GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR - DAY 7

Tendaba Creek Crawl - Tendaba Camp birding - Kiang West Forest

Weather: overcast until 11am, then bright sunshine and high temp. 30C+

My absolute favourite part of this tour is the Creek Crawl into the mangroves at Tendaba. A tranquil, very enjoyable trip into the heart of the swamps with so many species to look for in superb weather condition and idyllic habitat. Previous records for this trip have topped the 70 species mark with 77 being a WINGSPAN record count.

The river at dawn this morning

We set out just after 8am and headed up river for a short distance before turning across the river and entering the mangroves. Within minutes we had logged 10 species with African Spoonbill and Pink -backed Pelican showing the best. It's difficult to describe the calming effect you feel when you drift into the mangroves as though you are entering a green open-topped tunnel, a deep silence pervades, broken only by bird song and the odd splash as Darters drop from their perches into the water.

Blue-breasted Kingfishers call out their monotonous song whilst higher pitched sounds come from Mouse-Brown Sunbirds and African Blue Flycatchers. We saw all three of those species along with a multitude of others. Our boat drifted onwards to open areas of marsh where egrets, herons and a few waders were listed.

African Fish Eagle

The strange looking Hammertoe is common there, it builds a huge nest, a domed-mound of sticks with a large entrance hole at its base. Every bend we rounded a new sighting would appear, a Martial Eagle's nest had a sitting bird but it was difficult to see it, a Dideric Cuckoo dashed across the boat and perched briefly showing well, the same happened with Malachite and Grey-headed Kingfishers.

At the turning point we caught sight of a pair of Black-crowned Cranes, Gambia's emblemic, national bird, which is now very rare. We then hit a purple patch when a number of new sightings came thick and fast. Marsh Harrier, Yellow-billed Stork, Woolly-necked Stork, African Fish Eagle, Mosque Swallow, Montagu's Harrier, Grest-spotted Cuckoo and 3 more Fish Eagles.

Abyssinian Roller

Our journey ended as we broke cover from the mangroves and hit the open water of the River Gambia, we crossed the river and returned to the camp at noon. It had been another fantastic trip with a superb list of 68 species, 22 of which were new for our list.

After a long lunch break we went for two more birding excursions, the first was a walk from the camp to a new site where a hide and a watering pool had been installed. It was now hot and very humid so the going was a little slow.

Village Indigobird

We found several species in the area with Village Indigobird, Brubru, Bush Petronia, Yellow-fronted Canary, Long-tailed Exclamatory Whydah, Scimitar-Bill (heard) and Northern Red Bishop forming the best part of our list.

At 4pm we jumped onto our bus and drove the short distance to Kiang West Bird Reserve where we took a Bush track and also walked across open peanut fields. Again many species were seen with several new species added to our list. A couple of migrant bird species were found in the form of Yellow Wagtail and Woodchat Shrike, we also saw Pygmy Sunbird, Violet-chested Sunbird, Spotted Thick-knee, Black-headed Lapwing and Senegal Parrot but we just missed a sighting of Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill as another group of birders saw two of them five minutes before we arrived.

Senegal Parrot

As the Sun dropped quickly over the horizon we got back on the bus only to stop after 10 minutes to look at Nightjars, we saw a couple of Standard-winged Nightjars, the male showing off its wing-pennants as it dashed through the night sky. It was a lovely ending to another bird-filled day, we had seen 115 species and our total now stands at 232, wow, still 7 days to go!

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR DAY 6

TRANSFER FROM COASTAL REGION TO TENDABA CAMP IN THE MIDDLE RIVER SECTION, CALLING AT PIRANG FOREST, FARABA BUSH TRACK AND TENDABA 'AIRFIELD'

Weather: overcast all day, lower temperature around 25C

Although we left the hotel at 7:45am we didn't actually set off for Tendaba until 3pm, this was because we spent all morning walking the tracks in the Pirang Forest, then we ate lunch and spent a couple hours birding the Bush Track at FARABA.

Pirang forest is a fine example of primary forest with some impressive 'ancient' stands of trees. We didn't arrived until 9:30am but the birding was excellent. Modou was now our guide for the rest of the trip and he led us through the forest with a local guide.

