Tasmania

Leaving Melbourne we made the short hop over to Tasmania via an internal flight using Jetstar landing at Launceston Airport just after 9.15 am and soon we had picked up our hire car from Bargain Cars on of the few companies happy for you to take their vehicle onto Bruny Island and were on our way. As we were not expected at our lodge until after 3 pm we made a brief detour and headed to the Tamar Wetlands. Like many places in Australia the reserve would be the envy of many over here with well laid out boardwalks and visiting facilities but like many other superb sites bereft of people. Little was new here though only Mallard ! was an addition to our list we did get better looks at Australian Reed Warbler and Little Grassbird

Tamar Wetlands

Time was now getting on so we collected provisions for our stay at Wilderness Lodge and started making our way there, we soon picked up our first Tasmanian endemic when we spotted some Native-hens in a roadside field. The commonest birds all had a familiar feel here with European Starling, Blackbird, Greenfinch and Goldfinch all being seen along the roadside.

Leaving the main roads and leaving tarmac behind we climbed higher into the mountains, a Pallid Cuckoo sat on a post remained long enough to be photographed although rain was now making things damp.  A male Scarlet Robin brought us to a stop again and a party of Black Currawong added another endemic to the list.

Pallid Cuckoo

Scarlet Robin

Home at Mountain Valley

Entrance to Mountain Valley

 We settled into our room at Mountain Valley and between showers started to explore the surrounding areas soon adding the endemic Yellow-throated Honey-eater, Flame Robin and a fly over Grey Goshawk to our lists, at dusk our hosts led us to the river where we waited unsuccessfully for signs of a Platypus although due to high river levels they had not been seen for a while. After dark it was time to try and stay awake and wait for the main event. Roadkill, chicken scraps and grain were spread on our tiny lawn outside the window and we settled down to wait. The delightful Tasmanian Pademelon were first to arrive to feast on the grain and then a Brush-tailed Possum then at 12.00 I awoke in time to see my first Tasmanian Devil timidly grab a lump of  meat and disappear off again, waking Kay we waited and had up to 4 more sightings before we gave in to tiredness and went to sleep. Examination of the camera trap the next day showed we had missed the first appearance at around 11.20 and they had continued to visit until just before dawn.

Rufous-bellied or Tasmanian Pademelon

Next morning was completely different the sun was shining it was a beautiful day, a pre-breakfast walk along the river produced more Pademelon encounters and a pair of Bassian Thrushes over the river while searching for Wombat but still no Platypus. After breakfast with Flame, Scarlet and the endemic Dusky Robins all interrupting proceeding we wandered off into the nearby forest to have a look around. 

Forest at Mountain Valley

Looking for Platypus

The forest was alive with birds and soon we had added Strong-billed Honey-eater to our endemics list and learnt to distinguish the endemic Tasmanian Thornbill from the also present Brown Thornbill, the endemic parrot Green Rosella at first only gave fleeting views but eventually we were to have good views and confirm their identity. A impromptu use of the Ipad in a densely vegetated area was an instant success when a pair of Tasmanian Scrubwren jumped into view followed by another endemic and reputedly the one most easily missed, Scrubtit.

Tasmanian Native-hen

Scrubtit.

Back at the chalet for lunch and a rest after a very successful morning we were able to add Yellow Wattlebird to our endemic list meaning we had now seen 10 of the 12 Tasmanian endemics and we were still only part into our first full day, other sightings during today had been Brown Falcon, Golden Whistler, Eastern Spinebills, Grey Shrikethrush, Silvereye and Australian Pipit. Late afternoon we had arranged to meet our hosts to be taken to see the Glow worm caves, after a very tricky climb down a slippery path into the caves which even Kay attempted we were treated to an amazing display of Glow worms shining in the back of the cave.

Path down to Glow worm cave.

  It was only fitting after such a successful day that tonight the Platypus search was also a success when we had albeit fairly brief views of a Platypus as it shot down stream at a rate of knots. As befits today's run of success we had barely settled down to wait for the Devils when the first arrived around 09.20 pm. During the evening we had multiple visits from clearly several different Devils but it was sad to see that at least 2 of them were victims of the facial cancers that is threatening to eradicate this magnificent animal.

