Perth Wader Sites (Part 2: Coastal & Estuarine Sites)

This is the second  part of our two-part guide to wader sites near Perth, this time focussing on coastal and estuarine sites (although the sharp-eyed amongst you will notice a couple of sites that are technically lakes have snuck in here too!). The sites this time are listed roughly in order of closeness to Perth CBD, although there are a few out of place.

Alfred Cove: Alfred Cove is one of Perth’s best known wader sites, located within 15 minutes of the city centre. Whilst wader numbers (particularly small species like Sharp-tailed and Curlew Sandpiper) have fallen significantly at the site in the last decade or so, you can usually still find a reasonable variety of waders here over summer. The most commonly seen species are Bar-tailed Godwit, Great Knot, Common Greenshank, Grey Plover, Australian Pied Oystercatcher and Black-winged Stilt. Red Knot, Red-necked Avocet, Pacific Golden Plover, Red-necked Stint and Red-capped Plover are also reasonably regular, and Black-tailed Godwits have been observed regularly over the last few years. Other less common visitors can include Pacific Golden Plover, Whimbrel, Terek Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, and Banded Stilt.

To reach the cove, park near the sports centre at Troy Park off Burke Dr. Check the samphire and any muddy margins of the cove and any nearby sandbanks and mudflats along the Attadale foreshore - the extent of the exposed sandbanks varies with the level of the tide.

Grey Plover are one of the most common coastal waders to visit the Perth area, and can usually be seen at Alfred Cove during wader season.

Perth Wader Sites (Part 1: Lakes)

This is the first post of a two-part guide to wader sites near Perth, covering lake sites. The second part will cover coastal and estuarine sites. The sites are ordered according to how good they are for waders, although obviously the precise order will always be debatable and will vary with conditions, so it’s a rough guide only. The occurrence of waders at all the lakes listed here is dependent on water level, so it’s useful to seek local advice on which lakes are in best condition at that particular time. To assist with this, we will endeavour to provide periodic updates on the conditions of the lakes around Perth through summer, either on this page or on our Twitter site. GPS positions are included for some of the spots mentioned to help with finding them.

Lake McLarty: When water levels are right (typically Dec-Feb), Lake McLarty was formerly the best wader site in the Perth area (and indeed the entire south-west), with counts in excess of 10,000 waders frequently recorded. Unfortunately, the cessation of periodic cattle-grazing in the reserve combined with reduced water levels from lower rainfall and increased draw-down has resulted in a steady increase in grass growth, and grass now covers the majority of the lakebed. This has resulted in major declines in wader numbers at the lake, with few (if any) counts over 1,000 in the last two seasons. Uncommon species like Pectoral Sandpiper, Long-toed Stint and Ruff are still fairly regular though.

As the water level falls at the start of summer, flooded grass areas become available for waders. At this time, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are typically the commonest migratory wader present, usually with small numbers of Curlew and Pectoral Sandpipers. Black-tailed Godwit, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Long-toed Stint, and Wood Sandpiper are also regulars in small numbers. Resident waders including Black-winged Stilt, Red-necked Avocet, and Red-capped Plover are also generally common, and Banded Stilt can sometimes be found in small numbers. In the current situation, this remains the situation until the lake dries.

A mixed flock of waders at Lake McLarty, including Sharp-tailed and Curlew Sandpipers, and Red-necked Stints.

Thomas, Thomas, Andrew & McBride, "The Complete Guide to Finding the Birds of Australia" - A WA-centric Review with Additions/Errata

This book has been well reviewed elsewhere (see below), so we will largely restrict this review to a WA perspective, and add some (hopefully useful) comments to supplement the WA site and species listings in this recently released 2nd edition. We’ll endeavour to keep this page updated as things change and we collect more info.

Things don’t start well for the west when the opening paragraph of the WA section throws an outrageous slur against WA’s “relatively few” endemics. I presume they don’t refer to regional endemics, since with now 15 endemic species south-west WA is arguably second only to tropical Queensland as an endemic bird area within Australia. I guess they mean “fewer of Australia’s endemics are found in WA” – a fair cop. And I guess an obsession with endemics can be excused in a book that is mainly targeted at tickers and twitchers!

All-in-all this is well-produced and attractive book, and there is no doubt this is a much better book than both its 1st edition, and the dated and less accurate alternatives of Bransbury’s “Where to find birds in Australia” and (for WA) Noela Marr’s “Where to find birds in Western Australia”. However there are a few things about it that irk.

The Complete Guide to Finding the Birds of Australia - cover page.

