have a look for the Eurasian Curlew. We followed him down the beach and then through the mangroves out to view the mudflats.

Our intrepid leader, John Graff doing what he does.

There were a lot of waders out on those flats. John went out about 100 meters further (we opted-out on crossing the little tidal rivulet with the really sinky mud). So we were scoping from our vantage point when he phoned to say he had the Little Curlew. It was straight out across from us! Quite a ways, but we got smashing scope views of this beautiful shorebird. I took the following photos. (Nigel is going to try and teach Lynn and me to digiscope with the iPhone. We will see). SO we got Little Curlew and I am really grateful! We have more days here and there will be more birds and blogs to come.
     

Little Curlew! Worth the mud, sweat and more sweat.

Well, here I am in the Broome Library again. It is Friday morning and Lynn and I began our day birding the point at the port, and the point at the lighthouse. They can be “migrant traps,” but not this morning. On our way back into town, we decided to check the sports ovals where we’d seen the snipe and much to our surprise had three Little Curlews! Such is birding. Yesterday’s mud slog to get a distant (but excellent) view of a lifer and then having 3 of them together and viewable from the air conditioned comfort of Troopi. Of course we got out and looked, scoped and got some photos. I am grateful.

Three Little Curlews! Less than 24 hours later... no mud or mangroves and closer.

An Osprey flew over and they all crouched and watched it.

We are still here in Broome and we may hide out here at the BBO a bit longer than we had planned. There are wonderful birds and people here, and some air conditioning. This unseasonable heat wave is continuing (110F in the shade yesterday afternoon).


Birds. Peace. Love.

Broome Bird Observatory ~ Part One

It really ain’t any less hot, and it’s even been hotter sometimes, so I will skip the whining regarding the heat and humidity. We have had some wonderful birds and wonderful times and made wonderful friends. Right now I am writing in Broome at a McDonalds where their wifi does not work (as the young Maccas lady explained, it usually doesn’t work). So this will not be as detailed or clever as I try and make some blogs. I am too distracted by the tattoo choices of some of the patrons here. They do know they are permanent, yes? Anyway… a quick catch up, here you go...

On Good Friday, after a visit to the sewage ponds to take some photos of the Barn Swallows that Lynn had spotted the day before, we moved into the Broome Bird Observatory. It is a legendary place to me (and many others) and I am grateful to be here!
   

Lynn's Barn Swallows

Saturday morning began with a ride across the Roebuck Plains with John Graff to hopefully see the Yellow Chat. It was hazy and stupidly humid, but we had beautiful views of about six chats. My photos are lame, but recognizable (to me anyway, I was there). I am grateful. It is a gorgeous bird and this is one of the best places to see them. I am grateful as.
       

Yellow Chats!

     

Brolga in the humid, morning haze.

As the morning progressed (and the heat) we headed down with our new friend, Sue, to have a look for Common Redshanks amongst the Common Greenshanks. There was also a Red-kneed Dotterel there that turned out to be the first of the season for BBO.
   

Common Redshanks (and Common Greenshanks).

Sunday began with a walk along the mangroves to have a look for White-breasted Whistler. We saw two and it is one of the more stunning birds we have seen. It is a very large whistler, although in the books it much resembles a Rufous Whistler, this bird is noticeably larger and its beak is wicked-big. I am grateful.
   

White-breasted Whistler

Later that morning, we were given directions from John and Nigel on where to look for an Asian Dowitcher. Lynn and I stopped at the first spot and were overwhelmed by the waders. There were at least a couple of thousand. Nigel and Dave came down and remarked on what a small flock it was! But we (and by we, I mean Nigel) found a gorgeous Asian Dowitcher in breeding plumage! I am very, very grateful.
     

Asian Dowitcher in breeding plumage.

Look at that massive bill!

Yesterday morning early, Lynn and I took a walk behind the observatory and in less than ten minutes had a gorgeous White-throated Gerygone ticked. It’s a bird that we had missed back east. I am grateful, of course.

White-throated Gerygone

I have said over and over that this is not a photographic safari. We are birding and I take photos when I can. This particular blog leans on the photos. I am now at the library in town and hope that I will be able to post from here without using our Telstra. It seems that I can, but now the laptop battery is running down, so I must hurry. Sending great vibes to all from tropical WA, and the magical world of Broome Bird Observatory.

Birds. Peace. Love.

Birds, Sweat and Twitch

Americans for the most part don’t know how different the sun is down here. The difference between being in the sun and in the shade is unbelievable until you experience it yourself. The other afternoon it was 34C here, but the heat index was above 40C. I just know it is miserably hot, in or out of the sun, and I spend most of the day dripping in sweat. We are in the tropics and I am grateful.

Yesterday morning, we stopped by the Broome Bird Observatory and found out that the Semipalmated Plover had been seen the day before at the sewage ponds (not on the beach behind the ponds as I had thought, and where we had spent some overly hot time searching). Of course, we drove straight down to the ponds. The trick to seeing anything at the Broome sewage ponds is to elevate yourself, and as my levitation skills are woefully lacking, it meant standing on Troopi’s hood and that is what I (and eventually we) did.

We looked in the spot where it had been observed the day before, but it was not showing. We tried different angles, driving around the ponds and stopping and climbing up on the hood (or her bow as we often call it) to scope the ponds. We ended up back at the spot where we started. We’d been doing this for about an hour and a half, and were getting close to throwing in the towel (which would have been soaked with sweat) and then I saw the Snipe.

Pin-tailed/Swinhoe's Snipe (I want to know!)

I did not know exactly what snipe it was and I still don’t. Here it would either be Pin-tailed or Swinhoe’s. Nigel was 99% sure the snipe that he saw there that morning was Pin-tailed. However what we saw was probably a Swinhoe's (according to Nigel). Yes, there are two snipe hanging out at the poo ponds. Anyway, I stayed longer with my scope, bins and camera on Troopi’s hood, looking and taking poor, too-far-away snipe photos. It got hotter and hotter.

