![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gemfyreOkay, so I know you're all hanging out to know what I did on the Labour Day weekend (or something). I have been lazy and not told you!
Day 1
I went to the Stirling Ranges for the first time! After so many times traveling on the roads surrounding them and seeing their shadowy peaks in the distance, I finally got near them and drove through the middle on a very corrugated gravel road - kinda reminded me of Broome. Twice I heard one of my quarry birds - the Western Whipbird calling and started to stalk it, and just as I think I was getting close, the damn thing shut up didn't it. Alas, I did not see any of my other goal birds, like Southern Scrub-robin, Southern Emu-wren, Western Shrike-tit and Purple-gaped Honeyeater. I saw ridiculous numbers of New Holland Honeyeaters and White-browed Scrubwrens. Had a couple of Western Yellow Robins play with me (actually, it may have only been one bird for all I know, following me around, calling and peeking out from behind tree trunks. I'd hear a call and turn to see what it was and there was a Yellow Robin sitting there jauntily).
I had lunch at the Bluff Knoll Cafe. Which had very little variety for a lot of money. I had a burger and a butterscotch milkshake, which was cold and sugary and left me with a headache. The burger was also a bit pink in the middle, but overall it tasted decent and filled me up for a while.
Of course, being in the Stirlings, you can't miss a look at Bluff Knoll - the highest peak in SW Australia (not the highest in Western Australia - that's Mt. Meharry in the Pilbara and certainly not the highest in Australia). Seeing as I was strapped for time I allowed myself 20 minutes here. I walked a small amount of the way, jeez you don't want to attempt those steps if you have bad knees, mine were cracking and crunching all the way. A lot of the time the bluff is surrounded by clouds, but this day all was perfectly clear, which I believe is kinda rare. Here I got beautiful views of a male Western Spinebill. All the other birds were nice, but kinda commonplace. So I got back in the car and headed down to Albany. My intention was to visit Oyster Harbour and find some waders, then wander around Lake Seppings, another place I have driven past multiple times but never visited, then hopefully have enough time to visit Torrindirrup National Park before the sun went down and I had to check in at the backpackers.
I arrived at Oyster Harbour eventually and found myself parking at the front of Coraki Cottages, where we stayed in 1996. Lovely area. Pity there were two little shit kids throwing rocks at the pelicans. I was tempted to throw rocks at them to see how they liked it. Gave the scope a workout but didn't find anything special here, lots of ibis and black-winged stilts and ducks, but the light was bad and it was slightly windy, so I headed off to Lake Seppings.
In the carpark at the lake there was an unusual bird - a completely white pigeon, which seemed to get quite confused when I cooed at it. I started the walk around the lake, by this time feeling a little burnt out. Saw something scuttle through the reeds which I'm pretty sure was a Spotted Crake. Walked for about 10 minutes and didn't get a good view of the lake anywhere and decided I'd rather go to Torrindirrup instead of walking around this lake, which honestly seemed like any other. If I had more time and less tiredness I would have done it, but once I got there it didn't seem a priority anymore.
Just as I turned into Frenchman's Bay rd I noticed a bird on the grass beside the reeds to the left. I did a double take as I realised it was a Buff-banded Rail, I never imagined I'd see one of them from a car. I made my way straight to The Natural Bridge and The Gap. These spots are touristy, but for me they're almost a religious experience now. Watching the relentless surf pound against the granite. Actually this day the swell was rather small - which bode well for the boat trip the next day - but made the Natural Bridge less spectacular than usual. Some game tourists, who possibly were illiterate and couldn't read the warning signs about freak king waves and previous deaths, were out on the bridge. They had no issues while they were out there, she was dressed up in skirt and sandals, but you never know when one of those huge waves will come along to pound you against the rocks.
The Gap was a bit more spectacular, I don't think it can help but be so. I stood on the platform there for 10 or so minutes just watching the waves crashing and feeling the spray on my face. I could have stayed a lot longer. I didn't take many pictures this time as I already have a pile. Just a photo of the gneiss bands in the granite and of a recent landslide on a nearby hill.
