Old Pictures

Seeing as how i'm stuck in Somerset doing fuck all until i can get a job, i've just been working through the vast stacks of pictures from the oz trip. Heres a load from the two Wollongong pelagics that i dont think i've put on the blog before.

Wedge Tailed Shearwater


















Black Browed Albatross

















Shy Albatross
















Kelp Gull

















Antipodean Albatross




















Cambell Island Albatross





















Southern Giant Petrel



















Providence Petrel




















Gibsons Albatross
















Brown Skua


















Indic Yellow Nosed Albatross




















Cambell Island Albatross


















Fairy Prion




















Pintado Petrel/ Cape Petrel/ Cape Pigeon

God Bless Australia

Now that we're kicking their sorry arses at cricket again, i'm allowed to like Australians. This clip from BBC news kind of sums up the country. http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6360000/newsid_6367700/6367785.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm

believe me, its worth listening for the whole thing, it wont be what you expect to hear.

Finland Trip

Thanks to the World Wide Wonder that is BirdForum i found myself on a long weekend trip to Finland over the last few days on a once in a lifetime chance to twitch one of the rarest birds in Europe, Azure Tit. These birds, which apparently breed in Kazakhstan or some other terrorist infested country are normally very difficult to see anywhere but this winter up to 6 birds have been recorded in various parts of Finland and have been twitched succesfully by good numbers of British birders taking advantage of cheap flights from Ryanair (Anybody who wants to whinge about Carbon footprints and environmental responsibility can get bent!). Over the last few weeks though, the Azure Tits have gradually disappeared (and one turned out to be one of those p(l)eskii blue tit hybrids) leaving only one that we stood a realistic chance of seeing.

9th Feb

After meeting up with Brian Stone, Martin Coates and Richard Allison the previous evening we headed to Stanstead at stupid o'clock where we joined Justin Lansdell and Andrew Wilkinson for the flight out to Finland
We arrived in Tampere airport at midday in temperatures hovering around the -20 C mark and drove North to Uurainen, where another bunch of brit birders had seen the Azure Tit the previous day, and the bird had been coming tothe feeders every day of the previous week. It was looking very hopeful with the feeders being a hive of activity of common tits along with several smart borealis Willow Tits and Crested Tits, plus a few Mealy Redpolls. However, at dusk 3 hours later there was no sign of the bird and we were all extremely cold, as well as slightly pissed off ,but we had no choice but to head on North up to Oulu for the night. on the way up we heard that the group who had seen the tit the day before had seen a Sparrowhawk fly past the feeders holding something white and hadnt seen the Azure Tit afterwards. Just great, the only reliable Azure Tit in Europe had been twatted by a sprawk a day before we got there, we had come all the way to Finland just to see a washed out willow tit.




















Borealis Willow Tit

10th Feb

After the disatrous news from the day before we decided that we ought to spend the day seeing as much of the local specialities as possible, rather than attempt to see the Azure Tit that had been seen on the nearby island of Hasomethingorother, which would entail a long drive across the frozen sea and a search through a 5km long reedbed. The bird had not been seen for a week and to not see it or any local goodies would cause the whole trip to be a complete waste of time.
So we enlisted the serivices of local guide Aapo who took us off to a park in Oulu where a good feeding spot had been set up.
We trekked out through the forest, dodging the cross country skiers on the way. The feeders were buzzing with common tit species and after a short wait the target bird arrived. A Siberian Tit. It quickly grabbed a peanut from the feerder before flying up into a nearby spruce to scoff it, giving us excellent views, a very tidy little bird and a great relief to see something good having put in alot of effort for no return so far.
















Siberian Tits arse (sound like something off of Father Ted)

While watching the tit we got a call from Mike Edgcombe and his team with the incredible news that they had just seen the Azure Tit at Uurainen, the air was so thick with expletives that you would have struggled to cut it with anything other than a very sharp Samuri Sword. It was too far to get to the site to see the bird so we decided to continue birding around Oulu and get to Uurainen for dawn the next day.
Cheered massively after this news and seeing the Sibe Tit we headed to a nearby suburb where a flock of pine Grosbeaks had been seen earlier in the day. The birds were soon located feeding by the side of the road and gave excellent close views, calling frequently and scoffing some rather unpalatable looking berries along with a few Waxwings. A small flock of Mealy Redpoll briefly held a stonking snowball Arctic which soon flew and a possible Lesser Redpoll.

