Blue-bellied Rollers seen on route to Pirang

It took a while to find our first birds but a Northern White-faced Owl showed really well before we 'chased' an African Goshawk which showed very briefly and to only a few of us. This was the pattern for the few species such as Yellowbill Coucal, Green Crombec, Green Hylia and Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, they all put in brief appearances.

Two prized birds came next, the first is making this piece of forest quite famous after its discovery in 2013. A pair of White-spotted Flufftails are seen regularly at a particular spot in the forest and today was no exception, what a cracker!

White-spotted Flufftail

We then had better views of Green Crombec and Green Hylia before being shown a Verraux's Eagle Owl, our second most prized bird.

Back at the entrance we sat drinking cold fantas whilst watching a drinking pool where a nice selection of birds were coming to drink. We added our first Black-rumped Waxbill to the list and enjoyed a good number of other species including a Pygmy Kingfisher.

From Pirang we continued our easterly journey before turning off at Faraba to explore the open forest along a Bush Track.

It was midday, hot and humid but still overcast, a hour long walk produced very little with Dark Chanting Goshawk being the most remarkable. We ate lunch in the shade of a large tree before spending an hour in a bird 'photography' hide where a selection of birds came to drink but nothing new for us.

Bruce's Green Pigeon

Our journey to Tendaba started in earnest at 3pm! We set off with no more stops planned, but of course we stopped a dozen times to look at perched raptors and other interesting species.

Both Lizard and Grasshopper Buzzards were seen on a number of occasions, as was Long-crested Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk and Grey Kestrel, We also stopped to look at Abyssinian Roller, Rufous Crowned Roller, both African and Bruce's Green Pigeons, Red-billed Oxpecker and an African Cuckoo!

African Cuckoo

At Tendaba we stopped for a walk on the old 'airfield' site looking for Ground-Hornbills without success but we did see a good number of species including the African Hobby, Pink-backed Pelican, Senegal Parrot, Gull-billed Tern, Hammerkop and a good deal more.

We arrived at the camp just before dark and dinner was taken at eight in the large covered terrace. I am please to report that the camp is going through a much needed renovation programme and the road from Banjul is tarmac all the way to Tendaba now!

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR DAY 5

Tujering open woodland - Tanji Bird Reserve

Weather: hot, dry, sunny, humid. 30C+

Tujering was our destination for this morning's outing, we arrived at 8:30am after another lovely breakfast on the outside terrace.
The flat landscape of Tujering borders the beach area and consists mainly of dense scrub up to a meter high with small stands of trees. As usual many birds called or sang from the scrub and/or trees we quickly amassed a nice list. Striped Kingfisher was one of the first with Whistling & Singing Cisticolas coming close second.

Brown-backed Woodpecker
Deeper into the scrub we found both Brown-backed & Fine-spotted Woodpeckers and a Wryneck all in the same tree! Yellow-fronted Canary, Willow Warbler, Velliot's & Bearded Barbets, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and Red-necked Falcon were further finds in the trees, whilst Osprey, African Harrier-Hawk, Black-winged Kite and Pink-backed Pelican were seen as fly-overs.
Along a track near some cultivated plots we added Tree Pipit, Willow Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Wattle Lapwing, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Viarable & Scarlet-chested Sunbirds, Levaillant's Cuckoo and Red-winged Warbler, they just kept on coming.

Wryneck
The return walk back produced a few more new species for the list including yet another western Europe migrant, the Whinchat along with Wire-tailed & Red-chested Swallow, Palm Swifts and Chestnut-headed Sparrow-Weaver.

Beared Barbet
After nearly four hours of walking in the hot Sun we were flagging a bit so we stopped and drove to nearby Tangi Bird Reserve for a long lunch where we sat in the gardens watching birds coming to drink and bathe in two small pools. Even more European migrants were seen in the shape of Garden Warblers and Blackcaps. A nice couple of hours drifted by with many sightings of local common species listed, at 4:30pm we finished for the day and set off back to the hotel.

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR DAY 4

BRUFUT WOODS - TANJI BIRD RESERVE - TANJI BEACH

Weather: another full-on sunshine day, 30+C nice cooling breeze at Tanji

Another day in the birding paradise of The Gambia, another large list of species and one more rarity on the list.

A well behaved group finished breakfast on time so we were all loaded onto the bus by 7:45am. BRUFUT woods arn't very far so we arrived in less than 30 minutes and into birding mode a few minutes later.

