Rain and Good Timing SW Tassie P2

After my success with the Ground Parrot, the weather cleared up enough for us to head out on our hike. The plan was the walk 13km south to the coast, Cox Bight. Most of this walk was through button grass, so I was optimistic of finding more Ground Parrots. Unfortunately, we only flushed one from the side of the track. I did get some brief views of a BLACK CURRAWONG, and a few Yellow-throated Honeyeaters were also around, but not much else.

The birding really picked up as soon as we got to the beach. A beachcombing Black Currawong gave fantastic views – apparently they’re notorious for not being frightened of people in the slightest. This one sure wasn’t.

A few lifers quickly followed the Currawong. FOREST RAVENS were flying around the area, and two KELP GULLS were resting on the beach, amongst some Pied Oystercatchers. The highlight of the beach was 3 little birds sitting above the high tide mark, HOODED PLOVERS! When you look at the field guides, you wouldn’t think they’re particularly well camouflaged. Down here, I learnt quite the opposite. Try and spot the plover in the second photo (you might want it on full size).

Arriving at our beach front campsite, we quickly set up the tent. No less than 20 minutes later, it started to rain… heavily. For the whole hike, the rain clouds had been blown just to the east of us (literally, there was heavy rain 1km away from us pretty much the whole time!). Another “all about timing” moment – had we still been hiking, we would have been very wet indeed.

After an hour sitting in the tent, the rain finally stopped, and I got outside to tick off PACIFIC GULL, TASMANIAN THORNBILL and TASMANIAN SCRUBWREN. Most of the afternoon was spent trying to see the Crescent Honeyeaters calling all around me. Surprisingly, I didn’t see one! There was one in a dense bush 3m in front of me at one stage, and I couldn’t see it (except a brief, untickable flash as he flew off)

The hike back to Melaleuca the next day was also relatively quiet. Heard about 4 Ground Parrots call throughout the hike (not sure why the field guides say before dawn/after dusk – I heard one at 12:30), and flushed one of them. While looking for the parrot where it had landed, I finally found a pair of STRIATED FIELDWRENS, who were reasonably cooperative with a bit of pishing.

After arriving back at the huts, there was a 30 minute gap before the rain started… and didn’t stop for 4 hours! Another case of perfect timing. At one stage when the rain lessened for a few minutes, I raced over to the bird hide. As it is enclosed, it’s the perfect place to spend rain periods – warm, dry with great views of birds, including the resident OLIVE WHISTLER.

The next morning was meant to be our last day in the south-west. I spent my morning helping with the OBP count (as I had been doing every morning and afternoon). While walking back to the hut for some breakfast, dad felt something moving in his raincoat hood. Sure enough, when he put his hand in to get it out, a Pygmy Possum jumped out and ran into a clump of button grass. Helen picked him up and we took him back to the hut, where the night before he must have got into the raincoat. As for the species, it’s either a Little PP or Eastern PP – I’m leaning towards Eastern due to the colouration…

Anyway, at about midday we were told we couldn’t fit on the flight out… and the weather was meant to be cr#p until Monday night, so we wouldn’t be able to fly out until Tuesday… We were a bit worried for a while there, we wouldn’t make it to Bruny if that was going to happen.

At 7:00, we were starting to get used to the fact we’d be there for a few more days. Suddenly, we heard the plane in the distance. A rush to pack up, and by 7:30 we were in the air. In my opinion, the south-west of Tasmania is a fantastic place, full of birds, other animals and fantastic scenery. I highly recommend going down there, preferably staying for a few days, just so you can see it all.

After my success with the Ground Parrot, the weather cleared up enough for us to head out on our hike. The plan was the walk 13km south to the coast, Cox Bight. Most of this walk was through button grass, so I was optimistic of finding more Ground Parrots. Unfortunately, we only flushed one from the side of the track. I did get some brief views of a BLACK CURRAWONG, and a few Yellow-throated Honeyeaters were also around, but not much else.

The birding really picked up as soon as we got to the beach. A beachcombing Black Currawong gave fantastic views – apparently they’re notorious for not being frightened of people in the slightest. This one sure wasn’t.

A few lifers quickly followed the Currawong. FOREST RAVENS were flying around the area, and two KELP GULLS were resting on the beach, amongst some Pied Oystercatchers. The highlight of the beach was 3 little birds sitting above the high tide mark, HOODED PLOVERS! When you look at the field guides, you wouldn’t think they’re particularly well camouflaged. Down here, I learnt quite the opposite. Try and spot the plover in the second photo (you might want it on full size).

