Hills Heleioporus Frogging

I always get excited with the first Autumn rains. For us wildlife freaks, it signals a short window where you can get out to hear and look for Heleioporus frogs. These frogs are awesome. Firstly who doesn't love frogs? And these frogs have a unique biology, are big and look fantastic. In researching for this blog, I actually learnt some fascinating information regarding their breeding cycle. I knew that these species bred by excavating a burrow in which they lay their eggs in to foamy nest (up to 700 eggs per nest!), but am surprised to find out metamorphosis of the tadpoles ranges from 10 days right up until a couple of months in to Spring. 

Essential frogging equipment. LED lenser H7 head torch, Cannon DSLR and macro lens, and field guide to the Frogs of WA.

There are six species in total in Australia, five of these species are found within the south west of WA. They are unique because they spend the majority of their lives burrowed in to the ground. Come the Autumn rains they spring back to life to begin advertising calling for breeding. Their calls are varied, everything from soft hoots, to moaning, to 80's Atari video game style whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop. They have slightly varied habitats, but if you know where to look, you can find all five species in the same location.

A typical sandy burrow seen during Autumn, made by a Heleioporus species frog.

In alphabetical order, the first species is Heleioporus albopunctatus - Western Spotted Frog. This was the last species of the Heleioporus species i needed to see, so was relieved to see a couple just recently. These guys have quite a large distribution, ranging from Kalbarri south through the wheatbelt and south west down to Jerramungup. Easily diagnosed from other species from its white spots.

A bit of albopunc action, this species is easily diagnosed from others with it's obvious white spots.

The next species is easily the rock star, Heleioporus barycragus - Hooting Frog, or to us, just Barry. This frog is as striking in its yellow colour pattern as it is by its size. These frogs are ridiculously big, giants of things, apparently not uncommonly mistaken as a Cane Toad due to their large size. They are also the most restricted and potentially most threatened. Restricted largely to the Darling Range from Bullsbrook to Dryandra, within small streams. Surprisingly, their call is not representative of their size, consisting of a soft hoot. Almost ridiculously, I have a resident population within 100 m of my house, and have even had one in my front yard.

Here's a backyard bary. Based on the lean condition of this individual, i'd say they just popped out of their burrow and straight in to my yard. I couldn't help but provide a tasty cricket for photo payment.

Here's a very large male bary, the size in the hand gives some context as to how big they really are.

The third species is the most commonly encountered, Heleioporus eyrei - Moaning Frog. If you rock up to any wetland or creek around Perth or the south west in Autumn, chances are you will hear these guys moaning away. Their call is a drawn out, rising moan. Apparently the species name is named after Edward John Eyre, who was the first (and probably the only) white person to walk across the nullabor.

The Moaning Frog is the most common around Perth, i have them just down at my local creek.

Next is Heleioporus inornatus - Whooping Frog. This species is probably the plainest in terms of appearance, being a uniform light browny smudge, but makes up for it with its loud "whoop... whooop .... whoop" call. They are less restricted to creeklines then some of the other species, and can be found in any natural depressions of sandy soil.

This Whooping Frog remained sleepy and despite lots of poking never wanted to give me a photogenic pose, so here's an average photo. 

Last but not least is Heleioporus psammophilus - Sand Frog. An unimaginative species name, and as you have guessed this species is found in sandy and clayey areas in natural depressions. The key characteristic for this species is its 80's techno video game style call. For those that haven't heard this species, I highly recommend you head up in to the Perth hills during Autumn and listen out for constant the whop-whop-whop-whop-whop-whop,

Here's a Sand Frog semi-visible from its sandy burrow. Often frogs will be calling from deep within their burrows, so you will hear them but not be able to see them.

And a surface version.

Here's a sample of the calls you might hear from Heleioporus frogs. You should be able to figure out the species, the photos give it away. You might need head phones to hear the two quieter species ;)

Conducting baseline surveys for Environmental Impact Assessment in WA

I've just returned from conducting a baseline survey in the Murchison region of Western Australia. We had a fantastic trip, and thought it would make a good topic for a new blog, so here it is.

When i first begun work as an environmental consultant, for me it was all about having fun in the field and frothing on the critters we would catch, without too much consideration as to why I was out there in the first place. However, as my career has progressed it has become increasingly important to understand why we do the surveys we do. I'm certainly no expert on environmental law, but below is a short summary of the process and role of environmental consultants. Feel free to skip to the pretty pictures if this is too boring.....

