Friday, April 6, 2007

West Coast Albatross


In Western Australia the best place to see an albatross is several kilometres offshore during rough winter conditions. Frank O’Connor organises pelagic trips from Perth during the winter and details are found on his website Birding Western Australia.

During the August 2006 pelagic trip we saw 100 Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, 5 Shy Albatrosses, and 1 Black-browed Albatross. These are all medium sized albatrosses, which form a separate group sometimes knows as mollymawks. The larger group, including the magnificent Wandering Albatross, are mostly found further south from Perth in the Southern Ocean.

Prior to seeing my first close up, on this pelagic trip, I had been lucky to see the Yellow-nosed Albatross during the ferry crossing to Rottnest Island. The Yellow-nosed are the most common local albatross and are occasionally washed ashore on Perth beaches after a big blow.

The albatross is the world’s largest flying bird and a legendary traveller. An albatross will spend most of its life at sea, only coming on land to breed.

Albatrosses have mastered the art of flying to a degree unsurpassed in the world of birds. They are skilled at using the rising currents of air over the ocean to glide for hours without a single wing beat. When faced with a headwind they zig-zag across the wind like a sail boat tacking.

I can certainly recommend the winter pelagic trip. As well as a great variety of sea birds we also got close to some humpback whales. But make sure to take your sea-sick pills, if you are contemplating taking a pelagic. One of the secrets is they use oily, foul smelling, burly to attract the sea birds. If you are feeling queasy that will surely tip the balance.

Details and trip reports are on Frank’s website.

Birds in Backyards - Karrinyup


Karrinyup has proved to be a wonderful place for birdlife. There are two golf courses and several nearby reserves: Star Swamp, Carine Open Space and Lake Gwelup. The suburb was mostly established in the 1960s and 1970s when native gardens were popular.
However this is rapidly changing as more "Mac-Mansions" are appearing and trees are being chopped down to make way for larger homes.

Our nearby Padstow Reserve is an important refuge for some of the shyer bush birds which may not venture into gardens. A severe bush fire swept through the Reserve in January 2007 and since then there have been lots of unusual bird sightings in our garden. In addition to the usual range of Wattlebirds, Singing, Brown, and New Holland Honeyeaters, we have been seeing White Cheeked Honeyeaters and the glorious Western Spinebills. This is probably due to the fire, but also the hot, dry summer. We have two bird baths which certainly attract lots of birds.

The photo above is a female Western Spinebill. We have seen the more stunning male too, but haven't managed to get a photo, yet.

I have been surveying the birds around our
garden since 1999 and have a Karrinyup garden species list of 30:

Spotted and Laughing Turtledoves (introduced species)
Port Lincoln Ringneck (28)
Galah
Corella
Corella Longbilled (introduced from Eastern States)
Carnaby'sWhite Tailed Black Cockatoo (endemic to WA and endangered)
Rainbow Lorrikeet (introduced from Eastern States, this one's a big worry)
Kookaburra (introduced from Eastern States)
Rainbow Bee-eater
Red Wattlebird
Western Spinebill (endemic to WA)
Singing Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
White Cheeked Honeyeater
Australian Raven
Magpie
Magpie Lark
Grey Butcherbird
Black Faced Cuckoo-Shrike
Willie Wagtail
Striated Pardalote
Silvereye
Welcome Swallow
Kestrel
Boobook Owl
Tawny Frogmouth
Australian Hobby
Buff banded Rail (found dead, probably hit by a car during a night flight between the local wetlands)