From there visited Cable Beach Lighthouse. Found a juvenile Pacific Gull but by that stage I was tired, hungry and birded out. I did continue along the road for a bit until I got to Goode Beach carpark. I was going to get out and have a short wander on the beach, but my energy ran out then and all I cared about was getting back to town, checking into the backpackers, finding dinner, taking a shower and going to bed - so that's what I did.
Day 2
My roommates were not bothered by my getting up at 5:30am. In fact they were rather amused and dubbed me "Albatross Girl" and wished me luck in finding a Wandering Albatross.
As we left the boat harbour the tide was down and the sandbars were covered in cormorants, gulls, oystercatchers, ibis, and surprisingly, 2 Black Swans. It didn't take long for Crested Terns to show up either. Before we had breached the heads of King George Sound plenty of Australasian Gannets and Flesh-footed Shearwaters had shown up. A portent of what was to come.
On the way to and at the shelf Flesh-footed Shearwaters became the new seagulls. We saw HUNDREDS of these birds. They would sit all around the boat expecting burley and bickered at each other with an amusing, squeaky "Mee! Me!" Pretty soon they were accompanied by Yellow-nosed Albatross - the seagull replacement off the Perth coast. These guys are considerably bigger than the shearwaters and assert their presence with a loud yelling, kind of like someone who is very drunk and incoherent.
The shout went out over a couple of Hutton’s Shearwaters that showed up, a Black-browed Albatross, a Shy Albatross, Great-winged Petrels. A pod of at least 20 open-ocean Bottlenose Dolphins joined us and frolicked around the boat for a good hour or so, following us when we moved a little deeper.
Around lunchtime I considered lunch. But as with previous boat trips, I didn’t feel sick, but I didn’t feel 100%. I felt very tired and was yawning profusely and my middle felt tight. Anyway, what I didn’t feel like was eating. I was quite surprised when, as I was sitting in one of the rather comfortable seats of the fishing charter boat, watching shearwaters, a wave a nausea washed over me and I warned the person beside me that I might be leaning over the edge of the boat very soon. I sat there, swallowing bile and consciously taking deep breaths through my nose and after about 2 minutes it had passed without me losing my breakfast. The man beside me asked if I taken anything before the trip. Of course I hadn’t, I never get seasick! He kindly offered me one of his Kwells so we headed to the cabin to get them. The skipper of the boat warned me that if I’d already felt sick and was now better, a Kwell would just make me feel worse. Seeing as he’s probably on a boat more often than he’s on land I took his word and put the pill in my wallet just in case. Anyway, it was about then the call for Wandering Albatross went up and my nausea was all but forgotten as I raced to the back of the boat for a look. He was far off, but I was able to see the distinguishing white back of the largest flying bird in the world. I was happy. I settled down to eat my lunch, since the nausea had passed I felt better for the rest of the day than I’d felt all morning. The remaining trip was really just more of the same. Hundreds of shearwaters accompanied by 20 or so Yellow-nosed Albatross. The monotony was only broken when we got into shallower water and to our surprise a Northern Giant Petrel flew in and sat at the back of the boat expectantly. Unfortunately for it we’d run out of burley by that time, but it allowed for plenty of close looks and photos. It was also another tick for me. An Osprey glided overhead as we returned to port.
Not long after I’d gotten on the boat I remembered what I’d forgotten at the backpackers. As usual, I knew I would have forgotten something, it was just a matter of remembering what that something was then deciding if it was important or not. This time it was my towel. I drove back into town and retrieved it with no trouble and drove all the way back to Narrogin without stopping – about a 3 hour drive. It was sunset when I got home and the pain in my face was quite acute. I had become badly sunburned. As soon as I sat down in front of the computer the world started bobbing from side to side as if I was still on the boat (I was surprised this didn’t happen while I was driving – I think I was completely focused on getting home at that time, I didn’t even feel tired). Also the fatigue that I held off during the drive came over me. So I had a shower, slathered my head with aloe vera gel and slept for about 10 hours.