Our walk took us along a dirt track towards Brufut Woods with open woodland and some farmland  on both sides of us, as usual birds were everywhere. It took quite a while to move more than 100 meters!


Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters

Grey-backed Cameroptera was one of the first on the list quickly followed by Variable Sunbird, Senegal Parrot, Fanti Saw-wing, Nothern Black Flycatcher, Northern Puffback and a Fork-tailed Drongo. Phew, give us a break! The birds just kept on coming, soon we added Northern Crombec, Lizard Buzzard, Singing Cisticola, Shikra, Western Olivaceous Warbler, Yellow-fronted Canary and Common Chiffchaff.

We ended up in the forest where a make-shift shelter and seating area had been built by the local guys for the purpose of serving hot & cold drinks for birds and birders. We watched dozens of birds coming to drink: Pygmy Kingfisher, Lesser Honeyguide, Blue-spotted Wood-Dove and Little Weavers joined a host of common birds.


Northern Black Flycatcher

Two excursions into the forest were led by local guides who showed us Northen White-faced Owls and Long-tailed Nightjars, smashing! We heard Oriole Warbler, Common Gonolek and Black-crowned Tchagra without seeing any of them!

For lunch we drove back to the coast road turning southward to Tanji where we pulled into the Tanji Nature Reserve and had lunch at the lodge. During lunch we watched two pools where many birds were coming to drink and bathe.


a very wet Western Bluebill

What a show, we added a few new species such as Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Blackcap and best of all, Western Bluebill, what a gem that one is. About twenty species came to the pools it was a fantastic luncheon venue.

Tanji Beach was our afternoon birding site, we parked on the edge of town and walked about a mile to the river mouth. A dozen or so waders went onto the day list including our second rarity find of the trip; American Golden Plover, now that wasn't expected at all.


Little, Common and Sandwich Terns, all in winter plumage

A vast roost of Terns, gulls and waders were constantly flushed by Ospreys flying over, at least four of them were fishing (none had wing tags). We saw Lesser-crested, Caspian, Royal, Sandwich, Common and Gull-billed Terns as well as Grey-headed, Lesser Black-backed and Slender-billed Gulls.

American Golden Plover

Lots of Sanderling, Bar-tailed Godwits, Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstones and Grey Plovers were joined  by singles of; Eurasian Curlew, Red Knot, Greenshank as well as herons, Darters, egrets and a few Crested Parks found on the beach.

We left the beach at 5pm and got back to the hotel at 6pm, a relaxed dinner was eaten 90 minutes later. Our bird tally reached new heights as we topped the 100 mark for the day!, 108 to be precise! 

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR DAY 3

ABUKO NATIONAL PARK - LAMIN LODGE AND RICE FIELDS

Weather: cloudy to start with then hot and humid all day, 30C

Abuko national park protects over 100 hectares of rain forest in the midst of the Banjul urban sprawl. We arrived at 8am to begin our walk through the forest.

It was typical forest birding throughout the morning, lots of calls, plenty of waiting for birds to appear with regular triumphs and the odd disappointment. Also typical was that a number of the group missed certain birds whilst other saw them and vice versa. However we ensured that all the goodies were seen by all.

Our first good sightings were made at the Darwin centre where an elevated balcony looks over a large pool and the surrounding forest. A  Palm-Nut Vulture sat nicely for us as did three Hammerkops, Squacco Heron, Black-headed Heron and our star find, the Violet Turaco.


Hammerkop

A lovely walk through Primary Forest ensued, it was fabulous, quiet to start with but our sightings increased exponentially as time went on. We found many new species for the trip list, the best sightings were: African Paradise & Red-bellied Flycatchers, Lesser Honeyguide, Yellow-breasted Apalis, the stunning Collared Sunbird, Fanti Saw-wing, Common Wattle-eye, Little Greenbul, Swallow-tail Bee-eater and two star birds Western Bluebill and Oriole Warbler.

We reached the animal Rescue Centre in the centre of the park where we bought cold drinks and sat in the shade for a while. A superb photographic hide was where we spent the next hour or so.  We had an excellent time there as many species came to drink or bath in the pool created in front of the hide. We added Lavender Waxbill, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Pygmy Kingfisher, Woodland Kingfisher, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat and more doves than you can shake a stick at.


