ASHMORE REEF

When I visited Broome in August to twitch the Tibetan Sand Plover, I learned that a Nazca Booby had been seen on the Lacepedes. I confess that I'd never heard of a Nazca Booby. I quickly discovered that it was a recent split from the Masked Booby, with an orange (not yellow) bill and olive (not yellow) feet. It normally lives in the vicinity of the Galapagos. Now that's a fair way from the Lacepedes. Why wasn't the birding world agog at this extraordinary news? It seemed to be a well kept secret. Louis showed me a photo. It certainly seemed legit. The only way I know to get to the Lacepedes is to do George Swann's 10 day boat trip to Ashmore Reef. I decided I had no option but to try for it, so I put my name down for the November Ashmore Reef trip. I'd done this boat trip before. It leaves from Broome, travels to Ashmore Reef, visits West, East and Middle Islands and Splittgerber Cay, then calls at Browse Island and the Lacepedes on the way back to Broome. Of course I knew the chances of seeing the bird were slim, but I figured I had to at least try and I certainly wasn't going to see it sitting at home in my lounge room.

I studied the birdlists. There were 14 species which had been seen on Ashmore Reef which I'd never seen, but, being realistic, I wasn't going to see a Lesser Coucal, which had been happened across just once in over 30 trips. I reckoned my best chance of seeing something new was the Collared Kingfisher. This had been seen on 49% of previous trips - that's as good as a fifty/fifty chance. I remembered looking for it on earlier trips: it is slightly larger than a Sacred Kingfisher with a white breast (not buff), blue upperparts and cap (not greenish/blue) and a white loral spot. I remembered Sacred Kingfishers being very common on West Island, and peering at each one trying desperately to turn its breast white and to create a white loral spot. With no success of course. George soon disabused me of any hope I had: Collared Kingfishers had not been seen for some time. The chances of seeing one were minimal. News of the Nazca Booby was even worse. The bird on the Lacepedes had been seen just once, over a year ago. No one had been there since. A Nazca Booby had also been seen on Middle Island. Once. In the company of Brown Boobies. And another bird had been seen somewhere near Papua! Perhaps it was all the same bird. Perhaps there were three. Who knows? My heart sank as it dawned on me that I was not going to see a Nazca Booby. Or a Collared Kingfisher.

We left Broome on Friday, 1 November and arrived at West Island on Sunday afternoon. There were some good seabirds along the way. Apart from boobies, terns, noddies and frigatebirds, we saw Streaked Shearwaters and Tahiti Petrels and I was pleased to see Bulwer's and Joanin's Petrels, and Swinhoe's and Matsudaira's Storm Petrels. Unusual sightings at sea were one Eastern Yellow Wagtail and one Edible Nest Swiftlet. On West Island, as expected, there were waders, frigatebirds and boobies, Buff-banded Rails, Nankeen Night and Pacific Reef Herons. We also saw lots of Oriental and Horsfield Bronze Cuckoos, I think just one Brush Cuckoo, more than one Barn Swallow, several Island Monarchs, I think more than one Supertramp Fantail and an Asian Brown Flycatcher. At least three pairs of Red-tailed Tropicbirds were nesting on the island. Both CSIRO and Monash are working on the island. CSIRO is attempting to remove the buffle grass (the photo shows plants bagged for removal and destruction) and installing boards for Asian gheckos to inhabit so they can be removed.

While we were there, Monash installed 30 nest shelters for Red-tailed Tropicbirds.

We visited West Island several times, East and Middle just once. At Splittgerber Cay, I needed help navigating what was really very shallow water.

Browse Island was very hot. Access is difficult because of the surrounding reef, so we spent more time waiting for the tenders to come and pick us up than we'd intended. For me, the highlight of the trip was two very cooperative Kamchatka Leaf Warblers on Browse. We initially thought they were Arctic Warblers, but a sonogram of the call confirmed they were Kamchatkas. Either species would have been a lifer for me, so I was delighted. I was, of course, disappointed at the absence of Nazca Boobies, but I'd always known it was a long shot. And a lifer is a lifer after all. One I would not have seen had I sat at home in my lounge room.

