WESTERN AUSTRALIA TOUR REPORT 2023

5 / 9 - 27 September 2023

by Hannu Jännes

Western Australia, the largest Australian state, is a diverse region with a wide range of habitats and a rich fauna that has a high degree of endemism. This tour gave us an unrivalled opportunity to cover a large part of the state and a varied range of habitats, as well as the offshore territory of Christmas Island. During our 23-day adventure we explored the temperate Karri and Wandoo woodlands and mallee of the southwest, the costal heathlands of the south-west coast, dry scrub and extensive woodlands of the interior, coastal plains and mangroves around Broome, and the red-earth savanna habitats and tropical woodland of the Kimberley-Kununurra region. The first part of the main Western Australia tour concentrated on finding the endemics and specialties of the southwest with such excellent species as Freckled and Musk Ducks, Tawny Frogmouth, the cute Australian Owlet-nightjar, Carnaby’s and Baudin’s Black Cockatoos, Western Corella (with two different forms), Red-capped Parrot, Western Rosella, Regent and Elegant Parrots, Purple Crowned Lorikeet, Hooded Dotterel, the elusive Noisy Scrubbird, Blue-breasted and Red-winged Fairywrens, Southern Emu-wren, Western Bristlebird, Black-throated Whipbird (both forms), Western Shrikethrit, Rufous Treecreeper, White-breasted, Scarlet and Western Yellow Robins, Red-eared Firetail, Shy Heathwren, Western Fieldwren, Spotted Scrubwren, Western Whistler, Western Wattlebird, White-cheeked and Gilbert’s Honeyeaters and Western Spinebill. Further northeast, in the dry interior around Hyden and Kookynie we connected with the much wanted Western and Copper-backed Quail-thrushes, Mulga Parrot, admired a pair of displaying Western Bowerbirds at their bower, enjoyed great views of Redthroat and encountered a selection of dry country honeyeaters. In the north, around Broome, the highlights included the amazing wader spectacle at Roebuck Bay and a handful of the range restricted mangrove specialists, including Mangrove Golden and White-breasted Whistlers, Mangrove and Dusky Gerygones, Broad-billed Flycatcher and Mangrove Fantail. In the Kimberley area highlights included Spinifex, Partridge and White-quilled Rock Pigeons, Brolga, Red-collared Lorikeet, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Great Bowerbird, Sandstone Shrikethrush, Kimberley Honeyeater, Paperbark Flycatcher, Common Cicadabird, Green-backed Gerygone, a selection of northern honeyeaters and the amazing Purple-crowned and the equally striking Red-backed Fairywrens. In the Kununurra area the most memorable avian spectacle was an early morning session at a drinking pool visited by seven species of finches including the rare Gouldian Finch. A real finch fiesta! Another tour highlight was a very enjoyable boat cruise along Lake Argyle, where we saw, amongst many other birds, good numbers of the splendid Yellow Chat. Other species worth a mention included four Australian Bustards, the rarely seen Black-backed Bittern, several confiding Baillon’s and White-browed Crakes, Black Falcon, Barking Owl at its daytime roost, confiding Buff-sided Robins, Green Oriole and Yellow-rumped Mannikin. The lovely, very relaxed Christmas Island pre tour extension produced amazing views of such marvelous birds as Red-tailed and the exquisite “golden” form of White-tailed Tropicbirds and a vagrant Red-billed Tropicbird, Christmas Island Frigatebird, the antediluvial-looking Abbott’s Booby and great views of the island’s endemic landbirds including a boobook, a pigeon, a swiftlet, a white-eye and a goshawk. Mammals are not a great feature of this tour, but we had delightful encounter with several Honey Possums, and there was a brief leader only sighting of the rare Numbat at Dryandara, where we also encountered two Short-beaked Echidnas. Western Grey Kangaroos were noted on several days, Agile Wallaby showed on three days and Short-eared Rock Wallabies were seen at Lake Argyle. Additional mammal sightings included Common Brush-tailed Possum, Dingo, New Zealand Fur Seal, Southern Right Whale, Common Bottlenose Dolphin and Black-eared Flying Fox.

The group gathered for the pre tour extension to the renowned Christmas Island at Perth airport. After a smooth flight we arrived at the 135 km2 large island, which is situated just 350 km south of the Indonesian island of Java. On arrival only one rental car was waiting for us, but eventually a second vehicle appeared. The condition of these vehicles was not what you would expect from a rental car, but in the end, they did their job and took us around the island without any major issues. After a smooth check-in at our pleasant guesthouse and meeting Rachel, who had arrived on the island a few days earlier, we had time for some initial exploration of the surroundings. The next two and half days were spent exploring this tropical paradise island, rightly famous for its breeding seabirds. During our stay we observed good numbers of Brown and Red-footed Boobies flying around the coast and at their breeding grounds, where we had amazing views of perched birds. The third booby species, Abbott’s Booby, which only breeds on Christmas Island with an estimated population of 2500 pairs, was less often seen on the coast, but we had great sightings of birds flying over the island’s dense forests further inland, and of birds sitting on their nests in tall Syzigium trees. Of the island’s three frigatebirds the Great Frigatebird was the commonest, but the endemic Christmas Island Frigatebird was also noted in good numbers daily. The Lesser Frigatebird was also seen regularly, usually out at sea, but in much smaller numbers. Perhaps the most amazing group of seabirds breeding on the island are tropicbirds, of which the Christmas Island breeding golden form fulvus of the White-tailed Tropicbird (Golden Bosunbird) is perhaps the most spectacular. In addition to this distinct Christmas Island morph, we also noted small numbers of the white birds of the nominate subspecies. Also, the Red-tailed Tropicbird was commonly encountered, and they were even breeding next to the verandah of our guesthouse. The third tropicbird seen was a Red-billed Tropicbird of the form indicus, a vagrant from the Indian Ocean and waters off the Middle East, and apparently only the fourth record for Australia! There is not much in the way of land birds on Christmas Island, and we easily found the more common ones including endemic Christmas Imperial Pigeon, Christmas White-eye, the endemic erythropleura race of Island Thrush and Christmas Swiftlet. The Boobook gave in on our second attempt just 100 meters from our guesthouse and, thanks to the goshawk research team, the Christmas Island Goshawk eventually provided us with amazing views. Add to this Common Emerald Dove, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, White-breasted Waterhen, Common Sandpiper, Brown Noddy, Intermediate Egret, Eastern Cattle Egret, White-faced Heron, Pacific Reef Heron, Nankeen Kestrel and you have the complete list of the bird species we saw on the island during our stay. In addition to birds the island is famous for its many crabs, of which we saw the unmistakable Red, the huge Robber (or Coconut) and Blue.

Back in Perth we said goodbye to our dynamic Aussie duo, Alec and Paul (who were to join us again in Broome) and welcomed Simon to our group. Our first official birding in mainland Australia was at Lake Herdsman in Perth, where couple of hours intensive birding yielded an excellent selection of species including Pink-eared Duck, the only Australian Shoveler of the trip, Hardhead, Blue-billed Duck, Musk Duck and, after a search, the distinctive Freckled Duck plus several commoner wetland species. We also discovered a Tawny Frogmouth sitting on its nest, two Buff-banded Rails feeding on a lawn, Rainbow Lorikeets (an Eastern Australian species introduced in Perth) and had our first taste of Australia’s peculiar passerines including New Holland, Brown and Singing Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebird and Magpie Lark. A short stop at Ellis Brook Valley Reserve was good for Square-tailed Kite, the only one of the trip, Little Eagle, our first Splendid Fairywrens, White-cheeked Honeyeaters, Striated Pardalotes, Spotted Scrubwrens and magnificent Red-tailed Black Cockatoos. After lunch we hurried to Dryandra, where couple of hours of late afternoon forest birding yielded Black-eared Cuckoo, Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos, Red-capped Parrot, many Purple-crowned Lorikeets, Rufous Treecreepers, Blue-breasted Fairywren, Yellow-plumed Honeyeater, Inland Thornbill, White-winged Triller, Western Whistler, Grey Shrikethrush, Jacky Winter with its distinct Wood Lark type song, and the amazing Scarlet Robin. I spotted a Numbat running away from us, but unfortunately no one else managed to get on to this rare marsupial, which is only known from couple of forest patches in the region.

