Thinking About Birds

January 2026

12-14 January

On Monday morning I did my surveys of the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland. I saw two Australian Brush-turkeys together and there was vocal Golden Whistler within the burnt area.

11 January

I did the Woy Woy to Blackwall walk alongside Brisbane Water, in cool conditions after several very hot days. I recorded more than 30 species, including there were two Bar-tailed Godwits feeding out on the edge of the sandbank and a total of three Pied Oystercatchers. The Mallard count was again over 100.

December 2025

23 December

I walked from Woy Woy to Blackwall alongside Brisbane Water. I counted 117 Mallards, which is a remarkable tally. There were many young birds and it must have been a good breeding season. The Black Swans were back - a count of 93 birds. I also saw a group of five Long-billed Corellas, and a Little Heron was scanning the waters from a jetty.

19 December

I did my surveys of the Warrah Trig area of Brisbane Water National Park. It was remarkably quiet except that a Brush Bronzewing flew through right in front of me and I had a wonderful, albeit brief, view of it. Afterwards I went around to Patonga, which also was quiet.

17 December

I did my surveys at the van Dahls Trail section of Brisbane Water National Park, plus I visited the arboretum at Pearl Beach. The absolute highlight was a group of six Glossy Black Cockatoos, feeding down wquite low and giving me excellent views. Initially I found a pair with a begging youngster, and a bit later three more birds came in. I also heard several Pheasant Coucals. There were Satin Bowerbirds at the arboretum, but the bower was not active.

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WA trip 7-15 December

Margaret and I flew to Perth then drove down to Narrogin where we stayed two nights and I visited Dryandra Woodland etc. Then we went to Busselton for a night, Albany for two nights (and I did a day trip to Cheynes Beach) and Pemberton for one night. We finished with two nights in Perth, for a mixture of family events and some birding.

7 December

Most of the day was taken up with travel - flight to Perth, collect off-site rental car, drive to Narrogin via a stop at Wandering cemetery. It was also quite a warm day in WA. The only birds I saw were roadside ones but these included Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, Western Rosella, Australian Ringneck and Grey Currawong, so - off to a good start!

8 December

I went very early to the Dryandra Woodland National Park- seeing lots of Galahs, Australian Ringnecks and Red-capped Parrots roadside in Narrogin as I headed out. I spent all morning at Dryandra - visiting several sites starting with the Old Mill Dam and then places to the west of that. As usual I found plenty of Rufous Treecreepers including a begging youngster, also a tail-less Willie Wagtail which I suppose was a youngster. There were many Western Gerygones and Western Thornbills, plus Inland Thornbills, and I saw a couple of Western Rosellas too (a young bird and later, a female) and Western Wattlebirds. At a dam there were many honeyeater types coming in to drink - Yellow-plumed, Brown, Brown-headed and Gilbert’s Honeyeaters, and Red Wattlebirds. A highlight for me was a family group of Australian Boobooks - they flushed from in or near a hollow as I drew near it, and landed in nearby trees. There was an adult and three owlets. I also twice saw Elegant Parrots. Another highlight was a Numbat - I had two views of one scurrying around some fallen timber.

Late afternoon I went to Foxes Lair Reserve. Things were rather quiet there but I saw a pair of Red-capped Parrots, and a group of three Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos flew through. Also a Western Gerygone was nest-building very high in a tall gum tree.

9 December

I returned very early morning to Foxes Lair hoping it would be birdier than yesterday afternoon. It sure was, and I found 14 species compared with yesterday’s eight. Surprisingly there were only 5 species in common from my two visits. Highlights today included White-cheeked Honeyeater, Common Bronzewing, Brown Goshawk and Sacred Kingfisher. I also found the Railway Dam on my way back, which had Pacific Black Duck and White-faced Heron by the water, and Long-necked Turtles in it. From Narrogin we drove to Wagin, where we stopped for a while at the Giant Ram (which we first saw in 1991. There’s now a nice park associated with it, where I found an adult Australian Ringneck feeding a youngster and saw several Red Wattlebirds plus some more White-cheeked Honeyeaters.

We drove on quiet country backroads towards our lunch stop in Boyup Brook, with a detour into the Wild Horse Nature Reserve - the part of it on a lovely billabong. There were Splendid Fairywrens and Western Whistlers plus Rufous Whistlers, also a Sacred Kingfisher, and a pair of Purple-crowned Lorikeets whizzed through. Onwards then, via Boyanup, to Busselton with a stop at Malbup in the Tuart Forest National Park, another of my regular sites. I found several waterbirds there including Yellow-billed Spoonbills, Hoary-headed Grebes and Grey Teal. There also were a few Australian Shelducks around. Bush birds at Malbup included Western Gerygones, Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Splendid Fairywrens, all of which afforded great views. I also saw a Whistling Kite there.

10 December

I spent some time around Busselton early morning, with the highlight being to see a Banded Lapwing foraging in a front yard. I found Pink-eared Ducks and Australian Shelducks at a wetland on the northern side of town, with many other waterbirds. By the beach later were Australian Pied Cormorants (I saw one catch and swallow a fish) and many gulls, also a Greater Crested Tern and a Little Pied Cormorant.