KIAMA PELAGICS

It seems a very long time since I've been on a pelagic. In fact, it's been seven months. Last March, I did a Southport pelagic, hoping for a New Caledonian Storm Petrel. I will hope for one again next year. I'd booked to do back-to-back pelagics out of Kiama in October and I particularly wanted to go because I knew it would be my last SOSSA trip. I've been doing pelagics with the Southern Ocean Seabird Study Association for many years and have enjoyed the company of the experts on board and learnt a great deal from them all. SOSSA has decided to dissolve itself and it will be sorely missed. Lindsay Smith has been synonomous with SOSSA and I will certainly miss his endless patience and tolerance of my ignorance. I needed to say goodbye and thankyou for his years of patient assistance. His wife, Janice, also deserves great appreciation for her organization skills. Where would we have been without them? I met many seabird experts on SOSSA trips, mainly on the 'Sandra K' out of Wollongong, once on the MV Banks out of Ulladulla, and more recently on the 'Kato' or 'Kiama' out of Kiama. And I've made several good friends, most notably Brook Whylie (who established this blog for me) and Graham Barwell, who has found me several lifers over the years. Their knowledge of seabirds is extraordinary. Thank you, SOSSA!

My photographer mate, Ken, was to accompany me to Kiama. We left early on Thursday, both eager to get out to sea after our unsuccessful trip to Tasmania in September. We drove straight to Gerroa, not too far from Kiama, where we'd stayed last time we'd done a Kiama pelagic in February 2023. On Friday we birded at Jerroa Dam, where, in my very limited experience, the birding has always been good. I declared the Black-faced Monarch to be the Bird of the Day. Saturday morning saw us standing on the Kiama wharf, eager to get out to sea. Alas, there was an atmosphere of gloom, and we did not pay as usual before we boarded the boat. This was because three metre swells were forecast, and the captain expected us to be returning to shore very soon. If we made it to the shelf, we could pay later. So it was with mixed emotions that we set off. I was cold at the start and gradually got colder all day. We did make it to the shelf. We saw lots of birds. It wasn't a bad day at all. Others complained it was rough; I didn't think it was especially bumpy. Two people were seasick. I saw 17 species, which isn't bad. Everyone was excited by a Grey-backed Storm Petrel (unusual for NSW, not too hard in Tasmania). I didn't realize until I got back home that the White-chinned Petrel we saw was my first for NSW. We saw Black-browed and Shy Albatross, and a large number of Buller's. In fact they banded a Buller's. This photo is by Ken Haines, not taken on this trip, but still a nice picture of the bird.

There were Australasian Gannets of course, and three confirmed species of shearwaters (Flesh-footed, Short-tailed and Wedge-tailed) as well as one fluttering-type. One Brown Skua flew past, and a few Grey-faced Petrels put in an appearance. Several individual Wilson's Storm Petrels flew by throughout the day, or perhaps there were just a couple of birds returning individually. I know that they're common, but I got a lot of pleasure out of the Greater Crested Terns. They flew just above our heads, looking very beautiful against the blue sky. Sunday was a totally different day: fewer birds, more species. Strangely, not one Buller's Albatross, which had been quite numerous the day before. And it wasn't cold. We added Campbell's and Yellow-nosed Albatross to the list, as well as a Kermadec Petrel and a Long-tailed Jaeger. We saw one or two Providence Petrels (Brook: if you change this reference to 'Solander's' I'll know it was you!) and another White-chinned. Perversely, I had a landbird as my Bird of the Day. Four Channel-billed Cuckoos flew over the boat before we left port, calling. I'm not used to seeing these huge, odd creatures and I thought they were pretty exciting. I was very pleased that I went. I'm very sorry to see the last of SOSSA. It's the end of an era for me.

