For the duration of our recent trip to the Great Southern we stayed in the small town of Torbay about 20Km east of Albany. It’s a beautiful spot on the eastern fringe of the karri forest region with remnant old growth forest, which inevitably means lots of interesting wildlife living in the tree canopy and the dense understory. The Torbay Agricultural Community Hall is the start 2.6Km bird walk that takes you through the bush. We weren’t able to walk it as the recent storms had brought down a few trees blocking it, but it looks as if it would be a delightful walk in spring and early summer when all the wildflowers are out. Below are a few photos taken round the Torbay area.
Djer-djer or Splendid Fairy-wren (Malarus splendens subsp splendens).
Kadjinak or Grey fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa). Torbay Bird Walk.
Djangkang or Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata).
Bardinar or Western Rosella (Platycercus icterotis).
Doolor or Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis).
Bidilmidang or Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis).
Lake Powell is a well kept secret. We asked at the Elleker General Store, Tavern, Cafe and Servo for directions and they’d never heard of it yet as the crow flies it was only 2 minutes drive away. We could see the lake, it was the turn off to take us into the Lake Powell Nature Reserve we were looking for. After a bit of driving around we found it and made plans to go there the next morning.
Now up to this point on our trip it had rained – and when I say rained it was the sort of torrential deluge that would make Noah start building a boat. So when we arrived at Lake Powell we were met with this magical mist over the water and a beautiful golden light filtering through it. These are the conditions you just live for as it just makes everything look bloody wonderful. Having parked the car up we walked down to the bird hide following the track beside the Grasmere Channel. Years ago when the first European settlers arrived they found a very low lying area and those bits that weren’t swamp were prone to flooding and so a whole drainage system was put in and the Grasmere Channel is part of that. But, rather than being a boring man made feature it is a wildlife haven and it feeds the lake with fresh water. When we got to the hide there was nothing much to see, it was clear that everything all the activity was along the channels that was where I concentrated my efforts. It was great morning and I was so chuffed to see a Red-eared Firetail even though I didn’t get a good photo of it.
Kwirlam or Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio). Lake Powell Nature Reserve.
Mimal or Australian darter (Anhinga melanogaster subspecies novaehollandiae).
Ngalkaning or Australian White Ibis (Threskioris molucca).
Wayooda or Hoary-headed Grebe (Podiceps poliacephalus).
Koodilang or Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica rufiventris).
Kanyinak or Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus).
Not a great photo but seeing this little bird really made my day. Djiri or Red-eared Firetail (Stagonopleura oculata). Lake Powell Nature Reserve.
It seems a little perverse that we visited Albany Wind Farm when it was blowing a gale, but, that is what we did. Tourism Western Australia promotes this as a destination which I find quite strange, but then I’ve just found out that the old Battersea Power Station in London is now a tourist destination. If you told me 50 years ago that tourists would visit it I’d have thought you’d gone doolally tap. Albany Wind Farm doesn’t have shops and accommodation for tourists, rather it has 18 wind turbines plonked on top of 80m cliffs overlooking the Southern Ocean. We weren’t interested in the wind turbines, we were interested in the coastal heath that grows beneath them and what lives in that.
Albany Windfarm.
Wet, cold and windy.
The Bibbulmun Track intersects with the Albany Wind Farm walk trail.
Ostensibly we were looking for the Southern Emu Wren. They are incredibly shy and difficult to find at the best of times and next to impossible when it’s blowing a gale, bucketing down and absolutely taters. The closest I got was a glimpse of the rear end of one in a bush just before it flew off. Very, very frustrating. In fact it wasn’t just the weather that was making things difficult, my camera was misbehaving as well and wouldn’t focus on anything even if it did sit still. It was not a good day out. After a regroup it was decided to return the next morning as the weather forecast was better and importantly, while we didn’t see a lot of bird activity we could hear it in the undergrowth. It wasn’t all bad as I did get a photo of a Fan-tailed Cuckoo which was a first.
Definitely not singing in the rain. Djoolar or Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis).
The next morning was considerably better. The wind was still blowing, but that was to be expected as they wouldn’t have sited the wind farm here if it wasn’t windy, but most importantly it had stopped raining. It’s amazing how a bit of sunshine improves the morale. I’d also checked the autofocus settings on the camera and found that I’d been playing around with them and hadn’t put them back to what they were. AF systems in modern mirrorless cameras are so complicated and you only have to make a small change and everything can go out of whack. Live and learn.
A rainbow over Stony Island viewed from the Albany Windfarm.
Bandiny or New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae). Albany Windfarm.
Juvenile Delyip or Red-capped Parrot (Platycercus spurius).
A happier and drier Fan-tailed Cuckoo.
On getting home after a very full week we’ve already talked about returning to the Great Southern later in the year or early next as we feel there is a lot more to see and do. I must say that on the camera front that if you intend to stand on a cliff top in the driving wind and rain and take photos then I heartily recommend you take one of the Olympus/OM System series one cameras. I’m always amazed at how well they cope with bad weather.
A windswept yours truly feeling a lot happier on our second visit to the Albany Wind Farm.
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