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The traveling Najade is traveling - WA? Why Not?

Discussion in 'Australia' started by Najade, 17 Apr 2018.

  1. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Do you remember what colour it was?
     
  2. AWP

    AWP Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    It was many years ago, so I don't know. The possum might be on videotape however, so maybe I can look it up. I saw it on the way back to the holiday park after a evening walk in Flinders Chase to see Platypus and Koala, but these didn't show.
     
  3. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Those two look quite different (as far as I know; haven't seen Little myself), so if you can find that tape you shouldn't have a problem IDing it.
     
  4. AWP

    AWP Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I found the tape, but the Pygmy Possum isn't recorded (a couple of Brushtails and a feral cat are).
     
  5. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Had to go to Narrogin for a quick refuel.

    Animals seen:
    Common Brushtail Possum
    Western Grey Kangaroo
    Red-capped Robin


    Barna Mia

    This time it was a pretty large group with kids and everything. I got to go into Barna Mia 1 by myself to look for the Barred Bandicoot (last time they'd seen one on a tour was in February) while the group headed into Barna Mia 2. And of course one came into the feeding station for the group while I left empty-handed again :(

    Animals seen:
    Wurrup
    Quenda
    Dalgyte
    Woylie
    Common Brushtail Possum

    Animals not seen:
    Marl
    Boodie


    Lol Gray Trail
    After the tour I went to a spot with a couple of Banksias on the Lol Gray trail. No Honey Possums, but got another Western Pygmy-possum (around midnight again).

    Animals seen:
    Mundarda
    Western Grey Kangaroo
    Southern Boobook

    Next up: Ochre Trail
     
    Last edited: 23 Apr 2018
  6. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Day 7

    Ochre Trail

    Had another go at the Ochre Trail in the morning to look for Blue-breasted Fairywren, which I did get but not in fancy plumage...

    Animals seen:
    Black-faced Woodswallow
    Rufous Treecreeper
    White-browed Babbler
    Blue-breasted Fairywren
    Buchanan's Snake-eyed Skink


    Afterwards I drove to Perth and checked into my Air B'n'B.


    Dawesville
    This is as far as I know the closest location to Perth (1h drive) to look for Western Ringtails. I got a tip on facebook for where to look for them and when I got to the street that was recommended to me I had my first in a matter of minutes. Final tally after half an hour was six individuals.

    Animals seen:
    Ngwayir

    Next up: Perth Zoo
     
    Last edited: 23 Apr 2018
  7. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I had planned to go on the whalewatchwesternaustralia Blue-whale tour but their ship got damaged so they had to cancel all trips for that week.
    And I had planned on going to Sugarloaf Rock but the Tropicbirds aren't there anymore so I scratched that.
     
  8. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Day 8

    Perth Zoo

    Got lucky again to visit a zoo during the school holidays.o_O
    I went to the nocturnal house first to get pictures of the species I didn't get any good ones of on my last visit and then headed to the Numbat enclosure for the same purpose. This time I actually got to see it without a fence in my way but only saw it in the morning and not during the later repeat visits. On the way I had a quick look for a couple of the carnivors to add to my list for the zoochat challenge.
    The Western Brush Wallabies were always eating or sleeping so only got ok-ish pictures of them and the Dampier Peninsular Monitor was hiding under his water bowl so didn't really see him at all.
    I accidentally happened upon the feeding in the freshwater enclosure, so got to see Merten's Water Monitors swimming and diving, which was cool.
    As prearranged I got to go behind the scenes to see the Short-eared Rock-wallaby in the afternoon (was told that I was the first person who asked to see it).
    In the evening just around closing time there was quite a couple of rats on the walkways looking for scraps.

    Animals checked off my list:
    Short-eared Rock-wallaby


    Barna Mia
    Another unsuccessful visit :(

    Animals seen:
    Wurrup
    Boodie
    Quenda
    Dalgyte
    Woylie
    Common Brushtail Possum

    Animals not seen:
    Marl

    Next up: Pilbara
     
    jayjds2 likes this.
  9. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Location:
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    Updated target list:
    Marsupials:

    Western Barred Bandicoot - Barna Mia Nocturnal Wildlife Experience, Arid Recovery, Heirisson Prong (?)
    Cape York Brown Bandicoot
    Long-nosed Echymipera

    Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat

    Southern Common Cuscus
    Common Spotted Cuscus

    Scaly-tailed Possum

    Mountain Brush-tail Possum/Southern Bobuck - (?)