Pine Grosbeaks


We then headed East out to Vaala where a Hawk Owl was allegedly coming to Voles being chucked out by a local farmer. Despite a brief car malfunction we arrived at the site on time and there in front of was one of the most amazing birds to grace the pages of my first Lars Johnsson bird guide. On schedule the vole was placed out on the snow and the Owl swooped down right in front of us, snatched up the Owl before devouring it up a nearby Spruce. What a superb bird and one that i had wanted to see for a very long time. After this teriffic sighting and with another chance to try for the Azure Tit the next morning the groups morale couldn't have been further from what it had been the night before. We weren't even disappointed by dipping Siberian Jay at a nearby feeding station.

















































The Hawk Owl. What a fantastically brilliant bird!!

11th Feb

After a long drive south the previous evening we arrived at Uurainen at dusk ready to tick off the Azure Tit straight away then drive to the Airport via Siberian Jay, assorted woodpeckers and a dusk visit to a Great Grey Owl.
Unfortunatley, rare birds seldom have any respect for such plans, and 3 very cold hours later the bird was nowhere to be seen, shit! We couldn't leave and try for the other birds in case the tit showed up after we left, so we agreed to stay on until either the bird showed or it got dark.
Thanks to the shockingly cold temperatures and a lot of inaction we had long lost feeling in our toes so Justin, Martin, Richard and a couple of Finns went for a walk down the road to get circulation going, leaving Brian, Andrew, me and a load of Finns, complete with Finn sticks overlooking the feeders very dejectedly at no.93. A few minutes later a finns phone rang and then Brians, something was happening! a glance down the hill saw Richard jump out into the road waving frantically, fuck, they had the bird. We legged it down the hill, trying not to slip on the ice and there it was, a bloody Azure Tit, holy cow! After showing briefly though a cold, panic, exhaustion and adrenalin induced haze the bird disappeared back over our heads into the forest. Luckily it soon returned and showed excellently in nearby trees and feeders.


















THE BOY!!!!!!



































A cold but very happy group at the Azure Tit site

After getting our fill of this supreme bird we realised we still had time to go for the Great Grey Owl south of Tampere. So a few hours later and with the light fading we arrived somewhere else that i can't pronounce. There was no sign of the Owl but a pair of caudatus Long Tailed Tits were very nice and a few crossbills with calls varying between chip chip and chup chup. Just as it was starting to get dark we picked up the Owl flying over the other side of the clearing before perching up in a distant tree. We hot footed around to the relevant corner of the clearing and had fantastic views of this monstrous Owl perched up not too far away. Yet again, this was nother of those birds that i've wanted to see ever since picking up my first 'Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe'. It was far too dark to take photos and all icould manage was this horrifically noisy effort, even with mirror lockup, self timer, ISO shitthousand and a shutter speed long enough for the bird down pick up a passign vole and return to its perch.

















The Mother of All Owls (along with Hawk Owl of course)

We returned to the airport just on time but thanks to the useless bastards at 'The low efficiency Airpline' the plane was delayed until the following afternoon, and annoyingly didnt quite leave us enough time to go for the Siberian Jays a few hundered k's up the road.

We finally arrived back in England only 14 hours late but not particularly pissed off about it thanks to the trip being so damn good. It was certainly a case of quality over quantity with 'only' 5 lifers for me but including some of the best birds in the Western Palearctic, wherever the hell that is.

Goosander

Seeing as how i'm too tight to pay £10 to a bunch of supressing yorkshiremen to see their Pacific Diver i took a walk down to my local fishing lakes today to find my own.Unsurprisingly there wasn't one there, but a female Goosander was ample compensation (almost) and a very nice patch tick.

British birding sucks

Pah, i've been back a week and a half now and i've only had one lifer (the parakeets at heathrow). Ok, so it is february and i cant be arsed to twitch the few good birds that there are in the country but it's a bit of a comedown after the ticking frenzy of the last 7 months.
I spent the last week on portland which was typically quiet for the time of year. The birding was better on the mainland with a visit to Castle Cove in Weymouth being pretty good with the overwintering Yellow browed warbler and a Firecrest. Portland harbour had up to 3 Great Northern Divers and a Slavonian Grebe along with loads of Red breasted mergansers. A day trip out to Arne was also worthwhile with the expected Dartford Warbler, Avocet and Spoonbill being nice year ticks.

