Tozer's Bush Camp, Bremer Bay

 

Check my birding map for specific location. 

I left Ravensthorpe for Albany and decided to make a couple of stops on the way. On the western edge of the Fitzgerald National Park is Bremer Bay and just before you reach there is Tozer's Bush Camp. It is about 5km on unsealed road and as usual I hate the corrugations. But of course, the upside is that you have to go slow so you can keep an eye out for the wildlife. I knew it was going to be good when I saw a huge Emu running alongside the road and then a pair of Elegant Parrots flying past. 

The camp itself is a huge surprise. The owner is a modest farmer but the camp is amazing, one of the best I have stayed in. It is packed full of plants, trees and flowers. They line all the sites and there are bush walks around the main campsite. The whole place has such a wonderful feel about it and I immediately felt at home.

As usual, I grabbed my camera and set off along one of the tracks. There was a lot of activity and I could hear a call that I didn't know, the owner sitting up on a branch far away. As soon as I looked through the long lens I knew it was a Tawny-crowned Honeyeater. I have only seen them once before on my only other visit to Western Australia in 2016. They made quite an impression with their beautiful plumage and call. It's call wasn't as pretty as I remembered but the colours were. They were common around the park so it didn't take me long to get some great shots. 

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater (Gliciphila melanops)

I tried another of the tracks later on and immediately thought I could hear emu-wren calling from the scrub. I have never seen any species of emu-wren so they are close to top of the wish list. I stood patiently and waited for them to call again. When they didn't, I moved only. Except that as soon as I turned my back, they called again. I waited again for them and they went quiet. We repeated this process a number of frustrating times. I sometimes wish I had an easier hobby. I used to collect stamps and absolutely never did I have to worry about venomous snakes or feel that the subject was mocking me. 

I returned to my van in a sulk and immediately found a pair of Western Whipbird in the bushes next to me along with a group of emu-wren. I spent the next few hours trying to get photographs of them. The whipbird move really fast and the emu-wren don't come up out of the bushes often so it was tricky but so worth it.

Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus)

Western Whipbird (Psophodes nigrogularis)

Another call it took me a while to track down was the Western Spinebill. So different to its eastern cousin in looks and song, I was thrilled to get close to a male and then a female landed at my feet! 

Western Spinebill (Acanthorynchus superciliosus)

While the glamour awards were already filled, there were other interesting birds as runners up. I got the Western and Inland Thornbill here.

Inland Thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis)

Western Thornbill (Acanthiza inornata)

My other favourites of my couple of days here were a juvenile Red-capped Parrot and Blue-breasted Fairywren. The variety of species, colours and calls in such a small area was phenomenal. 

Red-capped Parrot (Purpureicephalus spurius)

Blue-breasted Fairywren (Malurus pulcherrimus)

Tozer's has it all - flora, fauna and flushing toilets!

eBird Lists

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