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2026/07/28: Lake Argyle and Kununurra, WA
Had an exciting birding cruise on Lake Argyle, the primary targets being Yellow Chat and Short-eared Rock Wallaby. Saw both extremely well; the chats were mostly singing males in stunning plumage! White-quilled Rock-Pigeon was another lifer, and we added Australian Bustard, White-browed Crake, and Singing Bushlark to the trip list. Gouldian Finches were a marvelous bonus bird! We had over 50 spp on the cruise, getting our WA list off to a good start. With the Rock-Pigeon covered, we spent the afternoon chasing nomadic finches north of Kununurra, with great success, finding two lifers, Yellow-rumped Munia and Star Finch!
2026/07/29: Kununurra, WA
Walked the trail at the golf course early and quickly had scope views of a pair of delightful Buff-breasted Robins. Then focused on Purple-crowned Fairywren, having picked out the best-looking habitat on satellite photos. This was our fourth and final chance for this highly desired species, and we finally got them! It was a family group, and we saw an adult male, adult female, and juvenile extremely well. Eileen also got nice photos of Star Finch at the same spot. Then headed towards Wyndham, spending the rest of the day driving on serious washboard on King River Road and the road into Marlgu Billabong. The former was interesting, with a range of terrain including a large salt pan, and the latter had a fine assortment of water birds as well as Pheasant Coucal and a huge crocodile.
2027/07/30: Transit Southwest
Based on calendar dates, today is the midpoint of our trip. Drove 6 hours in the first of two days skirting around the Kimberley. We cannot explore this area because of the long dirt access roads, some negotiable only by 4WD, and then only in the dry season. Saw a Black-breasted Kite and Dingoes following a bit behind an adult Red Kangaroo.
2027/07/31: Derby, WA
A nice drive, mostly through Spinifex Rocky Desert, Tropical Tussock Grassland, and Northern Acacia Savanna. Added 14 WA birds at the Boab Prison Tree, Wastewater Treatment Plant, and in Derby itself, notably Gray Whistler. Tried for Greater Northern Free-tailed Bat, said to roost beneath the jetty, but we did not record any. However, single recordings were identifiable as Northern Coastal Free-tailed Bat and Northern Broad-nosed Bat, both lifers!
2027/08/01: Broome, WA
Eileen finally got great views of Mangrove Gerygone this morning, and photographed Australian Yellow White-Eye. Arrived in Broome over the lunch hour and made reservations for a Snubfin Dolphin boat trip two days hence. Drove out to Roebuck Bay for shorebirds, but had to let air out of the tires because of soft sand. The washboard was awful where the road was not covered with wind-blown sand. We spent several hours at Wader Beach, adding four shorebirds to the trip list. A leucistic Black-tailed Godwit was highly unusual.
2027/08/02: Broome, WA
We spent essentially the whole day along Roebuck Bay, mostly searching for shorebirds. The tide was to low when we arrived so we stopped at the Broome Bird Observatory. In the parking lot by the beach, the moment we stopped, we were accosted by a male Purple-backed Fairywren, which searched the vehicle for bugs, and attacked his reflection in both mirrors, which had to be turned in. Then watched the bird baths at the bird observatory from a screened building.
The tide rose quickly, and soon we were looking for shorebirds. Working west from the end of the principal road, found no flocks until Wader Beach, where we were yesterday. Spent 3-4 hours there, then tried spots farther west, hoping for a godwit flock. Good birds included Siberian Sand-Plover, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, and Marsh Sandpiper. Eileen spotted Australian Snubfin Dolphins, which we saw well in the scope — fabulous! This species is not readily seen anywhere other than Roebuck Bay. Finished the day by getting Thai takeout. During the 25 minutes they said it would take to prepare, we drove to the Streeter Jetty, walked to the end, and got Mangrove Fantail, a lifer for Eileen — very efficient!
At Wader Beach, I had seen one of the “collared” plovers, all of which are vagrants, but could not be sure of the ID. When sorting through Eileen’s photos, I discovered that it had been incidentally captured in flight in one of her avocet photos, and appeared to be Common Ringed Plover, a mega-rarity in Australia!
2027/08/03: Broome, WA
Saw Snubfins well on a cruise targeting them, and I got marginal looks at Dugongs. Because of high tidal ranges, there is no dock in Broome suitable for small to mid-size boats. They picked us up on the beach in a tender with deployable wheels, which they drove onto the sand!
