AUSTRALIA: WESTERN AUSTRALIA, Cheyne’s Beach

Oct 4: We spent a full day exploring the quiet, pristine area of Cheyne’s Beach, located 65 km east of Albany, on the south coast of Western Australia.  Our targets included three endemic, endangered species – Noisy Scrub-bird, Western Wattlebird, and Western Bristlebird – and we devoted much time trying to locate these hard-to-find birds.  It was lovely to spend the day on foot, birding at individual pace without having to travel long distances.

Waiting for the Noisy Scrub-bird to cross the road!

The Noisy Scrub-bird was considered extinct by early last century and only re-found in the 1960‘s. Their numbers have been increasing slowly steadily, benefitting by re-location efforts to expand it’s population.  This shy, secretive, ground-dwelling species lives in the dense undergrowth of this rich and diverse coastal heathland scattered with banksia and melaleucas.  The area adjacent to the campground featured the perfect habitat, just a short way down the road.  Barry advised that our best chance of seeing one was to position ourselves on the road and watch for it to cross from one patch of heathland to another.  We pulled over chairs and settled in to scan the roadside shrubbery, trying to anticipate where it might cross.  It was hard to believe that a bird with such a loud, penetrating call would be hard to pinpoint, but that was certainly the case, as we looked hard for over an hour.  This was certainly an exercise in patience! Suddenly, one ran across the dirt road at lightening speed.  It was gone in a blink, and if one was not looking in the right place at the right time, then…. sadly, a few of our group missed seeing this nine-inch bird (today).

New Holland Honeyeater on banksia

There were other species to see on our walk, including numerous beautiful New Holland Honeyeaters attracted to the flowering banksia shrubs. Purple-crowned Lorikeets zipped across the foliage at high speed, pulling up to land in a tree where they blended-in perfectly.  The distinctive call of the Australian Raven is reminiscent of a baby crying or a sheep’s “ba-aah.” Once one started calling, others joined in to form a chorus of wailing.

Golden Whistler

In the campground, Common and Brush Bronzewings, flashing rich chestnut coloration, stalked in the shadows of shade trees.  Red Wattlebirds chased each other around in defense of their feeding patches high in eucalyptus trees. Lower down, we eyed Golden Whistler and as its name would suggested it have a lovely song, White-breasted Robins, Red-winged Fairywren, White-browed Scrubwren, Shining Bronzed Cuckoo, and many Silvereyes.

Waychinicup National Park, Cheyne’s Beach

A 4 km sand track looped around from our cabins to encompass a protected cove in Cheyne’s Beach, the centerpiece of Waychinicup National Park.  As we began walking this trail, we found Tawny-crowned and White-cheeked Honeyeaters amongst the ubiquitous New Holland Honeyeaters, foraging in the lowland coastal scrub.  Overhead, the sky darkened and we experienced a bit of rain.  Enid and Nancy opted to continue on with Barry, to complete the 4km loop, and found a Southern Boobook (small owl) along the way.  The rest of us headed back for a brief respite.

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater

After lunch we relaxed for an hour or so before heading back out.  We walked down to the cove and found a Sanderling in the shoreline wrack.  We continued our search for the elusive Scrub-bird, taking up position once again along the road.  We focused on where we could hear the bird calling, which seemed less than 10 feet away; it called for a while before going quiet and presumably moving on.  We did have better luck with a couple of Western Wattlebirds, one of our target endemics, feeding on the red banksia flowers, and a stunning male Western Spinebill with chestnut throat and collar.

Western Grey Kangaroo

We were captivated by the sight of a Western Grey Kangaroo with a joey in the pouch, feeding amongst the vegetation close to the sand track. She did not seem to mind our presence, and continued to feed, often lifting her head up to watch us.  This joey was content inside it’s warm, cozy pouch, dependent upon its mother for nourishment and protection, but at this age it is also perfectly capable of jumping about and feeding on its own.

At the end of the day, we all gathered in Marie and Nancy’s chalet to relax with wine and cheese before having dinner at the campground facility.
all photos © adrian binns