Swan Valley

April 17, 2005
Late morning/early afternoon

Sunday morning, after I returned from the park, and everyone else was up and about, we all headed to the Swan Valley for lunch. Then, we stopped at a couple of wineries. Kevin and Helen went in and tasted a few wines, and Daniel, Eclipse and I stayed outside. Eclipse played a bit while I looked at the birds I could see while supervising Eclipse. I didn’t see a big variety, but I did see a couple of very cool new birds, including the first birds of prey I’d seen in Australia.

My first raptor was a Black-shouldered Kite, a bird very similar to the White-tailed Kite we have back at home in California. Kevin was the first to spot this bird as it flew past us while we were driving. Daniel pulled to the side of the road so I could hop out and get some photos. They’re not great, but they are good enough to make the ID. YAY! Our first bird of prey in Australia, and such a pretty one at that. I hope to get a closer look at one before we return home. Straw-necked Ibis were also spotted from the car, but in this case I was able to hop out and get some decent photos. They almost look like the negative of the Sacred Ibis – dark bodies and light-coloured necks. Very cool birds.

I saw several Magpie-lark in various places where we stopped, and I spotted an immature Black-faced Cuckooshrike in a tree behind one of the wineries. It took a bit of searching in the book to ID the bird (partly because my photos were taken at quite a distance). Eclipse enjoys watching the Willie Wagtail, and I got a better look at a Brown Honeyeater than I’d had previously. My second bird of prey on this trip was a Nankeen Kestrel that I spotted while waiting outside one of the wineries. As with the kite, I never got a close look at this bird, but suspected it was a kestrel when it started kiting over the nearby field (from a high altitude). My photos were good enough to make the ID, but I hope to see another at closer range.

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Species List

Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris), Straw-necked Ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis), Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca), Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae melanops), Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides cenchroides), Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta), Southwestern Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis), Singing Honeyeater (Gavicalis virescens), possible Karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor), possible Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata)

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