CATBIRD QUEST

It is hot. The cicadas are so loud I can't hear the bird calls. It is December 2022 and I am with Phil Gregory at Iron Range, hoping desperately to see a Black-eared Catbird. This bird is fast becoming a bogey bird. I visited Iron Range in 2017 with Phil Maher and in 2018 with Chook, on both occasions joining a tour in the vain hope of seeing a Black-eared Catbird (although in fairness I should point out that in 2017 I did add Spotted Whistling Duck to my lifelist at Archer River so it wasn't a totally wasted trip). I had thought that a catbird should be easy and that any guide worth his fee should be able to show me one. However, I've since learnt differently. Catbirds are not easy. They are elusive and, if they do not call, they can be impossible to see. So I was done with tours. On this occasion I hired a private guide. Phil told me that the three hardest birds at Iron Range are Northern Scrubrobin, Yellow-legged Flyrobin and, yes, Black-eared Catbird. Now I've seen scrubrobins and flyrobins aplenty: all I ask is one good look at an Iron Range catbird. Riflebirds were calling magnificently. Orioles wouldn't shut up. Black-winged Monarchs were both vocal and visible, making me wonder why I'd bothered with a special trip to McIvor River to add them to my list. Catbirds remained stubbornly silent.

Getting to Iron Range is expensive. Of course it's a delightful spot with some exceptional birds and I'm lucky to have an excuse to go there. But Lockhart River is a dry community so I am without alcohol for the duration. If I do see my catbird I will not be able to celebrate appropriately until I return home. To get to Iron Range, I fly to Cairns, then take the Skytrans Dash 8 to Lockhart River. Phil advises I should allow a good two days to get the catbird, so I leave home on Sunday, overnight in Cairns, fly to Iron Range on Monday, find the catbird on Tuesday or Wednesday, fly back to Cairns on Thursday, then home to Melbourne on Friday. Quite a production for one little bird. And this is the third time I've done it. Don't anybody try to tell me that I haven't earned this tick. So I flew to Cairns on Sunday. Here I did manage to see a Scaly-breasted Munia, a bird that avoided me when I visited Cairns in March to admire the Nordmann's Greenshank. On Monday I flew to Iron Range and met Phil. Hightlights for me were a Trumpet Manucode, a Green-backed Honeyeater and a Frill-necked Monarch. On Tuesday we looked seriously for the catbird. We saw a Yellow-billed Kingfisher, a Double-eyed Fig Parrot, a Yellow-breasted Boatbill and a pair of Northern Scrubrobins. I did hear a catbird in the far distance. On Wednesday I was starting to feel anxious. I would hate to think that I'd visited Iron Range in vain for the third time. We saw a White-eared Monarch to add to the Frill-necked and Black-winged members of the genus. All very nice, I'm sure, but not a catbird. Then suddenly, there is was! My beautiful catbird miaowing at me. He landed just above my head, allowing me to view his beautiful breast with much bolder markings than his spotted cousin. He flew around, teasing us, calling and (I thought) jeering at me. Needless to say I was absolutley thrilled, even though I wasn't able to toast his beauty with a glass of bubbly. Thank you, Phil. On Thursday, I added Palm Cockatoo to my list before I flew back to Cairns. On Friday, I flew back home to prepare for my big December trip: Christmas on Christmas.

THE LURE OF A LIFER

Wow! A lifer, Gouldian Finches, Rainbow Pittas and Zitting Cisticolas all in one morning! It was 9 December 2022. The lifer was a Swinhoe's Snipe and I was at Pine Creek, south of Darwin with Luke Paterson from NT bird Specialists. It was hot. Five minutes earlier I'd been conscious of the temperature. I'd flown to Darwin to look for the snipe against my better judgement as I had a long-standing appointment to go to Iron Range in FNQ the next week to look for what was fast becoming a bogey bird, the Black-eared Catbird. When I realized that I wouldn't get the snipe in my spare moments in Queensland after I'd got the catbird, I thought I'd better look elsewhere. Next year would be appropriate. I contacted Luke from Nt Bird Specialists and was told categorically: there's only one month to see the snipe - that's December. Could I fit in a quick trip to Darwin before my scheduled flight to FNQ? The lure of a lifer was too strong. Of course I could.