Arriving at our beach front campsite, we quickly set up the tent. No less than 20 minutes later, it started to rain… heavily. For the whole hike, the rain clouds had been blown just to the east of us (literally, there was heavy rain 1km away from us pretty much the whole time!). Another “all about timing” moment – had we still been hiking, we would have been very wet indeed.

After an hour sitting in the tent, the rain finally stopped, and I got outside to tick off PACIFIC GULL, TASMANIAN THORNBILL and TASMANIAN SCRUBWREN. Most of the afternoon was spent trying to see the Crescent Honeyeaters calling all around me. Surprisingly, I didn’t see one! There was one in a dense bush 3m in front of me at one stage, and I couldn’t see it (except a brief, untickable flash as he flew off)

The hike back to Melaleuca the next day was also relatively quiet. Heard about 4 Ground Parrots call throughout the hike (not sure why the field guides say before dawn/after dusk – I heard one at 12:30), and flushed one of them. While looking for the parrot where it had landed, I finally found a pair of STRIATED FIELDWRENS, who were reasonably cooperative with a bit of pishing.

After arriving back at the huts, there was a 30 minute gap before the rain started… and didn’t stop for 4 hours! Another case of perfect timing. At one stage when the rain lessened for a few minutes, I raced over to the bird hide. As it is enclosed, it’s the perfect place to spend rain periods – warm, dry with great views of birds, including the resident OLIVE WHISTLER.

The next morning was meant to be our last day in the south-west. I spent my morning helping with the OBP count (as I had been doing every morning and afternoon). While walking back to the hut for some breakfast, dad felt something moving in his raincoat hood. Sure enough, when he put his hand in to get it out, a Pygmy Possum jumped out and ran into a clump of button grass. Helen picked him up and we took him back to the hut, where the night before he must have got into the raincoat. As for the species, it’s either a Little PP or Eastern PP – I’m leaning towards Eastern due to the colouration…

Anyway, at about midday we were told we couldn’t fit on the flight out… and the weather was meant to be cr#p until Monday night, so we wouldn’t be able to fly out until Tuesday… We were a bit worried for a while there, we wouldn’t make it to Bruny if that was going to happen.

At 7:00, we were starting to get used to the fact we’d be there for a few more days. Suddenly, we heard the plane in the distance. A rush to pack up, and by 7:30 we were in the air. In my opinion, the south-west of Tasmania is a fantastic place, full of birds, other animals and fantastic scenery. I highly recommend going down there, preferably staying for a few days, just so you can see it all.

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Rain and Good Timing SW Tassie P1

That’s really what bird watching is all about – getting the right timing. If you’re a minute earlier, you might have seen that button-quail walk across the path. If you’re a minute later, you might not have noticed the honeyeater fly into the tree. This year, I decided it was the right time to go tick off the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity for my dad and I to go on a hiking/birding trip to the south-west of Tasmania.

Not bothering to go to the last day of school for the year, we both got on the plane and headed off to Tasmania. After a bit of a wait for the right weather conditions in Hobart, we finally got onto our Par Avion flight into the south-west.

After an exhilarating flight (lots of wind, so the plane was a bit shaky), we landed at Melaleuca. On the way to the hiker huts, we noticed the clouds looked a bit dark – we picked up the pace, and with about 200m to go, the heavens opened. We broke into a sprint – of course that was the point we flushed about 7 ORANGE-BELLIED PARROTS from the side of the track! Unfortunately, the rain was increasing, and we couldn’t stop, so we continued to the huts. Waiting for 30 minutes while the rain poured down felt like eternity. Eventually, it lessened and we headed over to the bird hide. Straight away, we were rewarded with fantastic views of 4 OBPs.

The rest of the day was spent in the hide, taking photos of the various birds that visited the feeder. Highlights included a small family of GREEN ROSELLAS, Beautiful Firetails, YELLOW-THROATED HONEYEATERS, a lone BLUE-WINGED PARROT (constantly being bullied by the OBPs) and a Rufous-bellied Pademelon. Later in the day, I found a foraging group of STRONG-BILLED HONEYEATERS near our hut, and a family group of DUSKY ROBINS were also around the general area.

The next morning brought slightly better weather, so I headed off in search of my second target for Melaleuca, the elusive Ground Parrot. After about an hour of tramping around through the button grass, I headed back to the hide when it started to rain, and had another wonderful session with the OBPs and Blue-winged Parrot. After chatting with the parrot volunteers, Helen and Mick, I learnt that all the females (currently in their nesting boxes), and the 12 males currently frequenting the feeder represented the entire known wild population. If all the males were paired with a female, that means 24 birds at Melaleuca, and none anywhere else according to a survey done earlier in the season… not a promising outlook.