Malachite Kingfisher

Our return journey was as good as the outward one except we took it much quicker, we had in-the-scope views of Grey-headed Bristlebird, another glimpse of Western Bluebill and many more sightings.

It was 2pm by the time we got to Lamin Lodge for lunch, and what an experience! The rickety, three-storey, wooden building offered a unique venue for lunch, views over the mangrove swamp and parts of the river with a lovely cool breeze. The food was basic, the service slow and you had to 'beat off' Vervet Monkeys that tried to steal your food off the plate.

Three new species were added to the list, Lappet-faced Vulture, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater and Black Heron. A short walk immediately after lunch produced several species but nothing new.

From 4-6pm we walked a figure-of-eight circuit around the Lamin Rice Fields. I cannot begin to describe all the sightings, it was jam-packed with birds and all in good numbers.


Little Bee-eater

Our new species seen included; Pied Flycatcher, Striated Heron, Red Quelea, Red Bishop, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Grey Kestrel, Black Crake, Wood Sandpiper, but we failed to see the hoped-for Painted Snipe, next time perhaps.

We got back to the hotel at 7pm and ate dinner at 8pm. Our bird-log produced our biggest tally yet, 98 species seen in one day, amazing!!

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR DAY 2

KOTU STREAM - RICE FIELDS - SEWERAGE PONDS - GOLF COURSE - CASINO CYCLE TRACK - BIJILO FOREST NATURE RESERVE

Weather: wall to wall sunshine, 32C

I just love the first morning in the Gambia, we ate breakfast outside in a lovely temperature surrounded by lush gardens, serenaded by dozens of birds, it is magical. We watched Palm Swifts hawking above us with Yellow-billed Kites and Hooded Vultures ever present. We heard Common Gonolek and added Broad-billed Roller to our list, Cattle Egrets were coming down to feed on scraps from the breakfast tables.


White-faced Whistling Ducks

Our first birding venue was the Bridge over the Kotu Stream, we were blown away by the number of species seen there it was simply fantastic. Malachite and Pied Kingfishers showed down to 3 meters whilst the Giant Kingfisher stayed further afield. The usual crop of waders were present, several of them were familiar to us but Doug from Canada and Jeanne from South Africa were overwhelmed and bemused respectively.


Little Bee-eater

Little Bee-eaters stole the show along with our fifth Kingfisher, the Woodland variety. Bronze Mannikin, Senegal Coucal, Grey Woodpecker, Little Swifts, Lanner Falcon, Osprey carrying a fish and Rose-ringed Parakeets all went into the notebook.

The sewer farm adjacent to the rice fields was a bit of a disappointment, the pits had been dredged and cleared of 90% of its vegetation. In this barren environment we added Black-winged Stilt, Little Grebe, African Jacana, White-faced Whistling Duck, Common Sandpiper and not much else.


View of the Ponds at the SEWERAGE farm

Our walk through the golf course was mostly unproductive, it was getting hot now and light was quite harsh. We added Long-tailed & Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starlings, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and the beautiful Blue-bellied Roller. A single acacia tree held seven species, Olivaceous & Subalpine Warblers, Fork-tailed Drongo, White-billed Buffalo Weaver, Vinaceous Dove, Village Weaver and Red-billed Firefinch!


Red-billed Firefinch

We were collected by our driver Ali and driven back to the Kotu area where we took a short walk along the 'Casino Track' and that is where our birding stepped up a level.

A small warbler was seen by Steve hopping about in an acacia tree, it looked at first like a Willow Warbler with a well marked supercillium, then it showed well and what a shock!! It was a full-on YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER, an outstanding find, I think the last sighting of one these in the Gambia was 2005, eleven years ago. We speculated that this bird was one of the recent influx to western Europe of this species, it should be wintering in East Africa and Southern Asia.


Grey Plantain-eaters

To follow that sighting would be hard, however, we enjoyed another hour looking around a pool where we found African Darter, Greenshank, Common Moorhen, Purple Heron, Spur-winged Plover and our target species the Black Crake.

From there we returned to the hotel for a long lunch, it really was hot and sticky by now.
We reconvened at 4pm, the heat had eased off and the light was not so harsh. A short walk from the hotel got us to Bijilo Forest nature reserve, we found Black-capped Babbler on the edge of the forest. Our second shock of the day came next. For some reason the government have given permission to uproot a large section of the forest for development, what a disaster! The bulldozers were in.


