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Trip Report – November 2022

NOTES

Green Rosella

This was a relaxing trip through Tasmania with the potential of getting 25 life birds – we got 20 of them – Olive Whistler was totally elusive and the remaining 4 were all unlikely (Lewin’s Rail, Painted Buttonquail, Orange-bellied and Eastern Ground Parrot) but we will go again at some point and try for those. We loved Tasmania. Great scenery, great food and easy to get around.

DAY 1: We flew from Sydney to Launceston, picked up a car and drove straight to our first birding location, Cataract Gorge, on the way in to town. It was a good spot to stop and we bagged our first lifers – Forest Raven, Tasmanian Thornbill and Green Rosella. When we arrived at our hotel we discovered that Tasmanian Native-hens were everywhere, right outside our window – so that was another lifer for us. Dinner and night at Peppers Silo, Launceston.

DAY 2: Our main focus the next day was to be Tamar Wetlands but a) it doesn’t open until 9am and b) the boardwalk was closed due to storm damage so, apart from seeing a few common species from the car park there wasn’t much point in hanging around. We decided to move on to the Grindewald Reservoir.

Black Currawong

As we got out of the car, we found a tree full of birds, including one of four targets, Yellow Wattlebird. A walk around the reservoir was very birdy and very beautiful but didn’t give us anything new so, after enjoying the place we continued on to Notley Gorge Reserve.

I wish we had had more time here really, as it was lovely and there were quite a few birds but the star was Tasmanian Scrub-wren. The day was warming up so we decided to head back to the hotel and have a lazy afternoon. Night at Peppers Silo.

DAY 3: After leaving Launceston we were on our way to Cradle Mountain, making a few stops on the way. The first was Kelcey Tier Nature Reserve and it was beautiful. Lots of birds (including Fan-tailed Cuckoo) and fabulous forest. We really enjoyed this and managed 2 more lifers – Yellow-throated Honeyeater and Dusky Robin.

We were really hoping for Blue-winged and Swift Parrot so we drove around to the other side of the nature reserve, near some houses, and before we had walked far, we were rewarded with 2 Blue-winged Parrots (and a gorgeous Brush Bronzewing).

After picking up a picnic, we drove to The Tasmanian Arboretum. It was stunning and we had a lovely couple of hours walking the grounds – the only new bird was Black-headed Honeyeater but it was a gorgeous spot. On to Peppers at Cradle Mountain for the night.

DAY 4 – 5: The weather up at Cradle Mountain was terrible. We were here for 3 nights at Peppers (very disappointing and crazily expensive accommodation) and we literally had to dash out of our cabin whenever there was a break in the weather – snow, sleet, rain, wind and the odd break. Considering the limited amount of time we had outside, we did quite well.  Much of what we saw was right around the hotel. In total these 3 days gave us Black Currawong, Pink Robin, Scrubtit and Flame Robin – and there were a number of wombats right around our cabin.

Flame Robin

DAY 6: We were happy to leave Cradle Mountain and try to find some better weather so we started our drive to Hobart. Unfortunately, the wind and cold weather came with us! It was a stunning drive, though,  and we took it quite slow, stopping for lunch at the Castle Tavern in Bothwell and arriving in Hobart around 3.30pm. Night at Maylands Lodge

DAY 7: We started the day going up Mount Wellington but the road we wanted was closed for maintenance and it was really cold and windy, so that wasn’t very successful.

A trip to Taroona for a Lewin’s Rail was also unsuccessful but we did meet some people there that gave us some tips for both Lewin’s Rail and Painted Buttonquail. We decided to call it a day for today and check those locations in the morning. Night at Maylands lodge

DAY 8: A slower start, with a proper breakfast was a nice change this morning before heading back up Mount Wellington to the Painted Buttonquail spot. We spent some time walking the trail but, not surprisingly, no luck. So on to Cygnet for Lewin’s Rail. This time we were slightly more successful because we heard the rails, we were staring right at the spot of vegetation where one was calling but we simply could not see it. Not one of our better birding days! Night at Maylands Lodge.

Striated Pardalote

DAY 9: We spent the next day at the MONA – taking the ferry from Hobart to the museum and wandering the museum and the grounds for most of the day. This is a must do in Hobart! Night at Maylands Lodge.

DAY 10: The next 3 nights were on Bruny Island so we left Hobart and drove to Kettering to get the short ferry ride across to Bruny. We stayed at one of the Inala Nature Tours cottages, which wasn’t on the reserve, but stopped at the reserve first in order to see the lay of the land. Almost immediately we got Forty-spotted pardalote and Grey Goshawk.

We were able to check-into our cottage even though it was early, so dropped off our stuff and went to the Bruny Hotel (about the only place to eat on the island) to get lunch and use the internet to plan our afternoon – which was about Hooded Plover. After checking eBird, we went to a couple of locations and the second one, Two-tree Point, proved successful with wonderful views of these great little birds.

We needed some groceries so went to Adventure Bay to find a store (the only one on the island) and lucked out with a tree full of Swift Parrots – amazing!!! Night in Lyenna Cottage.

Yellow-throated Honeyeater

DAY 11: Today was to be a great day. The plan was to take a guide from Inala with us on a private flight for the Orange-bellied Parrot and Eastern Ground parrot. Unfortunately, the weather gods did not agree! So it was agreed that we would start with a guided walk around Inala and then try later. While the walk was quite birdy, it only gave us one life bird, Strong-billed Honeyeater. We were questioning our sanity and spending so much money on a guide (Inala Tours and CRAZY expensive!!).

The weather continued to stop our trip to Maleleuca, even though we actually got the airplane out on the runway at one point before it was called off, so we cancelled the rest of the day with the guide and called it a day. Night at Lyenna Cottage.

DAY 12: Spent the morning searching for Olive Whistler (again!!) but, despite hearing one call, we still did not get it – we had looked everywhere for this bird on our trip but clearly it was not meant to be.

Hooded Plover

A brief stop at Inala Reserve did give us Brown Goshawk and then it was lunch at Bruny Premium Wines (very nice) followed by a lazy afternoon.

After dinner at the Bruny Hotel, we went to the Neck to wait for the Short-tailed Shearwaters to come in to land. (There are also Little Penguin here but our focus was the Shearwaters). This was a birding highlight – not a life bird for us but the spectacle of hundreds of birds appearing out of the dark, nearly hitting you on the head and then diving for their burrows was fabulous. A great way to end our birding on Bruny. Night at Lyenna Cottage.

DAY 13: Took our time leaving in the morning. The weather was still crazy so we figured searching for the elusive Olive Whistler was pointless and we just took our time working our way back to Hobart. Night at the Villa Howden before our flight out the next day.

Hotels:

Peppers Silo, Launceston. Good choice.

Peppers, Cradle Mountain. There are better options. Tired and in need of a make-over.

Maylands Lodge, Hobart. Great spot but you need a car.

Inala’s Lyenna Cottage, Bruny Island. Good choice

Villa Howden, Hobart. Very nice.

Guides & Resources

Guides:

Guide – just one day guiding at Inala tours.

Field Guide:

Field Guide – Birds of Australia, Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight

Bird List: