Rain and Good Timing Bruny Island P3

After a long sleep in a comfortable hotel, we were off to Bruny Island. I was hoping to see Black-faced Cormorant at the ferry terminal, but that was not the case. Our first stop on Bruny was the start of what we thought was a rainforest walk that had the potential for Scrubtit. Turns out we were in the wrong spot, but I did tick off BLACK-HEADED HONEYEATER and CRESCENT HONEYEATER.

We eventually found the right place, Mavista Nature Walk. I had been expecting to get Scrubtit in the south-west, but apparently I was mistaken… anyway – the Bruny Island brochure said this was a short walk through rainforest, which sounded good for Scrubtit, and this was my best guess because I’d neglected to research this location... 30 minutes, 20 leeches, and 10 scrubwrens later as we were approaching the car (about 50m to go) it occurred to me that there was probably going to be one at the end of the walk according to the laws of birding… 3 seconds later a SCRUBTIT flies in front of us!!! A great bird to have as number 500 for me!

Anyway, it turned on 2:00, and we went to check in at Inala. Run by Tonia Cochran, this property is set up specifically for birdwatchers, and the conservation of Swift Parrots and Forty-spotted Pardalotes. As always, we had just walked into our lodge when it started to rain. It didn’t stop raining for 2 hours…

Later that day, we did another rainforest walk – this one was much longer and much higher altitude, therefore colder. I was hoping to get better Scrubtit views, but this walk was almost completely birdless, save for 1 Yellow-throated Honeyeater, a few Crescents and a Black Currawong calling in the distance. Just as we got back to the car, it stated raining… maybe now you can see why I named this report “all about timing”

Eventually, this rain stopped too, and I went for a walk around the property. Every Pardalote was checked, but none were the forty-spot. I didn’t see a lot of birds in my 2 hour wander, and when I got back to our accommodation my dad told me someone had come over to check we were comfortable and given him the location for Swift Parrots and the Forty-spots… turned out I’d been looking in the wrong place for 2 hours!!! I did manage to find some TASMANIAN NATIVE-HENS though…

Anyway, I walked down to the right place at 8:30 (yes, the sun was still out until 9:30, and it wasn’t dark until 10:30), and commenced my search for Forty-spots. About an hour of checking Pardalotes, I was about to give up when I noticed a flash of green in a low down tree. Yes! I’ve done it! If finally bagged myself a SHINING BRONZE CUCKOO!!! :-/ Ticking this much needed bogey-bird must have been a consolation, as the Forty-spots didn’t show.

The next morning, I headed up to the Swift Parrot spot with the camera. No Swifties, but on the way down a flash of white alerted me to the white phase Grey Goshawk sitting in a tree in front of me.

Bruny Island is famous for its white animals. The white phase goshawk is particularly prominent percentage wise, compared to “grey” birds, but most people come to see the white Red-necked Wallabies. I’m not sure why there are so many white wallabies here, but throughout our stay, we saw about 4 of them.

Heading back down to the Pardalote spot, I finally found a FORTY-SPOTTED PARDALOTE low down in the tree, and took a few bad photos, accidentally deleted later... Oh well, they were bad photos anyway!

Adventure Bay was next, aiming for Swift Parrots and, embarrassingly, the last endemic I needed, the Yellow Wattlebird… saved the easiest to find for last! A YELLOW WATTLEBIRD was found as we pulled into the car park, and a walk into an abandoned caravan park yielded about 7 SWIFT PARROTS in a flowering gum tree. The only flowering gum tree I saw on the entire trip! Every tree on Bruny Island had close-to-flowering buds, so I’m guessing Max is going to have a ball when he’s down there next week ;)

With all 14 endemic/breeding endemic birds ticked, I turned my attention to better views of Scrubtit. Another go at the Mavista Nature Walk found me a family party or 3 (maybe 4), giving some great views, but no photos, because using a camera in a rainforest on an overcast day is hell :lol:

Some BLACK-FACED CORMORANTS in the distance at adventure bay proved to be my last lifer for the trip. The next day was really bad, with rain pretty much the whole time, and missing all the birds I aimed for.

Satin Flycatcher = Dip

Pink Robin = Dip

Flame Robin = Dip

Grey Currawong = Dip

We left Bruny and headed back to Hobart, pondering what to do with the 3 hours until our flight. Due to my lack of research, I didn’t know where Fern Tree Gulley or Peter Murrell Reserve were (not that it would have been much use, with the constant rain and all ;) ), so we decided to head to the Botanic Gardens. I was hoping for Greenfinches or Skylark, but that was not the case, and most of our time was spend looking at plants… oh well ;)

Overall, I ticked 25 new birds, and throughout the trip saw 75 species. The only big dips were the 4 mentioned just above. A good weeks birding! A big thankyou to my dad for accompanying me, and my mum for booking everything. Also, thanks to Ben for giving me some last-minute info on Melaleuca and Bruny.

Oh, I forgot - on the second last day I saw 11 endemics in 3 hours and 15 minutes, and all 12 in 4 hours and 50 minutes (that's how long it took me to find a Yellow-throated Honeyeater) Just shows how awesome Bruny is for Tasmanian birds!