April 15, 2005
Early morning
Our primary destination for today was Rottnest Island, but before we got on the train to where we’d catch a ferry, we had breakfast with Helen and Daniel at Kings Park. Of course, I spent a few minutes wandering around outside looking for birds.
I found the Western subspecies of Australian Magpie (G.t. dorsalis), although my first impression is that they’re not as numerous here as they were in Sydney. Australian Raven were noisy and active, as were the Rainbow Lorikeet. I was surprised to see them here, but apparently Perth is the only place in the western half of the country where these birds can be found – and there are a LOT of them. I’ve heard them every morning from H&D’s home, too. I saw a beautiful Twenty-eight Parrot while driving into the park, and found a few more in trees near the road during my walk. I also spotted a Grey Butcherbird on my walk, thinking it was a kingfisher at first (because of the shape of the bill), but it turns out they’re not closely related at all. Another new bird was the Red Wattlebird, who were flying about and calling noisily in the trees near the restaurant where we had breakfast – mostly, they seemed to be flying around together in pairs, chasing one another around and calling loudly. The red feathers on the face are interesting . . . the bird can make them hang down from the face, which is where they get the name, I suppose?
As we drove from the park to the train station, I caught I just caught a glimpse of some Galah flying past the car. I definitely need to get a better look at these lovely birds.
Later in the day, on the way home from Rottnest Island, I saw a Laughing Kookaburra and Willie Wagtail from the train, and some Welcome Swallows very near Helen and Daniel’s house.
Species List
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena carteri), Western Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis), Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides perplexus), Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata woodwardi), Twenty-eight Ringneck Parrot (Barnardius zonarius semitorquatus), Maned Duck (Chenonetta jubata), Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa superciliosa), Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus moluccanus), Gray Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus leucopterus), Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla sp.), Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae novaeguineae), Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys)
Let me know what you think!