Within Western Australia, any mining, infrastructure or development proposal must undergo what is called an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The EIA process aims to provide environmental advice on the acceptability and potential environmental impacts as a result of the project. The government agency responsible for providing guidance and assessing EIA of a project is the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). Starting at the start, when someone wants to do a development project, it must be referred to the EPA. The EPA then makes a decision as to the level of assessment (scrutiny) the project will be subject to. There are two levels of assessment; Assessment of Proponent Information (API - lower level of assessment) and Public Environmental Review (PER - higher level of assessment). The level of assessment is determined through a host of factors, such as size and scale of project, location, community issues, potential income of project etc.

Once the level of assessment has been determined, the proponent goes about collecting the relevant information required to submit a PER or API document. An important component of the required information is understanding what flora and fauna occur, and what the potential impacts to these are - thats where we as environmental consultants come in! Proponents generally don't have the resources or capabilities to complete these studies themselves, so employ us to complete it for them. Typically, a full suite of biological studies will be required, flora, vertebrate fauna, short range endemic invertebrate fauna, troglofauna and stygofauna (subterranean dwelling fauna). Initially a baseline study is completed, effectively the aim of this study is to sample all flora and fauna that occur within the study area. It is a snapshot of everything that is living in that area at that time. Depending on the results of the baseline survey, follow up surveys for potentially threatened species may be required.

Once the proponent has completed all these surveys, the information goes in to the API or PER document and is submitted to the EPA. The project is assessed, and advice is given to the Environment Minister who then makes a decision as to whether the project gets environmental approval. Here lies one of the quirks of the whole system, despite the EIA process being rigid and in depth, ultimately the EPA only provides advice, with the final decision purely in the hands in the minister, who also takes in to considerations such as income and community benefits of the project. So has the power to go against the recommendation of the EPA.

So thats a brief summary, now on to the fun stuff! Sampling design is critical when completing a baseline survey. We want to make sure we sample all the different habitat types within a project area, as many vertebrate fauna species can be restricted to quite specific habitat types. To sample fauna, we implement a range of methodologies, including systematic trapping sites and complimenting trapping sites with a range of active searching methods.

Standard trapping sites usually consist of pitfall traps with a fence dissecting the trap to divert fauna in, funnel traps at the end or along fences, and baited elliot (small box traps with a trigger plate) traps and cage traps. There are various trap set up arrangements, where i work we have a single pitfall trap dissected by a 10 m fence and a funnel trap at each end. I find this single trap arrangement gives flexibility and allows you to target micro-habitats, but always wonder if there is a more effective way. We alternate between 20 L buckets (50 cm deep) and 25 cm wide pipes (60 cm deep). Buckets tend to catch more then pipes due to their wider diameter, however small mammals can jump out of them. Due to the longer depth of less width of a pipe, they tend to catch more mammals.

Each trap site has 10 of the pitfall trap line set ups, and for a standard survey we usually install eight trap sites. Guidelines specify trap sites must be open for a minimum of seven nights, ultimately this means that in order to keep time frames (and budgets) as short as possible, traps get installed as quick as possible. That equals two to three days of really solid hard yakka on the crowbar and shovel. Digging in pitfall traps and digging trenches for the drift fence can be extremely hard work. Many of our project areas are for iron ore mines, so you don't need to be a geologist to realise the ground is going to be rocky. Often, we literally dig traps in to rocks. Then comes the heat, it might be 40 degrees (or more), and thats in the shade, I've always wondered what the temperature would be while standing in full sun on a iron-stone ridge throwing the crowbar at a rock with equal iron content. Hopefully I have portrayed that this can be really hard work, and you need to be seriously motivated about catching small reptiles and other critters, otherwise it is just crazy. If you aren't passionate, you wont last. I actually really enjoy the physical challenge of "dig-ins", it is an extremely satisfying feeling of accomplishment and team work once the final trap site has been finished. Time for a well earned beer!

Seano hard at work setting up a trap line. This site within a salt lake was pleasantly easy, compared to the rocky substrates we often install traps in to.

And the finished result - pitfall trap, 10 m drift fence and a funnel trap each end.

Once all the trap sites are set up, its time for the next phase of the field survey. Our typical day will consist of an early start (5-5:30 am) to get to trap sites at first light. Two main reasons for this, to begin the bird surveys during the dawn chorus which is generally the most effective time of day to record the birds present, and to clear the traps of nocturnal animals, before the sun gets up too high and hot. All the effort of trap installation pays off when it comes to trap check in the morning. There's always a sense of anticipation to see what has been caught the day before and during the night. The reason for going to all the effort of digging in pitfall traps is that they are extremely effective at catching small mammal and reptile species. Many of these species are cryptic and rarely encountered outside of trapping, so it is definitely worthwhile.

