Around Australia 2026 Part 9 – Esperance & Cape Arid

Southern Right Whale - female & calf (foreground)

Following our visit to Cheynes Beach, we continued eastward for a three-day stay in the delightful South Coast town of Esperance. Near our van in the Bushlands Caravan Park on the town's outskirts was a pond with loads of calling frogs, chief among them Spotted-thighed Frog and Western Banjo Frog. The first Western Wattlebirds for the trip put in an appearance. 

Western Wattlebird

We had a look at Pink Lake and Lake Warden, with a flock of 30 Cape Barren Geese seen among large numbers of Australian Shelduck in a flooded paddock between the two lakes.

Cape Barren Goose

Here also was the trip's first Western Spinebill. 

Western Spinebill

We continued eastwards to Cape Arid National Park for a two-day camp (a planned third day was cut short due to weather). This was one of our favourite spots from the 2014 lap around Oz and it didn't disappoint this time. The coastal scenery is mind-blowing (images below) and the campsite, Yokinup Mia Mia, is beautifully positioned among sweeping heath plains ablaze with wildflowers. 

This has to be one of the best sites in Australia for Southern Right Whale. Yes they can be seen in numbers elsewhere (eg Great Australian Bight) but as with our last visit, you get extremely close to the whales along the park's rocky coastline, not far from where the Thomas River meets the sea. 

Southern Right Whale breeching

We had six whales – three adult females with calves in toe, in view in relatively close proximity whenever we went down to the rocks. One adult with calf seemed to change direction and head towards us when we arrived and settled on the rocks on a couple of occasions. The animals could be seen rubbing up against the rocks underwater, evidently trying to remove barnacles. We saw them often playing – with one animal breaching occasionally - and although not as lively as Humpbacks, they were something to behold.

Emu was a frequent visitor to the beach and camp tracks, with an adult male and six chicks among those present. 

Emu male with chick

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo was common, feeding on the seeds of old banksia cones but also tearing up some of the many cones in flower. 

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo

A beachwalk in Yokinup Bay failed to turn up Hooded Plover but a pair of Sanderlings were nice.

Sanderling

Pacific Gull (below) was common on the beach. Cape Arid has the last surviving population of Western Ground Parrot, now relumped with Eastern Ground Parrot. The areas where they occur were not accessible on this trip, with main access roads closed due to wet weather.

Around Australia 2026 Part 8: Albany and Cheynes Beach in WA

 

Western Whipbird

After leaving the WA south coast town of Denmark, we continued eastward to Albany for 3 nights in an Emu Park van park, a few kms from the town centre in a lovely setting that we've enjoyed previously. Seppings Lake nearby was as productive as usual with good numbers of waterfowl including Musk Duck, Blue-billed Duck and Australasian Shoveler.

Australasian Shoveler

Blue-billed Duck

Showing on the lakeside track were a few White-breasted Robins, the first for the trip.

White-breasted Robin

Also on the track, some more Red-eared Firetails.

Red-eared Firetail

Around the van park were good numbers of the beautiful Red-capped Parrot and Western Rosella.

Red-capped Parrot

Western Rosella

I wasn't counting on Western Ringtail for this trip but numerous signs depicting the animal around Albany persuaded me to take a look. I found one outside the caravan park (Big4) with the thermal imager without much trouble.

Western Ringtail

We enjoyed having a look around Torgadirrup National Park (below).

Glenn's birthday coincided with our visit here so we had a great meal in the quirky, historic Earl of Spencer tavern (below).

Then it was time to move further east to the iconic Cheynes Beach biodiversity hotspot, one of my favourite destinations. The pictures below speak for themselves. Glorious countryside ablaze with wildflowers.

Exploring the Arpentur Nature Reserve and adjoining Waychnicup National Park was again highly productive. Top drawer target was getting better images of Western (Black-throated) Whipbird and one finally showed nicely on one of the tracks.

Western Whipbird

Another aim, to finally photograph Noisy Scrubbird, fell flat yet again, although I enjoyed good if brief views of 2 birds, and heard at least 3 others. Better luck with the third local skulker, Western Bristlebird, which was calling commonly and seen well. Red-eared Firetail was quite common – the third site in succession where this species was scored.

Western Bristlebird

Brush Bronzewing was looking good, while Common Bronzewing was indeed common here, feeding around our caravan.

Brush Bronzewing

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo was agreeably common.

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo

I went out on two nights with the thermal imager, seeing a Western Pygmy Possum briefly and finding 2 Honey Possums, one of which permitted a photograph. An echidna was spotted.

Honey Possum

Western Brown Bandicoot was common at night and during the late afternoon.

Western Short-nosed Bandicoot

A Southern Right Whale and its calf were in the bay offshore.

Southern Right Whales

As I reported in a separate post, I found a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles feeding on a Western Grey Kangaroo in a paddock not far from the caravan park. This animal, a young male, and an adult female with a pouch joey had been shot the night before by farmers. The female was still alive, her back broken. Its joey was taken into care as the National Parks and Wildlife Service launched an investigation into whether laws had been broken after I reported the matter to them.

Wedge-tailed Eagle feeding on Western Grey Kangaroo

The kangaroos were delightfully common in the caravan park grounds (below). After Cheynes we moved on to Ravensbourne for an overnight stop.