    Little Pygmy-possum

    Gilbert's Potoroo
    Long-footed Potoroo

    Banded Hare-wallaby - Wadderin Sanctuary

    Bennett's Tree-kangaroo

    Monjon

    Rothschild's Rock-wallaby

    Purple-necked Rock-wallaby

    Cape York Rock-wallaby
    Godman's Rock-wallaby


    -----------
    Mulgara
    Kaluta
    Kultarr
    False Antechinus
    Ningaui
    Planigale
    (Stripe-faced Dunnart - Alice Springs Desert Park)

    Marsupial Mole


    Birds:
    Nightjar
    Painted Snipe
    Tropicbird
    Pratincole

    Quail-thrush
    (Grasswren)
     
  10. AWP

    AWP Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Saw one in the African area, short before closing. When I spotted it in the bushes, I was hoping for something more spectacular (native rat, marsupial). When I had a better look at it, it appeared to be just a simple rat.
     
  11. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I saw at least four or five...
     
  12. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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  13. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Location:
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    Oakover River area
    I was invited out to a camping trip. I wasn't on the lookout for wildlife most of the time but still saw a couple things.

    Animals seen:
    Red Kangaroo

    Spinifex Pigeon
    Zebra Finch
    White-necked Heron

    Bony Bream
    Murchison River Hardhead
    Spangled Perch
     
  14. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Karratha/Burrup Peninsula
    Drove to Karratha for a day (saw two Wedgies on the way) and headed up to the peninsular, because there's supposed to be Rothshild's Rock-wallaby around*. I didn't find any but Euros are abundant and the most suicidal macropod I've encountered during my travels so far. One managed to get under my car even though I was only going at 40km/h and stepped on the breaks hard and another one jumped into the passenger side door when I was doing 20km/h. At least it wasn't a total waste because I finally saw a Nightjar which flew past me very close (still wanna see one close up on the ground but it was a good view). Otherwise nothing too exciting.


    *They are supposed to be easy on some of the islands but of course there's no regular boats going there and a charter is ridiculously expensive

    Gallery

    Animals seen:

    Common Wallaroo

    Spotted Nightjar

    Eastern Reef Egret
    Wedge-tailed Eagle
    Nankeen Kestrel
    Galah
    Little Corella
    Crested Pigeon
    Peaceful Dove
    Red-backed Kingfisher
    Singing Honeyeater
    Magpie-lark
    Yellow-throated Miner
    Zebra Finch
     
    Last edited: 13 May 2018
  15. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Port/South Hedland
    This is basically just a list of birds I see around town regularly with the exception of raptors, which there's quite a few around but I usually don't get around to IDing (maybe they'll get their own post in the future).

    Animals seen:
    Straw-necked Ibis
    Australian Pied Oystercatcher
    Silver Gull
    Peaceful Dove
    Bar-shouldered Dove
    Crested Pigeon
    Galah
    Little Corella
    Blue-winged Kookaburra
    Rainbow Bee-eater
    Yellow-throated Miner
    White-plumed Honeyeater
    Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
    Magpie-lark
    Australian Magpie
     
    Last edited: 26 May 2018
  16. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    A couple more birds that I saw around town this morning. It was quite foggy so all the birds were huddling on lanterns or branches, which made finding them a lot easier.

    Pheasant Coucal (only one, not nearly as common as in QLD)
    Pacific Reef Egret
    Gull-billed Tern
    Caspian Tern
    Rock Dove
    Red-backed Kingfisher
    White-breasted Woodswallow
    Willie Wagtail
    Zebra Finch
    Canary White-eye (also not common)

    Raptors:
    Black-shouldered Kite (at least six today)
    Black Kite (very common)
    Whistling Kite (common)
    Brahminy Kite (only one)
    Osprey (three today)

    Nankeen Kestrel (relatively common)
     
  17. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I'll do a quick one for my last couple of outings so I have it out of the way for the exciting stuff coming up soon.

    Day 1 - Broome
    A friend and I decided to do the 6h drive up for the weekend (back in May). We'd originally planned on staying at the Bird Observatory for the first two nights but because google maps takes you to the wrong road and the promised "you don't have to book in advance, we can just do it when you get here" tours were all of a sudden not happening anymore we got beds at a hostel close to Cable Beach instead.

    Day 2 - Broome
    12 Mile Bird Park

    We went to the bird park first as the Crocodile Park only opens for a couple hours in the afternoon.
    I guess the species list isn't too bad for Australia but there wasn't much for me to get excited about and it was a bit heavy on parrots. Cages were the usual small privat Australian zoo type.