Thailand pics

Pale Blue Flycatcher




















White throated Rock Thrush















Temmincks Stint




















Rickety Bridge at Doi Inthanon

















Blue Whistling Thrush


















Fire bellied Flowerpecker


















Great Hornbill














Red Junglefowl
























Grey Bushchat


















Oriental Honey Buzzard
















Pig Tailed Macaque

Thailand and a surprise Brit Tick

Thailand- an Introductory Trip

Jan 11^th-21^st

Introduction

This trip to Thailand was a stopover on the way back to the UK after 6 months backpacking in Australia and Fiji. The aim of the trip was to take it easy and cover just a few sites thoroughly and get an introduction to Asian birding rather than tearing around the country trying to see as much as possible.

Diary

11.01.07

I arrived at Bangkok from Melbourne in the very early morning and crashed out in a hotel in the middle of the city somewhere. Around midday I set off from the Hotel to head towards Khao Yai National Park. This was easily done with a bus from Mor Chit bus terminal to the town of Pak Chong, and then a songthaew up to the National Park entrance. After paying the entrance fee I hitch- hiked from the gates to Pha Kluai Mai campsite, arriving in the late afternoon. After getting the tent set up I birded around the campsite. This was quite productive with several Raddes Warblers and Red- throated Flycatchers within metres of the tent. The river behind the restaurant held Slaty-backed Forktail and Grey Wagtail and a Blue-bearded Bee-eater was perched up in dead tree next to the restaurant.

12.01.07

A dawn start was rewarded with a Coral-billed Ground-cuckoo feeding behind the restaurant along with several Red Junglefowl and an Orange-headed Thrush. A female Blue Rock-thrush sat up on top of the toilet block as I walked past onto the Pha Kluai Mai Waterfall trail. This was a very productive trail and highlights along the trail included Red-headed Trogon, Blue Whistling Thrush, Banded Kingfisher, Siberian Blue Robin, Green-billed Malkoha, Lesser necklaced LaughingThrush, Common Green Magpie, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Scaly-breasted Partridge, Ashy Minivet, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Mugimaki Flycatcher and Blue Winged Leafbird.

The area around the Haew Suwat restaurant at the end of this trail held another Orange Headed Thrush, Asian Brown Flycatcher, White-throated Rock Thrush, and a mixed Warbler flock containing Yellow-browed, Eastern-crowned, Arctic and Grey-crowned.

In the afternoon I hitched out along the access road from Pha Kluai Mai campsite to the TAT pond. The pond held Chinese Pond Heron and a Common Kingfisher, along with a Verditer Flycatcher perched high up in a dead tree. Walking along the road through the open ground between here and Mo Sing To Reservoir produced a pair of Indian Roller, a Besra, Grey Buchchat, Brown Shrike, a flushed Lesser Coucal, Richards Pipit, a small group of Plain Prinia, Ashy Woodswallow, and a pair of Red-wattled Lapwing.

13.01.07

After a quick look at the Coral-billed Ground-cuckoo behind the restaurant I stood next to a large fruiting tree on the road about 100m west of the campsite entrance. Over the course of an hour the tree held Great, Oriental pied and Wreathed Hornbills, along with a pair of Vernal Hanging Parrots and a Blue-eared Barbet.

I then hitched out to the HQ and walked out along Trail 6 towards the Wildlife Watchtower. This a very long and exhausting hike but provided some good birds in the form of White-crowned Forktail, White-browed Scimitar-babbler, Hill-blue Flycatcher, Rufous-throated Partridge, Greater Yellownape, Barred Cuckoo Dove and White-crested Laughingthrush. After emerging from the rainforest near to the Watchtower a Crested Serpent Eagle soared overhead and a Greater Coucal showed well. I hitched back to the HQ where a flock of Pin-tailed Parrotfinch were feeding in the seeding Bamboo.

I walked back up the hill to Mo Sing To reservoir where I took the track across the dam and went a short way up the hill into the woods. One flowering tree held Little Spiderhunter, Fire-bellied Flowerpecker and Chestnut-flanked White-eye. The open ground next to the reservoir held a Siberian Stonechat.

As dusk approached that evening, a Great-eared Nightjar flew over the campsite several times.

14.01.07

I spent all day travelling. I left KhaoYai at first light and hitched back to Pak Chong, then got a bus back to Mor Chit in Bangkok, then in the evening boarded the overnight bus to Chiang Mai.

15.01.07

Arrived in Chiang Main before dawn, then took a songthaew out to Jorm Tong, then another songthaew up to Doi Inthanon National Park HQ. After a quick look around I decided that my best bet for accommodation would be Mr. Deangs, a few hundred metres uphill from the HQ. Mr. Deang very kindly provided a free but basic room at the back of his restaurant.