Next morning, we were back in Dryandra well before dawn to try and locate the nocturnal Bush Stone-curlew, which wasn’t too difficult. Later we birded various parts of the forests at Dryandra, where new birds included Gilbert’s Honeyeater, Spotted Pardalote, many Weebills, Western and Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Grey Currawong, Black-faced Cuckooshrike, Varied Sittella, Rufous Whistler, Western Yellow Robin and many of the species we had already seen the day before. A detour via some agricultural areas brought us a pair of Banded Lapwing with a chick, before lunch in Narrogin. On the way to our next destination, Stirling Range Retreat, we stopped at a lake, where I had seen a pair of Hooded Dotterels a couple of weeks earlier, but the birds had unfortunately left the area. Some consolation was offered by Tawny-crowned and White-eared Honeyeaters seen by the lake and three roadside Emus.

The new day saw us on the heath covered lower slopes of Mt Trio, where our main target, the secretive Black-throated Whipbird (subspecies oberon) was surprisingly easy to find, and we had great prolonged views of a pair. A supporting cast of good birds during our morning session included Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo, a vocal and confiding Painted Buttonquail, Southern Emu-wren, several Western Spinebills, White-eared Honeyeaters, our first Wedge-tailed Eagles and two Peregrine Falcons. A visit to a lake for Hooded Dotterel drew a blank again, but a walk in the scrub nearby resulted in brilliant views of a small flock of White-fronted Chats (a scarce bird on this itinerary) and two endearing Red-capped Robins. Back at our accommodation we saw a cute Australian Owlet-nightjar, the only Brown-headed Honeyeater of the trip, Restless Flycatchers and, best of all, a very confiding pair of the sought after Western Shriketits.

On our last morning at Stirling Range, we paid a quick visit to the lake area for yet another try for the Hooded Dotterel, but couldn’t find anything. Back at the Retreat we birded the campground again securing great views of Regent Parrot, a species that had eluded us earlier. Then a short visit to the Porongurup National Park, where we finally managed to connect with Baudin’s Black Cockatoo and White-breasted Robin, both much needed SW Australian endemics. After lunch we visited the Rocky Gully area, where yet another endemic, Western Corella of the subspecies pastinator, showed well after a search. The day was rounded off at Emu Point in Albany, where Pied Oystercatchers, our first Pacific and Silver Gulls, Caspian and Greater Crested Terns and Little Pied, Little Black and Great Cormorants entertained us.

It was an early start the next morning as we had a date with the cute Honey Possums at Cheynes Beach about 70 kms from our base in Albany. These tiny, mouselike marsupials are visible in flowering Banksias for a short period of time around sunrise before they disappear for the rest of the day. Our timing was perfect, and we enjoyed great views of several individuals climbing on the tall Banksias and licking nectar from the flowers. After the mammal watching session, we concentrated on the special birds of this vast area of coastal heath. First was the Noisy Scrubbird, which only survives in a tiny area (45 km2) here with an estimated population of 700 individuals. The species is relatively easy to hear, but seeing the ultra-skulker is another matter. In the end we all managed to see the bird crossing the trails a couple of times and some of us even managed to glimpse a singing bird in the bushes. Another local specialty, Western Bristlebird, revealed itself eventually and allowed excellent views in the end. Other birds seen during the morning included some important SW Australian endemics with Red-eared Firetail, a nice pair of Brush Bronzewings and several Western Wattlebirds. It was also good to see a confiding Elegant Parrot, Brown Quail, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, a distant Australasian Gannet and our first Ospreys. We also noticed a pod of Southern Right Whales in the bay. The forecasted storm, with heavy rain, arrived at noon and we retreated to Albany, where, after a good lunch, we spent the afternoon birding the Seppings Lake. Best birds here included showy Western Rosella, two confiding White-breasted Robins, Musk and Blue-billed Ducks, Hoary-headed Grebe, Red-winged Fairywren and Little Grassbird, a bird we had only glimpsed earlier.

