Trip Report: Southwest & Nullarbor
Naretha Bluebonnet
Targets: Southwest Endemics, Western Splits & Specialties. Pink Cockatoo, Naretha Bluebonnet
Dates: 1st - 12th March 2025
Guide: Louis Masarei (Birding Southwest)
Guest: Robert Atkinson
Western Australia has a fair bit to offer from an endemics perspective. This high proportion of endemics might be thought of as due to its significant size when compared to other states of Australia, but it's not. It's due to geographic isolation. Our little pocket of wet and temperate forests alongside dense heath have been secluded to the southwest by the rest of this big dry continent. Historically, this isolation was strongly related to increasingly arid climates to the north and east. Moving into dryer woodlands and increasingly stunted mallee before hitting plains and deserts. As the flora and habitat changed slowly to the north and east, so did the fauna. This is where what those from the eastern side of Australia call the 'Western Splits' begin to pop up. Being from Western Australia, I think of these bird species more as the temperate transitionaries to their arid counterparts.
The Quail-thrush are a great example of this. Nullarbor Quail-thrush being a split from the Cinnamon Quail-thrush complex representing the more arid side of things and Copperback Quail-thrush representing the more temperate Chestnut Quail-thrush complex. But this trip was more focussed on the parrots, two transitional open woodland species. Naretha Bluebonnet, an isolated population of glowing dainty Bluebonnets found on the edges of the Nullarbor Plain and Pink Cockatoo, broadly distributed though found well from the edges of the plain and well into the woodlands that border it.
They were our main aim, but why not try for all of the southwest endemics, splits and specialties as well?
Western (Black-throated) Whipbird
These unique landscapes in the Southwest pocket of Western Australia are now bordered by an extensive wheatbelt representing a wall of aridity against the connection to the Great Western Woodlands and further onto the plains and deserts to the north and east. Our trip plan had to take this into account. Moving down through the well trodden southwest pathway before moving east along the coast, via Bremer Bay and its canyons on the continental shelf, Esperance and its beautiful island archipelago and on towards the Nullarbor.
The day-by-day itinerary with locations are below and the eBird trip report can be found here.
Day 1: Perth - Dryandra
Day 2: Dryandra - Stirling Ranges
Day 3: Stirling Ranges - Cheynes Beach
Day 4: Cheynes Beach
Day 5: Cheynes Beach - Bremer Bay
Day 6: Bremer Bay - Esperance
Day 7: Esperance - Cocklebiddy
Day 8: Cocklebiddy - Nullarbor
Day 9: Nullarbor
Day 10: Nullarbor - Cocklebiddy
Day 11: Cocklebiddy - Kalgoorlie
Day 12: Kalgoorlie - Perth
Great Australian Bight on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain
Dryandra
Departing from Perth, we hit a remnant piece of Jarrah-Marri woodland in the city to get things started. We were greeted by our local 'Forest' ssp of Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (ssp. naso). These birds use the remnant woodlands as roosting areas and forage on some of the introduced planted trees in lieu of extensive woodlands. We moved on out to the edge of the wheatbelt searching for Western Corella. We found them resting by the Avon River amongst many Little Corella and surrounded by waterbirds. This collection of waterbirds includes Australia's only tickable (barely) Mute Swan population. We moved along the edge of the wheatbelt south towards Dryandra spotting an Australian Owlet-Nightjar poking its head out of a Wandoo hollow on the way. Our evening drive through the Dryandra woodlands itself turned up some endemic parrots in fantastic light - Western Rosella, Elegant Parrot & Australian Ringneck (combinations of ssp 28 and Port Lincoln). We also came across our local subspecies of Splendid Fairywren (a potential future split), Western Thornbill and the ubiquitous Rufous Treecreeper on the passerine front. Having dinner in the woodland, we spotted Woylie & Western Brush-Wallaby on the mammal side of things. The following morning we targeted Blue-breasted Fairywren, Western Spinebill, Gilbert's Honeyeater, Spotted Scrubwren, Varied Sittella (Black-capped), Golden Whistler (Western), Scarlet Robin (Campbell's) & Western Yellow Robin amongst the huge lists of up to 50 species in this super productive Wandoo woodland. Of course, no trip through Dryandra would be complete without spotting a Numbat. We had seen one briefly the day before but got much nicer views in the mid-morning glow.