After dumping my stuff I spent the rest of the morning birding the Hmong farm and woodlands over the road from Mr. Deangs. The farm held Grey and Pied Bushchat, a few Olive-backed Pipits, a leucopsis White Wagtail, Long-tailed Shrike, and several Red-rumped Swalllows and an Oriental Honey-buzzard soared overhead.

The woods at the back of the farm were alive with birds and I saw Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Eye-browed Thrush and Little Pied Flycatcher.

After lunch at Mr. Deangs I hitched up to the summit. By this time of the day the summit march walk was very crowded and birding wasn’t easy but I still saw the site specialities: Chestnut-tailed Minla, Dark-backed Sibia, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush and Mrs Goulds and Green-tailed Sunbirds.

Walking and hitching back down the mountain I saw Scarlet Minivet, Grey-throated Babbler, Flavescent Bulbul and Rufous bellied Niltava.

16.01.07

I managed to hitch an early morning lift to the summit with a pick-up truck full of Buddhist monks in the hope of avoiding the midday crowds. An Ashy Woodpigeon flew over the road next to the marsh, and the marsh itself held all the birds seen the day before along with several Common Rosefinch, Ashy-throated Warbler, White-browed Shortwing and Black-throated Sunbird. Whilst at the Summit I met Doug and Donna Witt and their friends Cathy and Larry, from California. They offered to provide my Accommodation and food, plus use of their car in exchange for guiding them over the next few days, an offer that I gratefully accepted. As the marsh walk was getting busy, we headed down the mountain to the 34.5km Jeep Track. It was getting hot so birding was difficult but we still got saw Chestnut-fronted Shrike-babbler, White-browed Fantail, Black-throated Sunbird and a fleeting glimpse of a Chestnut-vented Nuthatch.

A quick stop at Vatcharitan Falls on the way down the mountain failed to add White-capped Water-redstart but Plumbeous Water-redstart was nice.

A walk around the farmland near the Inthanon Highland Resort that evening was quite productive with Green Bee-eater, Rufous Treepie, Hill Prinia, Striated Swallow, Great Tit, Bronzed Drongo and Pied Bushchat.

17.01.07

This was one of the best days of the trip. We started off at the 37.5km Jeep Track. At first we really struggled and hardly sae any birds. A confiding Dark-sided Thrush and a small flock of Eye-browed Thrush kept the interest going until we finally bumped into a spectacular feeding wave that included Black-eared and White-browed Shrike-babblers, Yellow Cheeked Tit, White-browed and Yellow-bellied Fantails, Maroon Oriole and Slaty-bellied Tesia. I got a quick look at what was most probably a Brown-throated Treecreeper but it eluded the rest of the group.

After this we headed out along the road to Mae Chaem. A quick stop in the coniferous woodland produced a Grey-backed Shrike, Chinese Leaf-warbler and Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher. Once we got out into the dry woodland further down the mountain a short walk found a small group of leucotis Eurasian Jays and a scanning from a convenient high point produced a pair Rufous-winged Buzzard.

We then headed back towards Doi Inthanon and went back downhill to the Dry woodland at the 13km. It was unbelievably hot, but a Coppersmith Barbet was still belting its heart out in the car park and a Black-hooded Oriole showed briefly just across the river from the car park. Walking up the hill onto the ridge trail Doug expertly picked out a tiny Collared Falconet perched up on the tip of dead tree. We were really struggling in the heat but carried on and soon enough were rewarded with a superb group of 3 Black-headed Woodpeckers.

We drove back up the hill for an evening at the HQ campsite, unfortunately the vegetation by the ponds had encroached to such a level that there was no sign of the Black-tailed Crake but we did see a Snowy-browed Flycatcher and an Asian Barred Owlet. I said my goodbyes to my American friends as they were leaving to Doi Angkang the next day and I returned to my room at Mr.Deang’s for the night.

18.01.07

After a little lie in I started walking up the mountain with no particular plan in mind. On the way up I saw Dusky and Hume’s Yellow-browed Warblers, White-headed Bulbul and White-browed Shrike-babbler next to the road. A short walk down the 34.5km track gave a pair of Rufous-backed Sibia, the 700^th bird of the trip since leaving home in June 2006, and Short-billed Minivet. I hitched up to the 37.5km trail, which produced Eye-browed Wren-babbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler and another look at the Dark-sided Thrush.