A DISAPPOINTING START TO SPRING

Pelagics are often cancelled. It seems to me that I've driven to Wollongong on many occasions only to be greeted with a cancelled pelagic. The Portland/Port Fairy pelagics were notorious for being cancelled as often as they went out, especially in winter. But I don't remember an Eaglehawk Neck pelagic being cancelled before. Yet that's what happened this September. What's more, I was told that, of the 19 pelagics scheduled for this year, nine have been cancelled. Of course I'd had a little list of birds I expected to see, and another, much longer list of birds that I would love to see. I was going with my birding mate, Ken Haines and we had not considered the possibility of having our trip cancelled. We had purchased flights, a car hire, parking at the airport and we'd booked accommodation. We decided to go anyway. We knew the weather would be cold and windy. Ironically, I'd been watching the forecasts and thinking that the wind would blow in some good birds for us. I had not thought the wind would cancel our boat trip. So, without any specific plans, we landed at Hobart and picked up our hire car for a weekend of Tasmanian birding, constrained only by the fact that our accommodation was in Eaglehawk Neck. Ken wanted to photograph a Strong-billed Honeyeater, a Tasmanian endemic that had eluded his camera on previous occasions. I wanted to pick up as many endemics as possible for my year list. We would be nowhere near Forty-spotted Pardalotes and I decided that Scrubtits would be very unlikely, but I had hopes for the other ten. Add a Forest Raven and I could go home with eleven new birds for 2024. Or we could have a cold, wet and windy weekend and see nothing. We drove down to Eaglehawk Neck without incident, seeing plenty of Forest Ravens and Tasmanian Nativehens, and admiring the Black-faced Cormorants at Dunally. We made a half-hearted attempt at seawatching at The Blowhole, but all we saw were Kelp Gulls and one Australasian Gannet.

At the end of Saturday, I'd managed to see five more endemics - the five easiest! - Green Rosella, Black Currawong, Yellow Wattlebird, Tasmanian Thornbill and Tasmanian Scrubwren. Ken had good photos of the Tasmanian race of Grey Currawongs (arguta) and one cooperative Yellow Wattlebird at the hotel. I also managed to add a Fan-tailed Cuckoo to my year list. So the day wasn't totally wasted. It had been very windy and in fact we were lucky to have seen anything at all.

We attempted to be optimistic on Sunday, but it was difficult. Again, it was windy, and we were both pleased in the end that we were not out at sea. A Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle was too quick for Ken's camera. Photographers are like fishermen: they always lament the one that got away instead of celebrating what they achieved. But I guess birders are too! We tried in vain to summon up a Strong-billed Honeyeater. We did manage one Yellow-throated, to add to our Tasmanian tally. And that was it. I went home with a total of nine birds to add to my year list. I did my best to hide my disappointment. Our plane was late. It was a Virgin flight and they'd just about run out of food. A fitting end to our weekend, I thought, as I arrived home very late, still doing my best not to be grumpy. Ken had a worse drive home from dropping me off, with closed roads and blackouts with no traffic lights. I live in hope: I put my name down to do it again next year. And we are both hoping that our proposed October pelagics out of Kiama will prove a little more productive. Fingers crossed that they are not cancelled.

TIBETAN SAND PLOVER

I have just returned from a successful twitch for the Tibetan Sand Plover in Broome. I was with Louis Masarei and we saw the bird well, but I wouldn't say it was easy. Here's proof that we saw it:

Actually, it's not proof, because this photo was not taken by me, but by Leo Norman, one of the Two Birders/Two Bikes pair of teenagers who are biking around Australia seeing as many birds as possible and raising money for a school in East Timor. I first met up with them on my recent Pilbara trip, and saw them again in Broome. Here's proof at least that I've actually been in Broome.

The Tibetan Sand Plover has been in Broome for a while, taunting me. Eventually I could stand it no longer and decided I had to go. I knew that I wouldn't be able to find it/identify it/twitch it by myself, so I contacted the Broome Bird Observatory to ask if they could help. Their answer was in essence a polite 'no.' They said seeing the bird depended on my identification skills (doesn't it always?) However, this is probably a fair enough point with waders in general, and sand plovers in particular. I've always had trouble with Greater and what we used to call Lesser (or before that Mongolian) and now Siberian Sand Plovers. Now the Tibetan is somewhere in between. I don't think anyone would say that identifying sand plovers is easy. First, find your sand plover, and don't let him wander into the nearby group of waders. Keep your eyes on him. Observe his bill, his neck, his forehead (we used to say 'front'), his flanks, and his size compared with other sand plovers. People also talk of leg length and colour, but that's too hard for me. I worked out that for me the best method was looking for general size first, then the size and shape of the bill second, then nice clean white flanks third, then having a good squiz at the forehead and neck band, and only then, suggesting that better eyes than mine check it out.

Seeing new birds gets harder and harder as the years go by and my total increases. With each new addition, it is more and more difficult to find new birds to tick. Every rare vagrant becomes even more desirable and I find each failed twitch is even more disappointing. Will I ever have another go at that species? Was that my one and only chance of seeing it? I really wanted to add the Tibetan Sand Plover to my list. People were seeing it every day and I was stuck in Melbourne, turning greener by the day, seeing their success on ebird. When I learnt that there was more than one bird, I thought I really should go and try to see one of them. I asked Louis if he would meet me in Broome and help me. I didn't have to talk too hard to persuade him, and I will be forever grateful to him, because I would not have got the bird by myself.

No sooner had we congratulated ourselves on seeing our bird, than we learnt that there was a Blue-winged Pitta in Broome! It has apparently been there for several months, first seen last March, seen three or four times since, and even captured on camera. In fact the photo makes the bird look far more colourful than it does in my field guide. It has been seen in suburban Broome, amongst houses all seemingly inhabited by noisy barking dogs. Louis and I spent more time looking for the pitta than we did for the sand plover. And of course we didn't see it or hear it. Who knows if it's even still in Broome? Of course it could have been sitting watching us, laughing quietly to itself. Or it could be back home in Thailand or Cambodia or wherever it's come from having quite forgotten its Broome adventures. Most uncharacteristically, I came home not berating my lack of pittas, but celebrating my success with the sand plover. How unlike me! But an excellent twitch, whichever way you look at it.

IS JULY THE WORST MONTH FOR BIRDING IN MELBOURNE?

Every year I like to see 400 Australian birds and every month I like to see 100. In summer this is not too hard. In winter it can be difficult. In the month just over, July 2024, I clocked up a miserable, miniscule 59 species. You'd be forgiven for thinking I wasn't trying. Every month I try to visit Banyule Flats, Wilson Reserve, Bourke Road Billabong and Darebin Parklands. I did all this in July. What's worse, I also visited Sherbrooke Forest. A lovely woman I'd met on my recent trip to the Pilbara had never seen a lyrebird, so, perhaps stupidly, I offered to show her one. It seemed very simple when I was in Western Australia. Back home in Melbourne, the cold weather was discouraging and the grey skies were dispiriting. Nevertheless, she came, and together we conquered. We visited Sherbrooke and saw a couple of lyrebirds: one male most obligingly displaying for us, happy to continue the show while we watched entranced. We also saw several wallabies, one very mangy wombat - but, very few birds.

One vocal whipbird proved very elusive and we came home without him on our list. All I added to my July list that day (apart from the lyrebird) were a Crimson Rosella, an Eastern Yellow Robin and a White-throated Treecreeper. The truth is that I often do not reach my 100 monthly target. In the last 27 years, I haven't seen 100 birds in July on 15 other occasions! That means I fail to achieve my objective more often than not! How depressing. Furthermore, the months with the lowest totals are not July at all. My worst months are (strangely) February, September and November. I cannot explain that. Spring and summer should have the highest totals. And, just to underline the fact, I am always trying. So, when someone tells you that they're trying to see 100 birds every month in Melbourne, do not assume it is easy! As I write, it is the afternoon of 1 August, and my August total is 31. Let's see if I can make 100 this month.

MALLACOOTA - BACK TO ITS BEST

When I compiled 'The Best 100 Birdwatching Sites in Australia,' I put Mallacoota in the top ten. Then came the devastating fires of 2019. When the second edition of 'The 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Australia' was published, I felt obliged to downgrade Mallacoota to site number 30, and it remained there for the third edition. Site number 30 for the whole of Australia is still pretty impressive. I have just had a great few days enjoying the birds of Mallacoota, and I'm pleased to say that, should there ever be a fourth edition, Mallacoota will be restored to its rightful place in the top ten of Australia's birding sites. I saw 133 species in total on my trip - this includes driving to and from Melbourne and one night in Orbost on the way. Highlights were: Freckled Duck on Lake Guthridge in Sale, a paddock full of Glossy Ibis along the way, Australian Masked Owl at Cape Conran, and an unexpected Australasian Figbird at Paynesville on the way home. Of course Mallacoota reliably provided: Southern Emu-wren, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Hooded Plover (at Betka Beach), Satin Bowerbirds and both White-headed and Wonga Pigeons. I saw Superb Lyrebirds every day, and they lived up to their name. One beautiful male, in particular, shimmered his tail for me for quite a few seconds. I must also mention the superlative Grey Goshawk that flew overhead when I was on the beach looking for Sooty Oystercatchers. I saw Beautiful Firetails at the airport, but, to be greedy, I'd have liked a better look. The bird of the trip was a magnificent Spotted Quail-thrush on the Wangarabell Road who very kindly walked into my line of sight as I pointed my binoculars hopefully towards some moving grass.

