Big Year.......Big Dip?

Early in the week as we began planning for our three day weekend, a report came through of a Bustard on the eastern end of Hindmarsh Island. This can be a tricky bird to find in South Australia at any time of the year, you'd normally have to visit the extreme north of the State to have any real chance of finding one. As this individual was just over an hours drive from home it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. During the rest of the working week there had been no further reports even though several birders had been searching, but despite that we decided to start early on the Saturday and head down there in time for early morning anyway.

Just after dawn we were in the general area the bird had been seen last. We slowly drove the back tracks scanning the open paddocks either side of the road but after three hours and having covered the entire eastern end of the Island it was evident the bird had likely moved on, or at the very least was remaining well hidden and we had dipped! We did see lots of Cape Barren Geese and good numbers of Elegant Parrots but we decided to go chase other birds we still needed for our year lists instead.

We did a brief stop over at Tolderol Game Reserve where we saw a few Double-banded Plovers and a single Spotless Crake but from there we made our way down to the Coorong where we were going to camp for the night. Pulling off the Salt Creek loop road adjacent to the well known Malleefowl mound, it was evident, judging by the amount of dust flying around, that the birds themselves were actually in attendance. Having called in here a few times already this year for zero results, it was nice to get a lucky break, and we sat for quite a while as we photographed the pair of birds working the mound in tandem

One of the pair of Malleefowl working the mound

With still a couple of daylight hours left we decided to carry on along the loop track to look for several other species we still needed down here. We hadn't gone far before a small dark "rock" on the side of the road materialised in to a Beautiful Firetail. It flew up into a road side bush to join a couple of its mates but they quickly moved off before we could get the cameras out. Further down and around a corner we flushed a Bronzewing off the side of the road. This one actually landed on a log in plain view and proved to be a nice male Brush Bronzewing, although a little too far away to get any pictures. Satisfied with the views we had anyway we headed back to set up camp.

The next morning we had a walk around the campsite and we found that it was also being frequented a by a pair of Southern Scrub-Robins. These birds always seem to have a great sense of curiosity and they always seem hell bent on finding out what you're up to, great characters and one of my favourites.

The ever curious Southern Scrub-Robin

Also in camp a pair of Purple-gaped Honeyeaters made an appearance as part of a mixed feeding association of Silvereyes, Striated Thornbills and White-browed Scrub-wrens so we both added those to our lists. Keen to move on down the coast we packed up and drove the rest of the loop road looking for another special bird that lives down this way. Autumn is not a great time to see them as they arent very vocal and tend to skulk a bit compared to late winter early spring but it wasn't long before we had a pair of  Rufous Bristlebirds just off the side of the road. They played hide and seek for a bit before giving themselves up for a photograph

Rufous Bristlebird just about to leg it across an open patch of ground

Moving on from the Coorong having seen those species we needed to we drove down to Penola Conservation Park as we hadn't been there for a while. Lots of activity particularly around the picnic area and the walk along the main track produced a small family group of Southern Emu-wrens which was nice, but nothing else of note was seen. As we wanted to camp in Mary Seymour Conservation Park (a great spot and one of our favourites) we thought we'd visit Big Heath Conservation Park first and drive around the boundary track. Quite a bit of activity as it got later in the afternoon and we saw some nice birds including two coveys of six and eight Brown Quail just on the sides of the track. Such an intricately marked species its nice to get close views of any Quail on the deck

One of six Brown Quail in this particular covey

Quite a few Parrots around too including Blue-wingeds feeding in the paddocks adjacent to the park and Eastern Rosellas

Always something special about all the Parrots we see in Oz

Apart from some close looks at Red-necked and Swamp Wallabies, which is always nice, we couldn't find anything new for our year lists so we headed off to camp for the night in Mary Seymour as we wanted to be close to Bool Lagoon for the morning. In the last light as I was cooking our evening meal we heard the unmistakable call of a Fan-tailed Cuckoo, a bird we both needed, but it was a no show. To add insult to injury it called again not far from camp in the predawn light the next morning but still failed to show.........grrrrr! Never mind we'll get one eventually

Bool Lagoon is a fantastic place to visit when it holds a lot of water as it does this year, even if it takes the birds a while to realise the water is there!. As of now there are literally thousands of birds as the water starts to recede, but we were looking for one in particular...... Plumed Whistling Duck. These birds had been reported just after the Victorian Duck shooting season started (insert boos and hisses here) by Bob Green and we hoped they might stay given the wonderfully suitable conditions for them. Leading up to our visit we had heard that other birders had looked but had failed to locate them. Despite our best efforts circumnavigating the entire complex and seeing an impressive array of birds including over 65 Brolga and an Echidna, we also failed to find them............another dip!! We hope the trend doesn't continue!

Just two of the more than sixty five Brolga in the western section of Bool Lagoon

Always nice to see, the icon Ozzie animal adorning our five cent piece.. Echidna

Other interesting birds seen while we stopped for lunch included a nice first year White-bellied Sea-eagle being harassed by the numerous Whistling Kites whose underwing pattern mirrors that of their much larger cousin

First year White-bellied Sea-eagle being made to feel welcome by the resident Whistling Kites

We had made the most of a three day weekend but it was time to make the long haul home and prepare ourselves for another albeit shorter working week.

The Big Year though cares not for mundane things such as work and the birds continue to give themselves up despite the working week. I had a nice European Greenfinch at the bird bath while popping my breakfast dishes in the sink and I hadn't even left the comfort of my own home.......nice!