I flew to Darwin. I allowed two days to snare the snipe. On the first day Luke and I explored Darwin's best snipe hangouts - Leanyer Sewage Treatment Ponds (above photo is just outside Leanyear), Knuckey Lagoons, McMinn's Reserve. We had a pleasant day, clocked up a respectable 72 species, including some very good birds such as Red-headed Myzomela and Broad-billed Flycatcher. But I wasn't here for a pleasant time admiring very good birds. I was here for a lifer. It was time to get serious. Luke said our best bet was to drive to Pine Creek, some 225 kilometres south of Darwin. A snipe had been seen there recently. This bird (presumably it was the same bird) turned up every year and was very loyal to the one site - a drain beside the road. So Luke and I set off at 5.30 the next morning, full of optimism. A heat wave was forecast across the whole of the north of the continent. The countryside was very green. Wildflowers were in profusion. My mood remained positive even when we arrived at Pine Creek and parked under a large colony of fruit bats. And I was optimistic as we set off to explore the length of the drain. I was a bit alarmed to see that the drain was quite dry, but Luke seemed okay with that. Who was I to query the expert? A koel was calling and I made a mental note to track him down later, after we'd seen our quarry. The Hooded Parrots wouldn't wait: they flew right in front of us, the male unbelievably colourful and handsome. As I obediantly followed Luke beside the dry drain I began to be aware of the heat. I'd never seen snipe in a dry drain. Just what were we doing here? It was madness. We'd have been better off trying Knuckey Lagoon again. I trudged along considering ways I could have spent the money I'd squandered trying to see a Swinhoe's Snipe. Suddenly a brown bird flushed in front of us and flew fast across the oval: undeniably a snipe! The trip had been vindicated. Of course I hadn't really dounbted Luke. He was the expert after all.

TOWER HILL AND PORT FAIRY

Yesterday I enjoyed a very pleasant pelagic out of Port Fairy. This was the first time I'd been out on the new big boat, the Southern Explorer.

I had expected some big swells, perhaps some rain, and certainly cold winds with lots of seaspray. As it turned out, the seas were calm, the weather benign. I listed 17 species of birds out at sea, but I dipped on one Flesh-footed Shearwater that flew past in a hurry. I was a little disappointed we didn't see more storm petrels - I love these dainty little ballerinas. I saw just three storm petrels, all Wilson's. And the only prions we saw were Fairy Prions. There weren't big numbers of them either, but some came quite close to the boat. There were no diving petrels and just two Little Penguins. Naturally there were Silver Gulls and Greater Crested Terns, and, when we were nearly back at port at the end of the day, just one Common Tern. And those elegant creatures, Australasian Gannets, graced us with their presence throughout the day.

What there were a lot of were Shy Albatrosses. And they were not shy. We must have seen hundreds throughout the day, gliding, taking berleigh or just sitting beside the boat, seeming to enjoy being admired. Just one Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross flew past quickly, unfortunately missed by many people on the boat. And there just a handful of great albatrosses: two or three Southern Royal and one Wandering. Everyone is impressed by a great albatross. Their sheer size is breath-taking. This photo was taken by Ken Haines.

I thought there were surprisingly few Short-tailed Shearwaters, given we were in Port Fairy in November. I saw one Sooty Shearwater, but I'm told there were more. I'm not sure how many Northern Giant Petrels there were (no Southern), I only saw one at a time, so it is possible it was the same bird throughout the day. As to the petrels, there were Grey-faced, Great Winged and White-chinned. Here's a White-chinned, taken by Ken Haines.

My last pelagic in February, out of Kiama, was quite disastrous. I spent the entire day, wet to the skin, shivering in the captain's cabin. Yesterday was more like it. Good company, good birds, good weather. As a pelagic should be. On Saturday afternoon, we visited Tower Hill. This is site 57 in my 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Australia. I've been there many times before and always enjoyed it. As always, I was entertained by koalas, kangaroos and emus. Other people enjoyed the copperheads. I liked the skinks. But of course I preferred the birds. We saw a pair of Musk Ducks with three cute ducklings. And just one male Blue-billed Duck made me think the water must have been deeper than I'd expected. There were some regal swans, and a few other waterfowl, Swamp Harriers (of course!) and one or two Whistling Kites. As usual, the highlight for me was the bush birds. There was one gorgeous male Australian Golden Whistler, and, I think an equally attractive, if not quite so showy, male Rufous Whistler. There were Silvereyes, Brown Thornbills and a good collection of honeyeaters: White-naped, Yellow-faced and New Holland. There were Red-browed Finches and European Goldfinches. I mustn't forget the fairywrens: the males were truly superb, living up to their name quite appropriately. We heard, but did not see, a Fan-tailed Cuckoo. Likewise, we heard, but did not see a mournful Little Grassbird. Luckily, we did see, one very noisy Australian Reed Warbler. Tower Hill is worth a visit. There is no reason (in my opinion) to commune with the copperheads. Walk right past is my advice. Then you can admire the beautiful Musk Ducklings.

