A MODEST TARGET FOR JANUARY

I like setting myself targets. I like achieving them. There's no point in setting an unachievable goal. Where's the joy in that?

This month, January 2023, I set myself the target of seeing 100 species of birds. I thought this would be easily achieved because I was starting the year on the Cocos Islands (giving me such wonderful starters as Purple Heron, White-breasted Waterhen, Asian Brown Flycatcher - photo above by Bill Russell, Rosy Starling, Common Redshank and, best of all, Common Kingfisher) and having to overnight in Perth on the way home (Western Wattlebird, Laughing Dove, Australian Ringneck). I had my name down for a January pelagic out of Port Fairy, so I figured I could achieve 100 birds without too much difficulty. Of course, I did all my normal walks around home, which includes walking to Hay's Paddock, Willsmere Billabong, Burke Road Billabong and Darebin Parklands. I visited Banyule and Wilson Reserve and I did a walk at Historic Woodlands Park. Unfortunately, my pelagic was cancelled. The captain reckoned the swells were too great, and it would have taken us five hours to reach the shelf. Suddenly I realized that January was drawing to a close and I was not going to achieve my 100 birds. I drove to Jells Park and managed to add Australasian Darter and Australian Reed Warbler to my list. I drove to Healesville, but all I saw new for the year were Silvereyes, a beautiful male Rufous Whistler and a Grey Shrikethrush.

It was 24 January and my total was 94. If only that pelagic hadn't been cancelled, I'd have made it easily. I set off for Karkarook, hoping for a Blue-billed Duck, a Greenfinch and a Goldfinch. I saw none of those. I did manage a Hoary-headed Grebe, so I was now just 5 off my target. I made lists of all the 'easy' birds I hadn't yet seen. There were lots of them! Surely I could find five in a week. I decided to visit Fern Tree Gully. I remembered Rufous Fantails flitting around, just above my head. Too easy! When I arrived at the Dandenong Ranges National Park, I saw two new birds before I left the carpark: Australian King Parrot and Gang-gang Cockatoo. With renewed confidence I set off on the comfortable walk (I think it was called 'Meanderers Track') - none of those 100 steps for me. I wasn't in training. I wanted to see some birds. I wandered around for a while. I saw lots of rabbits and one wallaby, several Eastern Yellow Robins, Grey Fantails and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, but nothing new. No hint of a Rufous Fantail. It seemed ridiculous. There were so many common birds not on my 2023 list. Yet I couldn't see any! Suddenly, I glimpsed something different with a family of fairywrens: a Red-browed Finch, number 98! Perhaps I could make it after all. But no, I was forced to go home without any more ticks for my list. I decided I would not go birding on Australia Day. There were two reasons for this: being a public holiday, I thought there'd be hoards of loud holiday-makers at any birding spot I cared to visit, and the forecast was for a grey, overcast day, with fog in the outer suburbs, conditions not really conducive to birding. However, when I did my early morning walk, the birds seemed to be particularly active. I looked at the sky, and thought I might as well have a go. So I drove to Sherbrooke, with dreams of lyrebirds and whipbirds enticing me. There was a very light misty rain as I parked the car. Immediately I heard a treecreeper, then a Fan-tailed Cuckoo, but I couldn't see either of them. I set off, determined to add just two birds to my list. It was a pleasant walk, but there were few birds. The light rain persisted and I doubted I was going to see anything other than parrots. Then I saw a female Australian Golden Whistler. At last! Number 99. Then, finally, a White-throated Treecreeper. I'd made it. I drove home happily, having achieved my modest target. The difficulty is that I want to do it all again in February!

MY FIFTH TRIP TO COCOS

After a successful week on Christmas Island with Richard Baxter, when everyone achieved at least one lifer and the newbies had about a dozen, we arrived on Cocos with great expectations. This was my fifth trip to Cocos and I'd never seen a Watercock, although I had looked every time. There were recent reports of several birds on the island, but we knew they were very sensitive and flighty. A new birdhide had been built at the lake and we spent some hours there, hoping for Chinese Sparrowhawk and Northern Pintail. This photo shows the lake when it is not raining.

As the group sat on pintail-watch at the hide, once a day, Richard took two of us to look for Watercock, in the long grass in the farm behind the lake. After the birds had been flushed, Richard gave them some peace for the rest of the day. I was lucky to be one of the first two taken to look for Watercocks on the first day. It did not take long! A bird flushed in front of us, showing unmistakable long trailing legs. It is most gratifying to finally tick a bird you have sought for many years. We saw Watercocks several times during the week. There must be quite a few birds on the island this year. Sadly, I do not have a photo of one. We had high hopes too of seeing a Cinnamon Bittern, as the locals reported seeing one every day. It was either in the green waste dump, or walking along the grassy verge beside the road. Easy! This sighting would have put me in the Bittern Club, meaning I'd seen all six species of Australian bitterns (Australasian, Black-backed, Yellow, Von Schrenck's, Cinnamon and Black). Sadly, we soon learnt that the bird had been killed by a cat. Here' the evidence.

