Lake McLarty & Nairns 28th Nov 2019

After finding out from last week's visit that water levels are now suitable for waders to feed, I'll try to visit the lake at least once a week from now on. As the water level drops, new feeding areas will open up and wader numbers can change quite dramatically in the space of a few days.

I arrived at 5:40am and was quite surprised that someone was already there, a fellow birder called Peter Morris, who I had never met before. He accompanied me for the first part of the walk and it was pleasant to chat about the lake, it's birds and the threats it faces.

Sharp-tailed Sandpipers with Long-toed Stints, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers in the background

Pectoral Sandpiper

In terms of birds, there was noticeable increase in Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Pectoral Sandpipers compared to last week and Long-toed Stints had finally arrived (11+) and they and a single Wood Sandpiper were feeding in the flooded grassy areas. 

Long-toed Stint in flight

A flock of 11 Marsh Sandpipers were also a nice addition to the bird list. Being diminutive, pale grey and not very vocal, they can be easily overlooked.

waders in flight including Marsh Sandpipers

From Lake McLarty I drove the half an hour to Nairns, this a small reserve on the shore of the Peel Inlet. It can be a very hit or miss type of place. Often you get there and someone has been walking their dog through the reserve (even though it is not allowed) and there will be zero waders present. This visit though I hit the jackpot, there were literally hundreds of waders spread across the exposed mud. The birds were flighty and difficult to search through as they frequently took flight. I spent about an hour and half searching through the birds, a Little Stint stood out amongst the over a thousand Red-necked Stints, A conspicuously white Sanderling was also a nice find. 

Sanderling

I had a frustratingly brief view of what was highly likely to have been an Asian Dowitcher but the flock was spooked and I was never to see the bird again. All up there was somewhere in the region of 2,500 shorebirds, including Great and Red Knots, Curlew Sandpipers, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Red-necked Stints & Red-capped Plover. I counted it as a brilliant morning of wader watching!

Great Knot with breakfast

My McLarty ebird checklist

My Nairns ebird checklist

Victoria Dam 25th Nov 2019

I decided on a trip to my local patch today, it was a bit windy which is never the best for woodland birding but otherwise it was a pleasant morning. Victoria Dam is (if you don't already know) one of the best sites to see many of the endemic bird species of the sw of Western Australia. Add that to being situated only a couple of kilometres from my house and you can see why I visit it often. 

White-breasted Robin

In fact the first 3 species I saw were endemics (Western Wattlebird, White-breasted Robin and Gilbert's Honeyeater), I could also hear the mournful call of the Red-eared Firetail along with the busy chattering of a flock of Varied Sitella. I made my way along the path to the dam where I was greeted by a Pied Cormorant sitting on the plastic pontoon on the lake, not a rare species but it is the first one I've seen at Victoria Dam (the 96th species I've seen there.) and it's always nice to see something out of the ordinary.

Pied Cormorant

Further down towards the base of the dam, I cam across a couple of family groups of both Splendid and Red-winged Fairy-wrens feeding on the parched lawn. Another obliging White-breasted Robin came out the dense vegetation surrounding the stream at the bottom of the dam and a young Scarlet Robin was quietly drinking from a small puddle under a leaky pipe.

Red-winged Fairy-wren

Splendid Fairy-wren

I walked over to the base of the dam to look for ducks that often sit in the pond at the base of the dam wall, but no luck today. As I turned around to set off home, I noticed a Western Rosella had landed briefly on the lawn, I managed to get one photo off before this notoriously skittish species took flight back into the scrub. 

Western Rosella

I walked slowly back to the car, noticing a Wedge-tailed Eagle circling on the thermals about the carpark. A good two hours of birding, seeing 48 species (10 southwest endemics)


My ebird checklist

A visit to Lake McLarty, 21st Nov 2019

It seems appropriate that my first blog post should be about Lake McLarty, a site I have visited many times over the last 20 years. It is situated about an hour's drive south of Perth, on Mills road east just off the Forrest Highway.

View from southern end of the lake

Once the jewel in the crown of southwest Western Australian wader watching, it is still one of my favourite birding spots!

Although the lake has been ravaged by the effects of climate change compounded by bad management, there is a rescue plan in place, though even the most optimistic forecast is that it will take at least a decade before the lake is anywhere near it's former glory. Despite all these problems, the lake is still one of the best places for wader watching during the summer months until it dries up.

The forecast of a top temperature today of only 23c (compared to recent temps in the high 30's or low 40's) seems ideal for a visit. I arrived at 6:45am, a bit later than I usually do and was pleased to see that the water had receded enough from it's winter peak for there to be some muddy edges. I was, as hoped, immediately greeted by a good sized flock of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Curlew Sandpipers.

Mixed flock of waders

Luckily the water was shallow enough for me to wade along the southern edge of the lake, it was still early enough in the day that the Stubble Quail were calling and a couple of Shining Bronze-cuckoo was singing away in the adjacent woodland. The eastern shoreline was a hive of activity with hundreds of feeding Pied Stilts accompanied by a few Common Greenshank. 

Pied Stilts

Five Cattle Egrets flew overhead and landed in a nearbly tree, this species used to be rare in sw WA but recently it has become a far more common sight, the birds looked splendid in their breeding plumage.

Cattle Egrets in flight

 Scanning the Sharp-tailed Sandpipers through my scope I managed to find one of it's rarer cousin, a Pectoral Sandpiper. It's always a good challenge to separate these two species especially when they are skulking around in the long grass. I didn't find any Long-toed Stints but I'm confident they'll show up later in the season. As I walked northwards along the shoreline the depth of the water increased, prevented any further progress so I retraced my steps back towards the entrance gate. A couple of Regent Parrots flew over calling as well as a flock of noisy Little Corellas. 

Sharp-tailed Sandpipers

On my return journey, I managed to get close enough to the Sharpies to a reasonable photo and also came across a Pacific Heron and Great Egret feeding in the flooded grass.

Pacific Heron and Great Egret

I arrived back at my car having spent a thoroughly enjoyable 3 hours at the lake, seeing a total of 60 species.

My ebird checklist