My year started in South Australia as I had been travelling
around Australia since the end of May 2018.
I spent Christmas Day at Eyre Bird Observatory and on Boxing Day moved
on to South Australia where I wanted to find the Naretha Blue Bonnet. There were 7 Barred Cuckoo-shrikes at the
turnoff to the Observatory which was exciting.
I went into Koonalda Homestead owned by South Australia National Parks
where it was 45 degrees so not very pleasant but couldn’t find the Blue
Bonnet.
Word was out that a Citrine Wagtail had turned up at Whyalla
Wetlands so after one night at Smokey Bay CP I headed to Whyalla. It was 48 degrees when I stepped out of the
car at 1:30pm but it was too windy to even hold up the scope or my binoculars
so I decided to come back next morning.
I spent the night at Fitzgerald Bay where it blew so hard I had to put
the roof down in my van in the middle of the night. It didn’t get below 30
degrees all night. Back next morning to
get better views of the Wagtail and I even managed a recognizable photo.
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| Citrine Wagtail |
After visiting my sister in Millicent I headed for Werribee
where James Mustafa met Polly Cutcliffe and I and he showed us the Tufted Duck
just as it flew off not to be seen again for 11 days. This was my second new
bird in a few days. Then on to my
daughter’s place north of Melbourne before going over to Tasmania in the ferry.
I met up with my son who had moved to Tassie nine months previously and then I
travelled around the State finding most of the endemics all of which I had seen
previously. Fires were prevalent in the
area so travelling was restricted. I also went on a pelagic out of Eaglehawk
Neck but didn’t get any new birds as it was a quiet day.
 |
| Tufted Duck |
After being away from home for 10 months I decided it was
time to head home so I came up along the coast and I was home in 5 weeks at the
end of March. But I had missed the Blue Bonnet so I booked a trip with Peter
Waanders at the end of April. This started in Port Lincoln where we found the
new White-bellied Whipbird (split from the Eastern Whipbird) and then headed
west to Koonalda where we found the Naretha Blue Bonnets (only 3) and ended in
Adelaide where we found the Barbary Dove which I had never seen.
The rest of the year was fairly quiet until I went with
Michele Grant to Carnarvon Gorge for a week in early September. It was lovely
to see some green vegetation as the rest of the country in the area was very
dry. Michele and I have been doing the
Sippy Downs wetland surveys in most months this year.
Then off to Cape York with Ken Cross and Steve
Grainger. I had done the Cape many times
over the years but it was nice to see some of these special birds again. The weather was good and the company was
excellent.
In October I went to King Island as I wanted to see some of
the subspecies found on this island. It
is a very scenic island and very interesting with a World No 1 Golf Course at
Cape Wickham and a very productive kelp industry. Their dairy industry has
declined because of the cost of transferring cattle and produce across the
strait but the cheese factory is still operating. It was amazing to see how many Wild Turkeys
roam the island as well as Common Pheasant.
I have just finished the year with a week in Victoria and a
trip to Werribee Sewerage Farm (the No1 birding site in Australia for me) where
we saw 2 Long-toed Stints as well as a myriad of other waders and waterfowl but
no other specialities this time. This
week I went to Lake Samsonvale flushing a pair of Stubble Quail and then to
Cove Rd. Who knows what 2020 will bring!
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