Next morning was dedicated to finding the Rock Parrot, a species that has disappeared from its former stake-out at Lancelin, where several of our earlier tours have found it easily. Looking at eBird the nearest promising looking area with recent observations for this coastal species was at Bremer Bay, about 180 kms from Albany, where we spent the morning checking several sites, but just couldn’t find one! Some consolation was offered by Hooded Dotterel for Simon, Sooty Oystercatcher, our first Chestnut Teals, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, White-bellied Sea Eagle and Spotted Harrier. In the afternoon, after another delicious lunch in Albany, part of the group headed for the Cave Point Lighthouse, where seawatching produced decent views of small numbers of Black-browed, Shy and Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses and Great-winged Petrels. Walking back to the car we admired a big flock of noisy Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos.

We had now cleaned up all the strict SW Australian endemic species and it was time to head for pastures new. On the way north we had a brief stop at sunrise along the Cheynes beach road, where we had good scope views of the coastal subspecies (nigrogularis) of the Black-throated Whipbird, a bird some of us had missed earlier at Cheynes Beach. Next in the agenda was a stop at Corackerup National Park, where showy Southern Scrub Robins, White-browed Babblers, and a small family party of Shy Heathwrens (a write-in) were added to our bird list. The rest of the day was spent driving to Hyden, where we had time to visit the Wave Rock, a scenic rock formation and popular tourist destination.

After a very early start and a 180 kms drive along gravel roads we reached our next birding destination, Mcdermick Rock, in good time. The main target here was the Copperback Quail-thrush, which we eventually had great views of as the bird walked around us calling and eventually sat up in the scrub singing. Other new birds included the cute Redthroat, Pallid Cuckoo and White-fronted and Purple-gaped Honeyeaters plus a very brief Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater. We then began the long drive to Kookynie, where we arrived just before sunset. Here we stayed at the wonderfully frozen in time Grand Hotel, built in 1905 and seemingly little changed since then.

Next day began in the area around Niagara Dam Nature Reserve near Kookynie, where the first target was the much-needed Western Quail-thrush, which we managed to locate, after a somewhat stressful search, and enjoyed great views. The same area also held Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, another new bird for us. Next was a visit to the dam itself, where we shared a very quick field breakfast with hordes of pesky flies. The birding here was very productive, and we saw several new species including Black-tailed Nativehen, Black-fronted Dotterel, a pair of Mulga Parrots, a pair of displaying Western Bowerbirds at their bower and Australian Zebra Finch. Later, on the way to our accommodation in Southern Cross, we stopped at a lake, where a short walk produced Crested Bellbird and Grey-fronted Honeyeater, both new birds for us, and a trio of very co-operative Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters.

A new morning saw us at a sewage farm, where new birds included White-backed Swallow, Rufous Songlark and White-winged Fairywren. Later we had lunch and good numbers of Western Corellas of the subspecies derbyi at Northam before visiting the Red Gully area for Western Fieldwren, which we saw well after a search. For the night we drove to Lancelin on the coast, where some late afternoon birding brought us 500 Bridled Terns, some Brown Noddies and our first Australian Hobby.
The next day was mainly devoted to travel. First, a drive Perth from where we flew 1700 kms north to the tropical center of Broome, where Alec and Paul were already waiting for us. After organizing two rental vehicles, having late lunch and checking into our hotel, we did some late afternoon birding in the Broome waterfront mangroves. The different habitat brought us many new birds including Bar-shouldered Dove, Masked Lapwing, Black-necked Stork, Royal Spoonbill, Little Egret, Black and Brahminy Kites, Red-collared Lorikeet, Red-headed Myzomela, Little Friarbird, Dusky Gerygone, White-breasted Woodswallow, a female Mangrove Golden Whistler, Mangrove Fantail, an excellent Broad-billed Flycatcher, Torresian Crow (the common crow here in the north) and Canary White-eye. Lesser Frigatebird and Brown Booby were new for the mainland part of the tour.