And then… I saw the plover, our plover. I knew it the moment I saw it, even from the back and many meters away. I told Lynn that I had it and she was up on the hood in a flash and looking at it through the scope. We had twitched the Semipalmated Plover! I am so grateful! Sure, we’ve seen hundreds in the US, but this is an Aussie Lifer and that’s what counts! And speaking of birds that we have often seen in the US but never here, Lynn spotted and correctly identified Barn Swallows at the ponds yesterday! When we spoke with Nigel in the afternoon, he mentioned that he had seen them there that morning as well. She spotted them. I would have missed them.

The first "Oh my God! Oh my God! I've got it!" view. That's its little back way over there above the coot.

Semipalmated Plover!

Here are some more photos from the last few days. There are some other Lifers and more. It’s been hot, but worth every drop of sweat and there is so much more to come... birds and sweat. We’re in Broome, Western Australia and I am grateful.

 

Lifer Eastern Yellow Wagtail (with dark head and seemingly no eyebrow).

Eastern Yellow Wagtail with eyebrow.

Lifer Paperbark Flycatcher at the roadhouse.

Rufous-throated Honeyeater coming atcha!

Lifer Rufous-throated Honeyeater looking wistful.

I like this photo. An Australian Bustard just strolling along by a river on the way up here.

And a couple of Knot bad flight shots of a Great Knot.

Lifer Selfie instead of Lifer Pie (sometimes). This was in the Roebuck Plains Roadhouse the other night, just before I had a wonderful grilled Barramundi dinner.

Birds. Peace. Love.

Grey Honeyeater Joy

We drove out to the Tom Price area of WA really for only one reason, the possibility of finally seeing Grey Honeyeater. It is a hard bird and one that we had put a bit of time into already without success. We had some good info on where to look out here and we headed off yesterday morning to look (and listen. They have a very distinctive call).

We got a late start, but one of the odd things about Grey Honeyeaters is that they tend to call later in the morning, like after 10am. We figured to be out in the area where we were going to be looking by about then. On the way out, I saw a flock of finches (we are still looking for Painted Finch) and pulled Troopi off onto the “shoulder.” A note on driving a Landcruiser… it’s all “shoulder.” Not really, but your ‘pulling off the road’ options are greatly expanded. Anyway, they were Zebbies, surprise, surprise. But whilst we were looking through them, Lynn noticed a bird perched-up and asked, “What’s that bird?” And I believe I said, “I think that’s a Spinifexbird!” A lifer for us both (and a bird that we would see 3 or 4 more times before the day was over). But I was very grateful indeed.

Spinifexbird!

I like this photo... the Spinifexbird and its bug and the background and all.

We continued along the sun-baked (it was about 35C, no clouds), red-dust roads further out near Mount Sheila. It was in this general area that it was suggested we look. So we looked and listened. Early on, we thought we might have had one, but it just wasn’t quite right and we figured it was possibly a Western Gerygone. We kept looking as we worked our way back toward Rt. 136 (unsealed as well) that runs along the western side of Karijini NP. I spoke with my friend Tim and he was very encouraging. He said that we were in the right habitat and to just “keep going.” I did.

Lynn had had her dose of Aussie-early-arvo sun, so I was mostly doing the getting out to look and listen. And I kept doing it, and doing it, and yes, well, doing it. And then about 2pm I was amongst the now so familiar mulga and I heard the call! It was that wondrously, magical moment when you realize there is a living bird that can make a sound JUST like your app! My heart soared.

As I said, at this point, I was doing the reconnaissance and as soon as I heard that distinctive call, I waved to Lynn to COME HERE! She bolted from Troopi to where I was, about 100 meters in. I had not played the call since I had heard the honeyeater, but as soon as she was with me I played it once and a pair of Grey Honeyeaters flew straight in, answering back. I thought my head would explode. Finally. For sure! Seeing, while hearing them! I took a few very mediocre recording shots (see below) but I was absolutely thrilled to get those. They moved off a bit and I considered trying to get them to come in again, but they seemed so excited and responsive to the first playback, that I decided not to do it. I saw them, heard them and got some photos. They owed me nothing more. I am ridiculously grateful!

Grey Honeyeater!

Lifer high reigned the rest of the day and I had potato chips with my sandwich at supper as my “Lifer Pie” treat (it can be anything you know). They were delicious and special I am grateful.

"Crazy Mulga Man." That's me in my shorts and gators after a day in the sun, mulga, and spinifex and finding the Grey Honeyeater! Do I look happy? I am about as happy as I get.

So, for the few last lifers... the Spinifex Pigeons were all Lynn. She found them and she showed me. And… she was the one who spotted the Spinifexbird yesterday morning. But those Grey Honeyeaters? I kept going, and searching and found them, and that feels SO damn good. I am grateful.

By the way, for birders who are interested, the coordinates of where we found them are: -22.2423 x 117.9245. Or just have a look at the map on our eBird list. We were about 100 meters in on the south side of the road from that point. And please, use eBird. For all its frustrations, it is an awesome resource for us, but only if we use it!

Birds. Peace. Love.

Spinny Pidge and the Dystopian Holiday Park

Thursday morning after a bit of birding about the sewage ponds, we departed Exmouth.

Spotted Harrier

Budgerigar in a finch bush (more about that later elsewhere).

We pointed Troopi toward Onslow, WA. Not because we had any desire to see, or be in Onslow, but because eBird listed a spot near it on Onslow Road that had produced some birds we wanted to see. We also did not actually point Troopi at Onslow as that would have produced a large splash and a short trip. So we pointed her south, then northeast and then north to be on the road to Onslow, home of miners (not the birds, although there were some there).

We stopped on the way when I saw a small flock of finches (which turned out to be Zebra) flying around what turned out to be a small dam. We had a quick look about and then went to the eBird spot where we found Orange Chats, which are very cool to see anytime as well as some zebbies and a few other of the regulars. It was very enjoyable and I was, and am quite grateful.
     

Orange Chats, a couple of the boys.

Ms Orange Chat

We arrived at the caravan park in Onslow about 4:30pm. It was a Discovery Holiday Park. We are members. I will join any caravan park group that is free to join, so we saved 10%. I hated this park. It was not a caravan park. It was like some sci-fi miners housing from an unhappy future. Instead of “Discovery Holiday Park” it should have been “Dystopian Holiday Park.” My review on WikiCamps is as follows…

“Never again. Not even if it were free. It has the ambiance of a minimum security prison and the noise level of a steel mill. It is not a caravan park (for me).”

