I've just returned from a long holiday in Australia. I spent 4 weeks over there on a family holiday, during which there were plenty of birding opportunities.
Before I went I joined Birds Australia and e-mails to co-ordinators in Victoria, NSW and Queensland paid dividends at times on the trip. Many thanks to BA and those members who assisted me.
During the course of the trip I saw 168 birds in Australia, 2 in Thailand and 1 in the UAE. 158 were year ticks and 115 were life ticks, so a very worthwhile trip.
We started in Sydney and birds were being seen before we left the airport, though, unexpectedly landing at Bangkok en route had led to a Red-wattled Lapwing which was an unexpected bonus. The rest of the first day was spent visiting the harbour area (of course) and walking around Hyde Park while my wife slept off jetlag. The highlights of that first day were Brown-headed Honeyeater, Rainbow Lorikeet and Little Pied Cormorant.
The next day was spent walking around the Botanical Gardens which provided another 8 species that day, new ones being White-browed Shrubwren (which I struggled to ID as it is so variable) and Noisy Miner.
Our last day was spent in the Blue Mountains. We caught the train to Katoomba and then used the tourist bus and shank's pony to see the delights around the Three Sisters. This was an excellent day, blue sky, chilly but quite exhilerating. I was especially struck by the honeyeaters, a theme that was to last through the holiday. 12 new species were added that day, highlights being White-naped Honeyeater, Dusky Woodswallow, Eastern Spinebill, Rock Warbler, Yellow-faced Honeyeater and White-eared Honeyeater.
Our flying visit to Sydney over, we headed to Cairns. Our first day was spent wandering round the hotel complex after having a very refreshing shower. Helmeted Friarbird, Yellow Honeyeater and Dusky Honeyeater proving to be worthwhile sightings. The next day was spent in Cairns itself, especially on the esplanade. 20 species were sighted including the beautiful Brahminy Kite, Australian Kestrel, Intermediate Egret, Great Egret, Rufous Night Heron, Royal Spoonbill, Beach Stone-Curlew, Buff-banded Rail, Black-fronted Dotterel, Red-necked Stint, Eastern Curlew, Caspian Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Collared Kingfisher, Leaden Flycatcher, Varied Honeyeater, Yellow-bellied Sunbird and Spangled Drongo. The sunbird pair being seen as I stood in my hotel doorway glancing at a map, looking up and seeing them hovering in front of me by a fern. Wonderful.
A repeat of this walk the next day when our friends had arrived yielded White-breasted Sea Eagle and Black Bittern. The next day was spent diving on the Reef and, as such I only saw Brown Boobies.
The next day dawned bright and sunny, again, and a walk in the Botanical Gardens got me Rainbow Bee-Eater, Forest Kingfisher, Metallic Starling, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Bush Thick-knee and Richard's Pipit. 71 birds in a week!
The following day was a day I had been looking forward to for a long while. We hired a car and drove an hour inland to visit the wetland centre at Mareeba. I had 'discovered' this place at the Birdfair a couple of years ago and so was determined to go. I had thought of staying there overnight but decided against it. By the end of the day we all wished we had done so. It was baking hot when we arrived and I wondered how wetlands could be found in such a place. We met some other visitors who told us they had been on the dawn walk, which lasted 3 hours and netted over 70 species. We only saw about 25 but it was magical setting and I can heartily recommend it to you all. My favourite sightings were Australian Grebe, Australian Darter, Brolga, Brown Goshawk, Whistling Kite, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Australian Hobby, Comb-crested Jacana, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Noisy Friarbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater, Double-barred Finch, Apostlebird and Bar-breasted Honeyeater. An excellent day crowned with the sunset safari. Tired but happy we returned to Cairns.
Our final day in Queensland ended with a trip to Daintree and Cape Tribulation. Difficult to see birds in the rainforest but our guide helped as we also saw crocodiles, Boyd's Forest Dragon and Lace Monitor. Birdwise, I was happy with Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Azure Kingfisher, Australian Brush-turkey, Rufous Fantail and Mangrove Heron.
So we headed down to Victoria for the last two weeks of the holiday, visiting such places as Warrnambool, the Grampians, Mt Eccles, Cape Otway and Pt Fairy. Early sightings were of Black-winged Stilt looking magnificent with Chestnut Teal, Sooty Oystercatcher and Pacific Gull, I was particularly pleased to see the latter. I was very lucky to be taken out one morning by a member of the Bird Observers Club of Australia (Victoria branch). He took me to places I would never have found, or thought of. Our first stop was Killarney Beach where we both happy to find Red-capped Plover, Double-banded Plover, Hooded Plover, Musk Duck and Sanderling. Our first visit to Tower Hill got Long-billed Corella, Superb Fairywren, Red-browed Finch, Scarlet Robin (my first ever robin in Oz!) and Black-shouldered Kite.