WONDERFUL WERRIBEE

Yesterday, I spent a wonderful day at Werribee. A birding mate from New South Wales was visiting Victoria and suggested a trip to the Western Treatment Plant. I agreed with alacrity. We met at Beach Road at 9.30 a.m. and birded happily until around 4 p.m., clocking up just 66 species, including three that we heard but did not see (Red Wattlebird, White-plumed Honeyeater and Australian Reed Warbler). I love going to Werribee and always enjoy myself there, no matter what the weather or how badly the birds behave. However, I do like the place to perform when I have an interstate guest, and I confess that yesterday I was disappointed with both the number of birds and the number of species. There were lots and lots of very vocal Little Grassbirds just about everywhere we went, and an incredible number of skeins of ibis flying overhead. Almost every time I looked up, there was another flock of a hundred or so birds. Assuming it wasn't a few birds recycling themselves, we must have seen many thousands of ibis. All those I identified were Straw-necked.

That was good. However, we saw very few ducks, just a handful of pelicans, no coots, no terns whatsoever, and just a few raptors. There were not many waders, and those that were there were skittish, but that's fine for September. The bird of the day was undoubtedly the Australian Crake that entertained us at the Borrow Pits while we had lunch, walking and running around in front of us perfectly at home. Probably the only other noteworthy bird was a Buff-banded Rail, playing along the creek edge near the Beach Road entrance. This photo of a Buff-banded Rail, taken by Ken Haines, is not the same bird. (Indeed, if I'm honest, it's not even the same race.)

Apart from the crake and the rail, I was disappointed. Over the years, I've visited Werribee many times, but I can only find records for two visits in the month of September. That was in 2007 and 2017. On both those occasions I saw many more species than I managed yesterday. The only bird I've identified that we saw yesterday, but not in either 2007 or 2017 was a Black-faced Cuckooshrike. In 2017, not only did we see both the crake and the rail that we saw yesterday, we saw two other crakes as well: Baillon's and Spotless. Yesterday must be one of very few visits to Werribee at any time of year when I came home coot-less. On my previous September trips, not only did I tick coots, but I saw moorhen on both occasions and a nativehen in 2017. I saw Glossy Ibis on both previous September trips. There was not a hint of Glossy Ibis yesterday. I saw a Great Crested Grebe in 2017, a bird I wanted yesterday for my year list, but did not see. We saw many more ducks on both previous September visits: more birds and more species, namely: Hardhead, Pink-eared and Blue-billed Ducks and Grey Teal. In 2007 we saw shelduck. In 2017 we saw gannets, but the coast road was closed yesterday, so we had little chance of gannets. We did visit the boat ramp, so we could have seen them. In 2007, we saw Pacific Gulls, but again, without driving along the coast road, we'd have been lucky to get Pacific Gulls yesterday. Nothwithstanding being denied access to the coast road, I did expect to see some terns. Not a one. On both previous September visits, we saw both Crested and Whiskered and in 2007, we saw Caspian. In 2017 we saw many more species of raptors: Spotted Harrier, Collared Sparrowhawk, Peregrine Falcon and both Wedge-tailed and Little Eagle. Yesterday, we saw kestrels, Whistling and Black-shouldered Kites, Brown Falcon and Swamp Harriers. In 2017 we saw Zebra Finch. There were no finches yesterday. There were no avocets yesterday either, a bird I sorely missed. In 2017 we saw Red-capped Plovers, Red-kneed Dotterels, Marsh Sandpipers and (yes!) Sanderlings. Nothing so exciting put in an appearance yesterday. The wind was cold, and we were a bit cross when our key did not work in the padlock when we attempted to leave, and we had to retrace our steps to the Beach Road entrance. But it is churlish to complain. We still had a fantastic day. It really is impossible to have a bad day at Werribee. Even if you come home tern-less and coot-less.

