 |
| Numbat |
After
leaving the Dalwallinu
area we continued south through Northam to Dryandra Woodland, one
of my favourite birding sites, for 3 nights in a delightful Dryandra Village Lions Club
chalet. We were quickly out and about in the wildflower-festooned
wandoo woodland with the south-west endemics coming thick and fast
including Rufous Treecreeper, Red-capped Parrot and Western
Thornbill.
 |
| Rufous Treecreeper |
 |
| Dryandra Village chalet |
We spotted Western Yellow Robin and the distinctive western race of
Scarlet Robin.
 |
| Scarlet Robin |
 |
| Western Yellow Robin |
The recently split Western
Whistler was surprisingly common.
 |
| Western Whistler |
We
had a couple of Echidna roaming about and
a Yellow-footed Antechinus showed nicely.
 |
| Echidna |
 |
| Yellow-footed Antechinus |
It
wasn't close to the end of the last day that Dodge found the star –
a Numbat near its entrance to a hollow log along Newell Road. I'd had
just
a
distant, brief view of one previously so it was excellent to connect
with this animal for several minutes before it disappeared into its
bolt-hole.
 |
| Numbat |
 |
| Dodge & Lorna, Numbat-struck in the wandoo |
 |
| Numbat bolt-hole |
A
few Carnaby's Black Cockatoos had been seen earlier as we drove
through the wheatbelt but they were common in Dryandra.
 |
| Carnaby's Black Cockatoo |
We
were happy to have Blue-breasted Fairy-wren showing much
better than at Lake Thetis earlier.
 |
| Blue-breasted Fairywren |
 |
| Blue-breasted Fairywren |
We
tracked down a Western (Crested) Shrike-tit along the track behind
the Arboretum and later heard a second pair.
 |
| Western (Crested) Shrike-tit |
 |
| Western (Crested) Shrike-tit |
Purple-crowned
Lorikeet was surprisingly common as none were seen during my
last visit
to Dryandra.
 |
| Purple-crowned Lorikeet |
Plenty
of birds had recently finished nesting or were feeding young, like
these Restless Flycatchers.
Square-tailed Kite was among the raptors flying overhead.
 |
| Restless Flycatcher family |
 |
| Square-tailed Kite |
We
moved on to Stirling Range Retreat for a 2-night stay. Once again the
scenery and abundance of wildflowers did not disappoint.
 |
| Stirling Ranges |
 |
| Stirling Ranges |
We
had several Regent Parrots along the way and quite a few were
about about
the resort.
 |
| Regent Parrot |
Around
the place
in small numbers were Elegant Parrot, which we'd also seen a few times in Dryandra, while
Splendid Fairywren was plentiful.
 |
| Elegant Parrot |
 |
| Splendid Fairywren |
Gilbert's
(Western White-naped) Honeyeater was a common visitor to the
retreat's birdbaths. Purple-gaped Honeyeater and
Tawny-crowned Honeyeater were
tracked down in the mallee at Mt Trio.
 |
| Gilbert's Honeyeater |
 |
| Purple-gaped Honeyeater |
Baudin's
Black Cockatoo easily outnumbered Carnaby's Black Cockatoo in a large
mixed flock, with
the Baudin's
feeding on marri nuts.
 |
| Baudin's Black Cockatoo |
A
pair of Australian Little Eagle were nesting and one flew in with
what appeared to be
the
remains of a Magpie-Lark.
 |
| Australian Little Eagle |
Western
Bluetongue was often crossing the roads, along with the odd
Shingleback.
We
left the Stirlings, heading east to the Corakerup Reserve in the hope
of seeing Malleefowl as we drove the roads adjoining the reserve but dipped, encountering just a couple of
mounds.
 |
| Malleefowl mound |
 |
| Western Bluetongue |
We
did have close views of Shy Heathwren and best of all, several
fleeting but solid glimpses of Western Whipbird as a pair dueted on
both sides of a path off Norman Road, crossing the path several times.
 |
| Shy Heathwren |
