The ferry journey from Freemantle to Rottnest Island takes
around thirty minutes. The sea was relatively calm on the way out. The return
trip was not smooth. The island is a popular holiday destination with plenty of
accommodation available at the Thompsons Bay Settlement. The island consists of
coast, brackish swamps, woodlands, heath, settlements and salt lakes that cover
10% of the island.
I had a short list of species to add to my life list which
would involve covering the East side of the Island. My first stop having noted
a Caspian Tern feeding in Thompsons Bay was the Bathurst lighthouse where I
hoped to connect with Rock Parrot in the sand dunes. There was building work in
this area and despite my efforts the first key species of the day was absent
from the notebook. The light was not particularly good therefore I decided to
return to this spot later in the day.
I walked around 2km to the salt lakes looking for terns and
shorebirds. Digby Drive dissects the lakes giving good views of the lakes a
telescope is required to cover the innermost areas of the salt bars. Greater
Crested Tern was everywhere having had what looked like a good breeding season.
White Headed (sub species of Black Winged Stilt)and Banded
Stilt were both present in good numbers with a mixed flock in the centre of one
lake. There were smaller groups closer to the road, these were within camera
range.
Red Necked Avocet were also scattered across several lakes offering
the same photographic opportunities.
I scanned all the edges even on lakes that did not appear to
have much bird life on them. This was where the smaller shorebirds would be
found with Red Capped Plover being fist on the list of peeps.
Red Necked Stint and Turnstone were also located along the shoreline to the
lakes.
The golf course is a short walk from the main area of lakes
and there were only a couple of golfers to be seen which made coverage of the
nine hole course easier. Banded Lapwing was common patrolling the fairways
perhaps they were on divot replacement duty!
A small flock of White Fronted Chat were mobile feeding is
the number one rough.
The star attraction of the course was a Red Capped Robin
which frequented a bush along the sixth fairway. The bird was not flustered by
my presence allowing excellent views of this stunning bird.
Singing Honeyeater was also heard in a tree. These were
considered a different species at one time due to the overall heavier appearance
of the bird.
A trip to Rottnest would not be complete without mentioning the Quokka a small marsupial that is generally nocturnal but can be seen on the golf course bouncing around under the cover of trees that provide ample shade.
I returned to the lighthouse mid afternoon slightly puzzled
that I had not connected with Fairy Tern. Terns had been well represented with
Caspian, Bridled and Greater Crested but where could the smallest tern be. This
species is similar in size to Little Tern but lacks the black tip to the bill.
The wait at the lighthouse was not too long with a couple of dot sized terns
entering from stage left. The size difference is considerable compared to
Greater Crested. It took a few attempts to get reasonable shots of this species
due to the distance between the lighthouse and the small island they were
favouring.
My watch continued in the hope of connecting with Wedge Tailed
Shearwater that breeds around the coastal islands. But before I knew it time
had come to take the somewhat bumpy journey back to Australia!!
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