2011 Tour Narrative
Australia, land down under, a sunburnt country, cassowary, Plains-Wanderer, emu-wren, Koala, kangaroo. The evocative names given to the continent, the birds and the mammals is enough to titillate the most seasoned birder or traveller. This year’s Australian odyssey came at an opportune time climatically as the long-standing drought was broken over the last 18 months resulting in a lushness in the landscape not know in decades and prevalent breeding of birds resulting in a noticeable increase in numbers of many species whose populations had declined to low numbers. For those who opted for just one or two sections of this year’s tour, the sightings were plentiful and satisfying but for those intrepid 5 who travelled on all 3 sections, the tour offered the opportunity to have increasingly diverse sightings as we worked our way clockwise around the country as well as the opportunity to have second chances to see some species in the southern part of the country that had been missed or only glimpsed on the first part of the tour. Throughout, we enjoyed the hospitality of Australians who took great pride in sharing their ‘patches’ and the birds and mammals living in them with us.
Tasmania showed its finest side to us this year as we were treated to all 12 Tassie endemics and other specialties within our first 24 hours on the island. And, with sun and no wind, even the minute Forty-spotted Pardalote and Tasmanian Scrubwren and Scrubtit showed very well. Night drives provided us with glimpses of the nightlife on tranquil Bruny Island including the nightly Little Penguin trek across the beach and the flight of Short-tailed Shearwaters to their burrows. A dark and a light morph Eastern Quoll standing side-by-side motionless along the side of the road remains a ‘Tassie moment’.
The state of Victoria and a short visit to southern NSW provided new families and delights for all. The enigmatic Plains-Wanderer took a bit of extra time this year but Phil once again proved how well he knows the species as our efforts yielded two individuals. Water in Black Swamp and other areas that have been dry for many years provided the perfect habitat for species that had become more and more difficult during the dry years, including crakes and Australian Painted-Snipe. Knowing our time is always short, Eileen had many of her birds well staked-out at Chiltern National Park including Painted Honeyeater, Speckled Warblers and Turquoise Parrots. An early morning Superb Lyrebird on a walk-about at Badger Weir that managed to ignore the presence of 14 salivating birders was complemented by Gang-gang Parrots, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, Rose Robins, a Bassian Thrush, thornbills and scrub-wrens during our wander among giant Mountain Ash trees where we were assisted by Richard’s superb knowledge of the area and the bird populations there. A little further afield, diligence paid off as we finally managed to sight a cooperative Pilotbird after having etched it’s call to permanent memory during our search. And those of us who opted to extend our hours in the field during that splendid Healesville day by joining Ed on an owl-prowl enjoyed one of the best views any birder could hope for of a calling Sooty Owl as well as views of Greater Gliders (fortunately not in the claws of the owl!). All too soon, our time in the south of Australia ended and we said good-bye to some of our fellow travellers as we geared up for our next Australian adventure with our flight to Adelaide.
Thanks to all who joined us for all or part of this year’s tour to the unique continent of Australia for the superb birding and mammal experiences always on offer here. Your energy and enthusiasm during the trip and the assistance of our expert team of local leaders and friends who shared their passion and knowledge of their ‘patches’ with us during this year’s tour helped to make this one of our most successful ever.
Updated: March 2012