Road Trip Day 11 - Day 4 in Broome
Mar. 30th, 2011 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gemfyre13/3/2011
This morning I intended to take a stroll on the tidal flats before having bacon & eggs for brekky and packing at a leisurely pace. I woke up and checked the time – 8am. Crap. So much for that walk. I still managed too cook up my big brekky and pack by 10am and I bid Roebuck Bay Caravan Park goodbye. I wish I didn't have to go.
I passed through Cable Beach on the way out of Broome and took the back road by the rubbish tip back to the highway, and off I was to the Obs. A few of the wader folk are still here, but I managed to clear myself a shelf in the fridge and booked a donga room. It was still quite hot and awfully humid. I sat in the shadehouse for a bit while I waited for Glen and Sarah – the current wardens to get the donga ready. That allowed me to get a chance to chat with Frank O'Connor and a few others about birds around the place. Apparently the Semi-palmated Plover is still at the sewer works, along with plenty of other birds. I'm just not able to get up high enough in my car. Might have to see if I can go into town with someone with a big 4WD that can be climbed on top of. I made myself some lunch then wandered back to see if the donga was ready. It was so I moved in my stuff and sat in there for a while, enjoying the air-con. Already things feel different. I've had air-cons running at about 21/22 degrees elsewhere, but in a donga here, with the fan on, I'm plenty cool enough at 26/27 degrees. The tiny rooms cool down fast and actually hold the coolness in, it will do it even more effectively at night.
As it was high tide I headed out to check the flocks on the bay and then introduce myself at Malcolm Douglas's Wildlife Park. They are only open 2 hours in the afternoon at the moment, but ticket prices are still the same ($35!) so I decided not to go in. I spoke to a woman named... Christine I think it was. She explained that they had enough staff at the moment, being wet season it was pretty slow, but things could perk up in the dry season. Apparently the permanency of any position I might take up in the dry will depend on performance and ability, so I left her with another copy of resume and have my fingers crossed that I may hear from them again!
I got back around 5pm and wandered down to the beach, where Glen was doing migration watch, so I joined him for a bit before wandering off to find the dinosaur footprints. To my surprise, neither of the new wardens knew about the prints! The bay out the front of the observatory is still utterly gorgeous, but the mangroves are really starting to encroach. Apparently there is a lot of talk about removing them, but no action.
Because there were more trees, and the mud and sand had moved around a bit I had a bit of a time finding the prints again. I walked too far initially, and smelled something dead. I figured I had gone to far so started to walk back and found the source of the odour, a dead agile wallaby being munched on by hermit crabs. I checked every potential looking flat rock, I was a bit worried it may be hidden in mangroves by now. But I found it. It's now got grey mud on the surface so the prints are less clear, it took a bit of staring at the rock before they became apparent. It's near the end of the sand spit, so pretty easy to relocate. I walked back and sat down watching waders with Glen, talking about working at the Obs, the birds, and how people still fished and drove and brought their dogs down to the beach here. Sarah arrived soon after I and I offered to take her to look at the footprints. I found them easily the second time around and on pointing out the rock to her it didn't take her long to see the two prints on it. We walked back along the spit, I taught her how to ID Greenshank (she has only been here since January and doesn't know waders well yet). In the lagoon on the inshore side of the mangroves we found a bunch of stingers. The first time I've ever seen jellyfish on this beach, but definitely a reminder that no matter how hot it gets, swimming in these waters at the moment is a BAD idea.
As the sun set over the bay more and more people from the Obs arrived. It was nice to chill out on the beach and chat to everyone. Soon it was getting dark so we headed back for bird call.
The Shadehouse is the heart of the BBO, it wasn't long until everyone arrived and started to make dinner. Music was playing, beer was being drunk, the kitchen became a crowded shambles for a while but in the end yielded many plates of great food. There was a lot of tinned chocolate pudding leftover from the AWSG (I seem to remember it was cartons of custard leftover in 2005) so we all had chocolate pud for dessert.
Oh yes, as dinner was being cooked that I felt a lovely cool breeze blow through and not long after the heavens finally opened up. The rain got so heavy for a bit that you could sit at a table and get sprayed. The air is now lovely and cool here. The frogs are all very happy about the rain and being noisy about it. It's so awesome to see happy, tubby green frogs everywhere again. It really feels like coming home here. Soon I'll go have a shower and go to bed. I've booked two nights, but I have a feeling I may book a third.
13/3/2011 (Town Beach, Chinatown, Cable Beach, Fairway, Broome Bird Observatory, BBO Beach)
Bar-shouldered Dove
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Blue-winged Kookaburra (H)
Brahminy Kite
Brown Honeyeater
Collared Sparrowhawk
Common Greenshank
Common Sandpiper
Crested Pigeon
Double-barred Finch
Eastern Curlew
Glossy Ibis
Great Bowerbird
Great Knot
Greater Sand Plover
Grey Plover
Grey-tailed Tattler
Little Friarbird
Long-tailed Finch
Magpie Lark
Mistletoebird (H)
Paperbark Flycatcher
Peaceful Dove
Peregrine Falcon (??)
Pied Butcherbird
Rainbow Bee-eater
Red-necked Stint
Red-winged Parrot
Ruddy Turnstone
Rufous Whistler (H)
Rufous-throated Honeyeater
Sacred Kingfisher
Singing Honeyeater
Striated Pardalote (H)
Terek Sandpiper
Torresian Crow
UnIDed Tern
Whimbrel
Whistling Kite
White-bellied Sea Eagle
Grey-crowned Babbler
Willie Wagtail
Find the rest of today's photos here.