Fork-tailed Drongo

Far fewer birds were seen than on past visits the forest was eventually 'found' after walking for quite a way. We did eventually find a number of species including the beautiful Swallow-tail Bee-eater, also lots of Little Bee-eaters, Green Woodhoopoe, African Grey Hornbill, African Thrush, Black-necked Weavers and we heard Oriole Warbler. By far the best sighting was of Stone Partridge, a little beauty sat on a branch low to ground calling loudly. We returned to the hotel at 6:30pm just as it was getting dark. Dinner was taken an hour later, we added up the species total after calling the bird log, 92 seen today, terrific!

GAMBIA - 14-DAY TOUR DAY 1

LONDON - BANJUL - TRANSFER TO HOTEL IN KOLOLI - HOTEL GARDEN WALK

WEATHER:  hot, sunny all afternoon, 30C

We all arrived safely and on time at Banjul on two separate flights. Lamin our guide was there to meet us, he guided us to our bus for the journey to the hotel. It was hot, over 30C!


Red-billed Hornbill

From the airport apron we logged our first bird, Cattle Egret and from the car park we added Hooded Vulture, Yellow-billed Kite, Spectacled Pigeon, Barn Swallow, House Sparrow and Lesser Blue-eared Glossy Starling.

The journey to the hotel was delayed because we made several stops to see roadside species such as; Wattled Lapwing, Namaqua Dove, Vinaceous Dove, Laughing Dove, White-billed Buffalo Weaver and lots more Vultures.


Lesser Blue-eared Glossy Starling

Once we had settled in our rooms at the Senegambia Hotel we went for a walk in the lush grounds which was alive with bird calls and movement. On the main lawn we saw Red-billed Hornbill, White-crowned Robin-chat, Red-billed Firefinch and a large mixed flock of both Lesser and Greater Blue-eared Starlings, Grey Plantain-eater and an Olive Sunbird were seen in the trees. Green Vervet and Red Colobus Monkeys roamed the gardens and some extra bird species were seen by individuals in the group, these included Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Common Gonolek and African Thrush.


White-crowned Robin-chat

A brief sea-watch produced Caspian and Lesser-crested Terns and not much else.
A tired group ate dinner at 7pm out on the terrace in a lovely evening temperature, we all went to bed early.

AUSTRALIA - 21 DAY EAST COAST TOUR - DAY 4

Chambers Lodge – Lake Barrine – Yungaburra creek – Wongabel Forest – Nerada Tea Plantation

Weather: dry, sunny & warm all day. Top temp 28C

It was the mammals that grabbed the headlines today, over the last 24 hours we have seen a good selection of nocturnal animals with Platypus stealing the show and Tree Kangaroo coming a close second.

We had breakfast at 6am and met in the car park at 7am in preparation for our daily excursion, many birds were calling from the forest and feeding on nectar in the flowering shrubs in the gardens. We listed several Honeyeaters with Lewin’s, Bridled, Yellow-faced and Macleay’s being the most common. We also watched Black-faced Monarch and several species already listed, it was excellent birding before even before we set off!

Our first destination was the natural crater-lake at Barrine, we were hoping to see Victoria Riflebirds performing their incredible display but after searching the car park area we realised that none were there. However a number of other birds were, Eastern Spinetail was a beauty as was Golden Whistler, whilst Large-billed Scrubwren and some of the honeyeaters were not!


Dusky Honeyeater

We listed Great Crested Grebe (over 80 of them), Australian Pelican, Pacific Black Duck, Common Coot, Little Pied Cormorant and Intermediate Egret on or around the lake before we set off on a walk into the forest.

Many species could be heard deep in forest we managed to track down quite few, with Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Spotted Catbird, Tooth-billed Catbird (Bowerbird), Yellow-breasted Boatbill and Pale-Yellow Robin but the Riflebird remained elusive. We also had several sightings of the tiny Musky Rat-Kangeroo!


Tooth-billed Bowerbird

From lake Barrine we drove to Wongabel Forest stopping at the famous Curtain Tree along the way. This huge tree has route vines growing down from all its branches forming a spectacular ‘curtain’ around its base, it is a very popular tourist site with a boardwalk all around it. Several good birds were seen around the tree with Eastern Whipbird, Pied Monarch, Bower’s Shrike-Thrush, Grey Fantail and Pale Yellow Robin all showing well.