Stirling Ranges & Mallee
Our drive down towards the Stirling Ranges along long Wheatbelt roads turned up roadside Regent Parrot, Australian Ringnecks & Red-capped Parrots foraging on spilt grain. We had dinner down by the Porongorup Ranges but before settling in, we found Baudin's Black Cockatoo, Red-winged Fairywren & White-breasted Robin amongst the giant Karri trees as well as a surprise Mardo (Yellow-footed Antechinus) foraging in the dense litter. The morning brought us great photography opportunities as the retreat as we'd previously seen Western Fieldwren. Amongst the Gilbert's Honeyeaters & Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters we also spotted Purple-crowned Lorikeets & Purple-gaped Honeyeater.
Regent Parrot inspecting a hollow
Cheynes Beach
After our fill of photographs, we moved further south to Cheynes Beach. Our first target being Noisy Scrub-birds. We came across a male singing and showing well enough for this species while incidentally bumping into Carnaby's Black Cockatoos, Western Spinebills, Western Wattlebirds, & Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters. A quiet evening with Quenda (Southern Brown Bandicoot) foraging around the cabins gave us a short break before an early start the next day. Walking the tracks of Arpenteur Nature Reserve and Waychinicup National Park, we found ourselves sitting with obliging Western Bristlebird & Western Whipbird (Black-throated) to complete the three skulker set. The always productive Cheynes Beach and bay was busy with Crested Terns, Ospreys, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Pacific Gull, Sooty Oystercatcher & Common Sandpiper. Red-eared Firetail had been heard but not seen well yet so a late afternoon targeted search gave us great photo opportunities amongst the evening light. Southern Emuwrens showed up and showed off too.
Noisy Scrub-bird singing in the dense heath. Wait for the camera to pan and look for the black and white throat.
Bremer Bay
At this time of year Bremer Bay provides a perfect stopover as we skirt the southern end of the wheatbelt. Naturaliste Charters are running their now famed Orca tours out to the Bremer canyon system where Orca are seen as readily as anywhere in the world during the right season. The seabirds out on this ultra productive stretch of continental shelf are in fantastic numbers and diversity too. As we departed the granite headlands of Bremer bay, we were surrounded by Flesh-footed Shearwater & Australasian Gannet. Our first tube-nosed species of the day was a Shy Albatross followed very quickly by White-faced Storm-Petrel, Great-winged Petrel & Hutton's Shearwater as we approached the shelf edge and canyon system. The Orca were easily spotted and we spent the whole day watching them play and surf the swell with up to 90 of them including some very young calves. Throughout the day we spotted Long-tailed Jaeger, Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Bridled Tern & Black-browed Albatross. The major target of the day eluded us until we were making our way in. A single, usually common Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross streamed past the boat as we crossed the shelf back to Bremer Bay.
The next morning, we moved north into some very productive Mallee before our drive east to Esperance. In this Mallee we quickly got onto some singing Shy Heathwren and spent some time listening to and watching Southern Scrub-Robin. We also visited a Malleefowl mound although we didn't bump into its owner.
Esperance
On our trip further east, we stopped at a beach on the edge of the Fitzgerald River National Park where we saw a singular Hooded Plover amongst the foraging Red-necked Stint & Sanderling. Once in Esperance we started our search for the local specialties. Black-faced Cormorant were first as we scanned the beaches and islands for Rock Parrot. Late in the evening, we finally found a singular Rock Parrot foraging its dinner from the dunes before we went and found our own. The morning had us searching the paddocks for Cape Barren Goose, of which we found many nearby cattle troughs, before searching the world-class wetland system that Esperance is built around. In this system of salt and freshwater lakes, we saw Pink-eared Duck, Musk Duck, Chestnut Teal, Red-necked Avocet & Banded Stilt. Many shorebirds had us focussed and we eventually picked up a couple of Royal Spoonbill which are a rarity for the area and a representation of the region's northern and eastern connection. These wetlands are edged heavily with stands of Banksia and with that comes Western Wattlebird by the bucketload and Carnaby's Black Cockatoo.