This morning I intended to take a stroll on the tidal flats before having bacon & eggs for brekky and packing at a leisurely pace. I woke up and checked the time – 8am. Crap. So much for that walk. I still managed too cook up my big brekky and pack by 10am and I bid Roebuck Bay Caravan Park goodbye. I wish I didn't have to go.
I passed through Cable Beach on the way out of Broome and took the back road by the rubbish tip back to the highway, and off I was to the Obs. A few of the wader folk are still here, but I managed to clear myself a shelf in the fridge and booked a donga room. It was still quite hot and awfully humid. I sat in the shadehouse for a bit while I waited for Glen and Sarah – the current wardens to get the donga ready. That allowed me to get a chance to chat with Frank O'Connor and a few others about birds around the place. Apparently the Semi-palmated Plover is still at the sewer works, along with plenty of other birds. I'm just not able to get up high enough in my car. Might have to see if I can go into town with someone with a big 4WD that can be climbed on top of. I made myself some lunch then wandered back to see if the donga was ready. It was so I moved in my stuff and sat in there for a while, enjoying the air-con. Already things feel different. I've had air-cons running at about 21/22 degrees elsewhere, but in a donga here, with the fan on, I'm plenty cool enough at 26/27 degrees. The tiny rooms cool down fast and actually hold the coolness in, it will do it even more effectively at night.
As it was high tide I headed out to check the flocks on the bay and then introduce myself at Malcolm Douglas's Wildlife Park. They are only open 2 hours in the afternoon at the moment, but ticket prices are still the same ($35!) so I decided not to go in. I spoke to a woman named... Christine I think it was. She explained that they had enough staff at the moment, being wet season it was pretty slow, but things could perk up in the dry season. Apparently the permanency of any position I might take up in the dry will depend on performance and ability, so I left her with another copy of resume and have my fingers crossed that I may hear from them again!
I got back around 5pm and wandered down to the beach, where Glen was doing migration watch, so I joined him for a bit before wandering off to find the dinosaur footprints. To my surprise, neither of the new wardens knew about the prints! The bay out the front of the observatory is still utterly gorgeous, but the mangroves are really starting to encroach. Apparently there is a lot of talk about removing them, but no action.
 |
People still insist on driving on the beach here and bringing their dogs and generally causing destruction and disturbance. Informing them about the waders and disturbance and things like that generally results in abuse. *sigh* |
Because there were more trees, and the mud and sand had moved around a bit I had a bit of a time finding the prints again. I walked too far initially, and smelled something dead. I figured I had gone to far so started to walk back and found the source of the odour, a dead agile wallaby being munched on by hermit crabs. I checked every potential looking flat rock, I was a bit worried it may be hidden in mangroves by now. But I found it. It's now got grey mud on the surface so the prints are less clear, it took a bit of staring at the rock before they became apparent. It's near the end of the sand spit, so pretty easy to relocate. I walked back and sat down watching waders with Glen, talking about working at the Obs, the birds, and how people still fished and drove and brought their dogs down to the beach here. Sarah arrived soon after I and I offered to take her to look at the footprints. I found them easily the second time around and on pointing out the rock to her it didn't take her long to see the two prints on it. We walked back along the spit, I taught her how to ID Greenshank (she has only been here since January and doesn't know waders well yet). In the lagoon on the inshore side of the mangroves we found a bunch of stingers. The first time I've ever seen jellyfish on this beach, but definitely a reminder that no matter how hot it gets, swimming in these waters at the moment is a BAD idea.
| Sandbar at BBO Beach Looking back towards the platform. |
 |
As the sun set over the bay more and more people from the Obs arrived. It was nice to chill out on the beach and chat to everyone. Soon it was getting dark so we headed back for bird call.
The Shadehouse is the heart of the BBO, it wasn't long until everyone arrived and started to make dinner. Music was playing, beer was being drunk, the kitchen became a crowded shambles for a while but in the end yielded many plates of great food. There was a lot of tinned chocolate pudding leftover from the AWSG (I seem to remember it was cartons of custard leftover in 2005) so we all had chocolate pud for dessert.
Oh yes, as dinner was being cooked that I felt a lovely cool breeze blow through and not long after the heavens finally opened up. The rain got so heavy for a bit that you could sit at a table and get sprayed. The air is now lovely and cool here. The frogs are all very happy about the rain and being noisy about it. It's so awesome to see happy, tubby green frogs everywhere again. It really feels like coming home here. Soon I'll go have a shower and go to bed. I've booked two nights, but I have a feeling I may book a third.
13/3/2011 (Town Beach, Chinatown, Cable Beach, Fairway, Broome Bird Observatory, BBO Beach)
Bar-shouldered Dove
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Blue-winged Kookaburra (H)
Brahminy Kite
Brown Honeyeater
Collared Sparrowhawk
Common Greenshank
Common Sandpiper
Crested Pigeon
Double-barred Finch
Eastern Curlew
Glossy Ibis
Great Bowerbird
Great Knot
Greater Sand Plover
Grey Plover
Grey-tailed Tattler
Little Friarbird
Long-tailed Finch
Magpie Lark
Mistletoebird (H)
Paperbark Flycatcher
Peaceful Dove
Peregrine Falcon (??)
Pied Butcherbird
Rainbow Bee-eater
Red-necked Stint
Red-winged Parrot
Ruddy Turnstone
Rufous Whistler (H)
Rufous-throated Honeyeater
Sacred Kingfisher
Singing Honeyeater
Striated Pardalote (H)
Terek Sandpiper
Torresian Crow
UnIDed Tern
Whimbrel
Whistling Kite
White-bellied Sea Eagle
Grey-crowned Babbler
Willie Wagtail
Find the rest of today's photos here.