After hitching back down to the HQ, an evening walk around Siriphum Waterfalls was excellent, as it was very quiet as the workers had finished for the day. Highlight was a stunning White-capped Water-redstart, along with Slaty-backed Forktail and Plumbeous Water-redstart. Walking back along the ‘nature trail’ added a pair of Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and an Orange-bellied Leafbird.

19.01.07

I managed a quick morning trip up to the 34.5km track before leaving. This was well worthwhile as I finally managed to pick out a Golden-throated Barbet for good views having been frustrated by their calls all week. Also seen were a Stripe-breasted Woodpecker, Striated Bulbul and an Asian Emerald Cuckoo.

I was very lucky as I got a lift back to Chiang Mai with Mr. Deang who was going in anyway and caught the overnight bus back to Bangkok.

20.01.07

After arriving in Bangkok and finding a hotel, I took a taxi out to Muang Boran fishponds to the South-east of the city in the afternoon. By the time I arrived I didn’t have much time before the light started to go so concentrated on the first of the big ponds. This was very birdy and I wished I had more time to explore the site properly. Several Blue-tailed Bee-eaters and a pair of Sand Martins were hawking over the ponds, which held Pheasant-tailed and Bronze-winged Jacanas, White-browed Crake, Javan Pond-heron, Black-crowned Night Heron and a pair of Cinnamon Bitterns.

21.01.07

This was an interesting day exploring the public Transport of Bangkok, starting out with a Tuk-tuk to the southern train station, taking the train out to Samut Sakhorn and then a motorbike taxi out to Khok Kham Saltpans. Unfortunately, the legendary Mr. Tii was away for the day so my chances of connecting without transport and a scope were always going to be slim and unsurprisingly I failed. However a superb selection of commoner waders out on the pans was almost compensation. Star bird was a single Nordmanns Greenshank in a mixed flock of Greenshanks, Redshank and Marsh Sandpipers. Other good birds were Temminck’s and Long-toed Stint, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Brown-headed Gull, Yellow Wagtail and Little Ringed Plover.

I just had enough time to dash back to Bangkok, grab my stuff from the hotel and make the final call to board my flight back to the UK after almost 7 months abroad, of which these 11 days in Thailand were a big highlight, that has definitely whetted my appetite for the region.

And thats just about it, oh yeah, the surprise lifer back in England, a flock of Ring Necked Parakeets at the entrance to Heathrow, a very tartish tick but i've never been bothered to look for them before.

Pictures from Tasmania

Black Currawong















Black Headed Honeyeater















Cape Barren goose


































Forester Kangaroo














Tasmanian Native Hen

Cleaning up in Tasmania

No, not like picking up rubbish (it's actually a pretty tidy state), or even vigilante killings of unscrupulous land developers, i mean cleaning up on all the tasmaina endemics. after a good start on Bruny i went camping on scenic Maria Island for 2 days where i picked up the remaining endemic, forty spotted pardalote, as well as loads of cape barren geese. One thing that quite literally put a dampener onthe trip was really heavy rain on my final night camping in australia, i woke at about 2am to find water properly pissing through the seama of my faithful $15 (that should be a pound sign, not dollar, gay aussie keyboards) tent from argos, still it did well to last 6 months. Maria, (pronounced Mariah,as in Carey) is alovely scenic island, and like most island in austrlaia claims to be one of the first convict colonies (Sydney is the current one). The birding was pretty good with the beach holding nesting hooded plover and Pied Oystercatcher. The grassland are heavily grazed by bennets wallabies and forester kangaroos and are ideal feeding areas for Cape Barren Geese and Tasmanian Native Hen. The woodlands held Scarlet Robin and black headed honeyeater along with the Pardalote and there was constantly Pacific Gulls and Black faced cormorant offshore, generally a nice place.

I fly out of hobart to bangkok tomorrow morning via melbourne so theres no more birding in oz, finishing on a respectable 462 species for the oz list and on 561 for the whole trip which will hopefully get a good boost in thailand, maybe even taking my world list to 1000, whoopee doo.