Cocklebiddy and Eyre Bird Observatory
There is quite a drive from Esperance to the edge of the Nullarbor. We stopped at various pieces of the Great Western Woodlands, despite the heat of the day and picked up Rufous Treecreeper & Yellow-plumed Honeyeater. The rest of the drive on the Eyre Highway had us searching hard for birds as the afternoon warmth held on. Nankeen Kestrels, Pied Butcherbirds & Yellow-throated Miner made up the assemblage showing themselves in that weather. The next morning we would be heading down to the Eyre Bird Observatory in search of one of our major targets. In the pre-dawn light we had a Spotted Nightjar on the way down the escarpment. When we arrived we were surrounded by Pink Cockatoo & Brush Bronzewing who both provided us with absolutely exceptional views and photographic opportunities. This would be up there with one of the highlights of the trip and is such a unique and fantastic place to visit. To cap things off, as we got back up onto the plains, we had an Australian Bustard strut in front of the car and eventually bring its bulk to the sky.
The Nullarbor Plain
The plains themselves open up out of the woodlands as you head east up and down the escarpment and along the cliffs. It was hot, dry and dusty. This is becoming increasingly more common for this time of year out there. Our first look out amongst the Bluebush plains had us hearing our Nullarbor Quail-thrush but not seeing them. We were instead rewarded with wonderful views of Southern Whiteface before turning in for an early start the next day. We were up well before dawn to make it to our chosen stakeout. Along the way, we noticed a Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat sunning itself at its burrow entrance. These can be quite hard to find and see well so this was a moment to remember. But our real targets for the day were waiting for us up the road. They weren't far off as it turned out. We heard them call and then settle into feeding as we slowly approached our desired locations for photos. Naretha Bluebonnets put on a huge show for us. Confidingly foraging for fruit at eye level and only a few meters from us. This was the second major target of the trip and we could not have asked for more. Amongst them were a pair of Mulga Parrots and a handful of Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters. Two days in a row of huge parrot targets with wonderful photos to take home with us. The day heated up quickly and so we headed back home on the scenic route hoping to find something new. We did. Constantly flushing Nullarbor Quail-thrush off of the track while the temperatures soared to over 40 degrees. We hoped for photos in the evening as it cooled down but none were to be found in good light. We were instead rewarded with Inland Dotterel, Slender-billed Thornbill & Rufous Fieldwren.
The Return to Perth
With our Nullarbor targets satisfyingly seen, we headed back to Perth. We stopped for Red Kangaroo & Spotted Harrier and saw enormous numbers of house mice as we drove in the evening. We stopped in the woodlands again as we returned west, this time finding White-fronted Honeyeater and then eventually Copperback Quail-thrush. These were another significant specialty find for this trip and both a male and female showed exceptionally well. In other sections of the woodlands we came across Gilbert's Whistler & White-eared Honeyeater. Once in Kalgoorlie and well on the way home, we stopped at lakes and wastewater treatment plants to find Purple-backed Fairywrens & Countless Waterfowl. A very early start was coming the following day. We had missed a southwest endemic along the way and wanted to give it one last crack before we got to perth. After a big drive, we were rewarded by close views of a Western Shrike-tit to round off the endemics, near-endemics and specialties completely. A Hooded Robin in an area they are not regularly found sat there as our prize. With an afternoon to spare, we looked around some of Perth's wetlands and put the thus far overlooked introduced Laughing Dove to our list.
On this hugely successful trip we saw 187 species, all southwest endemics and all splits and specialties. This trip will be formalised into an itinerary with upcoming dates in the future.
If you'd like to experience this awesome trip, get in touch!
Robert with Naretha Bluebonnets