After a crap night’s sleep (as stated, the noise was awful), we went birding. The eBird spot produced Chats again and some White-winged Fairy-wrens (love them too) but none of our targets. We headed back to the dam that we had stumbled upon the day before. There were millions of Zebra Finches. Ok, there were hundreds. We birded around the dam and I was on the backside when I heard Lynn call, “BRUCE!” I knew she had found something, and I ran straight toward her. As I came over the dam, I saw her looking through her bins and I asked, “What?” And she said, “Spinifex Pigeons.” And they were too. She was looking at three of these bizarrely beautiful pigeons, one of our targets, and life birds for us both. Yes! I am so grateful.
         

Showing off!

Just one of the bushes and spots filled with Zebra Finches at the dam. There is also a single Budgerigar in there with them.

Spinifex Pigeon (or as Ross refers to them... a Spinny Pidge).

Just cool as... I am in love.

Birds. Peace. Love.

They're Not All Lifers

They’re not all lifers. As we have been very fortunate lately in hitting our target birds, just birding itself sometimes gets forgotten in these blogs. But when we’re going after specific birds, we are looking at whatever else is around too. Yesterday we did some birding that produced no life birds, but we saw some very cool birds and did some enjoyable birding. I am sincerely grateful.

Les George had told us of a spot with watering stations on Charles Knife Rd. going into Cape Range NP where he had heard of Painted Finch showing up. We went there at sunrise and over the next couple of hours observed some sweet birds… Grey-headed Honeyeaters taking baths, Rainbow Bee-eaters hawking insects from the water, Variegated Fairy-wrens playing in the tangles, six Western Bowerbirds fussing like crazy, Singing and Brown Honeyeaters, but no Painted Finches.
 

One of the six Western Bowerbirds, noisy as.

Looking for finches

Often seen but so beautiful, Rainbow Bee-eater

Variegated Fairy-wren

A wet Grey-headed Honeyeater

We spoke with a Parks employee who suggested the sewage ponds in Exmouth (we did not know there were sewage ponds in Exmouth and they turned out to be beside the caravan park!). We gave that a go and had tons of Zebbies and a few flocks of Star Finches, but again no Painted. We had Brown Quail in two spots as well as a Wood Sandpiper down in the pond enclosure, little Diamond Doves and five Whistling Kites. We enjoyed the birding so much that we decided to stay on another night here. I birded the ponds area in the evening, but did not find anything new. Although I did see many more Star Finches than we had in the morning.
   

Star Finches in the morning.

One of the Brown Quail

Whistling Kite, I see so many of them, but not just overhead like this.

...or with the moon beside it.

Star Finches seem to glow red in the evening light.

We may have a look there again tomorrow before we head to… I don’t know yet… we will see… Wherever it is, I am grateful!


Birds. Peace. Love.

Fantail and Treecreeper Joy

Sunday morning began early, but not crazy early. We were down to the mangroves in pursuit of the Mangrove Grey Fantail by 7am. This time we had gone to an old “jetty groin” called Massey Bay Lookout Point. We rolled out to the end and began walking and birding back along the mangrove edge. On about the third stop, I had just said to Lynn that perhaps we should move in closer to the shoreline where there were more mangroves and then almost immediately I said, “There it is.” And it was too. A lovely, inquisitive, cute as, Mangrove Grey Fantail right in front of us. I was grateful and made his photo.
   

Mangrove Grey Fantail

I like this photo best of all of them. Just because I do.

Mangrove Grey Fantail Lifer Selfie amongst the mangroves where we saw him.

Next up, I must mention that FB comes through again. Phil Lewis facebook-introduced us to Ross Jones and Carolyn Turnbull and we had a great time birding with them around Kirkalocka (see previous blogs). Knowing where we were headed next, Ross suggested we contact Les George when we got to Carnarvon. We did, but Les was on a bird count down in Shark Bay for the weekend. Well, Lynn and I did all right on our own (see the last blog) but were having no joy of the Black-tailed Treecreeper. It’s a bird of which Les has some good local knowledge. So when he said that he could bird with us Monday morning, we decided to stay an extra night here to go with him.

We decided on a 6am departure and Les arrived just past 5:30 (a man after my own heart. I tend to be notoriously early). But still we rolled out of here about 6. And by about 6:35 we were well east of Carnarvon mushing our way through the soft sand of the dry Gascoyne Riverbed with several billion flies (on each of us). Still, I was very grateful to be there.

Yes, the Gascoyne River... sometimes it is a river.

It doesn't really capture how many there are, but this should give you an idea. And she kept birding!

This bird was not an instant tick by any means. Even Les, who has yet to dip on the bird in that area out there began having his doubts. They just weren’t around. We had been trudging about for almost two hours. I thought perhaps the flies had eaten the treecreepers. Lynn, Les and I had spread out a bit and then… I thought I heard one to the east (yes me, it can happen). I shouted for my hearing-ear person and a few minutes later, Lynn said she thought she heard it to the east as well, but not close. We headed in that direction and soon we heard it distinctly. What a sweet sound that was. Then Lynn said, “There it is!” And it was. Man, was I grateful. Suddenly the flies were not annoying and all was joy. Such is “life bird high.” I am very grateful.
             

Black-tailed Treecreeper

Yes, the light was at a very bad angle for these, but I was very grateful for them regardless!

Les in the area where we finally found the bird.

Fly covered Lifer Selfie for Black-tailed Treecreeper

We had the best supper tonight that we’ve had in a while. Local seafood cooked to perfection. It was a ‘Lifer Pie level’ treat indeed (and better than the 600th bird dinner that had been a bit disappointing). But this made up for it! I am grateful! Tomorrow we head north (I think) so stay tuned. I truly do enjoy sharing the journey with y’all!


Birds. Peace. Love.

Six Hundred (And One) Australian Birds

I am writing this from a caravan park in Carnarvon, WA. It’s nice and it’s reasonable, especially with the stay 4 nights, pay for 3 special. So we are here for four nights (and I think we are adding another, more about that later).

     

Base camp.