We were back in the Broome waterfront mangroves early next morning and managed to quickly locate the Mangrove Gerygone which we missed the previous day and connected with a gorgeous and confiding pair of Mangrove Golden Whistlers. The rest of the day was spent in the Broome Bird Observatory area, where the absolute highlight was the famous shorebird spectacle at the edge of the vast Roebuck Bay. Here the high tide pushes large numbers of wintering waders close to the shore offering a great visual and aural experience to visiting birders. The wader mass was formed by Great and Red Knots, Curlew Sandpipers, Greater and Siberian Sand Plovers, Grey Plovers, Red-necked Stints, Terek Sandpipers, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Ruddy Turnstones, Grey-tailed Tattlers, Common Greenshanks, Pied Oystercatchers, Red-capped Plovers, Eurasian Whimbrels, Far Eastern Curlews and Pied Stilts. Careful scanning also revealed five or so Broad-billed Sandpipers and three Asiatic Dowitchers, both rather scarce and sought after species here. A good selection of terns was also found as Australian, Caspian, Lesser Crested, Little and Whiskered Terns were all present, and our first Mistletoebird, a singing male, was observed around the car park. An early afternoon lunch break at the bird observatory’s Shade House gave us brilliant views of Greater Bowerbirds and White-gaped Honeyeaters with many Double-barred and few Zebra Finches visiting bird baths just outside the building. A short stroll around the woodland surrounding the observatory gave us brilliant views of Peaceful Dove, Brush Cuckoo, Rufous-throated Honeyeater, Rainbow Bee-eater and a family party of four inquisitive Grey-crowned Babblers. A late afternoon visit to Crab Creek mangroves revealed, after an extensive search, the much needed White-breasted Whistler.

Our last morning in Broome was spent at the WWTP (Wastewater Treatment Plant), where we saw good numbers of commoner ducks and waders, including Marsh Sandpiper, a new bird for the list. Then we drove to Derby, where we visited the jetty and today’s second Water Treatment Plant, a good place for some light birding and field lunch. From Derby it was five hours drive to our next destination, Mt Elisabeth Station, where we arrived around sunset. New birds encountered during the day included Brolga, Wood Sandpiper, Australian Pratincole, White-necked Heron, Blue-winged Kookaburra, several hundred Little Corellas, many Red-winged Parrots, some Northern Rosellas, Black-faced Woodswallow, Paperbark Flycatcher and good numbers of Fairy Martins.

Our pleasant pre-breakfast birding session in the vicinity of Mt Elisabeth station was very productive and included our first Bar-breasted, Banded, Blue-faced, White-throated and Yellow-tinted Honeyeaters, Little and Silver-crowned Friarbirds, Olive-backed Oriole, a very showy pair of Red-collared Lorikeets, our first sighting of Pheasant Coucal and a singing Common Cicadabird, which seems to be a bit of a rarity in this part of Australia. We also had a chance to have a look at a Greater Bowerbirds bower, an impressive structure decorated with a well-organized collection of white pebbles, silvery screws and bolts, pieces of green and bright glass, empty shells of land snails and green berries. Later we had a short stop at the Gibb River crossing, where the hot weather (+36˚ C), made birding hard work, but we still managed new birds including Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and Black-chinned Honeyeater, and had good views of a Blue-winged Kookaburra. We reached our accommodation, the very pleasant Drysdale River Station, around noon, and had lunch and a rest before late afternoon birding along the beautiful Drysdale River. The key bird here was the much-needed Purple-crowned Fairywren, which we saw extremely well, and it was also good to get good views of the White-throated Gerygone, a species we had only heard earlier on the tour. Talking to a local birder at the station during dinner, we received some bad news regarding the status of the Black Grasswren, our main target the following day, at the Mitchell plateau. Apparently, the local tribe had burned down large stands of the 30-year-old Spinifex in the area we were heading for, and consequently the grasswren had become very scarce and difficult to find. Not much we could do about it now, other than try our best to locate one the next day.

After a short night’s sleep, we were rolling again at 01.00 am and reached our destination at Mitchell Plateau before sunrise. After a quick breakfast we spent the entire morning searching the sites where the latest observations of the grasswren had been made 12 and 20 days earlier but failed to find it. We did however find other good birds with the range restricted Kimberley Honeyeater, Green-backed Gerygone, Sandstone Shrikethrush and White-quilled Rock Pigeon. The temperature was getting very high now, and we retreated in the shade to consider our options. After refreshments we were back in the field re-checking the most promising looking grassbird habitats again, but still no luck. Defeated and exhausted we retreated to our vehicles and, after finding Red-backed Fairywren and a flock of gorgeous Partridge Pigeons at the campsite, started to drive back to Drysdale around 14.30. On the way one of our vehicles had a puncture and it wasn’t until around 18.00 when we reached our accommodation. A long, and mentally tough day in the field!