Anyway, it was about that stage that the university student doing research on Tassie Devils ran back to the hide to inform me (knowing I’d been looking) that she’d just seen a Ground Parrot back near the huts. We hurried back over, and after tentatively stepping towards the spot it had flushed to, we flushed it again, a magnificent GROUND PARROT! We got brief views as it flew off about 100m into the grass. A quick attempt to re-locate it failed…

After breakfast, I decided to have one more go at Ground Parroting before we headed off on our hike. I walked down into the grass, well away from the huts. I heard a trill way off to my right that sounded like a field-wren (would have been a lifer), so I headed off towards that. I heard a noise, and turned around to see a small, green blob running away through the button grass. Another Ground Parrot! This one was a polite Ground Parrot, and decided it was more convenient to walk away from me, rather than flush. He would walk a few metres in front of me, and as I tried to circle round to the side, he circled round too, so I ended up herding this Ground Parrot around for about a minute before he flushed off about 20m. Luckily, I found him again, and he continued walking away from me. This was one of the highlights of to trip for me, and now when someone asks me what my favourite bird experience is, I’ll probably reply with “chasing Ground Parrots through the button grass moorlands of south-west Tasmania”. Oh, and I got a passable photo too!

That’s really what bird watching is all about – getting the right timing. If you’re a minute earlier, you might have seen that button-quail walk across the path. If you’re a minute later, you might not have noticed the honeyeater fly into the tree. This year, I decided it was the right time to go tick off the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity for my dad and I to go on a hiking/birding trip to the south-west of Tasmania.

Not bothering to go to the last day of school for the year, we both got on the plane and headed off to Tasmania. After a bit of a wait for the right weather conditions in Hobart, we finally got onto our Par Avion flight into the south-west.

After an exhilarating flight (lots of wind, so the plane was a bit shaky), we landed at Melaleuca. On the way to the hiker huts, we noticed the clouds looked a bit dark – we picked up the pace, and with about 200m to go, the heavens opened. We broke into a sprint – of course that was the point we flushed about 7 ORANGE-BELLIED PARROTS from the side of the track! Unfortunately, the rain was increasing, and we couldn’t stop, so we continued to the huts. Waiting for 30 minutes while the rain poured down felt like eternity. Eventually, it lessened and we headed over to the bird hide. Straight away, we were rewarded with fantastic views of 4 OBPs.

The rest of the day was spent in the hide, taking photos of the various birds that visited the feeder. Highlights included a small family of GREEN ROSELLAS, Beautiful Firetails, YELLOW-THROATED HONEYEATERS, a lone BLUE-WINGED PARROT (constantly being bullied by the OBPs) and a Rufous-bellied Pademelon. Later in the day, I found a foraging group of STRONG-BILLED HONEYEATERS near our hut, and a family group of DUSKY ROBINS were also around the general area.

The next morning brought slightly better weather, so I headed off in search of my second target for Melaleuca, the elusive Ground Parrot. After about an hour of tramping around through the button grass, I headed back to the hide when it started to rain, and had another wonderful session with the OBPs and Blue-winged Parrot. After chatting with the parrot volunteers, Helen and Mick, I learnt that all the females (currently in their nesting boxes), and the 12 males currently frequenting the feeder represented the entire known wild population. If all the males were paired with a female, that means 24 birds at Melaleuca, and none anywhere else according to a survey done earlier in the season… not a promising outlook.

Anyway, it was about that stage that the university student doing research on Tassie Devils ran back to the hide to inform me (knowing I’d been looking) that she’d just seen a Ground Parrot back near the huts. We hurried back over, and after tentatively stepping towards the spot it had flushed to, we flushed it again, a magnificent GROUND PARROT! We got brief views as it flew off about 100m into the grass. A quick attempt to re-locate it failed…

After breakfast, I decided to have one more go at Ground Parroting before we headed off on our hike. I walked down into the grass, well away from the huts. I heard a trill way off to my right that sounded like a field-wren (would have been a lifer), so I headed off towards that. I heard a noise, and turned around to see a small, green blob running away through the button grass. Another Ground Parrot! This one was a polite Ground Parrot, and decided it was more convenient to walk away from me, rather than flush. He would walk a few metres in front of me, and as I tried to circle round to the side, he circled round too, so I ended up herding this Ground Parrot around for about a minute before he flushed off about 20m. Luckily, I found him again, and he continued walking away from me. This was one of the highlights of to trip for me, and now when someone asks me what my favourite bird experience is, I’ll probably reply with “chasing Ground Parrots through the button grass moorlands of south-west Tasmania”. Oh, and I got a passable photo too!

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