I think we were in Cheynes Beach when I looked over to Ross and said “I’m just not feeling inspired,” which was odd because we were birding along sand dunes with views of the ocean surrounded by flowering native plants in a beautiful location in Western Australia. You would think this would be a very inspiring place. Usually while we are out birding or doing something fun/interesting a thought comes to mind and immediately I feel inclined to write. That initial lightbulb is the catalyst to write down everything else. Sometimes I’ll stop what I’m doing just to jot it down because I know how important a “spark” thought can be and this blog probably wouldn’t exist if I didn’t. I’ve said it before but the notes section of my phone is so, so valuable to me because it is full of so many thoughts and ideas. Once I have that initial idea I keep writing and writing. Truly these blogs are written in the field. But for some reason, as we were walking the picturesque coastal habitat, I didn’t have any thoughts. No lightbulbs. No sparks. No catalysts to describe the absolutely stunning scenery laid out before me.
Maybe it was because we were looking for Western Whipbird and using our Merlin App as a resource. One of the photos of Western Whipbird in the Merlin app was taken by our friend Tom Johnson, who passed away July 23rd at the age of 35. I keep bringing it up because that has been the hardest death either of us has faced. In the immediate aftermath of a traumatic death like that it’s hard to think of anything else. It had just happened and I just couldn’t stop thinking of him, of his fiancée, Melissa, of his family, and of all the things we said we were going to do that just weren’t going to happen now. The meaning of life, the “whys” of it all, how unfair it was, and other philosophical questions my human mind couldn’t grasp were swirling around my head since I got word of this tragic news instead of any lightbulbs.
(By the way, if you haven’t already, go download the Merlin app, it’s free, easy to use, and chalk full of bird photos, audio, maps, and descriptions for most places around the world. Technological advances like Merlin mean it is no longer necessary to lug around a heavy book in the field.)
Western Australia (WA) is Australia’s largest state, and covers the entire western third of the country. WA is mostly made up of the arid outback so the majority of the population lives in the southwest corner, home to the Margaret River wine region and the riverside capital, Perth. Our itinerary in this area was both busy and very laid back, at least for me and Roger. (It was busy and then busier for Ross.) This driving itinerary will make more sense in a minute but just in case you wanted to see a picture of Western Australia (with the northern tip cut off, oops) here you go. It’s definitely the biggest state in the country:
As soon as we landed in Perth, the capital of WA, and picked up our rental car (in the form of what might possibly be the WORST car ever designed, the MG HG), we drove up and found ourselves a flock of 70-80ish Baudin’s Black-Cockatoos. Ross had found a point via eBird and sure enough, we had our target in the bag! Next up, we were on the hunt for some skulky birds, namely Western Fieldwren, Western Whipbird, Western Bristlebird, and Noisy Scrub-bird, the latter three having earned the nickname “WA’s The Big Three”. And so we headed to the inspiring, yet uninspiring Cheynes Beach, the best place to find these difficult-to-see birds. Western Whipbird perched up and sang as if it weren’t one of the shy birds we were searching for. We had tracked down the other subspecies of Western Whipbird (White-bellied Whipbird) on the Eyre Peninsula and had quite a time trying to see it, but oddly this Western Whipbird (Black-throated Whipbird) put on a show! Tom would have loved it.
How many people can say they were in the middle of doing a diaper change directly on the hood of the car with a baby making all kinds of sounds and babbles, when a skulky Western Bristlebird begins to sing only a few meters away? I feel like we must be in some elite club to have that bird on the diaper change list. We crawled into the bushes, crouched down and before long had a pair bouncing around in front of us offering great views. The second skulky bird was now in the bag!
The only skulky bird we had left to see was Noisy Scrub-bird, arguably the most elusive and hardest of WA’s “the big three.” But once again we got extremely lucky and both of us had excellent views. Ross and I ended up parting ways because Roger was more interested in babbling loudly than being sneaky in search of a skulky bird. (Birding with an infant is no small feat!) Initially Ross found a bird but I missed seeing it because I was not close. I thought that was it for me and this one was going to be a dip but we waited by the trail and soon watched as it scurried across! Even though it was a brief view, this is how most people get to see this very elusive bird. I was happy with my brief views so I walked away with Roger so that Ross could have a bit more quiet time to pursue better views. (Again, searching for skulky birds with an infant is not easy and I always joked with Ross “you owe me another one” as I took Roger away so Ross could get better views.) I walked back down the trail and crouched down along the sandy track. Roger continued babbling and making all kinds of baby noises. The Noisy Scrub-bird must have heard Roger babbling about and got curious about the sounds that I’m sure this bird had never heard before because it scurried into a small bush right next to where I was crouched down and made eye contact with us before scurrying along! Suddenly my “brief views” of this bird turned into point blank ones as it looked at me and Roger from only a few inches away! But the “fly-by” views really weren’t too bad because Ross even managed photos when the bird ran across the trail!
A few other birds we saw in the area include Western Shrike-tit, Elegant Parrot, Regent Parrot, Australian Owlet-nightjar and Western Corella.
On August 9th Ross dropped Roger and I off at our Airbnb in Perth. We were going to be on our own for the next 4 days while he went off on an extremely long journey to tick a few targets. Once again, we modified our trip so that our (almost) 11 month old wouldn’t have to spend an additional 35+ hours strapped into his car-seat and instead could crawl around/stand up to his heart’s content. “The City of Light” aka Perth, which gets more daylight than any other Australian capital, was to be our home while Ross was away. We may have splurged on a fancy 2 bedroom Airbnb (which actually wasn’t much more than the cost of a decent hotel anyway) just because we knew I would be spending more time inside than I normally would for the aforementioned acrobatics to ensue. I can literally count on one hand the number of Natural History Museums or Art Museums I’ve ever visited while on a birding trip, but that’s exactly how Roger and I filled our time while Ross was away.
Ross was only gone for 3 days but he was covering an insane amount of ground. His first stop was the eastern edge of Sharks Bay for Western Grasswren. Then he headed north to Carnarvon for Dusky Gerygone and other mangrove specialists like Mangrove Fantail and White-breasted Whistler. After that he made a quick detour for the “rufous-bellied” spp of Spinifex Pigeon and Black-tailed Treecreeper and then it was off for another long drive to Newman. The next morning he watched multiple groups of “Pilbara” Rufous Grasswren and more rufous bellied Spinifex Pigeons before twitching Gray Honeyeater and starting the long drive south. That afternoon he found Western Quail-Thrush and in the late evening Bourke Parrot. The last morning he started near the town of Sandstone for the “Sandhill” Rufous Grasswren before finishing up the long drive back to Perth. All in all, he was gone for almost exactly 72 hours, and during that time he put on over 3,000km and 32 hours of driving.
This birding occurred on Auguest 5th-12th 2023
Here’s a sample eBird list from Cheynes Beach and here’s a fun list Ross put together while he was away (Radio Hill)