Fin
Day 1
I went to the Stirling Ranges for the first time! After so many times traveling on the roads surrounding them and seeing their shadowy peaks in the distance, I finally got near them and drove through the middle on a very corrugated gravel road - kinda reminded me of Broome. Twice I heard one of my quarry birds - the Western Whipbird calling and started to stalk it, and just as I think I was getting close, the damn thing shut up didn't it. Alas, I did not see any of my other goal birds, like Southern Scrub-robin, Southern Emu-wren, Western Shrike-tit and Purple-gaped Honeyeater. I saw ridiculous numbers of New Holland Honeyeaters and White-browed Scrubwrens. Had a couple of Western Yellow Robins play with me (actually, it may have only been one bird for all I know, following me around, calling and peeking out from behind tree trunks. I'd hear a call and turn to see what it was and there was a Yellow Robin sitting there jauntily).
I had lunch at the Bluff Knoll Cafe. Which had very little variety for a lot of money. I had a burger and a butterscotch milkshake, which was cold and sugary and left me with a headache. The burger was also a bit pink in the middle, but overall it tasted decent and filled me up for a while.
Of course, being in the Stirlings, you can't miss a look at Bluff Knoll - the highest peak in SW Australia (not the highest in Western Australia - that's Mt. Meharry in the Pilbara and certainly not the highest in Australia). Seeing as I was strapped for time I allowed myself 20 minutes here. I walked a small amount of the way, jeez you don't want to attempt those steps if you have bad knees, mine were cracking and crunching all the way. A lot of the time the bluff is surrounded by clouds, but this day all was perfectly clear, which I believe is kinda rare. Here I got beautiful views of a male Western Spinebill. All the other birds were nice, but kinda commonplace. So I got back in the car and headed down to Albany. My intention was to visit Oyster Harbour and find some waders, then wander around Lake Seppings, another place I have driven past multiple times but never visited, then hopefully have enough time to visit Torrindirrup National Park before the sun went down and I had to check in at the backpackers.
I arrived at Oyster Harbour eventually and found myself parking at the front of Coraki Cottages, where we stayed in 1996. Lovely area. Pity there were two little shit kids throwing rocks at the pelicans. I was tempted to throw rocks at them to see how they liked it. Gave the scope a workout but didn't find anything special here, lots of ibis and black-winged stilts and ducks, but the light was bad and it was slightly windy, so I headed off to Lake Seppings.
In the carpark at the lake there was an unusual bird - a completely white pigeon, which seemed to get quite confused when I cooed at it. I started the walk around the lake, by this time feeling a little burnt out. Saw something scuttle through the reeds which I'm pretty sure was a Spotted Crake. Walked for about 10 minutes and didn't get a good view of the lake anywhere and decided I'd rather go to Torrindirrup instead of walking around this lake, which honestly seemed like any other. If I had more time and less tiredness I would have done it, but once I got there it didn't seem a priority anymore.
Just as I turned into Frenchman's Bay rd I noticed a bird on the grass beside the reeds to the left. I did a double take as I realised it was a Buff-banded Rail, I never imagined I'd see one of them from a car. I made my way straight to The Natural Bridge and The Gap. These spots are touristy, but for me they're almost a religious experience now. Watching the relentless surf pound against the granite. Actually this day the swell was rather small - which bode well for the boat trip the next day - but made the Natural Bridge less spectacular than usual. Some game tourists, who possibly were illiterate and couldn't read the warning signs about freak king waves and previous deaths, were out on the bridge. They had no issues while they were out there, she was dressed up in skirt and sandals, but you never know when one of those huge waves will come along to pound you against the rocks.
The Gap was a bit more spectacular, I don't think it can help but be so. I stood on the platform there for 10 or so minutes just watching the waves crashing and feeling the spray on my face. I could have stayed a lot longer. I didn't take many pictures this time as I already have a pile. Just a photo of the gneiss bands in the granite and of a recent landslide on a nearby hill.
