Tasmania 19-25Dec12

From KH

December is a summer month in Australia. At this time of the year, Tasmania is a cool 10-20 degrees Celsius. Daylight is 0530-2100. There wasn't much rain either.

The target of this trip is the 12 endemic birds of Tasmania. The first and last day were pretty much for settling in and out of Tasmania, so my wife and I only birded on 20-24 Dec. We sighted 61 bird species, 3 mammal species and 2 reptile species.

20 Dec

The first day of exploration started on Bruny Island. All 12 endemics can be found on this island that is about the land area of Singapore. If one is interested in the Little Penguin and the Short-tailed Shearwater, a night stay over is necessary as these birds will return to their burrows at dusk. We managed to see 6 of the 12 endemic species:

Tasmanian Native-hen
Green Rosella
Tasmanian Thornbill
Black-headed Honeyeater
Dusky Robin
Black Currawong

Left: Green Rosella. Right: Juvenile Dusky Robin.

4 lifers: Kelp Gull, Pallid Cuckoo, Forest Raven and European Goldfinch. The last bird is an introduced species.

Juvenile Pallid Cuckoo

Left: Adult Kelp Gull. Right: Forest Raven

As well as the following endemic subspecies:

Superb Fairy Wren cyaneus
Brown Thornbill diemensis
Yellow-rumped Thornbill leachi
New Holland Honeyeater canescens
Australian Magpie hypoleuca
Grey Fantail albiscapa

Male Superb Fairy Wren cyaneus subsp. singing

In total, we saw 39 species between 9:30 am - 5:30 pm. Here are some of the others:

Female Chestnut Teal	Great (left) & Black-faced (right) Cormorants
White-faced Heron	Pied Oystercatcher
Masked Lapwing	Crested Terns

We got a non-avain creature in the form of a skink.

Southern Grass Skink (Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii)

21 Dec

Today's birding is around Hobart, namely Peter-Murrell Reserve, Mt Wellington and Mt Field.

At Peter-Murrell Reserve, we added 2 endemic species - Yellow-throated Honeyeater and Yellow Wattlebird.

Left: Yellow-throated Honeyeater. Right: Yellow Wattlebird

Black-headed Honeyeater (bottom) and juvenile Welcome Swallows (top)

1 lifer - Horsefield's Bronze Cuckoo;

Horsefield's Bronze Cuckoo

and a few endemic subspecies - Grey Currawong arguta, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo xanthanotus, Eastern Rosella diemenensis and Little Wattlebird tasmanica.

Left: Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo. Right: Eastern Rosella

Left: Little Wattlebird. Right: Dusky Woodswallow

Left: Great Cormorant. Right: Black-faced Cuckooshrike

At Mt Wellington, we did not get any new bird for the trip (in fact, no bird at all!). Mt Field was slightly better with 3 birds in total - Crescent Honeyeater, Black Currawong and Grey Fantail. Only the Crescent Honeyeater is a new bird for the trip.

Crescent Honeyeater singing

The other highlight today is a mammal, the Tasmanian Pademelon.

A friendly Tasmanian Pademelon at Russell Falls car park

22 Dec

Today we made our way to Deloraine via Great Lake. The new birds today are Australian Pipit bistriatus and Black Swan.

Left: Brown Falcon. Right: Australian Pipit.

The highlight, however, is a Short-beaked Echidna!

Short-beaked Echidna at road side

23 Dec

Today is Cradle Mountain day.

Added 2 endemic species - Scrubtit and Tasmanian Scrubwren.

Tasmanian Scrubwren

1 lifer, Pink Robin, which is also an endemic subspecies rodinogaster.

Male Pink Robin

Another endemic subspecies - Wedge-tailed Eagle fleayi.

A pair of Wedge-tailed Eagle

Tasmanian Native-hen with chicks	Tasmanian Thornbill
Black Currawong	Female Superb Fairy Wren

The non-avian highlights are an over-friendly Bennett's (Red-necked) Wallaby at Dove Lake and Metallic Skinks at Knyvet Falls boardwalk.

Left: Red-necked Wallaby. Right: Metallic Skink (Niveoscincus metallicus)

24 Dec

Final day of exploration starts from Queenstown back to Hobart via Lake St Clair, and I'm still missing Strong-billed Honeyeater and Forty-spotted Pardalote. Fortunately, we managed to see, not 1 but 3, of the honeyeater today. An evening dash to Peter-Murrell Reserve turned up a pardalote, but it is the endemic subspecies of Striated, not the Forty-spotted. So in total, we saw 11 endemic species and 14 endemic subspecies.

Left: Scrubtit. Right: Strong-billed Honeyeater.

Left: Male Swamp Harrier. Right: Striated Pardalote striatus subsp.

Bird list. 61 birds seen on this trip. 17 lifers (L) of which 11 are endemic (E) to Tasmania.

1. Black Swan
2. Pacific Black Duck
3. Chestnut Teal
4. Great Cormorant
5. Little Pied Cormorant
6. Little Black Cormorant
7. Black-faced Cormorant
8. White-faced Heron
9. Swamp Harrier
10. Wedge-tailed Eagle
11. Brown Falcon
12. Australian Kestrel
13. Tasmanian Native Hen (L)(E)
14. Masked Lapwing
15. Pied Oystercatcher
16. Silver Gull
17. Pacific Gull
18. Kelp Gull (L)
19. Crested Tern
20. bronzewing sp.
21. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
22. Galah
23. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
24. Eastern Rosella
25. Green Rosella (L)(E)
26. Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo (L)
27. Pallid Cuckoo (L)
28. Superb Fairy Wren
29. Striated Pardalote
30. Little Wattlebird
31. Yellow Wattlebird (L)(E)
32. Yellow-throated Honeyeater (L)(E)
33. Black-headed Honeyeater (L)(E)
34. Strong-billed Honeyeater (L)(E)
35. New Holland Honeyeater
36. Crescent Honeyeater
37. Dusky Robin (L)(E)
38. Pink Robin (L)
39. Scarlet Robin
40. Grey Fantail
41. Bassian Thrush
42. Yellow-rumped Thornbill
43. Tasmanian Thornbill (L)(E)
44. Brown Thornbill
45. Tasmanian Scrubwren (L)(E)
46. Scrubtit (L)(E)
47. Black-faced Cuckooshrike
48. Dusky Woodswallow
49. Australian Magpie
50. Black Currawong (L)(E)
51. Grey Currawong
52. Forest Raven (L)
53. Australian Pipit
54. Tree Martin
55. Welcome Swallow
56. Spotted Dove - introduced
57. Laughing Kookaburra - introduced
58. Common Blackbird - introduced
59. European Goldfinch - introduced (L)
60. House Sparrow - introduced
61. Common Starling - introduced