MY 850TH AUSTRALIAN BIRD

I've just returned from Richard Baxter's Cocos/Christmas Island tour. To summarize this particular 2024 trip, Christmas was disappointingly wet with no lifers for me, but Cocos excelled itself, providing me with six lifers, including my milestone 850th Australian bird, an incredible Black-naped Oriole!

There were 15 of us on this tour, some who'd never been before and some veterans of many trips. I'd been to Cocos seven times; Christmas eight times. We arrived on Friday 29 November and the ony bird of note we saw that day was the Northern Pintail at the birdhide, together with some of its hybrid offspring, some resembling it and some resembling Pacific Black Ducks. On Saturday, several of our group, including me, took the ferry to Direction Island because there were reports of a Cinnamon Bittern there. As the ferry didn't leave until 9.30, we had plenty of time for some birding beforehand. We drove the length of the island checking the sides of the road to see if anything had flown in overnight. It hadn't. However, at the farm I saw my 847th Australian bird: a Dark-sided Flycatcher. I reckon I'd earnt this bird: I spent a week looking for it on my last trip to Cocos in November 2023. I sat in the heat watching the bush it had been seen in for hot day after hot day, with no joy at all. Now here it was at the farm, happily flying over our heads, and drawing attention to itself, always returning to the same perch. I was quite delighted to get a lifer so early in the trip and to see a bird that I'd worked hard for previously and reckoned that I'd earned. This photo is by Bernie O'Keefe.

Seeing the flycatcher lessened my disappointment at not seeing the Cinnamon Bittern on Direction Island. Richard (who'd stayed on West Island with the rest of the group) contacted us to say that one of our group had photographed an Indian Cuckoo! That's the luck of birding. We'd taken a gamble and gone looking for a Cinnamon Bittern when we'd have been better off staying with the group and seeing an Indian Cuckoo. This is the second record of this bird for Australia: a bird was seen on Cocos in February 2011. We returned to West Island and searched diligently for the cuckoo. We admired David's photo and said we were pleased for our companions. Then Geof Christie, resident birder on Cocos, reported 'a strange little orange duck' at the birdhide. We drove there immediately and saw the bird straight away. It was in front of the birdhide, constantly feeding, never still for a second, quite a contrast to the lazy, loafing Pacific Black Ducks around the pond. Graham Barwell (one of our group) identified it as a female Eurasian Wigeon, (848), a bird I thought I'd never see and didn't really deserve to as I hadn't bothered to twitch the one that turned up at Carnarvon some years ago. This photo of the wigeon is again by Bernie O'Keefe (thank you, Bernie!)

We also saw a Chinese Pond Heron, more excitement for the first timers. In the late afternoon we were celebrating our success in the club, when Jenny Spry (Australia's number one female birder, also a member of our group) arrived to announce that a Cinnamon Bittern had been seen at the farm. People who know me would be amused to learn that I abandoned my glass of wine and ran out immediately in search of the bittern. Sue Taylor abandonning her wine is not an everyday occurrence. Six of us rushed to the farm. We floundered around in long grass in a disorganized fashion. The outcome was predictable: three of us saw the bittern, three did not. I did not. The light was failing and we were forced to call it a day. I painted a smile on my face and pretended to be pleased for my successful companions. On Monday morning before we caught the ferry to Home Island, we all went on a cuckoo hunt. We had looked the previous morning and failed once more. This time we were successful. That lovely little Indian Cuckoo became my 849th Australian bird. On Home Island, our first exciting bird was a Rosy Starling. Again, thanks to Bernie for this photo.

Sue Abbotts, a fantastic Western Australian birder with a phenomenal Australian total well over 800, found a Blue and White Flycatcher. Later she was to find a Mugimaki Flycatcher (which I did not see), as well as her undeniable triumph: a Black-naped Oriole, which, I'm delighted to say, I did see, but only after a considerable time spent looking, and only after a bit of help from Matt Hansen. These birds live in Asia and I couldn't think of a better candidate for my 850th milestone slot. I took this photo from 'The Birds of Java and Bali' by Derek Holmes & Stephen Nash.

Just to continue my extraordinary record of one lifer per day, on Wednesday, Richard took us to the farm, and everyone had at least a fleeting glimpse of the Cinnamon Bittern (851). It was a dark bird, hence declared to be young, with some early discussion about whether it might be a von Schrenck's Bittern instead. But unambiguous views of its rufous flight feathers confirmed its identity as a Cinnamon Bittern, another bird I convinced myself I'd earned, because on a previous occasion a Cinnamon Bittern had been seen on Cocos every day while I was on Christmas Island. It was wandering along the grass verge beside the road, unafraid and out in the open, and this, evidently, was its undoing. It was killed by a cat (rumoured to be owned by a park ranger!). Anyway it was quite dead by the time I arrived on Cocos. Somehow, this made seeing this Cinnamon Bittern even more special. On Thursday, I broke my pattern of daily lifers. But on Friday, I returned to form. In the farm (where else?) we all had great views (after a fair bit of waiting and looking and a great deal of hard work and patience on Richard's behalf) of a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler. Here's a photo Bernie took, not on Cocos, but on Ashmore Reef some time ago. It's a terrific photo of a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, showing its long legs, a feature few people actually see as it zips past or skulks away invisibly.

One last photo of Bernie's I must include, because Watercocks are not on everybody's lifelist. They are not often present and when they are, they often flush fast and people don't get a good look.

Quite a trip, I'm sure you'll agree. And I haven't mentioned any of the 'ordinary' birds. Birds like the Christmas Boobook, the Golden Bosunbird, Abbott's Booby or Christmas Frigatebird. Thank you, Richard! I'll be back!