Last Friday morning began about 4:30am and we were in Troopi heading for birding by 6am. We caught first light at Chinamans Pool to no avail (or I should say, nothing new avail). Then we did a cursory stop by the sewage works (twas very quiet), so we blew that off and headed for the mangroves at the little boat harbour
     

We climbed down the rock-rubble seawall into the mangrove flats and began looking and listening. I personally own 3 good pairs of gum-boots, none of which are with me. So off I went into the mud in my hiking boots. They are Asolos, and good boots, but they too are beginning to come apart. I finally wore-out my old Bluntstones. They were the old, real, made-in-Oz ‘blunties’ but I flat-out wore them out… yep, holes in the soles. I loved those boots, but I think I will go with Redbacks next time. They’re still made in Oz and I reckon they are better quality now. Anyway, our feet got muddy and that’s ok.

Not bad at all.

The mud really was not bad at all (as most of us have experienced, mud can be really bad) and we birded our way around and into the mangroves. There didn’t seem to be much around and then a little flock of Silvereyes came through and then came by again giving a better look and no, they were NOT Silvereyes, they were Yellow White-eyes! Tick! I am very grateful. They were my 599th Aussie bird (not counting the Thornlie mystery Imperial Pigeon). Then in moments, I was on a pair of little grey (one might say “dusky”) gerygones. Yes! My Australian Life List had hit 600. I was and am, very grateful!

Yellow White-eye

       

Dusky Gerygone- Australian Lifer 600

(Of course, I think they are beautiful).

That evening we had a nice F&C celebration supper (Lynn had the prawns. I wish I had gotten the prawns). And I had an ice cream on a stick dessert treat as my “Lifer Pie.” I am so grateful.
       

I got the Large Size.

Saturday morning began early as well and Lynn and I got to Bibbawarra Bore just after first light in hopes of Star Finch. Nothing much was moving around (at least two Chiming Wedgebills were chatting, or rather, chiming). We birded around in the scrub and reeds along the water. Lynn was hearing birds (she is my hearing ear person) and then I saw two little birds in the brush and said, “Red faces!” Then they were gone. But Lynn heard more of them and guided us toward their sounds and soon we were watching at least a score of Star Finches flying about in the bushes. Tick! Six-hundred and one! They are stunning birds. I am so grateful! After Friday night, I will wait awhile on “lifer treat” food. We are birding new areas again and that can get out of hand.
   

Star Finch

Star Finches

   

Very hot water comes up out of the bore.

I love this shot of our shadows against the backdrop of the bore and its trough.

John Tongue has told me that I can get a badge for hitting the 600 mark, and that I can also get onto Tony Palliser’s, “Birders Totals” webpage. Just wow. That seems unreal to me. There is such an amazing group of birders on that page. I will be so grateful to be sort-of “amongst” them (at least on the same webpage). So grateful indeed...

Birds. Peace. Love.

Kirkalocka Part Two

Now I am a caravan park in Drummond Cove, WA on the shores of the Indian Ocean. I am sitting with coffee and computer at our camp table behind Troopi. There are five species (make that six) of honeyeater swarming about the flowering gums just a couple of meters above and beside me, so far so good on ‘fallout’. There’s a little flock of babblers bouncing about under the trees by the amenities block. This is good. I am grateful (it is hard to write, as I keep looking at the birds).

Where I am right now.

Okay, when last I left y’all, we were doing a big loop through the outback to the south east of Kirkalocka. We even saw some touristy stuff. The abandoned town site of Big Bell was bizarrely beautiful in a “Twilight Zone” kind of way. This is a town that “peaked” when I was only one year old. Then the mine closed in 1955 and it went down hill fast. Now there is almost nothing left of the whole town. The old Hotel ruins are still there, but for the most part it’s just concrete slabs and rubble. It was all very cool. I am glad we stopped there. Here are some photos.
     

The back side of the hotel ruins

So much nothing

This was the theatre.

We did a bit more birding here and there and I took some phone photos. It is beautiful. It can be hideously hot (it was warm whilst we were there, but nothing like it can be) and the flies will drive you mad, but there is no denying the rugged beauty of it all. I am grateful to have been out there.

This is actually the W. Quail-thrush ridge from yesterday's blog, but it fits in here as well.

A water tank on a station

The Warne River with some water in it! There were even ducks.

A Sand Goanna looking us over.

Then on Monday, we reluctantly bid our new friends farewell (for now, we will see them again) and headed north to bird near Cue. We had missed a decent view of the Chiming Wedgebill on Saturday and we needed to get it. Again, north of Cue we found our bird. It was not a cooperative photography subject, but experiencing the bird is what counts! I did manage a few very lame, but identifiable recording shots. I am very grateful!
 

Chiming Wedgebill, he chimed for us but was reluctant to pose.

On our drive over to the coast yesterday, we made several stops looking for the Grey Honeyeater, but no joy of that little bird. We will keep looking. Maybe Tom Price in a few days (how could we fail at Mt. Bruce?). We will see. I know it is a hard bird. As for now, I reckon we are here for another night. There is a Yellow-throated Miner trying to decide if it should land on my table and a tiny Brown Honeyeater going about its business no more than a meter from my face. Sweet! I am so grateful.


Birds. Peace. Love.

Kirkalocka Part One

I am sitting in the camp kitchen at the nice, and the almost deserted, (except for a few hundred mozzies) caravan park in Mount Magnet, WA. We have had a pretty full-on few days up here in the western-central part of WA. I reckon I have to break this into two blogs. I need to get to some route planning, but I also want to share this journey. This blog helps to remind me, and to teach me, gratitude as I barrel-along in pursuit of the happiness that I already have. I am grateful.

Rolling up the Great Northern Highway, we arrived at Kirkalocka Station last Friday afternoon. As we were checking-in at the homestead, we had our first lifer, a gorgeous male Western Bowerbird! Grateful indeed. It is an awesomely beautiful bird.

Western Bowerbird

Amazing. It almost glows.

Soon we met our new friends Ross and Carolyn. Once again my facebook friend, Phil Lewis has introduced us to very cool people (Ross runs the Western Australian Birds facebook page). Kirkalocka is rustic and very basic, and it's the real thing. It is an outback station. There is no internet, no mobile service, it is out there. And I love the name. I swear it sounds Floridian. Its main allure to me is that it is very centrally located for birding in the region.