We drove to Nannup, seeing Emus en route. At Nannup we stopped by the river at a wonderful park. I found four WA endemics there including two which were new for the trip - White-breasted Robin and Red-eared Firetail. Other species present included Dusky Woodswallow, Splendid Fairywren, Red Wattlebird and Tree Martin. From there we drove to Albany via Manjimup, Muir Highway and Mount Barker, with stops for birding at Lake Muir Observatory (I saw distant Black Swans, Australian Shelducks and White-faced Herons), Frankland River (for lunch: saw Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos and Splendid Fairywrens) and Ongerup Lagoon Nature Reserve (saw Western Spinebills and a Western Yellow Robin).

11 December

I left very early for Cheyne Beach, arriving at 6:30. I spent almost 5 hours there although almost one and a half hours of that involved trying to see a Noisy Scrub-bird. I was within 3m of it the entire time, but simply could not lay eyes upon it within a shrub that had really dense undergrowth. Eventually I managed a brief view as it slinked across a small patch of open ground.

Prior to that I had been listening to a Western Whipbird at almost the same spot, and I actually managed to see and photograph it. I’d had great birding all morning, seeing Western Spinebills, White-breasted Robin, male Red-winged Fairywren, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater and some Brush Bronzewings, plus copious numbers of New Holland Honeyeaters and White-cheeked Honeyeaters. Also I found Sooty Oystercatchers on the beach.

I had lunch at Lower King (Oyster Point) where I found Pied Oystercatchers and Caspian Terns, plus some other waterbirds, and a young Gilbert’s Honeyeater in the shrubbery (heavily outnumbered by the New Holland Honeyeaters).

12 December

From Albany we went to Denmark where I did a walk alongside the river and found some Red-winged Fairywrens plus I heard White-breasted Robins. Our next stop was the Valley of Giants where we spent a bit over an hour. The walks were excellent - well made and great signage. There were lots of people - and thus, I found hardly any birds. After lunch then at Walpole we drove to our accommodation on the outskirts of Pemberton - I saw a Scarlet Robin en route. My walk around the grounds turned up a large group of Purple-crowned Lorikeets - they were very active but they kept coming to a small hollow about 6m up in a tree. They seemed to be drinking from it. I took many photos although it was difficult to get a proper focus on them because of the constant movement. On my walk I also found Splendid Fairywrens, a Sacred Kingfisher, Yellow-rumped Thornbills and New Holland Honeyeaters.

Late in the day, there were male Splendid and Red-winged Fairywrens almost side by side on the lawn of our cabin, and while I was cooking at the BBQ a Baudin’s Black Cockatoo circled overhead for a while.

13 December

I walked around the property again in the early morning and also to the Gloucester Tree about 2km away (in the National Park). I found most of the birds from yesterday plus several White-breasted Robins. There were scores of Purple-crowned Lorikeets constantly buzzing around. I also found a Spotted Scrubwren, surprisingly my first for the trip. Once again there were Splendid Fairywrens and Red-winged Fairywrens together. No more birding today - instead there was a long drive to Perth on a very hot day.

14 December

I went to Lake Joondalup early morning and found the recommended viewing spot near the mountain bike circuits. I was watching for raptors, joined after a while by another birder, Arthur. We saw one or more of Swamp Harrier, Whistling Kite, Nankeen Kestrel and Wedge-tailed Eagle, and then finally and briefly (2-3 minutes) we had distant views of an Oriental Honey-buzzard. Arthur managed some proof photos. I was pleased to leave actually, because the place was crawling with ticks. From there I went to Lake Monger - but only briefly as there were hardly any ducks around apart from some Australian Shelducks - and then Herdsman’s Lake. Waterbirds were still in short supply but I did find some Great Crested Grebes, also Hardheads, Grey Teal and Pacific Black Ducks. By now it was another really hot day and so I called it quits.

6 December

I surveyed Ash Island in the morning, as part of the monthly HBOC waterbirds survey. There was an adult Brahminy Kite by the north channel of the river, and nearby two Ospreys were at the tower where there used to be a nest. I found four Far Eastern Curlews at the Milhams Pond/Phoenix Flats ponds, but the only additional shorebirds were two Pied Stilts at Swan Pond. It was a really hot day (nudging 42C at times) and it was quiet birding as a result - I only found 43 species for the morning.

4 December

I did my monthly surveys in the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland. It was far quieter than when I was there in November - there were hardly any birds and the probablt highlight was some Eastern Yellow Robins.

3 December

I surveyed three of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park - one at Pearl Caves and then two in the Curra Swamp area. I heard a Brush Bronzewing and two Pheasant Coucals at the latter plus there were both Golden Whistlers and Rufous Whistlers. A eucalypt in blossom had many New Holland Honeyeaters and White-cheeked Honeyeaters. There was a calling Brown Cuckoo-Dove at the Pearl Caves site, and a reasonable list of mid- to large-sized birds - nothing small.