Both Shy and Black-browed Albatross were sighted off the coast, as were Southern Right Whales and Australian Fur Seal. Kelp Gull, Golden-headed Cisticola and Yellow-rumped and Brown Thornbill were all greatly appreciated.
As the trip drew to an end I was pleased with Black-faced Cormorant, which gave me all the cormorants in Australia, Restless Flycatcher, Spotted [B]and Striated Pardalote[/B] and White-eared Honeyeater. My last bird was one of the most common, Eastern Yellow Robin.
So ended a memorable trip. I can heartily recommend joining the local bird club, even just for a year, I felt as though I had given something back for my trip. I can't wait till I go again.
A full list of the birds is below:
Red-wattled Lapwing (Thailand)
Silver Gull
Common Myna
Willy Wagtail
Welcome Swallow
Rainbow Lorikeet
Little Pied Cormorant
Sacred Ibis
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
White-backed Magpie
Magpie Lark
Pied Currawong
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Pacific Duck
Wood Duck
Pied Cormorant
Noisy Miner
Black-backed Magpie
Dusky Moorhen
Masked Lapwing
White-browed Shrubwen
White-faced Heron
New Holland Honeyeater
White-naped Honeyeater
Eastern Spinebill
Dusky Woodswallow
Little Wattlebird
Striated Thornbill
Rock Warbler
Blue-cheeked Rosella
Australian King Parrot
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Laughing Kookaburra
White-eared Honeyeater
Straw-necked Ibis
Spotted Turtle Dove
Dusky Honeyeater
Yellow Honeyeater
White-rumped Swiftlet
Helmeted Friarbird
Osprey
Brahminy Kite
Australian Kestrel
Intermediate Egret
Great Egret
Rufous Night Heron
Royal Spoonbill
Beach Stone-Curlew
Buff-banded Rail
Black-fronted Dotterel
Red-necked Stint
Eastern Curlew
Caspian Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Peaceful Dove
Collared Kingfisher
Leaden Flycatcher
Varied Honeyeater
Yellow-bellied Sunbird
Spangled Drongo
Australian Pelican
White-breasted Sea Eagle
Black Bittern
Blue-winged Kookaburra
Brown Gannet
Rainbow Bee-Eater
Forest Kingfisher
Metallic Starling
Orange-footed Scrubfowl
Bush Thick-knee
Richard's Pipit
Emu
Australian Grebe
Little Black Cormorant
Australian Darter
Brolga
Wandering Whistling Duck
Green Pygmy-goose
Brown Goshawk
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Australian Hobby
Comb-crested Jacana
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Fairy Martin
Rufous Whistler
Grey-crowned Babbler
Brown Treecreeper
Noisy Friarbird
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
Double-barred Finch
Apostlebird
Bar-breasted Honeyeater
Cattle Egret
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater
Brown-backed Honeyeater
Azure Kingfisher
Australian Brush-turkey
Rufous Fantail
Black Butcherbird
Wampoo Fruitdove
Mangrove Heron
Galah
Little Raven
Black-winged Stilt
Chestnut Teal
Sooty Oystercatcher
Pacific Gull
Singing Honeyeater
Purple Swamphen
Australian Gannet
Superb Fairywren
Red Wattlebird
Blue-winged Parrot
Red-browed Finch
Black-shouldered Kite
Scarlet Robin
Black Swan
Australian Shelduck
Hoary-headed Grebe
Shy Albatross
Pied Goose
Musk Duck
Swamp Harrier
Brown Falcon
Hooded Plover
Double-banded Plover
Red-capped Plover
Sanderling
Pied Oystercatcher
Kelp Gull
Crested Tern
Long-billed Corella
Eastern Rosella
Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Grey Fantail
Golden-headed Cisticola
Striated Fieldwren
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Brown Thornbill
Yellow-throated Miner
White-fronted Chat
Black-browed Albatross
Silvereye
Black-faced Cormorant
Restless Flycatcher
Varied Sitella
Australian Raven
Crested Pigeon
White-eared Honeyeater
White-throated Treecreeper
Common Bronzewing
Spotted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Eastern Yellow Robin
Turtle Dove (UAE)
House Sparrow
Starling
Goldfinch
Blackbird
Whimbrel
Sanderling
Cormorant
Peregrine Falcon
Turnstone
Skylark
Good to read such an enthusiastic report, especially as I was in Cairns 2 years ago and am off back there later in the year. It was a great moment when I saw my first sunbirds there, too.
Allen
An excellent account and interesting for me, too, as I'm off there next year and am likely to be in many of the same places.