There was a working gas range there (see below), but these are the original stoves.

We left early Saturday morning with our new friends heading north to Cue. We went through the sleepy little town and further along to where Ross had previously seen Banded Whiteface. After a few stops and a bit of looking we had them. Tick! They are very cool little birds and they can certainly blend-in with the ground (see the photo). I am grateful.
 

Banded Whiteface

On the rocky ground, they do blend-in, don't they?

We also stopped Walga Rock where there are aboriginal petroglyphs and had a wander about there. Amazing.
   

Lynn and Carolyn

Lynn and I took our Banded Whiteface Lifer Selfie in front of the rock. The flies are ridiculously numerous. In this photo there is one going into my left nostril.

We birded around up there in several other spots. We thought we had Slaty-backed Thornbill, but I was not satisfied with my views (yes again, I had thornbill doubt). At the end of a long, lovely day, we went back to the station for the night. The stars were as amazing as they can be in the outback. I was deeply touched by the wonder… looking up into infinity. That view lives here in my chest. We are stardust. I am grateful.

Sunday morning at 6am, Russ took us just across the highway to the Western Quail-thrush spot. Within about a minute of walking up the slope, we had them. At least a dozen scattered across the hillside running about in the dawning light. What a delight! We watched them for about ten minutes, trying to get a photo in the low light and then… they were gone. As soon as the sun was really up, we did not see one again. Then Lynn said, "I am looking at a bird over there. It flew and I followed it and it's there on the ground." I did not see any bird there and then... yes! She had found a Spotted Nightjar! A lifer for her and a new year-bird. Sweet. I am grateful.
     

Two of the at least a dozen Western Quail-thrushes that we saw on that ridge.

Lynn's Spotted Nightjar!

Then we traveled south a bit and did a big loop out into the countryside so-to-speak. It is harshly beautiful out there. At one of the first places that we stopped and birded, Lynn and I got on our Slaty-backed Thornbill for certain. It is currently my favorite Thornbill. I am grateful.

Slaty-backed Thornbill for sure.

I wanted to do one big blog, but I cannot wrap my head around the past several days enough to get it done this morning, and there are a lot of photos. So I will stop here and hopefully, I will get the second half done tomorrow morning somewhere with internet coverage.

Birds. Peace. Love.

Lifer Do-Overs and Dolphin Fun

Bird listing is incredibly personal. What is a great “lifer look” to one birder may not be good enough for another. I have heard the expression, “experiencing the essence of the bird” and I reckon I agree. I do want to experience the essence of the bird, but exactly what does that entail? With a Noisy Scrub-bird, its essence is a very loud, mostly invisible, little dark bird that dashes across the road in fractions of a second. That is what I experienced, and I was very grateful for it. Tick! I was also extremely lucky a few days later and saw one again and managed to get a couple of barely recognizable recording shots. I am truly grateful.
   

A previously unpublished photo (of mine) of a Noisy Scrub-bird capturing its essence. I did get two better ones that I put in the blog, "New Dear Friends, New Wonderful Birds."

Ok, one more unpublished shot of mine of the essence of the Noisy Scrub-bird.

There are those who only tick birds that they have photographed and of which they have i.d. recording shots. I have been working on pulling away from the emphasis on getting a photo, and putting more emphasis on grokking the bird. However there is no way around the fact that I enjoy having an identifiable image of a life bird to look back at and reflect upon (and share on the Facebook or in the blog). But, it is not imperative to my enjoyment of the lifer. I have learned that, and I occasionally continue to relearn it. I am grateful that I will never be too old or too curmudgeonly not to learn and change. I am in process and I will be until the day I depart this earthly plane. I am grateful.

In the Stirling Range we had seen what the owner of the caravan park (a long time birder and certainly in his “patch”) wanted to call as an immature Western Thornbill. They are a regular bird there and he knew I wanted it. I also am sure he was sincere. He looked at the few photos that I had managed to get and pronounced it as such. So... Lynn did the eBird list and we went on with our lives. Later, I reviewed those photos in depth and I had very serious doubts. So, I really wanted to see another one. This past Tuesday morning, thanks to excellent information from Sean Van Alphen, Lynn and I ventured into Dryandra Woodlands and in only about half an hour, found a beautiful, absolutely for certain, Western Thornbill (and I got photos). Lifer do-over. I am grateful.
   

Hello, I am a Western Thornbill.

Currently my favorite Thornbill (until I see a Slaty-backed).

Do-over Lifer Selfie in The Dryandra Woodlands.The Thornbill was in the trees behind us.

During our WA Triple Twitch (a few blogs back; it was wondrous) we had seen a pair of Laughing Doves at the Lake where we had stopped by to tick our Aussie Mute Swan. I had sort of blown them off, and only really realized after the fact that they were lifers for us too. I was thinking, “Spotted Dove,” or more accurately, I was not thinking. So, I had just forgotten this tickable little dove (another plastic, I know). It did get onto the eBird list and our lists. We had seen it. But… I hadn’t really grokked it, had I? No friends, I had not. Well, Tuesday evening whilst sitting behind Troopi in a caravan park in Beverley, WA, I saw a Laughing Dove on a branch. As I got the camera, it flew but I re-found it on a wire and made its photo. I am grateful. It was another “lifer do-over” (not that I really needed to get a photo…).

   

Laughing Dove (in a serious moment). They are literally under-foot here and call a lot. It is a lovely dovey sound!

And lastly and unrelated, here are a few bonus photos of a Pied Cormorant and Bottlenose Dolphin (of some kind) in the river off our campsite early Monday morning. I liked them and wanted to share them with y'all.
Cheers from Western Australia!
 

"Hey, what are you guys doing? You're not sharks right?"

"Seems a bit crowded here. I think I'm going to move along."

"Yeah. You guys have fun. I'm going to find a new spot."

"I think I'll just jog over there."

"How did you get here so quick?"

Birds. Peace. Love.

Meeting of Two Oceans

For those of you playing along at home, I have made two maps roughly showing our route for the first month from Torquay, VIC, to here in Augusta, WA. I did not include every stop, as Google Maps has it limitations. You can only add so many places before it won’t let you put in any more. But I reckon this captures the flow of it pretty well (note the stretch from Madura, WA to Perth for our Triple Twitch). So far it has been about five thousand kilometers of awesome traveling, some phenomenal places and scenery, and some sweet birds. I am grateful.
       