Next day was a travel day as we had to make our way across Tasmania to be near the ferry to Bruny Island for the next phase of our visit. Not before we had another brief Platypus sighting at first light and had added Olive Whistler to our growing bird list on a successful morning walk seeing many of the birds from yesterday again. As we drove out I had brief views of a Beautiful Fire-tail along the track leading out of the lodge.
We had elected to take the scenic route across Tasmania via the lakes and mountains even though this meant driving on unsealed roads most of the way. This proved to be unwise as as soon as we left the main roads and climbed into the mountains the weather closed in and the entire journey was taken in heavy rain, strong winds with zero visibility on windy mountain roads meaning we saw none of the spectacular scenery we had hoped to see. By the time we had reached our overnight accommodation in New Norfolk the rain ceased and it was now a lovely evening.

Ferry to Bruny

The following morning after a lovely breakfast at the quaint Rosie's Inn where we had stayed the previous night we were off and heading for the ferry to Bruny. After a stop at Margate for fuel and provisions as we were not sure of their availability once we had left the mainland we arrived at the terminal with a short wait for the next ferry. Flowering trees in the nearby gardens attracted a few birds including Yellow Wattlebirds and closer inspection of some cormorants sat on a buoy showed them to be our first Black-faced Cormorants

Black-faced Cormorant

The Neck

From the ferry itself we saw a few Australian Gannets , Pacific Gulls and Short-tailed Shearwaters, on arrival at Bruny after the short 15minute or so crossing were more Black-faced Cormorants along with a few Pied and also a few Pied Oystercatchers. The journey down to Inala Wildlife Lodge our base for the next 2 days was only around 40 minutes and as we were still early we crossed North Bruny and stopped at the penguin rookery at the Neck the narrow strip of land joining north and south islands where we had lunch ( another hot australian pie that we had become addicted to ). No penguins were present in the middle of the day but in the distance offshore a large flock of presumably Short-tailed Shearwaters interspersed with a few White-capped Albatross wheeled around in a feeding frenzy. Continuing on we drove past Inala and down to Cloudy Bay where we found a group of Sooty Oystercatchers roosting on the rocks sheltering from what was quite a blustery wind. On the beach was  a group of Kelp Gulls  with a Pacific Gull alongside for comparison. As it was now time to make our way to Inala we returned along the track, stopping at some woods after spotting a Pallid Cuckoo on the wire we found several other birds including 2 Fan-tailed Cuckoos, Strong-billed Honey-eaters, Flame and Dusky Robins and a few Dusky Wood-swallows.
We arrived at our lodge only to be confronted by Zero a white morph Bennett's Wallaby that had been hand reared by our host Tonia sat by our front door.

Bennett's Wallaby

After unpacking and refreshments on the verandah we we went for a stroll down the road the explore our new surroundings, soon we found a group of Honey-eaters containing some Black-headed which we had missed on the mainland, Strong-billed, Yellow-throated and New Holland Honey-eaters. As we were walking a vehicle arrived and Tonia who we had met previously at the Birdfair, checked that everything was OK and confirm details of the night tour we had arranged to take, she also gave us directions as to where to find our final endemic. We were directed to a group of trees by the river and after a short wait we spotted our target a Forty-spotted Pardalote, a bird restricted to only a few sites in Tasmania. Late in the afternoon the distinctive haunting call of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos was heard as they passed overhead. The magnificent Black-Cockatoos of all species managed  to elude the camera throughout the trip either being seen in flight mainly at dusk or in roadside trees where it was difficult to stop.

Forty-spotted Pardalote

Forty-spotted Pardalote

Striated Pardalote

Black-headed Honey-eater.

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Pink Robin

Flame Robin

Golden Whistler

After dinner we were picked up by Tonia as arranged to go for a night drive across the Island combined with a visit to the penguin rookery at the Neck. It was soon apparent why night driving is not to be taken lightly and to why there are so many roadside victims as so many Bennett's Wallabies and Pademelons suddenly appeared from the shadows and with their movements so unpredictable driving past them at any pace was fraught with danger to both animal and driver. We headed over the Neck and up onto North Island where there was so little other traffic we could drive slowly searching for night animals, we soon found our first Eastern Quoll which gave us good views with the help of the spotlight, continuing on we found a further 3 Quoll and a few Possum before a Long-nosed Poteroo crossed by road in front of us but disappeared into the roadside scrub. On reaching the ferry terminal we returned south again flushing a Tawny Frogmouth on the way back to the Rookery at the Neck. Armed with spotlights covered in red foil to lessen the glare we found some Short-tailed Shearwaters by their burrows and soon a few Little Penguins. On the beach a bemused Little Penguin wandered around seemingly waiting for the coast to clear before he could head up the beach to his burrow.  Returning to our lodge we we confronted by a Ringtail Possum on the balcony which at first seemed reluctant to move but once it realised we had no food for it soon disappeared into the darkness.

