Around Oz Part 20 – East Pilbara: Cape Keraudren

White-breasted Whistler

After leaving  Broome (see last post) and the Kimberley, we headed south through the East Pilbara for a two-night stay at Cape Keraudren, a coastal reserve at the southern end of Eighty-Mile Beach where a beachside camping ground is run by the local council. Leaving this region we farewelled the small, red-bellied race of Grey-crowned Babbler, which was numerous in the north.

Grey-crowned Babbler

Cape Keraudren, looking north 

From our camper van, we had sweeping views north across reef flats to a sandy beach stretching to the distant horizon.

Cape Keraudren, looking south

To the south was a rugged, jagged coastline of ancient coral and limestone. The overall effect was quite stunning. This is an extraordinary spot with great beauty.

Campsite Cape Keraudren

White-breasted Whistler

In the mangroves, White-breasted Whistler and Mangrove Golden Whistler appeared to be quite numerous, along with Yellow White-eye and Mangrove Fantail. The mangrove birds were seen on occasion to leave the mangroves to forage in more open habitat.  Horsfield’s Bushlark was common in the grassland, where a Swamp Harrier was also seen. 

Mangrove Golden Whistler

On the coral cliffs was a mixed nesting colony of Lesser Crested Terns and Crested Terns, with both species appearing to have recently fledged young.

Crested Tern at rookery

Lesser Crested Tern at rookery

Lesser Crested & Crested Tern

The two tern species were often at roost together. Plenty of waders were about, including resident Beach Stone-Curlew and Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers.

Beach Stone-Curlew

Sooty Oystercatcher

Other birds included both phases of Eastern Reef-Egret,and Striated Herons that appeared to be unusually orange in colour.

Striated Heron

Migratory waders included Large Sand Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Red-necked Stint, Grey-tailed Tattler, Ruddy Turnstone and Whimbrel.

Large Sand-Plover

Long term residents of the camping ground and built nesting boxes for the Zebra Finches.

Zebra Finch at next-box

Extensive areas of mudflats were exposed at low tide. We watched a couple of Black-necked Storks try their luck at fishing.

Black-necked Stork

Euro

There were a couple of macropods about that turned out to be a red-coloured subspecies of Euro.

Around Oz Part 19: Broome - Mud Skippers and Sea Snakes to Asian Gull-billed Terns

Dusky Gerygone

After visiting Derby (see last post) we moved on to Broome, one of my favourite towns, for a five-day stay, booking in to the overcrowded Tarangau Caravan Park. We have travelled almost 8000km - about one-third of the way of our trip around Oz..Contrary to expectations, we have had no trouble so far finding a spot everywhere we have wanted to stay, although we booked ahead for Broome.

We met up with friends from Brisbane, Jeff and Joe, and visited some of the sites around town, including the lively CBD area and Chinatown, and awesome coastal scenery around Gantheaume Point and the port. Good numbers of Brown Boobies were seen offshore.

Gantheaume Point

Looking north towards Cable Beach

At the town sewerage ponds, birds included a few Pink-eared Ducks among many thousands of Plumed Whistling-Ducks, a Common Sandpiper and a few Whiskered Terns.

Pink-eared Duck

Whiskered Tern

In mangroves behind the Broome CBD, birds seen included White-breasted Whistler, Mangrove Golden Whistler, Red-headed Honeyeater, Yellow White-eye, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Mangrove Fantail and Dusky Gerygone.

Broad-billed Flycatcher

Dusky Gerygone

White-breasted Whistler

Cable Beach was delightful as always, including the camels on the beach late in the afternoon, but the area is becoming busier each time I see it. In the image below the camels are passing the beachfront mansion owned by Perth businessman Kerry Stokes.

Camels on Cable Beach, Broome 

I found an Olive-brown Sea Snake stranded on the beach, caught it and released it back into the sea. The snakes are highly venemous but essentially harmless as their fangs are set back and small.

Me with Olive-brown Sea-snake

We visited the Broome Bird Observatory, a 30-minute drive from town. The tide times were wrong for waders but I was able to clearly pick out two of the small Asian race of Gull-billed Tern - smaller size, greyer upperparts, whiter heads - among a larger flock of Australian race Gull-billed Terns and Caspian Terns. The terns were near the mouth of the mangrove creek 3km from the observatory. Common birds about the observatory included Singing Honeyeater and Double-barred Finch.

Roebuck Bay, Broome Bird Observatory

Double-barred Finch

It was a delight to watch hundreds of mud skippers of all sizes in the mud behind the mangroves at low tide. Also in the mangroves were White-breasted Whistler, Dusky Gerygone and Mangrove Fantail.

Mudskipper

On the way out of the observatory we had nice views of a Black-breasted Buzzard.

Black-breasted Buzzard

Black-breasted Buzzard

Around Oz Part 18 - Derby: Mangrove Birds and Aboriginal Heritage

Aboriginal artists - Derby

After Windjana Gorge (see last post), we headed north-west to the town of Derby for a one-night stay at the ordinary and overpriced (like just about everything up this way) Kimberley Lodge Caravan Park.