OPALTON GRASSWREN

I'm just back from a quick trip to Winton, to look for the Opalton Grasswren. I flew to Longreach, that took a day. First I flew to Brisbane, then Barcaldine, then (finally) Longreach. From Longreach, the next day I took the Greyhound bus to Winton (and a beautiful new bus it was too!). The following day I joined Peter Waanders grasswren tour just for the day, to look for the Opalton Grasswren. Then I reversed the procedure: it took me a day to do a two hour bus trip back to Longreach, and a day to fly home to Melbourne. Four days travel and one day birding. Now what could be stressful in that? The streets in Longreach are all named after birds: east/west streets are water birds; north/south streets are land birds. What a great idea!

The bus trip from Longreach to Winton was very comfortable and I saw some nice birds from the bus. Amongst others there were lots of Brown Songlarks, a lone Brown Falcon, and, best of all, several Australian Bustards. I reckon I saw eight in ones and twos. I thought this was pretty good, until I met up with Peter's group that evening. They had driven to Winton from Mt Isa and had seen ten times as many! Eighty bustards is quite a record. I had limited time in Longreach, but I did not see a sparrow. Winton, on the other hand, has a healthy population of House Sparrows. There were also a few Common Mynas. The most common birds around town are Black Kites and Crested Pigeons. There are also lots of budgies, Cockatiels and Peaceful Doves. I had time to do the touristy things: I visited the Waltzing Matilda Centre and Arno's Wall (just a concrete wall with various items embedded in it) and the site of Queensland's last Chinese market garden. I went to the cooling ponds (Winton uses artesian water, which is very hot when it comes to the surface). Here I saw several noisy Rufous Songlarks, but little else. But the purpose of my trip was to look for grasswren, not songlarks. I was confident about achieving my objective. Everyone I knew who'd set out to see an Opalton Grasswren had been successful. Realistically, my chances of seeing one were very good.

Opalton Grasswren are found at the Lark Quarry turnoff, near a large communication tower. The countryside was unbelievably green. We'd been told to wear jeans or even gaiters, but all the spinifex was soft and green and leg protection was not necessary. Unfortunately it was very windy when we arrived, not good birding conditions. Peter instructed us to stay together as a group, and to stay very quiet. As we set off, I felt all yesterday's optimism evaporate. This would go down in history as the first birding tour ever to dip on Opalton Grasswren. We would walk all day in this wind without glimpsing a grasswren. I would probably twist my ankle and get sunburned. Worse, I would fall over in front of everybody and break my other hip.

We left the motel at 6.30 a.m., paused briefly along the way to admire Hall's Babblers, and arrived at the Lark Quarry turnoff at 8 a.m.

By ten minutes past eight, we'd all had good views of the grasswren, as confirmed by this beautiful photo taken by Andrew Hobbs. How easy was that! In fact, except for the Dusky Grasswren that ran around under my feet at King's Canyon, it is the easiest grasswren I have ever seen. We walked around for a while, and kept seeing grasswren. Peter reckoned there were just two pairs that kept circling around us, but it certainly seemed like more than four birds to me. Then we turned our attention to Rufous-crowned Emu-wrens, which are delightful little birds, but, on this occasion, after a lifer, seemed like an anticlimax. We saw both Black and Pied Honeyeaters and Splendid and Purple-backed Fairywrens. Crimson Chats were common and one beautiful male Red-capped Robin wanted to make friends. We had excellent views of a Red-backed Kingfisher. Later, we visited Winton's sewage ponds where the highlight was Plum-headed Finches. An excellent trip! A great bird. Well worth four days' travel!

A NEW BIRD FOR MY WALK LIST

This morning I added a new bird to my walk list: Gang Gang Cockatoo!

