Check my birding map for specific location.
Parry's Beach Campsite is a low cost council site further west and again right on the beach. I keep thinking the places I visit cannot get more beautiful but Western Australia delivers every time. The bay is just stunning and you can walk east to the inlet which leads inland to a fairly inaccessible lagoon. To the west is another, smaller bay which you can get to over rocks along the shore or heath further inland.
The lovely caretaker and I chatted and I shared my frustration in seeing lots of black cockatoo flying overhead but not catching them landed. She pointed me in the direction of a track running parallel to the beach and said she sees them there every morning. I spent the next couple of hours walking along the beach to the inlet and then back along the track. With my first step on the track I heard the plaintive call of a black cockatoo. And there it was, sitting right above me.
Baudin's Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii)
I didn't think it would get any better but as I walked through the bush and flowering scrub, I saw lots of them. They were pretty tolerant of me and it was an incredible birding experience to walk amongst them. I still wasn't sure which species they were, that would have to wait.
Female Baudin's
There are 2 endemic black cockatoo in Western Australia, the Carnaby's and the Baudin's. Superficially they are very similar and difficult to tell apart unless you have been around them enough to distinguish between their only subtly different calls. They do live in different habitat and that was my first clue. I also knew their bills are different so I made sure I got some clear shots. While the Carnaby's bill has a short upper mandible, the Baudin's is longer. These are the Baudin's. Next job is to catch up with the Carnaby.
Male Baudin's
I left the cockatoo to feed and walked down to the beach. Going west, I could walk over rocks to the next small beach. On the way I heard the familiar screech of Caspian Tern. These birds are in full breeding plumage and they looked so fit and well.
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)
To my surprise, later in the day I found Splendid Fairywren on the beach apparently looking for bugs. I could hear the fairywren calling everywhere and the Splendids were visible in lots of places. But the beach? There were several males hopping around close by and they weren't too bothered about me. I actually had to step back to get this second bird in focus.
Splendid Fairywren (Malurus splendens)
Back at my van I was putting out my solar panels when a bird flew in and landed on the low fence pole next to me. It was the young Red Wattlebird I had seen (and heard) with an adult around the camp. It was looking for food but also curious about me. Again, I had to step back to get it in the frame.
Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)
On my second day I spent a good amount of time on the beach. On my way down there, I found a rather startled looking cuckoo. There was a Brown Goshawk circling and letting off its war cry which I think had the cuckoo on edge.
Shining Bronze Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus)
On the beach I spotted some small things running around the beach. It has been a long time since I crawled on my stomach to get close to waders and I was delighted to have to do it here. I could see straight away that it was a group of Red-necked Stint. Not in breeding colours so the red neck was pretty much absent. Still very attractive. One bird stood out because it was bigger and paler - a Sanderling. A very pretty wader. They were feeding along the shoreline darting in and out amongst the waves and digging out bugs from the wet sand. They were very tolerant of me although I did have to wave away some walkers with dogs. They must have thought me a bit mad!
Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)
Sanderling (Calidris alba)
Also on the shore were the 2 species of oystercatcher in Australia - the pied and sooty. They seemed to be in competition with each other to see who could dig up the biggest worm.
Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)
Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus)
This picture is interesting because it shows the size difference between the oystercatcher and the stint. The oystercatcher is about as big as a fat feral pigeon. It demonstrates how small the waders are! Parry's Beach really turned it on for me.
eBird Lists
No comments:
Post a Comment