We’ve been down to look at the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse here a couple of times. The Rock Parrots have not been home lately. They are known to hang out on the grass of the lighthouse grounds, but according to the caretakers, they have been missing for a couple of weeks. We saw Rock Parrots back on Kangaroo Island, but we’d love to see more.

There was a novel written about a fictitious lighthouse based on this real one. It is called, “The Light Between Oceans” and Lynn had read it about four years ago. She said she never dreamed she would actually be here. Spielberg has made a movie of the novel, but he filmed it in New Zealand, not here (exchange rates rule). The real (and fictitious) lighthouse marks the point between the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean, hence the name of the novel.

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse (I certain could have chosen a better angle for the photo, there is no ocean in it).

Rocks at the edge of the Indian Ocean

We have had three nights here, pausing to catch our breath a bit. Something I am not good at, but I know we need. Yesterday, Lynn was able to spend much of the day sitting in the shade overlooking the water and reading. She loves that. I wonder what book she was reading, and if one day we are going to end up where it takes place. Who knows.
       

But for today we head slowly along our way north toward more awesome places and wonderful birds. I am so deeply grateful.

Birds. Peace. Love.

New Dear Friends, New Wonderful Birds

After about two days, the rains did stop in Cheynes Beach, but it was time for us to move on. Although that morning I had one more look at the Noisy Scrub-bird!

See the white throat and his eye? That's a Noisy Scrub-bird!

They seem to run sort of hunched over.

We packed up our dampness and headed west. We made a quick stop by Waychinicup National Park, a ridiculously beautiful place.
       

So beautiful that we considered spending a night there, but we wanted to get over to see our friends in Denmark (Western Australia, not the country) and so we did. It was wonderful meeting Lily and Mike in person. We had become virtual friends with Lily through the Facebook. (Those who think FB is just a waste of time, do not understand how to use it. It can grow new friendships and deepen existing ones. I am very grateful for it). I could not have liked them more if I had created them out of my own imagination. They are just that wonderful. We spent the night at their home and got our lifer Western Rosella off their deck. We also had a delicious home-cooked meal and just visited. I am very grateful!

Lily and Mike (and Lynn and me and Bluff Knoll).

The gorgeousness of a Western Rosella

Australian Ringneck "Twenty-Eight" (a name referring to its call).

The next morning we all went up to the Stirling Range NP. We took separate vehicles as Lynn and I would be staying at the Stirling Range Retreat Caravan Park. On the way over we got our lifer Red-capped Parrots (which we would see several more times out there). We birded a bit around the caravan park area with Mike and Lily, as well as going out to Bluff Knoll and a few other spots. Then Lynn and I had a nice Lifer Supper at the Bluff Knoll Café (Western Rosella, Red-capped Parrot, Western Thornbill and the western subspecies of the Crested Shrike-tit). I am so very grateful. Here are a bunch of photos...
           

The amazingly colorful Red-capped Parrot

Playing hide and seek

I just like this photo. The bokeh background turned out very cool.

This is Ms Red-capped Parrot

Elegant Parrot in a paddock

Young Elegant Parrot in a tree

Western subspecies of the Crested Shrike-tit. Hopefully its own species soon. This one had just had a bath.

Western Corellas!

Yesterday we decided to go south to the coast since the north and inland forecast was for 40C for Saturday. Thanks to a tip from our new friend Peter Taylor, we picked up our lifer Western Corella on our way toward Augusta! I am grateful.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Cheynes Beach, Western Australia

Like many Birders in Oz, I had heard of Cheynes Beach (just a heads-up, the locals pronounce it, “Chains” Beach).

       

I am sitting in that tent as I write this.

iPhone shot down the back of the Caravan Park.

Close by the caravan park here it is possible to see three famous skulking birds. One, the Western Whipbird, Lynn and I had been fortunate enough to find on Kangaroo Island. The other two are Noisy Scrub-bird and Western Bristlebird. The range map of both are small, but the NOSB’s range is tiny. We needed to get it here. Seeing this bird is a fairly well known process. One positions themselves on this particular gravel road just around the corner from the caravan park and listens, watches, and waits to see if the Noisy Scrub-bird makes a dash across the road. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t.
     

See that little green spot? That is where we are.

The first evening here we gave it a go without success. Our new friends Alan and Wendy, who had seen it before, accompanied us. We had experienced birders with us, but it was not to be, the road remained empty. As we were returning to the caravan park, we heard a NOSB close to the sealed road. We went closer. It was closer. I have never, ever, heard a bird that close, that I could not see. Not even the Yellow-billed Kingfisher in Cape York. This bird had to be at our feet. Not just in front of us, but there with us and yet we were on the edge of the road and could not see it. It was surreal. Finally it moved further in and we went to supper. I was grateful just to know for sure they were around.

Lynn and I were down there again early the next morning and it was weirdly quiet. Almost none were calling and they were not near the road. We did tick the Red-winged Fairy-wren there and had a lovely morning in general. Later that afternoon, Wendy and Alan joined us again for a NOSB vigil. This time we were successful! We saw two on the road fairly far down the track close to where Alan had walked to watch. One dashed across, then one ran halfway and back again. We walked down to him and one ran very obligingly across closer behind us, giving us much better views (we are still talking seconds). Yes, we had it! Sweet! I am very grateful.

Red-winged Fairy-wren

Noisy Scrub-bird Lifer Selfie with our new friends, Alan and Wendy taken at the end of the famous, gravel road.

Early Monday morning (before we had even brushed our teeth), Lynn and I headed off to look for the Bristlebird. We had read in our “Finding Australian Birds” what track was recommended for them. We had also checked the folders of birder’s lists and notes that they keep at the office here. As we walked we heard one or two, but they seemed to go quiet quickly. After about forty-five minutes, we had one calling, and it kept calling and we found it! It was ridiculously spot-on to the place indicated in the book. The light was pretty bad (the bird was straight toward the sun), but I was grateful to see it and to get some recording shots, very grateful indeed.
     

