If you love an ocean adventure and nature then I highly recommend a day aboard the Naturaliste Charters boat from Bremer Bay between late January and early April. Their web page can be found here. The food, boat and crew are excellent. They have an on board Marine Biologist and a very knowledgable crew. The tours leave at about 8 am and return about 4 pm. This is a good way to see a variety of sea mammals and sea birds. It’s good to look at their facebook posts to get an idea of what species are around at different times of the year. A few years back I went on the tour in early April specifica ..read more

There is joy in Australian birding circles that the International Ornithological Congress (IOC) have split the Crested Shriketit into separate Western, Northern and Eastern species! This has been a long overdue taxonomical split with ranges of all three species separated by thousands of kilometers and all having different plumages. Western Shriketit male lower breast is white. Eastern Shriketit male lower breast to undertail coverts are yellow. Photographed in New South Wales. The taxonomical change occurred on 5 February 2023, so it was a delight to see two Western Shriketit in mid-Febraury ..read more

A few months back I wrote about Citizen science and the Birdata app. Another app that I use is Questagame. It is for documenting any living species, whether plant, fungi, fish, bird, insect, spider etc. Questagame is an Australian app but can be used world wide. Pricklybark (Eucalyptus todtiana) is flowering in the Perth area in February and March. This image was submitted to Questagame, identified and will become a record in the Atlas of Living Australia. For plants it is best to include in your submission photographs of each of the flowers, fruits, leaves, stems and entire plant. You can use ..read more

When I am bird watching or looking at wildflowers, I am often looking at the sky, the shrubbery, the ground, the water or the tree tops. But I don’t often look at the trees! Sometimes a tree or group of trees will stand out and look simply stunning. Driving thru the Wandoo east of Perth, is one of those moments when I find myself looking at those beautiful trees! Wandoo National Park east of Perth. Trees provide the structure of our bush, food and shelter for birds and other animals, and in a hot summer, some very welcome shade. Tawny Frogmouth camouflaging and resting near the trunk of a Floo ..read more

Wow that felt like a long winter! Spring has been in the air for most of August and now its here! Spring means so much – more stunning wildflowers, birds arriving for summer stays, birds looking gorgeous in their breeding plumage and the bush looks super with all those beautiful flowers and gorgeous brightly coloured birds. Prickley Hovea (Hovea pungens) bringing beautifully bright colour in late August 2021 at John Forrest National park. All the social media seems to be full of fantastic wildflowers with many locals heading north where the amazing everlastings are literally colouring the coun ..read more

It’s National Science Week and time to think about Citizen Science! I really enjoy doing Citizen Science and there are many different projects that you can join in to assist science in general but the science of nature in particular! My favourites are Birdata, iNaturalist and Questagame but over the years I have got addicted to a few other Citizen Science projects. The Zooniverse Numbat Discovery project comes to mind! I am not sure whether I reviewed hundreds or thousands of photos for that one! Birdata is probably the one that I have been involved with the longest. My first survey entry for ..read more

Numbats are an Australian endemic and endangered species with an estimated population of less than 1000 individuals. They were once found in five Australian states but massive declines in the population has resulted in them now only being found in a small part of Western Australia. These gorgeous critters deserve our respect and protection! A Numbat searching for food. The closest places to Perth where you are likely to see a Numbat are in Drandra Woodland Reserve and Boyagin Rock. These are a few hours drive from Perth. But before you hit the road I recommend having a good look at the informa ..read more

We can probably all agree that the past 18 months have been very strange! A lot of us in the nature tour business are turning the negatives into positives. I have been improving my contacts within the industry and enjoying the wonderful birds and bush in Western Australia a little more than normal! So when my son (also a bird watcher) started his university mid year break, it was time to plan an escape to see something new. We had heard that a few weeks earlier up to 40 Scarlet-chested Parrots had been seen about 1 hours drive from Coolgardie. These are nomadic parrots that are usually easiest ..read more

Wow it’s that time of the year! The Wildflowers are looking magnificent and there are hundreds of different species in bloom in and around the Perth Metropolitan area. One type of habitat that really appeals to wildflower lovers but is poorly misunderstood by the general public are swamps, creek flood plains and damp lands. They have a great species diversity as they tend to have wet, damp and dry ground which provide a mix of different flower groups. Some of the stunning September flowers in these damp areas are below: Green Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos viridis) flowers August to Oct. Dwarf Mil ..read more

This section of the walk was done two halves. Not because the walk was going to be too long! But as I do shorebird counts each winter and summer at Thomson’s Lake and Kogolup Lake. Doing shorebird counts takes more time as you need to get a good view of all (or nearly all) of the water birds at the lake. These counts for BirdLife Australia’s National Shorebird Program. So on the 7 July I stepped off where I ended at the south end of Yangebup Lake to walk Kogolup Lake and Swamp and on 7 August I went around Thomson’s Lake. The walk trail is on the west side of Kogolup Lake. There were a few wil ..read more