Ta Ta Tasmania

Contrary to popular belief, the island of Tasmania does actually exist and is not simply of product of the Warner Brothers overfertile imagination. However it seems like the tasmanian devil may well be, having just spent 2 days looking for it on Bruny island before being told that actually they dont get them there, doh.
Really the main purpose of the visit to Bruy was to look for the 12 tasmanian endemic bird species. Tasmanian native hen was seen from the bus running around the roadside fields like big demented chickens and then again in the campsite at Adventure bay as I arrived. Then followed a superb bit of birding by myself, using all my pateince and fieldcraft. After getting the tent set up i lay down for a bit of rest and over the course of about an hour had seen green rosella, black headed and yellow throated honeyeater, yellow wattlebird and brown scrubwren from the tent without even standing up, skills! I had obviously chosen a good corner of the cmapsite as it turned out that the elderly couple in the neighbouring tent were also english birders, and then after going down the shope to buy some food, i returned to see fellow brit birder Graham Etherington setting up camp as well, and he had some more birding friends arriving the next day, we were taking over the place! Over the rest of the first day, birding around adventure bay added Swift parrot and pink and scarlet robins.
The next morning Graham and I headed off to Cape Bruny lighthouse, at the far south of the isalnd. The drive out through the forest produced Olive Whistler, Black Currawong and Tasmanian thornbill. The garden/horse paddocks at the Lighthouse was an excellent spot, holding several Dusky Robins, Tawny Crowned Honeyeater, Beautiful Firetail, Brown Quail. White fronted chat and black headed honeyeater. a quick seawatch off the cape was rewarded with a few Shy Albatross, several Short tailed shearwaters and a White bellied Sea Eagle and 3 Sooty Oystercatchers on the rocks.
On the way back to the campsite, a stop off at Mavista nature walk in the failing light gave good views of Scrubtit and more fleeting views of Bassian Thrush and Pink Robin.

Overall an excellent few days on the island with all the endemics apart from Forty Spotted Pardalote seen (this was always going to be difficult for me as the best sites are a bit out of the way).
Just a few days left on australia now, and the stopover in Thailand on the way back is looking a bit worrying thanks to dickhead terrorsits having fun with bombs in Bangkok.

some wildlife pix, it is a birding blog after all

Shingleback lizard



















Sharp tailed sandpiper















Grey fantail
















Superb fairy wren
















hooded plover

Melbourne pics

Outside the MCG, the second greatest cricket ground in the world (after taunton)
An awesome capacity of 106,000















Christmas morning





















The barmy armys main cheerleader, Jimmy, at Adelaide















Yelling abuse at Brett Lee at The MCG














Yelling something at Adelaide

We're 4-0 down, but we're havin' a laugh

Yet again the england cricket team is a total disappointment. I had tickets to days 3 and 4 of the melbourne test and along with day 5 was happy to be able to go to 3 days of the match, i should be so lucky!! i did managed to pick up a ticket for day 2 from a bloke down the pub so managed to get to days 2 and 3 which although the cricket was fucking terrible for most of the time, it was still good fun being in with the barmy army and winning "the verbal ashes" with the aussie fans despite being outnumbered 50,000 to 2000. haven't done any birding since the last post as i haven't left melbourne city centre at all for a week.

Port fairy

After a few days in the rather dull town of Mount gambier (the major tourist attraction is a lake), i'm down in port fairy 2 more days. unfortunately the squally weather is menaing no fishing boats ae going out far enough for pelagic birding but yesterday i managed a short trip out around the bay which provided two lifers in Little Penguin (very cute) and black faced cormorant (very ugly). Last night i went out to Griffith island at dusk to watch the short tailed shearwater colony arriving back at their nest burrows. it was pretty awesome having thousands of these birds swooping around my head with a deafening chorus of their wierd guttural calls. A short seawatch in the rain this morning was very rewarding with a great winged petrel being a long overdue lifer and a Shy albatross, Brown skua and masses of short tailed shears adding very nice indeed in what will probably be my last birding for a while as tomorrow i head for melbourne for christmas and the cricket and then a 10day trip to tasmania before flying home via 12 days on Thailand.

Robe birding

One of my target birds for this leg of the trip was the rare and elusive Rufous Bristlebird. I had heard that they had become easy to see at Airy's inlet on the great ocean road so i had originally planned to look for the bird there. however, the only campsite there wanted to charge a ridiculous $62 for two nights to pitch my tiny tent. aparrently the price hike was due to a long weekend or some rubbish like that. instead i decided to camp in little dip conservation park a few km's south of Robe for the much more appealing $2.50 a night. What the site lacked in facilites (toilets, running water etc.) it more than made up for in its location, set in a wide strip of coastal heathland with pristine wet sclerophyll forest on one side and the magnificent Southern Ocean on the other side of the dunes. it was a superb birding spot and i had decent views of Rufous Bristlebird and Blue winged parrot in the heath on the first day, along with other goodies like Beautiful Firetail, Sooty Oystercatcher and Hooded Plover.
Yesterday was trekking up the beach to a spot where i hoped to photograph hooded plover and I came across two blokes struggling with their 4X4 which was well bogged in the beach. i stopped and gave them a hand and half an hour later the truck was out. In true aussie fashion they wouldnt let me leave without a crate of Carlton Draught as thanks for my time, i was in no hurry to carry it back down the beach to the campsite so hunkered down in the dunes for a seawatch with it. Saw bugger all at first but by the end of the crate i had recorded 1 Humboldts Storm Peterel, 3 Long billed murrelets and 17 Emporer Penguins flying west, and 2 Great Auks, a Bataleur Eagle an African Fish Crow and a juv Spotless Starling east, not bad eh.