I should say that this photo is not this morning's bird. I took this photo in Cooma some years ago. Gang Gangs can be surprisingly friendly to photographers, as long as the birds are busy feeding they don't worry about you. The Gang Gang brings my walk list total to 50 species. Which is not to say that I've ever seen 50 birds on a walk: that is my cumulative total of species for all walks. My best individual walk total is 24, which I achieved last spring. This morning I saw 20 species, which isn't bad for winter. (These are only short walks, designed to take 30 minutes.) As well as the usual suspects, this morning I saw Musk Lorikeets, which are not all that common in Kew East. Yesterday I saw Red-rumped Parrots, which are also unusual. The last new bird I added to my list was the Eastern Spinebill, which I had been missing from the streets around here. I used to see them regularly in the streets of Kew, but sadly, they are no longer present. I've visited the spots where I used to be able to rely on seeing a spinebill and alas! they are no longer here. I can see them if I go to the Burke Road Billabong when the correas are flowering, but I no longer see spinebills in the suburban streets around Kew. I do not know what has changed. There are still plenty of flowering plants. They are just another one of our small birds that are disappearing. It is most disconcerting. But today I am celebrating my sighting of Gang Gangs, not lamenting our loss of small birds. Although there is much to lament about Gang Gangs too. Gang Gangs are now officially listed as threatened. The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020 lists Gang Gangs as 'Vulnerable.' They were previously listed as being of 'Least Concern.' The damage was done in the 2019 bushfires, which it is thought destroyed 10% of the population. Fires also destroyed habitat. The total population of Gang Gangs is estimated to be 25,000 individuals. Not a very big number.

I've always loved these clowns of the bird world, and I've always thought it appropriate that they should be the avifaunal emblem for our national capital.

BIRDING IN ROYAL PARK

Recently I joined the Friends of Royal Park on a bird survey. We started at Trin Warren Tam-Boore, where we noted all the usual suspects: Red Wattlebirds, Noisy Miners (of course!), Rainbow Lorikeets, magpies, Magpie-larks and Willie Wagtails. Welcome Swallows swooped over the water and the exotics were present in good numbers: mynas, Spotted Doves, Rock Doves. The glorious song of Grey Butcherbirds took my mind off these interlopers. A noisy white cocky drowned out the butcherbird, but I was busy adding Australasian Grebe, Grey Teal, swamphens and moorhens to my list. The best bird from my point of view, was a Tawny Frogmouth roosting in a gumtree near the carpark. In fact there were two. The Friends said that they were often there.

We did not see any fairywrens, but the Friends told me an interesting story. There is an old female Superb Fairywren who has started to exhibit male characteristics who lives at Trin Warren Tam-Boore. She has a blue tail and, in the breeding season, a little blue colouring on her head. The Friends told me that, because she is old, her testosterone levels have built up, thus giving her some male features. She has been nicknamed Dame Edna. (Which, of course, is back to front: a male masquerading as a female, rather than a female masquerading as a male.) I would like to meet Dame Edna.

We walked on into an area the Friends called 'Skink Habitat.' We saw kookaburras, House Sparrows and New Holland Honeyeaters. Then we were entertained by a wonderful display of several hyperactive Grey Fantails with both Striated and Spotted Pardalotes. They brought a smile to my face. Of course there were Pied Currawongs and Crested Pigeons. We heard Bell Miners (only appropriate, as that's what Trin Warren Tam-Boore is named after) and had great views of a female Australian Golden Whistler. Nothing too exciting, but an enjoyable walk with like minded people. Last Saturday I was pleased to attend a meeting conducted by the Friends of Royal Park, to learn about three projects presently underway: one studying Superb Fairywrens, one about White's Skink and the third about a matchstick grasshopper. Numbers of both grasshoppers and skinks are declining and causing concern. But of course I was there to learn about fairywrens. I was hoping to learn more about Dame Edna, but I did not.

This lovely photo of Dame Edna was taken by Peter Petinatos, and I'd like to thank him for it. The fairywren project at Royal Park is being jointly undertaken by the City of Melbourne, Birdlife Australia, Melbourne University and RMIT. We were told that fairywrens are vulnerable everywhere around the city because of loss of habitat and predation by cats. (I was interested that foxes were not mentioned.) Fairywrens breed every year and females disperse after breeding, moving up to eight kilometres away. Where do they go? Fairywrens require dense vegetation, and the project aims to discover whether revegetation will facilitate movement of fairywrens. Will the population increase, and, if so, where will these birds come from? All the fairywrens in the area have been banded. They have a blue metal band on their left leg and a unique two colour combination plastic band on their right leg. Birders are requested to report sightings of banded fairywrens. There was great excitement this week when the first banded fairywren was reported from the zoo. Forty-four designated sites have been selected. Birders are asked to go to a site, sit still for 5 minues, then count birds for 10 minutes. Report finds to superbcitywrens.com. I certainly plan to contribute to this project. Anything we can do to help save our small birds is worth doing!