Flint State Forest

I dropped into Flint State Forest earlier this week hoping for a quail sighting. It was late afternoon and I had about half an hour to spare on my way to Brookton. I hadn't seen a quail since I started my life list so I was excited about the chance of finding one even though time was against me. But as soon as I stepped out of the car, I saw a quail, frozen, staring at me. By the time I fumbled for my camera and tried to sort out the settings, it had gone. No lifer. But the consolation was some young Western Yellow Robins who weren't so camera shy.

There was also a family of very active White-browed Babblers who were sticking their heads in holes in the ground, flitting about the low branches of scrub and so on. These birds are all personality and so they're very entertaining to watch. When they noticed me, they retreated into a nest which was a large, messy affair with side exits.  It was about head height on a spiky kind of plant.  There were a few nests in close proximity but only this one appeared active, and although the chicks had fledged, it was clearly still home. They poked their heads out of the holes to keep an eye on me then decided I was no threat and continued with their antics. The light was fading so I couldn't watch them for long, but I'll certainly be back. There's a quail there with my name on it...

Western Yellow Robin

Dusky Woodswallow

White-browed Babbler

Nalbarra Station

In September this year, I drove up to Nalbarra Station which is about halfway between Payne's Find and Mount Magnet.  Nalbarra is a working sheep station of around 370,000 acres. And there's plenty of birdlife if you don't mind the heat, the flies, the lack of phone reception and the bungarras.

Western Bowerbird

Whistling Kite

Zebra Finch

Bourke's Parrot

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

Young Nankeen Kestrels

Mulga Parrots

Cockatoo sunset

Juvenile Red-capped Robin

Bungarra

Sunset

Dorper Sheep

Emu chicks

Banded Lapwings

Crimson Chat

Juvenile Crimson Chat

Pied Butcherbird and Yellow-throated Miners

Southern Whiteface

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

Desperately Seeking Shrike-tit

The birder in me is a shameless opportunist as I believe all birders must be; and often this opportunism pays off.  There are, after all, birds pretty much everywhere and potential lifers around every corner - especially in the country.  So, on an overnight trip to Brookton this week, I found time for a spot of birding and allowed myself to hope for a sighting of my nemesis bird: the Crested Shrike-tit.

I arrived in the late afternoon and met up with my daughter who obligingly agreed to come for a drive in the last light of day.  We spotted a young Nankeen Night-heron, plenty of Wood Ducks and a Black-fronted Dotterel in a couple of the dams in town. No lifers yet...

We continued around the outlying farmland and saw Rainbow Bee-eaters along with the ubiquitous species like Willy Wagtails and Welcome Swallows, as well as a pair of Black-faced Woodswallows. (If there was ever a bird equivalent of Grumpy Cat, these little Woodswallows would have to be contenders.) Still no lifers...

But then, in a patch of low scrub I spotted my first ever Brown Songlark. Hallelujah! It sat briefly for a photo before disappearing into the fading light. We immediately celebrated with a self-congratulatory counter meal and a beer.

In the early morning, I said goodbye to my lovely girl (who took the Welcome Swallow photo at the grain bins later that morning - see below) and began the drive back to Perth. Along the way is a small nature reserve. This reserve is not far from Boyagin Rock and sits between Dryandra and Flint State Forest on Brookton Highway.  It is, rather predictably, called the Brookton Highway Nature Reserve. Based on its location, I thought this could be the the place to see the Crested Shrike-tit. I'd searched at both Flint and Dryandra for this elusive bird after some reported sightings without success and was eager to try again.

It had been raining and I drove slowly into the reserve past a pair of young Red-capped Parrots that looked very bedraggled. A short wander through the forest revealed a little group of uncharacteristically bold Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens as well as Western Gerygones, a Rufous Tree-creeper and a hollow log that was home to a marsupial of some description judging by the platelets around the entrance. Just the type of critters I'd expect to see alongside Crested Shrike-tits - but the canopy was high and devoid of their call, and I didn't have a lot of time before I had to be back in Perth for work.  I admitted defeat - once again they eluded me.

Even so, one lifer and some very nice shots of the Fairy-wrens made for a happy birder.

And the quest for my nemesis continues...

Male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage

Another male beginning to lose his plumage

Brown Songlark

Juvenile Nankeen Night-heron

Black-faced Woodswallow