After a brief morning’s birding around Drysdale River Station, we drove to Kununurra, where we arrived late in the afternoon. On the way we had several roadside stops for birding and lunch, which yielded a flock of gorgeous Spinifex Pigeons and couple of Black-tailed Treecreepers, both new birds for us. Once in Kununurra we checked the Lily Creek Lagoon where new birds included flocks of Chestnut-breasted Munias and Crimson Finches allowing great views, many Comb-crested Jacanas, rather distant White-browed and Baillon’s Crakes and a Green Oriole for Paul.

Approaching our birding destination early the next morning we had to drive through a large area of bush fire, which caused some concern, but in the end, everything went well, and we reached our destination, Lake Argyle, safely and in good time. Our very enjoyable boat trip exploring the shoreline of several islands, having a long stop, and tasty breakfast, in a secluded bay and a walk around a low-lying island gave us a mouth-watering list of goodies. The main species of interest was the very attractive Yellow Chat, which we saw extremely well and in good numbers. Other highlights included thousands of Magpie Geese, many Rajdah Shelducks and Green Pygmy Geese, several showy Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoos, three Black-tailed Nativehens, confiding Baillon’s and White-browed Crakes, Azure Kingfisher and our first and only records of Long-toed Stint, Red-kneed Dotterel and Oriental Plover of the tour. Other new acquaintances included Horsfield’s Bush Lark, Brown Songlark and Tawny Grassbird. After a break during the hotter hours of the day, we headed to Weaber Plains north of Kununurra and soon located small flocks of Yellow-rumped Mannikins and Star Finches, both new birds for us, by a canal. Later in the afternoon an area of arable fields produced four individuals of the declining Australian Bustard, a very welcome birthday lifer for Simon. At dusk we still had the energy to visit the Celebrity Tree Park, where Oriental Dollarbird and Buff-sided Robin were new birds.

An early start got us to the Wyndham area by dawn, where we had a pre-arranged meeting with Rodney Bushell, who took us to his superb drinking pool for a real finch fiesta. This small natural pool, with a row of comfortable chairs in the open less than 20 meters away, has been running for several years now and has become very popular among bird photographers (pre-booking required!). And what a magical morning we had watching good numbers (hundreds in total) of Crimson, Star, Double-barred, Australian Zebra, Masked, Long-tailed and, best of all, hundred or so Gouldian Finches coming in for a bath or quick sip. In addition, we had brilliant views of Rufous-throated, Bar-breasted, Banded and White-gaped Honeyeaters and Grey-crowned Babblers visiting the pool. In mid-morning we paid visit to the mangroves at Wyndham jetty, where we managed great views of Lemon-bellied Flyrobin, a new bird for us, and met some old acquaintances including Mangrove Gerygone, Mangrove Fantail and Red-headed Myzomela. Unfortunately, the Barry Creek Farm tourist park, where we were planning to have our lunch, was closed, but luckily the Barking Owl I had located here few weeks earlier, was still roosting in the same tree and provided good views. Back in Wyndham we enjoyed lunch in a bakery and a flock of four Cockatiels, new bird for us, along the main road. Next, we visited Marglu billabong for some very hot (+38˚ c) mid-afternoon birding. The absolute highlight of our visit was the scarce Black Falcon, which we saw well, and we also enjoyed very good views of a perched Spotted Harrier, saw several Black-necked Storks, Pied Heron and a number of commoner wetland species. In the late afternoon we drove back to Kununurra and Lily Creek Lagoon, where Simon and Steve both managed to glimpse the rarely seen Black-backed Bittern in flight.

On the last morning of the tour, we resumed our search for Black-backed Bittern, which many of us still needed, and this time, thanks to Steve’s perseverance, we had good scope views of a single bird creeping about in the reeds. It was also good to get great views of singing Green Oriole, and there was also a flying Pacific Baza for the leader only. Back at the hotel we had good breakfast after which it was time to say our goodbyes, and to thank everyone for their great company, which, together with all the excellent birds and exciting places, made this such a memorable trip. Special thanks to Simon for working as my navigator and eBirder during the tour and Paul for driving the second vehicle on Christmas Island and in the north.