Disappointments were: I did not see a Ground Parrot and I did not see a Greater Sooty Owl. But, let's face it, anyone who's seen a Masked Owl has no right to complain about the absence of sooties, right? At Shipwreck Creek I admired sea eagles and emu-wrens, but I could not convince a Ground Parrot to say hello. I was also disappointed to note that some remarkably clever person had seen fit to burn the toilet down. I do hope that person is caught short in very embarrassing circumstances. I also dipped on Glossy Black Cockatoos and Scarlet Myzomelas. Again, I should not complain. The Victorian population of Glossy Blacks is now a fighteningly low 30-40 birds, and Scarlet Myzomelas don't really have to put in an appearance until summer according to their contract. Having enjoyed my first ever Western Shriketits in Western Australia earlier this year, I was very pleased to admire Eastern Shriketits at Gipsy Point. I don't seem to see these lovely birds in Melbourne as often as I used to. The Eastern Whipbirds were vocal and evident at Gipsy Point too, always a great addition to the birdlist.

Of course I had a wishlist when I set off from home. It had a very ambitious 43 species on it, all birds I haven't seen yet this year. I came home with 21 new birds for the year, but five of those were so unexpected they weren't even on my wishlist. As well as the beautiful birds, and the kangaroos and wallabies, I always admire Australian Swamp Rats in Mallacoota. I confess I don't get excited when I see Humpback Whales, but I do catch my breath for Sugar Gliders and Agile Antechinus. There was also a colony of Grey-headed Flying Foxes present as I admired the Freckled Duck at Lake Guthridge. Mallacoota, you never disappoint! I hope there is a fourth edition of my book and I can reinstate you to your proper place in the world.

PILBARA BIRDING

If you want to see grasswrens, I recommend that you seek help from Bellbird Tours. The IOC presently recognises 13 species of grasswren. Phil Maher showed me one species (the Carpentarian near Mt Isa); Klaus Ulenhaut showed me one (the Black Grasswren on the Mitchell Plateau); and, remarkably, I've managed to get two by myself (the Dusky at King's Canyon and the Striated at Hattah Kulkyne in my home state). But Bellbird Tours has shown me an incredible eight species. Yes, you're right, I still have one to get: the elusive White-throated Grasswren at Kakadu. There are also another eleven subspecies to chase, of which I've now seen four, leaving me with a total of one species and seven subspecies yet to see. I'm just back from a Pilbara tour with Bellbird Tours, where I clocked up three grasswren subspecies: the Western Grasswren, famously at Monkey Mia in Shark Bay (easy!); the Sandhill Grasswren, a race of Rufous, at Sandstone (typical grasswren difficulty); and the Pilbara Grasswren, another Rufous race, at Newman (which also seemed remarkably easy - but that might just be down to the skill of the guide!).

The tour, comprising six birders (including me) and Louis Maserei, our guide, started at lunchtime on Wednesday, 5 June 2024 in Kings Park Cafe in Perth - don't ask me why! After lunch, we had a quick walk around Kings Park, allowing me to add Western Spinebills to my daylist. They are even more beautiful than their eastern cousins. We saw a few other birds, including Carnaby's Black Cockatoos and Red-tailed Black Cockatoos. The Red-tails had an unusual rolling call, which I hadn't noticed before, and I declared them to be my bird of the day. We had an uneventful drive to Geraldton, where we spent the night in cabins in the caravan park. On Thursday, we were disappointed that we could not view the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool. There had been a cyclone in 2021 and the damaged boardwalk had been fenced off, which, to be fair, is much easier than fixing it, and it is only 3 years, isn't it?