At Wongabel Forest we spent some time walking the main trail, again the forest was alive with bird calls, but birds were hard to see. We managed views of Grey Fantail, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Tooth-billed Bowerbird near its bower, both Atherton and Large-billed Scrubwrens, Brown and Fairy Gerygones were common and we found a flock of Red-browed Firetails in the car park on our return.


Lewin's Honeyeater

Just after leaving the forest we made a quick stop at Yungaburra Creek and to everyone’s great satisfaction we located a couple of local celebrities, the PLATYPUS, what show they put on, one of them came out of the water and sat on a log. Whilst there we also saw Laughing Kookaburra, Grey Goshawk, Cattle Egret, Nankeen Kestrel and we heard Scarlet Honeyeater but couldn’t find it.


Platypus

We drove to Nerada Tea Plantation for a late lunch and in the strip of woodland along the entrance drive we watched several butterfly species and to our great delight we located one of our ‘most-wanted’ mammals, TREE KANGAROO, it was such a delight to see this species.

After our late lunch we drove back to our lodge for a break we arrived at 4pm. Barry our guide suggested putting out bananas on our verandah to attract birds. Most of us pulled in a common bird local, I got Lewin’s Honeyeater but Helen & Jeff attracted a male Riflebird and had the photograph to prove it!


Tree Kangaroo

We left at 6pm to drive into Yungaburra for dinner but our birding wasn’t over yet! Barry took us to a site for Grass Owls and Black Shouldered Kite, we saw several kites in good light and a couple of owls in very bad light. We also had sightings of Golden-headed Cisticola, Nankeen Kestrel and Spectacled Flying Fox (no I hadn’t been drinking, I did see a Fox, flying, whilst wearing spectacles!!).


the amazing  Curtain Tree

After a typical pub dinner were drove back to the lodge noting Red-legged Pademelon and a Common-brushtail Possum along the way back.

AUSTRALIA - 21-DAY EAST COAST TOUR - DAY 3

Transfer from Cairns to Atherton Tablelands with stops at: Cairns Mangroves – Davies Creek – Hasties Swamp – Hypipomee National Park – Bromfield Crater

Weather: a bright start, cloudy later, Temp. ranged from 25C to 15C

After a very early breakfast we packed up the bus and set off on our way to Atherton, we made planned stops at the Mangrove Swamp, a small park and a shopping centre before we hit the road and left town at 10am. At the mangroves the target bird, Mangrove Robin, failed to turn up and our search in the park failed to produce a sighting of a Rufous Owl! Nevertheless we recorded many species including a few additions to our list including our first Laughing Kookaburra which actually did laugh!

We drove for an hour up over the hills inland towards Atherton, the landscape changed as we got up onto ‘tablelands, the habitat transformed too, from wet tropical forest to dry open forest. It was hot as we stepped off the bus at Davies Creek deep into a eucalyptus dry forest.


Northen Fantail - what a beautifully constructed nest


Another Northern Fantail nearby

A pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles circled high above us as we emerged from the bus and as we approached the boulder-strewn creek we saw a pair of Leaden Flycatchers. A short search produced our target species the White-browed Robin and a second search for Rufous Owl produced only a number of Northern Fantails, Pale-headed Rosella, but not the Owl.

We ate lunch at the picnic site adjacent to the car park before driving onto our next destination Hasties Swamp. Barry our guide drove us along a road where he regularly sees Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, we spent a while looking from the bus and eventually found a flock of about 50 of them. We also logged Australian Great Bustard, Pied Currawong, Crested Dove, Black Kite and lots of common species as we drove to Hasties Swamp.


Plumed Whistling Duck

What a great disappointment Hasties Swamp was, the water level was so low that hardly any ducks were present! Last time I visited it was chock-a-block with ducks. Despite the lack of water about a 1000 Plumed Whistling Ducks loafed in the water and we saw about 5 Whistling Kites, they were feeding on dead Whistling Ducks which seemed to be all over the place. We added Australian Swamphen, Buff-banded Rail, Pied (White-headed) Stilt, Silvereye, Eastern Yellow Robin, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin and several Australian Pelicans sat on the water.