The balcony at Inala in the rain.

Next morning which was to be our full day at Inala we woke to find it raining quite heavily, luckily we had been successful up to now so the pressure to find new birds had eased so we spent a few hours just sat on the balcony however this soon proved to be the place to be as the birds we coming to us. One of the species we were still hoping to find Pink Robin appeared at first light and then over the next few hours we saw Dusky, Flame and Scarlet Robins, Strong-billed, Black-headed, New Holland and Yellow-throated Honey-eaters, Green Rosellas, Tasmanian Thornbill, 2 Fan-tailed Cuckoos, Olive and Golden Whistlers, and Striated and Spotted Pardalotes along with some commoner species, Kay was becoming restless so we donned our wet weather gear and ventured out into the forest but apart from some interesting Orchids, a Scrubtit and Black Currawong it was fairly quiet. Later in the afternoon the rain had stopped so we walked back down the track to the Forty-spot colony but it was soon evident that the rain had brought out the leeches in great numbers and they seemed to get everywhere. A pair of Yellow-rumped Thornbills were watched building a nest near the river and away from the woods the leeches were less of a problem. Swift Parrot was one of the remaining target birds and we spent time looking for them where Tonia had said they could be seen sometimes late in the afternoon but to no avail, Swamp Harrier and a Wedge-tailed Eagle were the only birds of note seen.


Next day was to be largely a travel day as we had to make our way back across the ferry and up to Hobart for an overnight stay near the airport in readiness for an early flight up to Cairns. The sun was out when we awoke so we spent a couple of hours wandering around at Inala seeing many of the same birds again although a pair of Bassian Thrushes from the balcony at breakfast were different. On leaving Inala mid morning we made our way across to Adventure Bay. We stopped near the point and thanks to a helpful local found the footpath leading to Mavista National Park and followed the trail parallel with the coast. There was an extremely strong wind blowing today a remnant of yesterdays bad weather making things very difficult to see or hear anything in the woods although we had good views of an Australian Hobby as it took off from its treetop perch and battled against the wind.

Offshore the large feeding flock of Shearwaters and a few Albatross were still milling around with some of the Shearwaters coming quite close in the gale force winds that made even standing on the shore difficult. I picked up the distinctive shape of a Giant-petrel amongst the flock but it was too far out with just bins to determine whether it was Northern or Southern. Sheltering from the winds in the rocks were Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers and more Black-faced Cormorants while both Pacific and Kelp Gulls glided past in the winds.

Windswept coast of Adventure Bay

Sooty Oystercatcher.

With time to spare before we needed to catch the ferry we took a tour around North Bruny visiting various spots around the very top of the island, returning to head back to the ferry terminal we flushed a group of parrots feeding low by the roadside seeing as they only moved up into the trees we stopped to check them out still looking for Swift Parrot but found they were Blue-winged Parrots a species we had only seen briefly before, while stopped we found a finch in the grasses which was a Beautiful Firetail which I had only seen on the previous occasion. By the time we reached the ferry terminal the rains had returned and although we checked the trees around the terminal while we waited there was no sign of any Swift Parrots just Yellow Wattlebirds, a pair of Pallid Cuckoos and a few Green Rosellas.
Heavy rain confined us to the car on the ferry and stayed with us until we reached our hotel for the night at Hobart Airport.
This was the end of another successful part of our trip, despite my worries as to whether we would be able to find all the endemics unaided and little help from the weather we had great success with only Swift Parrot eluding us. On the mammal front we had great views of the Devils and Quoll as well us some Platypus sightings, Echidna and Wombat had eluded us even though there were plenty of signs both were present. Tomorrow was to be a complete change of scenery as we were taking the long flight up to the Wet Tropics at Cairns and a whole new set of birds.