We drove on to Monkey Mia, admiring Black-breasted Buzzards from the car, and stopping briefly to see Chiming Wedgebills and Western Fieldwrens. It was almost dark when we arrived at the Monkey Mia Resort, but Louis still managed to point out a pair of Western Grasswren in the carpark, right on cue! Of course they were my bird of the day. We had better views in the daylight the next morning, and everyone expressed due excitement at the dolphins. I was surprised (because I'd forgotten) how pale the Southern Whiteface are here, and how bright their chestnut flanks are. My bird of the day was the Southern Scrubrobin, which had provided us all with excellent views. We were back in the Geraldton caravan park cabins overnight. On Saturday we drove to Mt Magnet accompanied by a little unwelcome misty rain. We saw lots (and lots!) of Red-capped Robins, but they are beautiful, aren't they? I like the understated females even more than the showy males. We also saw quite a few mixed flocks of thornbills: Inland, Chestnut-rumped and Slaty-backed, and quite a few very colourful White-browed Treecreepers, a bird I wouldn't normally think of as 'colourful,' yet they were. Simpson and Day says that they breed from July until December, and I reckon that, in June, these blokes were getting ready for an early start. We saw an interesting wattle, Red Mulga, with red, prickly stems. The Granites provided spectacular scenery, as well as Little Woodswallows and our first Western Bowerbird for the trip. This is what The Granites looked like:

Our accommodation on Saturday night in Mt Magnet was called 'Outback Gold' and the less said about it the better. My bird of the day for Saturday was the White-browed Treecreeper, although I was spoiled for choice. On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast in our room, then set off at 5.30 in quest of Sandhill Grasswren, a bird I had been warned we may not see, as it can be difficult. Louis found (or re-located) a likely spot in the spinifex, and we all had excellent views of both male and female Sandhill Grasswrens before 7.15 a.m.! Of course they were my bird of the day. We had lunch at a picnic table. Being vegetarian, I'd been given a special lunch: a salad with two raw eggs! That night we went spotlighting. The rain paused long enough for us to see absolutely nothing. The others heard owlet-nightjars, but I managed to miss even this. On Monday, we all had wonderful views of Bourke's Parrots and one very special Banded Whiteface, which I named my bird of the day. We moved on to Nallan Station, where we stayed in the Shearer's Quarters (note where they placed the apostrophe). I did not like this accommodation. One compensation was a Western Bowerbird's bower very close to our accommodation, with a most accommodating bowerbird tending it. He had a large pile of brand new screws carefully arranged on his runway. The photographers got great shots, and Louis even managed a most professional video on his mobile phone. On Tuesday, we drove to Newman, finally arriving in the Pilbara. An odd thing, to start a Pilbara Tour on day seven of a nine day tour! Here, without any apparent effort, Louis produced Pilbara Grasswren for us, my easy pick for bird of the day. On Wednesday, we birded around Newman, admiring Crimson Chats and Masked Woodswallows. I found a small turtle carapace, which I'm told came from a Flat-shelled Turtle.

We did not see Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, a minor disappointment, well compensated for by our great views of Grey Honeyeaters, my obvious pick for bird of the day. These small, inauspicious honeyeaters must be the most mis-identified honeyeater we have. Often in mixed flocks, they are easily confused with thornbills or gerygones. On Thursday, our last day, Louis showed us some delightful Painted Finches (clearly the bird of the day), then dropped me off at the airport. I attempted to get a boarding pass, and was quite traumatised when I was informed that there was no seat for me on the plane: I was on standby, despite having paid for my ticket months beforehand. No apology, no explanation, no seat. Alone in Newman, far from the township and any possible accommodation, I didn't know what to do. There is no taxi rank at Newman airport. How could I get back to town? I waited patiently, and after my plane was fully loaded, somehow they managed to find me a seat. I've never been so grateful for a squashy economy seat. I managed to get back to Perth without further drama and my disappointment at the attitude and behaviour of Qantas Link will soon be forgotten. It was a great tour. Great grasswrens. Great company and a great tour leader.