In the afternoon, headed out to Roebuck Bay once more, arriving just after high tide. While scoping at Wader Beach met Nigel, a researcher, who had been making audio recordings of the vagrant plover I saw yesterday. He also believed the bird to be a Common Ringed Plover, pending analysis of his recordings. When a flock of godwits flew by and landed just around the next point, he kindly offered to quickly drive us there to check them out before they continued east to the mudflats being exposed as the tide dropped. Moments before they were scared off by a fisherman, I spotted an Asian Dowitcher, my most wanted bird in this region! Eileen did not get to see it but a Black-tailed Godwit in full breeding plumage was some consolation. Other trip birds were Common Redshank and Terek Sandpiper, bringing the shorebird total at Roebuck Bay to 20 species.
2027/08/04: Transit SW, Day 1
Purely a driving day to a lovely bush camp on Cape Keraudren, overlooking the Indian Ocean. White-winged Fairywren was a gorgeous life bird here in the Dune Spinifex Desert. This is the first of three long days of driving to reach the Central WA Coast.
2027/08/05: Transit SW, Day 2
Saw Spinifex Pigeon on the way out of camp in the morning; this is one of several primarily interior species that reaches the coast in the Pilbara Region. Photographed two new habitats, Samphire Flat and Arid Heathland. Detoured a bit to Samson Point to try for Dusky Gerygone in the mangroves there, and were quickly successful. Also detoured to the Burrup Peninsula, where we saw easily recognizable rock art depicting Thylacine, extinct on the mainland for two millennia, and in Tasmania for a number of decades. Camped at the Fortescue River, one of our nicest campsites of the trip.
2027/08/06: Transit SW, Day 3
A surprise today was seeing mulga again, for the first time since the Red Centre. It occurred principally over spinifex, allowing us to finally identify and photograph the habitat Spinifex Mulga, for which we searched diligently in the arid interior, without success. I thought we had entirely missed this habitat, but it now represents #40 out of 65 in Australia. After arriving in Carnarvon, tried to reach an Arid Heathland site that is no longer accessible, but I studied satellite photos of the area and we drove around until we found similar-looking habitat. We were rewarded with two lifers, Rufous Fieldwren and Chiming Wedgebill.
2027/08/07: To Monkey Mia, WA
The drive was interesting, mostly Arid Shrubland and Samphire Flat, with some Mulga as we approached Shark Bay. It was a nice change not to have some form of savanna dominating! Floral displays were outstanding where the shrubs were low and spread out, and the birding near Hamelin Pool was excellent, with two nomadic honeyeaters (Pied, a lifer, and White-fronted) particularly notable. The boardwalk out to the stromatolites [rare, extremely early lifeforms] at Hamelin Pool still has not been repaired since cyclone damage in 2021, so we did not see them well –disappointing at a World Heritage Site.
2027/08/08: Monkey Mia, WA
An outstanding day for both mammals and birds. Started very early on the Wulyibidi Yaninyina Trail and immediately saw Western Grasswren superbly; Eileen even got a good photo! This is the fifth grasswren we have tried for on this trip, and the first we have seen well. Next was Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins, which are fed from the beach under strict regulation in the mornings. We saw seven of these beautifully in about 1.5 hrs. A 2.5-hr catamaran cruise for Dugongs followed, and we had many good views as these distant relatives of Manatees foraged in the largest seagrass bed in the world. Other highlights were Short-beaked Echidna, Southern Scrub-Robin, Pacific Gull, Emu, and Southern Scrubwren, for a total of four life birds and two life mammals!
2027/08/09: Monkey Mia to Kalbarri NP, WA
Walked the Wulyibidi Yaninyina Trail one more time before leaving Monkey Mia. Another fine day for flowers. After regaining Rte. 1 and starting south, we entered an unusual habitat with a high diversity of trees, which I finally realized was Yilgarn Mixed Woodland, which I had not expected to see for several more weeks. Visited Kalbarri NP late in the day, seeing a group of 8 Emu; a wonderful display of flowering shrubs, some powerfully sweet-scented; and a marvelous view from Hawks Head, where we added Little Eagle to the trip list.
2027/08/10: Lake Thetis, WA
I stepped out of the camper this morning to track down a song I did not recognize, and happened to look straight up, where one of my most wanted birds was flying just ten feet over my head — White-backed Swallow! Eileen did even better, scoring the lifer through the window, without getting out of bed. This is surely one of the most elegant birds in Australia.
Today was our last very long drive for a while, finishing just north of Perth. There is a great deal to explore in the southwest corner of WA, with its Mediterranean climate and unique habitats. We’ve seen large changes over the last seven days. Broome was hot, sunny, and calm, but moving 12.5 degrees of latitude poleward brought us cold temps, strong winds, and heavy rain today. We were chased from the Lake Thetis stromatolites by a squall but did enjoy the impenetrable shrublands along the Indian Ocean coast.
We’ve now been in Australia for 14 weeks. The bird list is at 374 spp; Eileen has 95 lifers and I have 85. The mammal list is 67 spp; Eileen has 54 lifers and I have 55.