Western Bristlebird, yes! Into the sun in bad lighting, but I am grateful!

As I moved to get a better angle so did the bird.

We have had some wonderful birds here. Other Lifers have included the awesome Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos, the Western Wattlebird, the stupid-beautiful Red-eared Firetail, the cute as White-breasted Robin and the very busy Western Spinebill. We have another day and night here and hope to see a few more birds and maybe see the Scrub-bird again. It has been raining a lot since yesterday and we are finding that there are issues with the front canvas on Troopi’s pop-top. Whatever, we will deal with it and all will be well. I am so grateful.

At times it is not comfortable on many levels, but this is being alive, and live I will. I am not yet ready for the alternative. So, I am very grateful, even when I am not. Here are some more photos from Cheynes Beach, WA.

     

Ms and Mr. Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos chatting.

Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos are a daily sight here.

The not so common colors on a Common Bronzewing. There are both Common and Brush here.

The OMG beautiful, Red-eared Firetail.

White-breasted Robin by our tent.

A scruffy looking Western Spinebill

A little better one...

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Triple Twitch In WA!

We were about two-thirds across the Nullarbor when we decided to go for the Eurasian Hobby and the Oriental Honey-buzzard near Perth. That was Monday. We drove to Western Australia on Tuesday and then on to a little town 2 hours from Perth on Wednesday. We were on the road before 6am Thursday heading for the Honey-buzzard location! I was excited and grateful.

And then about 45 minutes from our destination the orange warning light lit up on the dash. Something was wrong with our girl. She had no power, barely enough to drive (it took ages to get up to speed on the freeway). But we made it to the Honey-buzzard site and with the invaluable help of our new friend Damian, we saw the buzzard! I had glorious scope views as I followed it across the far side of the lake. Then I got on the phone and found a diesel repair place who could look at Troopi that morning.

We got her there by 10am and they plugged into her computer (don’t get me started, I wanted an older vehicle, please do not comment on that) and found that her accelerator pedal was malfunctioning. It actually has electronics inside it that control the speed. They could replace it and the part would arrive by 3:30pm. In the mean time, Troopi had somehow recovered her powers, so we went off to look for the Eurasian Hobby about 40 minutes away. Damian was already there with our other new friend, Peter. No Hobby yet. Then after about only fifteen minutes, it flew directly over us to perch in full view in a tree across the street. Sweet! It was one of the most awesome twitches I have ever had. Grateful does not cover it.

Eurasian Hobby!

With a detour to tick a Mute Swan (a plastic, I know) we headed back to the repair place. On the way, Damian texted and alerted us to the Eurasian Curlew that had been seen and confirmed two hours south in Bunbury. The new accelerator pedal arrived early, they installed it, tested it and we were on our way. We were also heading into the beginnings of Perth rush hour traffic. But we arrived in Bunbury just before 6pm, got a campsite and collapsed.

Yesterday morning we drove down to the point where the Eurasian Curlew had been seen the day before and seen again in the evening. We had hopes as we began searching the mudflats and sandbars. We met Peter Taylor and he joined us, or visa versa, and we kept looking. I had walked out onto the point of a sandbar and was scoping back across and saw a lighter, whiter curlew. I yelled to Lynn and Peter, “I have a candidate!” just as they both waved to me that they were seeing what they thought was the bird. It was the bird, and we had all gotten on it at the same time. Sweet! “Lifer high” ensued and we had a blast watching it, seeing it fly and taking way too many photos… it was wonderful. It had become a Triple Twitch! I am so grateful!
         

Eurasian Curlew!

               

We reluctantly left the curlew and headed east. We decided to stop at Manjimup, Peter Taylor’s hometown, where he had seen Baudin’s Black-cockatoos feeding in the marri trees. We stayed in the caravan park under and by those trees and this morning before I had my coffee, I had beheld Baudin’s! We also picked up western ticks here of Gilbert’s Honeyeater (Western White-naped) and the Western Whistler. Man, this is fun. I am stupid-grateful! Now I will try and sort some photos to go with this blog and get it posted. Cheers and much gratitude from the far side of the far side!
         

I believe this is Ms Baudin's Black-cockatoo.

And this is Mr. Baudin's Black-cockatoo.

My first view... I was thrilled.

Western Whistler (the black band is thinner than the eastern one).

Gilbert's Honeyeater

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Across The Nullarbor

We have crossed the Nullarbor. In the almost 20 years that we have been coming to Australia, we had heard of this desolate highway across the plain to Western Australia. It sounded scary and exciting. It is not scary nowadays and there are a lot of people crossing it at any time. And there are a lot of trees, especially considering that Nullarbor means treeless. But it is still very cool and I am glad, and grateful that we have done it!

The birding along the Highway itself is a bit sparse. We went to, and camped at, the Nullarbor Roadhouse specifically to look for the Nullarbor Quail-thrush. Kay Parkin had written in her September 2013 blog that she had gotten the bird in five minutes, but spent four hours to get a photo. I had told her that I hoped to get it in five minutes as well. And depending upon where you started the clock, we did. The bird flushed and crossed in front of Troopi, landing, then running along the ground to our left. We got cracking views as it trotted across little open areas into the brush. I was out with the camera and off after it in moments. But it had disappeared into some hole in the space/time continuum. We did not see that one again. Although while looking for it, Lynn got her lifer Slender-billed Thornbill! I am grateful.

Suffice to say, we spent more than four hours out there without getting a photo of the bird. We saw another NQT further along the track after supper, but again it disappeared as they do. As I had said many times, this is not a bird photography safari, it is birding and we both got the bird! I am massively grateful. For our “Lifer Pie” treat, we had a very nice supper including some delicious chips at the roadhouse.
   

Lynn's lifer Slender-billed Thornbill

Looking south on the "Nullabor Quail-thrush track."

The minimalist camping at the Nullarbor Roadhouse. It is just a gravel parking lot, but we found a couple of trees to be near.

We did a bit of sight-seeing as the views of the Great Australian Bight are insanely gorgeous. Here are a few photos.

