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Wednesday, 2 October, 2013

 

Wednesday was an absolutely fantastic day of birding.  The weather was perfect – sunny, no clouds, warm, and just a light breeze that came up in the afternoon, which kept it from heating up too much.  And there were birds.

 

I had gotten to bed by 9 again on Tuesday night, and I set my alarm for 4:45.  I also took half a sleeping pill and sprayed my nose with Afrin, in an attempt to keep it from plugging up too much.  I slept pretty well, and actually was up by 4:30.  I took care of my morning things, and was ready to go when Carol picked me up at 6:15.  Yes, that’s right, my long day of birding started at 6:15 AM and lasted until after 6 PM.

 

I had hired a professional bird guide for the day, Carol Probets, who is one of the top bird guides in Australia.  She commands a fee of $480 per day, which is a little rich for me, but I had emailed her and asked her to let me know if another birder showed up who wanted to split her fee for the day.  As it turned out, one did.  We were joined by Ed, a birder who lives in Sydney.  Each of us paid $250, which was an excellent bargain, especially as the day turned out so great.  I had hired Carol in 2006, with a split fee situation that time, too.

 

Before Carol and Ed even showed up at 6:15, I had wandered around the yard here at Glen Alice Farm, and I picked up WHITE-PLUMED HONEYEATER (a common bird) and SPINY-CHEEKED HONEYEATER (an uncommon bird here in the valley, but it will be common where I’m going next).  So, I was off to a great start, and it wasn’t even 6:15 AM yet.

 

It was such a beautiful morning that I took pictures of the view from the cottage.  Here is the view looking to the right a little bit.

 

You can tell it is early morning by the color of the light.  Here is the view to the left of that picture, with some overlap.

 

And, finally, here is the view to the left.  There is more view to the left of this picture, too, but it was too much into the sun to take another picture.

 

The pictures don’t really do justice to the view.  It is much more impressive in person.  My camera has a fairly wide-angle lens, and as a result, the mountains are a lot closer than they look in the pictures.

 

So, Carol and Ed picked me up at 6:15, and we headed out.  Ed lives in Sydney, which is less than a three hour drive away, but this was the first time he had birded in the Capertee Valley.  As a result, he was interested in seeing the same birds I wanted to see, and that made for a comfortable day of birding.  One of the birds that both of us wanted very much to see is a type of finch.  I have looked for it on several previous trips, and had never seen it.  They aren’t really rare, but they are uncommon, and they only live in a few places.  As it turned out, the best place in the valley for them this year is just down the road from where I’m staying, so we went there first.

 

We got out of the car, and there on the wire was a PLUM-HEADED FINCH (lifer).  It was soon joined by a second one.  Carol set up her scope, and Ed and I both had great looks at the little darlings.  Once we had both seen them well, I moved in to try to get pictures.  They were fairly skittish, and kept moving up and down the fence line, but I managed some mediocre pictures.  Here is a picture of a female Plum-headed Finch.

 

It is looking right at me, so it looks kind of strange.  That patch on her head is a dark plum color.  Here is a male.

 

The little spot of color on its chin is what marks it as a male.  Like I said, mediocre pictures, but I have been trying to see this species for so long that I was excited to get any kind of pictures at all.  Maybe I will get better ones before I leave here.

 

The next species for my trip list was AUSTRALASIAN PIPIT.  Here is a picture.

 

I got that picture from the car, just up the road from Glen Alice Farm.  I also added ZEBRA FINCH to my trip list from the car, and we were to see those later, with pictures.

 

Our next official stop was up the valley a few miles, and it was a major destination for us.  As soon as we got out of the car, you could hear lots of bird sounds.  Carol was immediately able to identify Noisy Friarbirds and a great one for my list – MUSK LORIKEET.  That was the second “good” bird for me for the day, as I had it at only a 50% chance in my spreadsheet, for the entire trip.  Here is the best picture I could get, as they actively fed on the eucalypt fruit.

 

Here is the best I could get of a Noisy Friarbird.

Friarbirds are kind of strange looking, with their bare black heads.  They are members of the Honeyeater family, and I expect to see two other species of friarbird on this trip.

 

We went through a gate into a paddock and wandered around, hearing and seeing birds.  Carol spotted a LEADEN FLYCATCHER and I got a look at it as it flew away.  I was able to see it well enough to count it, though.  There were a number of REGENT HONEYEATERS around, which was great, as they are a quite uncommon bird and one that every birder who comes to the Capertee Valley wants to see.  The estimate is that there are only 500 to 1000 Regent Honeyeaters left, and there is a campaign to try to save them.  We estimated that we must have seen between 6 and 12 different individual birds in that one paddock, and we later saw them at three other sites as well.  I had opportunities for some great pictures, but I kept just missing them as the bird flew away, and this is the best I was able to do.

 

At least you can see the striking marking on the bird, even if it is at a weird angle.

 

At one point there was an Eastern Spinebill, a bird I had seen already on the trip, but I wanted a picture.  Just as I was taking the picture, the bird flew, though, and this is what I got.