Coorong NP and beyond

Back in civilisation again after spending the last 6 nights camping i nthe Cooron National Park, south of Adelaide. It is an excellent NP comprised of a 150km long brackish lagoon seperated from the sea by the long sandy Younghusband Peninsula. The lagoon held large flocks of the endemic Banded Stilt and Red necked avocet, along with of loads of other migratory waders, mainly sharp tailed sandpipers and red necked stints. Also on the lagoon were my first fairy terns and 1000's of whiskered terns. A large flock of white fronted chats on the edge were also a nice lifer. The scrub inland on the lagoon around salt creek, where i camped was also productive, purple gaped honeyeater, scarlet robin and purple crowned lorikeet were all new birds. The small pools at the salt creek fuelo were also good, with Black tailed native hen and australian spotted crake.

I'm currently in Robe, a nice little seaside town in the centre of the "Limestone Coast", the YHA i'm staying i is great, its probably the oldest building i've seen in australia so far (which isn't difficult, they dont know the meaning of the word 'historic' over here). the town is surrounded by some superb coastlines, the limestone cliffs have been eroded into some spectacular formations, and brilliant golden beaches. West beach a kilometre out of town had 4 hooded plover on it earlier today, another superb endemic aussie shorebird.

What the fookin hell happened there

ahem, obiously i know shit all about cricket, as you can see from comparing my comments yesterday about the likely result of the match to what actually happened. Still i sung my heart out to the very end and felt proud to be english and all that crap. the only birds seen at the ground were silver gull, magpie lark, rainbow lorikeet, crested bronzewing and willie wagtail, as if anyone gives a shit.

Ticket: $30, beer: $4 (X7). Getting sunburnt in December: priceless

I havnt done any birding at all for the last few days for a very good reason, THE ASHES. After wathing the first day of the Adelaide test in a pub in Brisbane i caught a red eye flight to Adleaide for the rest of the game, couldnt get into the ground for the 2nd or 3rd days but watching on the big screen in the town centre was quite nice, then i was lucky enough to meet a bloke in the pub who had a spare ticket for the 4th day (today) so i finally got to see my first day of test match cricket in australia, a lifetime ambition realised. It was spigging awesome, to be prefectly honest i wasnt paying that much attention to the cricket as it was a bit slow and i got caught up in the middle of the barmy army singing and generally acting like an idiot, even getting a warning from security (another lifetime ambition). i've also got a ticket for tomorrow but a result is unlikely thanks to a shitty slow pitch that even my gran could bat on but it should be an entertaining day nonetheless.

heres a couple of gems that we belted out around the ground today:

I shagged matilda, i shagged matila,
i shagged matilda and so did me mate
and she moaned and she groaned
and she took it up the billabong
i shagged matilda and so did me mates

Shane warne is a bowler
he likes to play around
he's got a different girlfriend
at every cricket ground
he's always in some trouble, he's always in some strife
and now he's lost his hair, he's also lost his wife

More pics from up north

Squatter Pigeon

















Peter, the praying mantis, resdident in our motel in Marreba




















Blue triangle butterfly




















smart little damselfly, i.d anyone?


















Cool lizard dragon thing ,again, anyone have an i.d?


















Goulds Monitor lizard (sand goanna)




















Buff breasted Paradise Kingfisher, one with a shorter tail

North Queensland

Phew! 10 days and 4500km later and we're back in brisbane after a monster trip around Queensland. The trip was absoultely superb with 37 lifers for me, plus loads more good birds.
heres a brief listing of what happened

20th Nov

Spent alll day travelling from Brisbane to Rockhampton, no sign of Yellow Chats at Port Alma, saw sod all

21st Nov

Travelled from Rocky to Bowen, A quick stop at Eungella NP failed to produce Eungella Honeyeater but an Oriental Cuckoo was an unexpected lifer for me and Duncan, also it's possible that the birda in OZ are actually Horsfields Cuckoos, this bird certainly seemd to be more liek one, i'll leave it to the DNA people to sort out in due time though. Superb fruit dove was also a lifer for me.

