Forty-spotted Pardalote!These are one of the rarest birds in AU.
Only found in small parts of Tasmania, and then on Bruny Island there are small colonies found only in Mana Eucalypts.
Dirk insisted we take a break from work and go on a little holiday, so we headed down south to Tassie, as Tasmania is affectionately referred to. It was NOT an official birding trip [editorial note: Really?], but we still had plans to seek out the endemics, and a few other unusual birds like the Ground Parrot.Our first adventure was the ferry to Bruny Island, because this is the best birding location in Tassie, and we hoped to find all 12 endemic species here. Yes indeed that is water out front of the windshield of our rental-campervan, as we chug across the passage!
We agree with the Lonely Planet Guide's declaration that the tackiest tourist attraction in Tasmania is the way in which the extinct Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine is used to sell everything from beer to TV channels.In July 1936, thylacines were finally granted full protection, after being hunted to the brink of extinction after not being able to survive the onslaught spurred on by the bounty on their heads. Two months later, on 7 September 1936, the last known thylacine died in the Hobart Zoo.
The beautiful scarlet robins are not endemic to Tasmania, but were a delight to spot, regardless. There isn't a scarlet more vivid in nature, than these little robins as they perch in front of the green forests and gray skies of Tasmania.
This modest little dusky robin is endemic, but not nearly so eye catching as the Scarlet and Pink Robins. Despite their common name, the Australian robins are not related to "old world" robins, but rather are endemic to Australasia (New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa).Our bird search on Bruny Island started with the Dusky Robins, but we were quickly distracted by the Scarlet Robins. However, we did have a great campsite one night where we had the pleasure of sitting in our van, out of the rain and wind, watching the dusky robins hop around in the bushes catching bugs.
The Crescent honeyeater also is not an endemic honeyeater (that would be the strong-billed, the black-headed honeyeaters and the yellow throated honeyeater), but is still quite a handsome and photogenic bird.
We enjoyed the endemic Green Rosellas as they cheerfully squawked around the island. We still can't get over being able to see parrots cavorting around in the wild, here! We also were fortunate to see several Yellow-tailed black cockatoos noisily announcing their presence.
More scarlet robins catching our fancy!
A photogenic tumble-down scarlet barn.
This area is known as the "Neck" which connects North and South Bruny Islands. It is a "game reserve" (with a road running down the middle of it) to protect the Little Penguins (also known as Fairy Penguins) and Short-Tailed Shearwaters who nest along its shores. We were here out of nesting season, so saw only one lonely penguin come to shore at twilight. We also heard just a few short-tailed Shearwater (also known as muttonbird) wails. These birds must have been left behind when the others departed for their (North American) summer grounds in the Arctic, 15,000 km north of here! The muttonbirds are still "harvested" for their meat and oil and their availability was advertised at a local butchery.
Nancy was delighted with the lovely lichens in alpine areas of Tassie! Reminded her of Alaska...
Classic mailboxes along the road- there were some very creative boxes. I guess there is time enough in the depth of the Tassie winter for creativity.
The Cape Bruny lighthouse on the Southern tip of the Island.For questionable reasons, Nancy decided to take the Labillardiere Peninsula walk rather than join Dirk at the Lighthouse. Regrettably, it turned out that the track had been bulldozed as a successful fire break, meaning that one side of the trail was burned to a crisp, and the other side had a bulldozed pile of dead vegetation. Not quite what was expected from the trail description of "lovely examples of coastal heathland and dry sclerophyll forests in the most remote part of the island." An attempt was made to reach the beach with Right Whale carcasses (they had beached themselves, some were saved, others not) just for something interesting to talk about, but sunset arrived early and Nancy was "darked upon." Not to fear, despite getting lost, a trusty headlamp made the encounters with non-observant possums quite interesting. I didn't know quite what to do when I could see a possum heading straight for me as he ambled down the trail. He was right at my feet before he looked up to see me, and turned tail and ran the other direction!
Tasmania has great fresh food, and it was the autumn harvest time so the apples and pears were the best. Also, we enjoyed Pluots (plum/apricot cross), and another fruit that was a cross between a pear and an apple. We also sampled the locally-made fabulous frommage (cheese) including the Bruny Island "Saint" Brie cheese, and a brie from King Island that was rolled in ash, of all things. We couldn't figure that one out but it tasted good anyway. Wine was also on the menu, we brought a bottle back with us but Nancy hasn't sampled it yet as it was rather pricey
Dirk contemplating the Frenchmans Cap bushwalk while safely ensconced on the suspension bridge near the trailhead. This track has the notorious ‘Sodden Loddens’ which feature knee-deep mud for a 6k stretch of the trail. Plan on thrutching through mud for about 4 hours, traversing buttongrass plains, before Lake Vera.
Nelson Falls in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. The water is tea colored due to high quantities of tannin from the rainforest detritus.
Nancy's smiling about seeing her old friend from the Arctic tundra, Sphagnum spp.!
This was on a lovely track in Lake St. Clair-Cradle Mountain National Park which commemorated the Indigenous people of Tasmania, who suffered horribly in one of the earliest recorded modern genocides.
The aptly-named Y
ellow-throated honeyeater is also endemic to Tasmania.
Spying the platypus at Platypus Bay on Lake St Claire (the start of the Overland Track). Surprising to see them in an alpine lake! Lots of backpackers getting ready for the 85 km track with stacks of packs at the ranger station and outside the restaurant (which had not a single vegetarian offering!)
Full moon over lake St Claire. We were out in search of...
The very quool quoll!
We were lucky enough to night-spot (pun intended!) a few Eastern Quolls with our super-duper high-powered "torches" (poor animals, being caught by such a light!) at Lake St Clair and Mount Field National Parks. Dirk was better at spotting their eye-shine before they skedaddled out of sight. The possums and pademelons (also referred to as Pandemoniums or rufous-wallabies) were less skittish about being sited, or maybe more used to it.
This little guy is in an animal sanctuary, presumably for breeding purposes. There is concern about foxes getting established on Tasmania and killing the little marsupials, including the quolls. At least there are no Cane toads (which the quolls eat and then die), yet!
It almost looks fake, but these falls are for real--Nelson Falls in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.
Sunrise over Lake St Claire.