 

You can see the characteristic curved bill of the species, as well as some of the coloration.  I think it is kind of cool the way the feet are hanging down, and the bird has not yet spread its wings.  Not a great picture, but I think it is an interesting one.

 

Carol heard and then saw a little group of another species I wanted to see, and we chased them through the paddock until I could get looks at GREY-CROWNED BABBLER.  I only had them at 50% in my spreadsheet, so that was satisfying.  We soon got good looks at one of Australia’s smallest bird, WEEBILL.  It does indeed have a very short little bill.

 

Next up was another species that I had really wanted to see here, because I won’t see it anywhere else on my trip.  Carol heard one, and we tracked it down.  Here are a couple of pictures of a SPECKLED WARBLER, which I had at 60% in my spreadsheet.  I was doing great getting the “good” birds of the Capertee Valley, or maybe I should say, Carol was doing great at getting me the good birds of the Capertee Valley.

 

 

We chased other birds that Carol heard, but the only other one I added to my list there was BUFF-RUMPED THORNBILL.  That was great both because it was one I only had at a 20% chance in my spreadsheet and also because it was one I never would have been able to identify on my own.  It also doesn’t live in many of the places I will be visiting on this trip.

 

We spent over two hours in that paddock, crossing and re-crossing it, as we chased birds that Carol had heard.  As I said before, we saw Regent Honeyeaters in several places there.  Finally we had had enough, and we moved on.  Before we left, I got another picture of a Musk Lorikeet.  Not great, but it shows the markings.

 

We stopped a couple of other places to look for an uncommon bird that I knew I would need help identifying, and at the second one, we finally got onto a couple of WESTERN GERYGONES, a very plain little bird.  I only had that one at 10% in my spreadsheet.  Carol used playback quite judiciously but effectively all day long, and the Western Gerygone was one of the species that responded by flying in and calling back to us.  To our pleased surprise, while trying to see one of the Western Gerygones, we spotted another species that is quite difficult.  I got only my second look ever at VARIED SITTELLA.  There was a nest, and I even got a picture of the bird.

 

 

Note the characteristic slightly upturned bill.  I only had Varied Sittella at 40% in my spreadsheet.  I keep harping on my spreadsheet percentages because they are indicative of how difficult the birds we were seeing were.  I kept mentioning species to Carol, and she kept finding them for us.  Ed was as pleased as I was, I think, as he got more lifers than I did.

 

At that point, we headed for our morning tea break, furnished by Carol.  On the way there, there was a YELLOW-BILLED SPOONBILL at a small dam.  “Dam” in this context refers to what we would call a farm pond, usually built to provide a watering place for stock.  Here is a picture of the spoonbill.

 

This next picture really shows off the “spoon bill”.

 

The bird feeds by sticking its bill down into the mud at the bottom of the dam, and then moving it back and forth as it walks along.  I imagine it is catching little mollusks or something.

 

As we came into Carol’s property, I picked up RUFOUS SONGLARK for my trip list.  I later got this picture of a Rufous Songlark, at a different location.

 

Just inside her gate, Carol showed us a nest being built, and we saw the male and female MISTLETOEBIRDS as the female carried material to the nest.  The male flew along with her, maybe guarding her (or more likely, keeping other male Mistletoebirds away from her), but she did all the gathering and nest building.

 

Our morning tea site was the front porch of Carol’s cabin.  She has a nice looking little cabin on some property here in the valley.  The property is very “birdy”, and it is always part of one of her Capertee Valley birding tours.  We sat on the front porch (veranda, they would call it) in comfortable chairs and had coffee, cake and cookies.  Her cabin doesn’t have electricity, but she must have a propane stove or something to heat the water.  She provided coffee in tea bags.  I haven't ever seen that before, and it tasted a lot better than “instant” coffee does.  I wonder if that is available in the US.  I would imagine so, but I haven’t ever seen it.

 

There is a bird bath with sticks and stuff in it, out in front of the veranda, and from time to time a small group of birds would come in to the water.  There were also at least a half a dozen Zebra Finches around, as they nest under the eaves of the veranda.  Here is a picture of the very colorful male Zebra Finch.

 

Here is the slightly less colorful female.

 

I added several honeyeaters there at Carol’s birdbath.  Here is a picture of a couple of FUSCOUS HONEYEATERS.

 

I thought it was pretty cool to catch one with its wing open like that.

 

Here is a picture of the striking YELLOW-TUFTED HONEYEATER, with a male Zebra Finch in the foreground as a bonus.  This was my last chance to see Yellow-tufted on the trip, so it was great to see them there at Carol’s place.

 

Carol pointed out a RESTLESS FLYCATCHER, too, before we finished our tea (well, I think we were all actually drinking coffee, but the break itself is called “tea” in the local parlance).