From there visited Cable Beach Lighthouse. Found a juvenile Pacific Gull but by that stage I was tired, hungry and birded out. I did continue along the road for a bit until I got to Goode Beach carpark. I was going to get out and have a short wander on the beach, but my energy ran out then and all I cared about was getting back to town, checking into the backpackers, finding dinner, taking a shower and going to bed - so that's what I did.
Day 2
My roommates were not bothered by my getting up at 5:30am. In fact they were rather amused and dubbed me "Albatross Girl" and wished me luck in finding a Wandering Albatross.
As we left the boat harbour the tide was down and the sandbars were covered in cormorants, gulls, oystercatchers, ibis, and surprisingly, 2 Black Swans. It didn't take long for Crested Terns to show up either. Before we had breached the heads of King George Sound plenty of Australasian Gannets and Flesh-footed Shearwaters had shown up. A portent of what was to come.
On the way to and at the shelf Flesh-footed Shearwaters became the new seagulls. We saw HUNDREDS of these birds. They would sit all around the boat expecting burley and bickered at each other with an amusing, squeaky "Mee! Me!" Pretty soon they were accompanied by Yellow-nosed Albatross - the seagull replacement off the Perth coast. These guys are considerably bigger than the shearwaters and assert their presence with a loud yelling, kind of like someone who is very drunk and incoherent.
The shout went out over a couple of Hutton’s Shearwaters that showed up, a Black-browed Albatross, a Shy Albatross, Great-winged Petrels. A pod of at least 20 open-ocean Bottlenose Dolphins joined us and frolicked around the boat for a good hour or so, following us when we moved a little deeper.
Around lunchtime I considered lunch. But as with previous boat trips, I didn’t feel sick, but I didn’t feel 100%. I felt very tired and was yawning profusely and my middle felt tight. Anyway, what I didn’t feel like was eating. I was quite surprised when, as I was sitting in one of the rather comfortable seats of the fishing charter boat, watching shearwaters, a wave a nausea washed over me and I warned the person beside me that I might be leaning over the edge of the boat very soon. I sat there, swallowing bile and consciously taking deep breaths through my nose and after about 2 minutes it had passed without me losing my breakfast. The man beside me asked if I taken anything before the trip. Of course I hadn’t, I never get seasick! He kindly offered me one of his Kwells so we headed to the cabin to get them. The skipper of the boat warned me that if I’d already felt sick and was now better, a Kwell would just make me feel worse. Seeing as he’s probably on a boat more often than he’s on land I took his word and put the pill in my wallet just in case. Anyway, it was about then the call for Wandering Albatross went up and my nausea was all but forgotten as I raced to the back of the boat for a look. He was far off, but I was able to see the distinguishing white back of the largest flying bird in the world. I was happy. I settled down to eat my lunch, since the nausea had passed I felt better for the rest of the day than I’d felt all morning. The remaining trip was really just more of the same. Hundreds of shearwaters accompanied by 20 or so Yellow-nosed Albatross. The monotony was only broken when we got into shallower water and to our surprise a Northern Giant Petrel flew in and sat at the back of the boat expectantly. Unfortunately for it we’d run out of burley by that time, but it allowed for plenty of close looks and photos. It was also another tick for me. An Osprey glided overhead as we returned to port.
Not long after I’d gotten on the boat I remembered what I’d forgotten at the backpackers. As usual, I knew I would have forgotten something, it was just a matter of remembering what that something was then deciding if it was important or not. This time it was my towel. I drove back into town and retrieved it with no trouble and drove all the way back to Narrogin without stopping – about a 3 hour drive. It was sunset when I got home and the pain in my face was quite acute. I had become badly sunburned. As soon as I sat down in front of the computer the world started bobbing from side to side as if I was still on the boat (I was surprised this didn’t happen while I was driving – I think I was completely focused on getting home at that time, I didn’t even feel tired). Also the fatigue that I held off during the drive came over me. So I had a shower, slathered my head with aloe vera gel and slept for about 10 hours.
Fin