Spring Calls for Bitterns

Spring has arrived and it’s time for all good birders to get busy! There are many options for birders in spring as the bush birds are in breeding mode and the migratory waders are returning from the north. But for a dedicated crew, the calls of bitterns beckon and cannot be ignored!


Australasian Bittern in flight at Kulinilup Swamp, part of the Muir-Unicup wetlands near Manjimup.

We head out to swamps and lakes at twilight throughout the south-west of Western Australia and listen for the resonant booming of the endangered Australasian Bittern and the staccato “wooks” of the Australian Little Bittern. The male Australasian Bittern usually calls from September to December in WA but can call from as early as August and to as late as January.

Arctic Tern at Hillarys Boat Harbour

LATEST UPDATE: Still present and showing well late this afternoon (13/08)

An Arctic Tern is currently hanging out around Hillarys Boat Harbour in Perth's northern suburbs. The bird has been very co-operative and allowed close views, but appears in reasonable health. It was initially seen on the 4th August by Michael Hancock, then again by others on the 5th and 6th. It's now been seen again by a number of people on the 11th and 12th August.

Arctic Tern at Hillarys Boat Harbour.

Perth Seawatching Sites

If our previous post has got anyone fired up about seawatching (how could it not have?), this follow-up outlines the major seawatching locations around in the greater Perth area. Seawatching anywhere requires patience and many long hours of watching to reap the rewards of potential rarities, but this is particularly so on the Perth coast, where a good deal of effort is often required just to see commoner species! However, if you are prepared to put in the time, you may be rewarded with interesting sightings of seabirds usually only seen well offshore.

The best seawatching conditions usually occur from late May through to August with the passage of strong cold fronts. Ideally, a strong wind (25knts or more) with a reasonable westerly component is needed to bring seabirds close to the coast, particularly if the wind remains strong for 2-3 days or more. However, you may be lucky and pick up one or two seabirds in lighter winds. Morning is generally the best time of day for seabird activity, particularly the first few hours after sunrise, with activity often dropping away somewhat in the afternoon.

Wilson's Storm-Petrel, photographed from North Mole in Fremantle

The Sea, The Sea

Winter is finally upon us here in SW Western Australia, and all right-minded birders turn their thoughts to the arrival of hordes of petrels and albatross from more southerly climes. So it was on Friday that I drove down to Point Peron to indulge in a little seawatching. A cold front was passing over and the winds were forecast to be in the region of 20-25 knots.

For those people who don’t know, seawatching is just that - spending hours just staring at the waves, imagining what fantastic species might fly past (but never do!). Sean Dooley in his book “Anoraks to Zitting Cisticola” defines seawatching as “trekking out to an exposed spot on the coast… and sitting for hours as you scan the oceans for any birds that fly past; the worse the weather the better, as deep ocean species are more likely to be blown towards the shore”.

So what did I see on my seawatch?  First I have to explain to you that the south-western Indian Ocean must surely be the worst seawatching spot there is (if you know better, then please tell me, not that I’ll believe you).  This is made worse because just around the corner (literally) is the Southern Ocean, which has albatross and petrels galore. But given that it’s a five hour drive to get down there, that is not a viable option, so I’m stuck with Perth.


Those were the days.........

Endemic-In-Waiting: Western White-naped Honeyeater

UPDATE: This species was renamed Gilbert's Honeyeater in the IOC list from v5.2, and the same name was adopted by eBird/Clements when split in 2015.

As we wait in post-C&B limbo to discover which body will replace Christidis & Boles [1] as the official arbiters of the Australian list, it appears almost certain that the next revision – by whoever – will split the western form of the White-naped Honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus) as M. chloropsis. This change has already been adopted by the influential IOC World Bird List from v2.6 (Oct 23 2010) [2] and restores the species described and named by Gould himself in 1848 [3].

Both Gould and modern taxonomists cite the western form’s larger size, longer and thicker bill, thicker black margin around chin, and different colouration of the bare skin above the eye, which is bright red in lunatus but white to very pale blue-green in chloropsis (Latin for green-eyed). In support of re-splitting the species, a recent molecular analysis by Toon et al. (2010) [4] has demonstrated the two are paraphyletic, meaning that M. lunatus is more closely related to another species (the Black-headed Honeyeater M. affinis of Tasmania) than it is to its previously-alleged subspecies M. l. chloropsis. [Incidentally, Toon et al. found surprisingly “shallow” genetic differences in M. brevirostris, so I don’t think we’ll be seeing the elevation to species of Western Brown-headed Honeyeater leucogenys any time soon].

A Western White-naped Honeyeater, Melithreptus chloropsis, from marginal jarrah/karri forest at Donnelly River (near Bridgetown).