 

When we were done with tea, we walked around Carol’s property for an hour or two.  We soon got STRIATED PARDALOTE, and soon after that saw a single DOUBLE-BARRED FINCH.  Carol then heard some babblers, and we chased them for a while until we got good looks at WHITE-BROWED BABBLERS.  I was very glad to get them, as this is about the last place on my trip they would be possible, and I only had them at 30% in my spreadsheet.  While chasing the babblers, trying to get a good look, I also saw my first PEACEFUL DOVE of the trip.  Soon after that we got DUSKY WOODSWALLOW.  I got this picture of a Dusky Woodswallow later, in another location.

 

I think they are very attractive for such a plain colored bird.  Note the white on the tail.  That helps identify them when they are flying far above you.

 

I asked about another difficult honeyeater, and Carol used playback to attract a couple of STRIPED HONEYEATERS.  I only had them at 50% in my spreadsheet.  Carol was really doing great for me.  Next was a rather rare honeyeater, and Carol knew she had them on her property.  We worked at it, and got excellent looks at the very uncommon PAINTED HONEYEATER (lifer).  My second lifer of the day.  I had originally had them in my spreadsheet at only 10%, but I had increased that to 70% when Carol reported that she was seeing them on her property, about three weeks ago.

 

We got a good look at a BROWN TREECREEPER next, and then got onto a really great one that I had only ever seen once before, CRESTED SHRIKE-TIT.  I had that in my spreadsheet at only 30%.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of that guy, as it is very striking looking, yellow and black and white.  I really hadn’t expected to see one on this trip.

 

We looked and looked and looked for another honeyeater that Carol knew was on the property, but we couldn’t find one.  Then, as we were getting ready to leave, I checked out the bird bath once more, and managed to snap just one picture of a lovely BROWN-HEADED HONEYEATER.  That one was only 50% in my spreadsheet, too.

 

We also spent about half an hour walking around trying to flush a Painted Buttonquail, but were unsuccessful.  Here is a picture of one part of Carol’s property, on the edge of the forested part.

 

Here is a picture of part of the forested area, and you can see her cabin through the trees.

 

So, after a lot of walking there, we headed for our lunch stop, at the place where Ed was staying, as it turned out.  Carol knows the owner well, and although the owner wasn’t there, we ate our lunches on the patio there.  There were some birds to watch there, too, and after we ate, we wandered around the grounds a little, looking for birds.

 

Oh yes, I left something out.  On our way out of Carol’s property, there was a BROWN FALCON sitting in a dead tree.  Here is a picture.

 

Not a very sharp picture, as it was a long way away, and I was hand holding the camera, against a bright background.  It shows the characteristic brown “moustache” of the species though.

 

Anyway, after our lunch and our wander there, we made a stop at Glen Davis campground to use the rest rooms there.  From there we moved on to our last big walk of the day, on the trail behind Oska’s Cottage, which was where I had stayed the last time I was here, in 2006.  I was getting pretty tired by that time, and I slowed us down, but we had a nice walk for another hour or more.  Among other birds, we were looking for a particular honeyeater, but never caught up with it.  While looking, we did see another one I needed, though, WHITE-NAPED HONEYEATER.  We saw some other birds, and then got onto a couple of LITTLE LORIKEETS, a species that both Ed and I had especially wanted to see.  Usually they are feeding high in trees, or are flying overhead, but these two actually posed for us.

 

One of them flew to a hole in a tree, maybe just checking it out, or maybe they had a nest there.

 

We had Brown Treecreeper, Sacred Kingfisher, and Dusky Woodswallow on that walk, too.  By the time we got back to the car, I was pretty pooped, and it was getting late.  We had one more stop to make, though.

 

Here is a picture of Carol and the Old Rambler, after that last walk, behind Oska’s Place.

 

We stopped at the Genowlan Rd bridge over the Capertee River, to look for several species.  We again missed on the Black-chinned Honeyeater, which we had been looking for all afternoon, although we did hear one making its loud call.  It was our only honeyeater “miss”, I think.  We did see woodswallows there, though, and picked up WHITE-BROWED WOODSWALLOW.  The males are very handsome birds, but I wasn’t able to get a good enough picture to show.  I’ll definitely be trying to get one later in the trip, though.  There were also FAIRY MARTINS, a type of swallow, nesting under the bridge, so I picked them up for my last new bird of the day.  There was an Azure Kingfisher there, too.

 

As I already mentioned, it was after 6 PM by the time I got “home”.  My cold was much better on Wednesday, but I could still feel it, and it definitely slowed me down and tired me out more than usual.  Still, I was able to do an almost 12 hour birding day, and we were walking or standing for at least 8 hours of that time.  I only had time to do a little email and have some dinner, and it was bedtime.  Oh yes, I did manage to have a little drinkie, as soon as I got back.

 

It had been an incredible day.  I saw a total of 70 species, and 35 of those were new for my trip list.  That was way better than I could have imagined doing.  There were two lifers, too – Plum-headed Finch and Painted Honeyeater.  That brought my total for the trip to 144 species, of which 4 are lifers.  I went to bed wondering if there would be anything left for me to see for my trip list on Thursday, since I had another full day here in the valley.