    Gallery

    Animals checked off my list:
    -

    Animals seen (wild):
    Double-barred Finch
    Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
    Crested Pigeon


    The Mango Place
    As we had some time to kill we headed here for a drink. A Pied Butcherbird (photo) decided to sit on the couch next to me.

    Animals seen:
    Pied Butcherbird


    Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park
    The place is only open from 2pm to 5pm and pretty expensive for what it is. We barely had time to look at everything before the crocodile feeding tour started. Nothing exciting species-wise here either and not surprising very Crocodile-heavy. Towards the end of the tour the mozzies started coming out in full force so we left early.

    Gallery

    Animals checked off my list:
    -

    Animals seen (wild):
    White-necked Heron
    Little Pied Cormorant
    White-gaped Honeyeater


    Stuff that didn't happen:
    spotlighting (that's what happens when you don't travel by yourself I guess)
    dolphin boat tour (weather)
    aquarium (not enough time)

    Next up: Day 3 - Broome

     
  18. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Day 3 - Broome
    This was pretty much a non-wildlife day. We went to the museum (small and a bit cluttered) and SSJG History Centre (small but well structured). After we tried to find some dinosaur footprints but were unsuccessful (though the search was pretty half-hearted, because I guess putting in some effort would have been too much to ask from backpackers more concerned with their Instagram...). I did see an Osprey and White-bellied Sea-eagle though.

    Animals seen:
    Osprey
    White-bellied Sea-eagle

    Next up: Day 4 - Kimberley Birdwatch
     
  19. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Day 4 - Broome
    Kimberley Birdwatch

    On our last day I went out on a private day tour ($300) with George Swann who luckily for me had just come back from Kununurra.
    We started in a Mangrove area, where we got every possible species except the local subspecies of Yellow-bellied Flyrobin. Then we moved on to Roebuck Plains to look for Australian Pratincoles. We found them easy and also got lucky with a couple Oriental Pratincoles that hadn’t left the area yet. While wading through the grass we also flushed a juvenile Painted Snipe, but the views weren’t great and we couldn’t locate the parents (so it stays on my list for better views). After we made a quick stop at the Bird Observatory and had a look for dolphins and waders from the beach (both not very successful as we couldn’t ID the one down login we saw and only got onto a handful of birds). Our last stop was a couple of lakes.
    I wouldn’t have minded to extend the day for some spotlighting but George wasn’t too keen.

    Animals seen:
    Agile Wallaby

    Green Sea Turtle
    Yellow-spotted Monitor

    Desert Tree Frog
    Giant Frog
     
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  20. Najade

    Najade Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
    Greater Bowerbird
    Black Kite
    White-winged Triller
    Red-headed Honeyeater
    Yellow White-eye
    Dusky Gerygone
    Brown Honeyeater
    Mangrove Golden Whistler
    White-breasted Whistler
    Broadbill Flycatcher
    Mangrove Grey Fantail
    Little Bronze Cuckoo
    Brown Goshawk
    Australian Hobby
    Spotted Harrier
    Glossy Ibis
    Torresian Crow
    Whistling Kite
    Fairy Martin
    Tree Martin
    Gull-billed Tern
    Masked Lapwing
    Willie Wagtail
    Black-winged Stilt
    White-breasted Woodswallow
    Pacific Black Duck
    Hardhead
    Eurasian Coot
    White-faced Heron
    Austr. Grebe
    Straw-necked Ibis
    Brolga
    Little Egret
    Reef Egret
    Nankeen Kestrel
    Little Friarbird
    Brown Falcon
    Black-tailed Native-hen
    Oriental Pratincole
    Austr. Pratincole

    Wedge-tailed Eagle
    Grey Teal
    Red-kneed Dotterel
    Plumed Whistling Duck
    Wandering Whistling Duck
    Whiskered Tern
    Austr. Painted Snipe
    Little Eagle
    Silver Gull
    Lesser Crested Tern
    Great Egret
    Brahminy Kite
    Grey-crowned Babbler
    Bar-tailed Godwit
    Grey-tailed Tattler
    Whimbrel
    Striated Heron
    Pied Oystercatcher
    Great Knot
    Little Pied Cormorant
    Pink-eared Duck
    Rufous-throated Honeyeater
    Comb-crested Jacana
    Yellow-tinted Honeyeater
    Swamphen
    Rainbow Bee-eater
    Green Pygmy-goose
    Sacred Kingfisher
    Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
    Austr. Woodduck
    Black-tailed Treecreeper
    Galah
    White-necked Heron
    Striated Pardalote
    Crested Pigeon
    Red-winged Parrot
    Jacky Winter
    Paperbark Flycatcher
    Austr. Magpie
    Blue-winged Kookaburra