After spending the night in Madura we took a quick detour heading north from Cocklebiddy. We did not see much up there, but it was a cool look at the landscape (and pipits, lots of pipits). And then later yesterday we rolled on into the Australian Western Time Zone and stayed here in Norseman, WA. Crossing the Nullarbor, we changed time zones a few times and for reasons I do not understand, the simple concept of using an hour at a time for time zone changes doesn’t work here. It is in half hour or forty-five minute changes. So at this point, we just eat when we’re hungry and sleep when we’re sleepy and don’t worry much about what the clock says. Here are some more photos. I am very grateful indeed.

Dingos do not care what time it is either.

Another view of the Bight much further along.

Welcome to WA. Set your clock... um... just look at your phone when you get signal.

Big view of big Oz.

North of Cocklebiddy, not much out there, but it is cool.

Signs along the way...

We stopped to look, but we never got to see the Kangaroo jumping over the Emu.

        

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Lincoln National Park, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia

We are learning as we go. One of the things we are learning is to take our time more (and that dew can be wetter than you might think). Anyway, we are learning a lot. We could have headed on west to get further on our way, but we decided to go south and stay a night at the Lincoln National Park. We are glad we did. I am very grateful.

We had a ridiculously beautiful campsite overlooking the water with lots of birds and kangaroos (wallabies? I have to get better at my mammals). We had Ringnecks (Port Lincoln Parrots) in the campsite with us. We had Fairy-wrens (Blue-breasted I think) and White-browed Scrub-wrens at our feet. It was a magical place.

One of the most beautiful places we have camped so far.

We left yesterday morning, although in retrospect, we really could have spent another night or even two. Here are some more photos.
                         

I reckon it was his beach.

Dusky Woodswallows

Phone pic of Australian Ringnecks in our campsite.

Coming into colour... Blue-breasted I think.

Western Yellow Robin being gorgeous (as they do).

Sacred Kingfisher in good light by the campsite. How good is that?

Port Lincoln Parrot (Australian Ringneck) at my feet early yesterday morning.

Southern Scrub-robin... I love me some Scrub-robins!

We were looking at Fairy-wrens when this gorgeousness emerged from the bush. I was not expecting it, although I knew they were there. What an lovely bird they are.

               
Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Over 500

We are now still about Halfway Across Australia, but we’re further south down on the coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It is cool and windy (not crazy windy, but pretty windy). We are soon heading to the west and across the famous Nullarbor. We have no set schedule and will play it by ear. I am grateful.

Yesterday was wonderful. After a quick stop at the Big Gallah, we drove out to Secret Rocks (which are not a secret) about 45 minutes from town.
     

Our quest there was for the Blue-breasted Fairy-wren; a gorgeous little FW that looks a whole lot like a Variegated FW. After about an hour of walking around, with the goats looking down on us (literally, not figuratively… at least I don’t think so), we saw Fairy-wrens! We got looks, took photos and followed them around for a bit. We had maybe a dozen birds in total. There were at least a couple of full colour males and two were males in different stages of eclipse. After looking at the birds and then studying the photos (as well as getting conformation from a couple of sources) we ticked our lifer Blue-breasted Fairy-wren. I am very grateful (and thank you Kay and Tim!).
       

Blue-breasted Fairy-wren

In eclipse as they say

Lynn was reading in our trusty Dolby/Clarke that about 5k east was a track that could have Western Yellow Robin as well as more BBFW. We headed there only to find the track gated and sign-posted Private Property. So we parked and walked around a bit. And we heard the robin! As Lynn so aptly put it, they are not as confiding as their Eastern counterparts. No, they are not. I did manage a few photos, the best being this out of focus shot of the bird flying off a branch. Tick!

Western Yellow Robin leaving the building

Double Lifer Selfie at the Western Yellow Robin spot

And a bonus Chirruping Wedgebill that was watching us at the rocks. Not a tick, but a cool bird.

As many of you know, while we continue our journey, we are counting the birds that we see together in a year. Our “year” is running from 20 August 2015 to midnight 19 August 2016. We are halfway across Australia and that list is up to 503. We are using the I.O.C. bird list. I have no expectations of some huge number, we cannot chase rarities (unless close) and we cannot afford a Christmas Island or an Ashmore Reef trip, but we will be birding most all the areas of mainland Australia. It is fun to keep the list and we will see how we go. I am very grateful!

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Halfway Across Australia

We thought that the campsites on the water in Whyalla would have a beautiful view (they did) and a nice breeze off the gulf. We did not imagine sustained winds of 35 kph gusting to well over 50 kph for hours on end. We did not like it and decided to depart yesterday morning since the winds were forecast to do a repeat performance in the coming days. That was one uncomfortable wind.

We left the caravan park at sunrise (before packing away the tent and stuff), to make the short drive to Whyalla Conservation Park. We had hopes for the Western Grasswren. We bumped our way in, parked Troopi off the track and began birding. Before we had walked 50 meters, our hopes were answered. A lovely little grasswren perched up in a bush for brief looks and a few quick photos. I got to say a phrase I love to say, “There’s your bird!” Oh, what a feeling. I am grateful. Oh yes.

Western Grasswren!

We went back to the caravan park, packed up and checked out. We decided to head over to Kimba, SA. Its claim to fame is that it is considered officially (they have a sign and all), Halfway Across Australia. I had no idea.
          

Internet photo... we did not stop and take a photo. Although we might stop at the Big Galah and take one on the way out this morning.

On the way, we detoured up to Lake Gillies Conservation Park. We had a few looks around, but mid arvo is not prime birding time. We did see a few birds and we got lovely looks at the Port Lincoln Parrot (a subspecies of the Australia Ringneck). Then on the way back out to the highway, we stopped to look at a few Woodswallows and then… I saw a Rufous Treecreeper! The second tick for the day! There were two and I was able to grab a few photos from the side of the road. I've always loved the name, "Rufous Treecreeper." It sounds like a blues singer or something, and now I have beheld the bird. I am so grateful.

   

Western Ringneck, or Port Lincoln Parrot

Crested Dragon (Bicycle Lizard) cool as...

Rufous Treecreeper!

Our “Lifer Pie” was supper at the Hotel in Kimba. It was good F and C, but really not better than the little food-truck in Port Germein and cost twice as much. It’s the ambience mate.

It is now 10 February and we are Halfway Across Australia. I am grateful. Stay tuned, there is much more to come.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.