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birdlovers. Cheyne's Beach
Oct. 1st, 2007 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gemfyreI'd been looking forward to an opportunity to visit this spot for a while. For one it's on the wild, southern coast of Western Australia. Scenery which I find so beautiful as to be almost spiritual.
It's also the place to get the "Big Three" rare birds in Western Australia - Noisy Scrub-bird, Western Whipbird and Rufous Bristlebird.
All three birds have limited range, are drably coloured and are endangered. They also all possess very loud and distinctive voices and the ability to hide in thick scrub barely metres away from you while remaining invisible.
Every morning pretty much everyone in the birding group was up and about before 6am, creeping through the coastal heath behind the caravan park where we stayed. I heard all three of the target birds after not too long, but the only one I managed to see all morning was the Western Bristlebird (Dasyornis longirostris), and then it was only a brief glimpse as it came into the open on a bush, sang for a bit, then disappeared again.
Not long after that another birdo and I were admiring the Southern Right Whales who had also decided the bay would be a nice place to stay for a few days. They were giving a wonderful breaching display. About a minute later some others told us that a Noisy Scrub-bird (Atrichornis clamosus) had run across the road about a metre behind us! At first we didn't believe them, but then it called from the bushes beside the road teasingly.
A little later I got my first glimpse of the Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus), a bird I'd been trying to see for a long while. I managed to see it twice more before the weekend was up. These are a lot shier than thier close cousins the fairy-wrens, who seem only too keen to bounce out into the open and show off.
Also heard was the Western Whipbird, which was the most elusive bird of the weekend. Some got a look at this species but I still have only heard them call.
This morning I put in a last ditch effort to see the Scrub-bird and/or Whipbird. Once again, I heard all three, including a Bristlebird that was very close. Apparently one Scrub-bird makes it way down beside the entrance road to the caravan park and crosses the road along the bay in the morning. This morning I heard the bird right next to the road, it can't have been more than 2 metres from me, the call was deafening! I followed the calling down the road slowly - trying to keep ahead of the bird so I could see it when it crossed the road. I eventually got to the road during one of the pauses between it calling, still sure I was ahead of it and about to see it scuttle over the road. Then the little bugger called again - already in the thick scrub on the other side of the road. Oh well.
All in all it was a lovely weekend. The location was superb, the weather fantastic, and most of the birds were quite obliging. I got over 50 species per day. One morning I counted the calls of 8 species before I even left my tent. If you're ever in the area, take a visit.
It's also the place to get the "Big Three" rare birds in Western Australia - Noisy Scrub-bird, Western Whipbird and Rufous Bristlebird.
All three birds have limited range, are drably coloured and are endangered. They also all possess very loud and distinctive voices and the ability to hide in thick scrub barely metres away from you while remaining invisible.
Every morning pretty much everyone in the birding group was up and about before 6am, creeping through the coastal heath behind the caravan park where we stayed. I heard all three of the target birds after not too long, but the only one I managed to see all morning was the Western Bristlebird (Dasyornis longirostris), and then it was only a brief glimpse as it came into the open on a bush, sang for a bit, then disappeared again.
Not long after that another birdo and I were admiring the Southern Right Whales who had also decided the bay would be a nice place to stay for a few days. They were giving a wonderful breaching display. About a minute later some others told us that a Noisy Scrub-bird (Atrichornis clamosus) had run across the road about a metre behind us! At first we didn't believe them, but then it called from the bushes beside the road teasingly.
A little later I got my first glimpse of the Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus), a bird I'd been trying to see for a long while. I managed to see it twice more before the weekend was up. These are a lot shier than thier close cousins the fairy-wrens, who seem only too keen to bounce out into the open and show off.
Also heard was the Western Whipbird, which was the most elusive bird of the weekend. Some got a look at this species but I still have only heard them call.
This morning I put in a last ditch effort to see the Scrub-bird and/or Whipbird. Once again, I heard all three, including a Bristlebird that was very close. Apparently one Scrub-bird makes it way down beside the entrance road to the caravan park and crosses the road along the bay in the morning. This morning I heard the bird right next to the road, it can't have been more than 2 metres from me, the call was deafening! I followed the calling down the road slowly - trying to keep ahead of the bird so I could see it when it crossed the road. I eventually got to the road during one of the pauses between it calling, still sure I was ahead of it and about to see it scuttle over the road. Then the little bugger called again - already in the thick scrub on the other side of the road. Oh well.
All in all it was a lovely weekend. The location was superb, the weather fantastic, and most of the birds were quite obliging. I got over 50 species per day. One morning I counted the calls of 8 species before I even left my tent. If you're ever in the area, take a visit.