22nd Nov

This was far and away the best day of the trip. After leavign the absoulte shithole that is Bowen, we drove up to Townsville common, which despite being very dry produced Yellow Bellied Sunbird, Austrlian Bustard (a houbabra like thing), Australian and Oriental Pratincole and Brown backed honeyeater, along with Goulds monitor lizard and a snake seen briefly in the grass that looked disturbingly like a taipan, the most venomous in the world.

After townsville we headed up to the high misty Paluma range where we stayed the night at Forestmist B&B. The palce was superb, by far the best accomodation i've stayed in all trip, and incredible value for money to boot. This may seem liek a terrible blatant piece fo advertising but if your plannign on staying in Paluma, and you really should if your in aus contact them at forestmistATbigpond.com or give them a ring on (07)47708578

The birdign here was excellent ,within minutes of arriving the expletives were flying through the mist as we saw such goodies as tooth billed catbird, victorias riflebird, spotted catbird, grey headed robin, bowers shriek thrush, mcleays honeyeater, bridled honeyeater, shning bronze cuckoo and Noisy pitta i nquick succession.

23rd Nov

The morning was spent doing more birding at Paluma. Chowchila, grey whistler and yellow spotted honeyeater were all around the cottage. The hosts of the B&B told us of a good site for Golden Bowerbird where we heaed off to and had brilliant views of a fabulous male attending heis bower, an awesoem bird for my 400th aus bird.
After tearign ourselves away from paluma we drove up to mission beach where we had good views of a young cassowary(like a fat ostrich)but no sign of any adults which was lucky, them things are huge and probably wouldnt have been to impressed to see me stalking their babby trying to photograph it. The drive up to cairns and a quick bit of birsding in the evening produced Metallic Starling, Varied and Yellow Honeyaters and White rumped swiftlet.

24th Nov

A quick look around cairns botanical gardens fianlly added silver crowned friarbird and black butcherbird which had proved elusive so far, and Double eyed fig parrot (mcleayana race).
A quick stop at Newell beach, just north of mossman and we found 2 Barn Swallows with the local Welcome Swallows.
Kingfisher park, near Julatten seemd rather dead considering its reputation but i got brief views of Buff breasted paradise kingfisher, a wonderful little bird with long white tail streamers that were as long as its body. Graceful honeyeater was a much less exciting lifer.

25th Nov

Another excellent day based in Mareeba on the edge of the Atherton Tablelands. A quick drive down Tinaroo creek road at dawn was well worth the early start with c20 Squatter pigeon around the paddocks about 5km down the road and a male Spotted Harrier (the best harrier in the world?) quartered the fields alongside the road. we then headed up to Mount lewis, north of julatten where we had a Glossy swiftlet with the white rupmed swiftlets at the bottom of the mountain, and a pied monarch about halfway up. Frustratingly Duncan had very brief views of what may have been a red goshawk over the canopy whilr i was having a slash around the corner. Much better views of Buff breasted Paradise kingfisher were had at the bottom of the mountain near the creek. Sides Road, south of Jualtten was an excellent little spot, with a nice Noisy Pitta and then one of the birds of the trip, a stunning male Yellow Breasted Boatbill, also one of the more boring birds of the trip Atherton Scrubwren.

26th Nov

Hasties Swamp, near atherton held 13 Sarus Cranes and plenty of other waterbird but not much interesting stuff despite looking promising.
Mount Hypipamee added Montain Thornbill, horribly dull things and a male golden bowerbird flew over the road about 1km north of the Crater NPcar park. Later that afternoon Townsville common was even dryer than before and had lost a few birds but White browed crake was a nice lifer.

27th Nov

Driving south to Rocky all day, saw nothing

28th Nov

Again driving all daybu we had a quick look at Port Alma for the Yellow Chats, again no joy. We stopped at a promising looking pool along the Port Alma road where i found a Wood Sandpiper while Duncan was throwing up in the car park, old people just cant handle their booze these days!

29th Nov

We arrived in Tin Can Bay (wasnt he a Viet Cong general?) with jsut enough light left for a quick look at Cooloola Way which was a great patch of heathland, walking along the pylon track we saw at leat 10 Ground Parrots, (like big green budgies) and Satin Flycatcher was also a new bird for me. Southern Emu wren, spotted harrier and brush bronzewing were also nice.