I’ve been writing about visiting the great Wheatbelt Metropolis of Northam for birding several times this year and I thought I’d got a good handle on what there was to be found along the Avon River there. But this last visit I was genuinely surprised. We’d parked the car at Enright Park with the intention of walking along one bank towards the weir and the Peel Terrace traffic bridge, cross the river and walk back on the other side. The light wasn’t particularly nice – in fact it was quite overcast and dark. There wasn’t much to see – a couple of White-faced Herons (Egretta novaehollandiae), Yellow-billed Spoonbills (Platalea flavipes) and a few Silver Gulls (Larus pacificus).  At that point I was a bit bored and my mind was drifting off with thoughts of coffee and cake at the bakery. Then as we crossed the traffic bridge I noticed a tiny little blob bouncing around on the island in the middle of the river. As I walked to get a better look I saw that it was an Australian Spotted Crake. Well that was a first. I was, I have to admit pretty excited after that. As we crossed the weir I saw Common Sandpipers (Actitis hypoleucos), Black-winged Stilts (Himantopus himantopus) and Black-fronted Dotterels. By then I was fully engaged and all thoughts of leaving had evaporated. Northam – you never know what you may find.