Buff-banded Rail

We moved back into tropical forest as we approached Hypipomee national park, our target species was the Golden Bowerbird, Barry led us straight to its ‘bower’ and located the stunning male bird not far away, what a cracking bird! Our walk around the trails produced a number of new bird sightings for us, Bridled Honeyeater, White-throated Treecreeper, Top-knot Pigeon (fly over), Wompoo Pigeon (heard), Victoria Riflebird (heard), Grey Headed Robin and a flock of Pied Currawongs.


Grey-headed Robin

One trail led us to a hugh open sink hole, a small lake had formed at the base of this ‘pit’ and to our great surprize a Duck-billed Platypus was swimming around in it, fantastic!
Back on the road we saw a single Torresian Crow, several Crested Pigeons and more Pied Currawongs.

Our last stop before dark was a huge natural crater called Bromfield, the base of this magnificent caldera had a series of pools and lots of wet scrub. it is a well known roost site of both Sarus and Brolga Cranes. The viewing area on the side of the road was perfect for scoping the whole crater area, we found 7 Brolga Cranes, a dozen Swamphens, another Buff-banded Rail, Black Duck, Dusky Moorhen and half a dozen Australasian Grebes.


Barred Cuckoo-Shrkie, taken in bad light

We reached our lodge around 6pm, we watched Barred Cuckoo-Shrike from the car park before settling into our rooms. We then went into town, Maranda, for dinner. On our return to the lodge we saw Bandicoot in the road and from a purpose built viewing platform we watched several Possums before going to bed.

AUSTRALIA - 21-DAY EAST COAST TOUR - DAY 2

CAIRNS ESPLANDE - GREAT BARRIER REEF AT MICHAELMAS CAY

An early breakfast was followed by a short drive to the marina where we had time for a quick look at the low tide mud-flats. As usual the area was covered in birds, mostly waders but to our great delight we found White-faced Heron, Striated Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret and Australian Pelican. Two Little Terns flew along the shoreline and several species flitted about in the park behind the beach.

White-faced Heron

At 8:30am we set off on the boat noting Crested Terns in the harbour and not much else, in fact, we didn’t see much for the first hour of the trip. As we approached the Cay we started seeing Brown Booby’s, Common Noddys, Sooty Terns and both Crested and Lesser Crested Terns.


Striated Heron

We arrived around 11:30am at the Cay which was covered in a mass of birds, the noise and the smell was quite noticeable as we were down wind, but the sky was alive with movement. A Greater Frigatebird was circling over the tern colonies causing quite a stir as this huge predator is likely to take chicks.


Australian Pelican

The Cay is just a raised bank of sand measuring about 800 meters long about 100 meters wide and just 3-5 meter high, very little vegetation grows on it. The birds nest in hollows amongst large dead-tree debris and allow a very close approach, human visitors are kept within a roped-off area.


Brown Booby

Over the next 5 hours we had a variety of activities to choose from, Scuba diving, Snorkeling, Glass Bottomed Boat cruises or just relaxing on the boat. A ferry service to the Cay run every 20 minutes we all opted for a visit to get a closer look at the birds. It was uncomfortable on the Cay as the strong wind whipped up the sand particles and sand-blasted us! But the close proximity of the birds by exhilarating and provided good photographic opportunities.


The Michaelmas Cay

Most of the group went on a glass-bottomed boat trip and we all went on a ‘Round-the-Island’ tour to get closer to the birds on the other side. Some great sightings were made from this boat-trip around the island. Terns especially, we added Black-naped Tern, Common Tern, and had great views of Lesser and Crested Terns. We also saw Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone and a Sacred Kingfisher tried to land on our boat!


Black-naped Terns (showing a pink glow - this colouring is diet related)  with Common Terns - Bob Longhorn

Back on the main boat we scanned the terns for new species and found Gull-billed Tern and a Bridled Tern which was perched on a buoy, smashing.


Greater Frigatebird taken by Bob Longhorn

Our return trip was very choppy at times, many people suffered sea-sickness including one or two of our group. It was getting dark when we docked so we drove straight back to the hotel.

For dinner we walked to a restaurant on the Esplanade, many Flying Foxes (huge fruit-eating bats) were flying around and we saw several Bush Stone Curlews on our return walk around 9pm.
A short bird log followed but everyone had enjoyed the trip, it was quality today not quantity!