We saw Common Sandpipers most days. I thank Bill Russell for this lovely photo.

This Asian Brown Flycatcher led us a merry dance. They like to hide high in the canopy sitting perfectly still for hours, then perversely, come out into the open and show themselves well. Photo again by Bill Russell.

Of course we did the requisite motorised canoe trip to look for Saunders's Terns. I'm not sure why I dislike these canoes so much; suffice it to say that I do. Nevertheless I girded my loins and gritted my teeth and was rewarded with the best possible sightings of Saunders's Terns. Not only must birders undergo the canoe trip (although in fairness I should say that I think I was the only person present who did not enjoy the canoe trip) but then there is another wet walk through water in the hot sun before birders arrive at the Saunders's Tern viewing area. I've seen these birds a couple of times before, but never like this. The birds actually came to investigate us, flying low over our heads. It was wonderful! Then, of course, we celebrated with champagne. It took great skill to actually notice birds that came to investigate us, so we figured that we'd earned our champagne. Another Bill Russell photo shows us setting off on our journey. I'm in front in the red canoe.

On New Year's Eve, we attended a fancy dress party at Scout Park. The theme was 'the jungle' and some people went to a fair amount of trouble. With space and weight restrictions in my luggage, I wimped out and wore a teeshirt showing rainforest frogs. The fireworks were nothing short of spectacular, and, most unusual for me, I managed to stay awake to see the New Year in. My reward was the chance at another tick on 2 January. A Common Kingfisher had been seen on the island. I had looked unsuccessfully for this bird before. But this time, we thought we knew where it was. It involved (inevitably) a wade through water. I do not enjoy walking through water. I find it uncomfortable and disconcerting when you don't know where you are putting your foot down. On the way back, Richard found a pineapple puffer fish and I was pleased that I hadn't trodden on it! Or known it was there on the walk out. Lucky for me, Ted offered me his arm, and this assistance made a difficult walk quite bearable. That's me, second from the right, hanging on for dear life! (Photo again by Bill Russell.)

A great start for the New Year: a lifer! I took this photo from the RSPB's 'Birds of Britain and Europe'. For me, the most outstanding feature was the bright blue back, which really stood out.

So I came home with three ticks in all: one on Christmas and two on Cocos. That's not bad, I'm sure you'll agree.

CHRISTMAS ON CHRISTMAS

On 20 December 2022 I flew to Christmas Island. This was my sixth visit to this tiny piece of utopia. Of course I've always loved Christmas Island: I've seen 27 lifers there. On my first trip in 2002, I saw seven lifers driving from the airport to our accommodation! There's not many places in Australia you can do that. On this occasion, I had learnt that an Amur Stonechat had been seen recently at North West Point, so of course I wanted that. When I arrived, it was two weeks since the bird had been seen, but I was still keen to look for it.

As you can see, I got wet! This photo was taken by a fellow intrepid searcher, Bill Russell, and that's me in front. I am not enjoying myself. Apart from the rain and the deep puddles, there were creepers across the track designed to trip me up, not to mention the lack of any stonechats. There are better ways to spend a morning on Christmas Island. The red crabs are famous on Christmas, and rightly so, because of the incredible numbers of them. They can be a breathtaking spectacle. On this trip, we saw millions of teeny tiny crabs, which looked like red paint spilled across the road. Workmen were blowing them out of harm's way with leaf blowers. Many roads were closed throughout our week on the island, limiting the spots we could visit.

There are nearly 100 different species of crabs on Christmas. Perhaps the most impressive is the huge robber crab. I've never actually been brave enough to pick one up before, but this time I did, more than once!

Sadly, I dipped on two very exciting birds on this trip. One was a Yellow-breasted Bunting, which I thought I'd earned, having spent a couple of very hot hours waiting for it to return to the chook pen where it had been sighted. The other was a Northern Boobook, which I also thought I'd earned, as I stood beside Elliot Leach while he admired it! I had better luck on Christmas day. I received the best possible Christmas present: a lifer! It was a Eurasian Hobby, flying overhead and saving me a trip to Western Australia to look for it. A most welcome present indeed, and my 28th lifer for the island. Like MacArthur, I will return!