Kangaroos killed, maimed by shooters at Cheynes Beach - Western Australia’s iconic biodiversity hotspot

​

Wedge-tailed Eagle with shot Western Grey Kangaroo

I was out at night on a track this week behind Cheynes Beach caravan park when I heard a series of gunshots from the farm property abutting the reserve and national park, just a few hundred metres away. This place on the south coast of Western Australia is renowned internationally as a wildlife hotspot of huge importance. I was looking for mammals with a thermal imager and no flashlight to give my presence away. A thin line of scrub was all that potentially separated me from the shooters' bullets. It occurred to me how unsafe the situation might be in an area where wildlife enthusiasts are often out and about at night.

The next morning I returned to the spot . A subadult male western grey kangaroo had been killed and was being fed on by a pair of wedge-tailed eagles. An adult female kangaroo with a well-developed joey in her pouch was lying nearby, with one leg up in the air. Another shooting victim, she evidently had a broken back and was in a great deal of distress. The remains of other kangaroos in the paddock suggested shootings were not a one-off occurrence.

Injured female Western Grey Kangaroo

It bothered me a great deal that wildlife taking refuge in a national park is slaughtered as soon as it enters private property. The kangaroos’ crime was to cross a fence to reach a huge, lushly grassed paddock with no domestic animals in it. To say nothing of the cruelty of leaving a critically injured animal alive. I immediately reported the incident to the caravan park management. They told me to contact National Parks & Wildlife Service in Albany, 70 km away. The NPWS told me it was too far away for them to do anything about it, that it was not really their concern, and to contact volunteer wildlife carers.

Western Grey Kangaroos in Cheyne Beach Caravan Park

Several hours and calls later, I was told a carer was on their way. Then NPWS had a change of heart and decided to become involved; I was interviewed by phone. However, the indications I had from NPWS and the caravan park managers were that the farm owners are “decent people“ who had done nothing wrong; that they had permits to kill “pest” wildlife; and they would “never” fire guns in the direction of the caravan park.

Beautiful Cheynes Beach is a vital ecological reserve . It beggars belief that the owners of a farm surrounded on all sides by protected reserve has licence to behave in a way that threatens not just wildlife but potentially, people watching it.

Cheynes Beach

The injured female was euthanised (after suffering for 18 hours) and her joey was taken into care (the only bright spot in this sordid tale). My suggestion now? The authorities should acquire the farm and allow it to regenerate as endangered species habitat - adding to the surrounding Arpentur Nature Reserve and  Waychnicup National Park - after they throw the book over this incident.

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Around Australia 2026 Part 7: WA – Dryandra to Denmark

Red-eared Firetail

Following our visit to the Goldfields of WA, we headed west for an overnight stay in Southern Cross, before continuing on to the Dryandra Woodland National Park, one of my favourite destinations in WA. We camped for three nights in the Lions Dryandra Village. Unfortunately cold, windy and rainy conditions put a dampener on things.

Dryandra Village

Dryandra is famous for being a stronghold of the exquisite Numbat, one of Australia's most endearing mammals. The weather notwithstanding, I managed good views of a somewhat distant Numbat foraging late in the morning, a few hundred metres from camp. This was my third encounter with the species. Unfortunately it bolted as soon as it saw me; no pics so I'll make do with these (below) from my last visit to Dryandra a few years ago, not far from this spot.

Echidna was more co-operative, with 2 showing nicely (below).

Western Grey Kangaroo was plentiful. This leucistic female with a pouch young (below) was nice to see.

I had hoped for Red-tailed Phascogale but the weather ruled out a serious effort to find them. Nest boxes set up around the village are being used by the species. I was impressed with how Lions and the village are powering ahead under the stewardship of managers/caretakers Les Westerlund and his wife Julie Cadwallader. They are helping out with crucial conservation/research efforts like the nest boxes and rearing orphaned wildlife. They are busily boosting the village's profile and durability with projects ranging from a new children's playground to hydrology earthworks to boost water flows to the village dam.

Les with a phascogale nest box at Dryandra Village

Wildflowers were in fine form. The plant the woodland is named after, Dryandra, was blooming nicely along with excellent flowering WA Golden Wattle and plenty of ground shrubs.

Glenn with flowering WA Golden Wattle

Greg with flowering Dryandra

Western Yellow Robin showed in the wandoo along with numerous Rufous Treecreepers.

Rufous Treecreeper

Western Yellow Robin

Purple-crowned Lorikeet was likely the commonest species; far more numerous than during previous visits.

Purple-crowned Lorikeet

Bush Stone-Curlew was also all over the place albeit in much smaller numbers.

Bush Stone-Curlew

Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo flew about in small flocks.

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo

Grey Currawong and Yellow-plumed Honeyeater were common.

Grey Currawong

Yellow-plumed Honeyeater

The wandoo woodlands (below)as usual were a delight to be amongst.

We headed south for a three-night stay in the River Mouth van park outside Denmark, a delightful South Coast town. Our van fronted Wilson's Inlet, with Denmark River close by.

Denmark River

Wilson's Inlet

Karri and jarrah forest (below) surrounding the town can be accessed through various walking tracks.

Red-eared Firetail is one of the west's most sought after endemics and I found a single bird, then a pair, along the tracks.

Red-eared Firetail

Western Rosella was present in small numbers.

Western Rosella

A couple of groups of Red-winged Fairywren showed nicely.

Red-winged Fairywren (female above, male below)

A small flock of the endemic subspecies of (Forest) Red-tailed Black Cockatoo was present.

Red-tailed (Forest) Black Cockatoo

As were some Spotted Scrubwrens and a couple of female Golden (Western) Whistlers.

Golden (Western) Whistler

Spotted Scrubwren

Western (Gilbert's) Honeyeater appeared to be common.

Western Honeyeater

A couple of Musk Ducks were on the river.

Musk Duck