Role call of indigenous prisoners

Old Derby Gaol

We visited some cultural sites and were impressed particularly by the old prison, where hundreds of Aborigines were kept in chains for years in shocking conditions for the most trivial offences in times not so long gone. And the huge, ancient boab tree that also operated as a makeshift prison, often for Aborigines who were rounded for slave labor in the pearling industry further south at Broome.

Derby Boab Gaol Tree

More pleasing was the Aboriginal art gallery and museum, where indigenous people of all ages are scattered about, working on their distinctive dot art paintings and some nice landscape captures; they are seemingly not bothered by gawking tourists.

King Sound Mangroves

I checked out the mangroves near the Derby wharf on King Sound, seeing the Kimberley (“Brown-tailed”) race of Lemon-bellied Flycatcher, Dusky Gerygone, Yellow White-eye, White-breasted Whistler and Mangrove Golden Whistler.

White-breasted Whistler male

White-breasted Whistler

The next morning I returned to the mangroves, seeing in addition to the above, Broad-billed Flycatcher and a distant Great-billed Heron feeding on the tide-line.

Great-billed Heron

Mangrove Golden Whistler female

It was interesting to compare the female of this subspecies of Mangrove Golden Whistler to the one further east, which has much more yellow on the underparts.

Around Oz Part 17 - Tunnel Creek, Windjana Gorge

Tunnel Creek Cave

After leaving Fitzroy Crossing (see last post) we left the bitumen Savannah Way to head north on the supposedly 4-wheel-drive-only Leopold Road that links the highway to the Gibb River Road. We did this because we wanted to see two of the Kimberley’s main natural attractions – Tunnel Creek National Park and Windjana Gorge National Park.

Tunnel Creek Cave entrance 

The road was pretty rough and at one point we had to drive through quite a deep creek crossing. Tunnel Creek was the hideout of famed Aboriginal resistance leader Jandamarra before he was tracked down and shot at the entrance to the cave tunnel (above).

Tunnel Creek Cave

This is a wonderful site. You walk for a kilometre or so through a tall cave that has been carved through the limestone King Leopold Ranges. You need a torch and to be prepared to wade through lots of cold water.  The effect is quite stunning.

I saw bats but they were high up on the cave ceiling so light and photographic limitations prevented decent shots. I nonetheless I identified 3 species (Ghose Bat, Dusky Leaf-nosed Bat, Common Sheathtail Bat).

Ghost Bat

Common Sheathtail Bat

We moved on to Windjana Gorge, which I last visited in the late 1970s, for a two-night stay in the overcrowded but pleasant enough national park camping ground.

King Leopold Range, Windjana Gorge

Windjana Gorge

Here, a spectacular gorge has been cut through the rugged limestone mountain ranges which rise abruptly from the surrounding savannah.

Great Bowerbird

Wedge-tailed Eagle

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike

Birds around the camp included White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Wedge-tailed Eagle and Great Bowerbird at its bower. In the gorge were several Sandstone Shrike-thrushes and plenty of Little Woodswallows.

Freshwater Crocodiles

Freshwater crocodiles were common; we saw perhaps 50, including 20 in one waterhole. They will be gone when the cane toads eventually reach here.

Of interest were fossils of ancient Trilobites (crustacea sort of things) embedded in sandstone caves along the base of the gorge.

Around Oz Part 16: Farewell to Wyndham, on to Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing

Freshwater Crocodile

Short-eared Rock-Wallaby

Early on our last morning in Wyndham I again visited Five Rivers Lookout, enjoying close-up views of several Short-eared Rock Wallabies at the summit.

Short-eared Rock-Wallaby

Silver-backed Butcherbird

Also about were a few Silver-backed Butcherbirds and, feeding on puddles outside the shire council office, several Gouldian Finches.

Visitor at camp, Wyndham

An ancient mule was a quaint visitor to our camp in Wyndham.

We headed south to the Spring Creek Camping Ground, intending to stay there and do the Bungle Bungles on a day visit. However, staff told us we needed 4-wheel drive and could be fined if we went in with the Subaru. Apparently this is simply untrue. The camping ground is part of the huge commercialisation of the national park that includes helicopter flights and 4-wheel-drive tours. We were lied to in the hope we would join one of their tours. We left in disgust instead – the dusty, crowded camping ground alone was a total turn-off.

Mary River west of Halls Creek

Between Halls Creek & Fitzroy Crossing

We ended up staying at a free camping ground on the Mary River, 100km east of Halls Creek. There was some nice country around here including plenty of spinifex. I saw Spinifexbird, Red-browed Pardalote, Variegated Fairy-wren, Grey-fronted Honeyeater, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Little Crow and Plumed Pigeon.

Pallid Cuckoo

We moved on to Fitzroy Crossing for a two-night stay at the Fitzroy River Crossing Resort camp ground. Birds around here include Yellow-tinted Honeyeater, Black-chinned Honeyeater and Pallid Cuckoo.

Geikei Gorge

We visited Geikei Gorge near Fitzroy Crossing, where the Fitzroy River runs through some stunning limestone and sandstone gorges, and Freshwater Crocodiles are ever present. We did the park walking trails as well - Little Woodswallow and Red-browed Pardalote were among the birds present.

Freshwater Crocodile

Geikei Gorge