A legless lizard - Pygopus nigriceps, captured in a funnel trap

This juvenile Yellow-spotted Monitor (Varanus panoptes) was crammed inside this elliot trap

Pretty little skink, Ctenotus pantherinus, commonly trapped

A small burrowing goanna species found within sandy habitats throughout arid Australia, Varanus eremius

Occasionally we encounter predator interactions such as this. In this example, a Sandy Inland Mouse (Pseudomys hermannsbergensis) has been trapped in a funnel trap, and a Stripe-faced Dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura) has seized the opportunity. Its a Dunnart eat Mouse world out there in the bush. 

While conducting trap check, one person completes bird surveys at the site. Unfortunately i dont have a zoom lens capable of proper bird photography so I'm light on for birdy pics. The bird activity during the survey was excellent, I even got a lifer, Inland Dotterel! The Inland Dotterel is an incredibly unique shorebird species, superbly adapted to life in the arid interior of Australia. They spend their days on open plans where they camouflage perfectly. Needless to say, i was frothing to finally catch up with this iconic species.

Spot the Inland Dotterel, it shouldn't be hard, there are 12 birds in this pic!

A closer view of the Inland Dotterel's in the previous picture. A superbly camouflaged bird and perfectly adapted to the inland plains of Australia.

I don't carry my camera with me when doing bird surveys, so don't get a lot of bird photos. I took this pic of a Western Bowerbird on my iphone with no zoom, so you can see he was only a meter or so away. I pished him in by squeeking and making funny noises, and being the inquisitive birds they are, came right up to say hello.

To compliment the trapping we do, after we have checked traps we spend the rest of the day doing various activities aimed at detecting additional species. This includes actively searching for animals under leaf litter, bark, wood etc., completing habitat assessments, additional bird surveys, targeted threatened species surveys, setting up motion cameras and putting out recording devices for bats. These record the echolocation calls of bats as they pass by, with each species having a call of a unique frequency. Another large part of what we do are nocturnal surveys. Many of Australia's fauna are nocturnal, especially out in the arid regions, so not only is spotlighting great fun, its an effective way of recording new species. There are two ways to do it, road spot by cruising in a vehicle at about 40 km/hr and looking for critters on the road, and searching on foot with a head torch. Both methods have their merits. We generally encounter geckos, snakes, mammals and night birds, but anything is possible!

A motion sensing camera, set up to capture photos of animals that enter the field of view.

A bat recorder set up, this model is a Song Meter 2.

A Barking Gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii), a very northerly record for this species.

One of my all time favourite gecks, Nephrurus vertebralis, just stunning!

We are currently living through the age of reptile re-classification. With the advancement in genetics and DNA mapping, many small reptile species throughout Australia are getting "split" in to new species. On this trip we encountered one of these brand new splits. Previously these two geckos were considered the same species - Diplodactylus conspiculatus. Following a genetic and morphology revision, they are now regarded as distinct species, Diplodactylus conspiculatus (top and left tail) and Diplodactylus laevis (bottom and right tail), with one of the morphological characteristics a pointy or rounded tail tip, and variations in scale patterns and shapes.

Another of my favourite geckos, spiny-tailed geckos of the Strophurus genus. This is Strophurus strophurus displaying stunning camouflage. The Strophurus group of  geckos are unique in having the ability to squirt a viscous fluid from their tail when threatened, so be warned!

A really terrible photo of a really cool arid frog species (Notaden nichollsi). These guys burrow deep in to the sand and aestivate during dry conditions for months at a time. When the rains come they pop out of their burrows to quickly breed before the country dries up again. 

This lovely little Fat-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) run across the road while road spotting and sheltered in a shrub allowing me to get a couple of great pics. Dunnarts are part of the Dasyurid family, carnivorous marsupials, so despite superficially looking like a mouse, they are more like a kangaroo (a pet hate of mine that people refer to all small mammals as mice or rats). They are savage and efficient hunters and consume anything they can, including other mammals.

Its not all fluffy mammals and cute geckos. This Urodacus sp. scorpion is equally froth-worthy!

Expert herper and Wookie impersonator Jordan doing some spotlighting for turtles.

As with all baseline surveys, we identify potential threatened species that could occur in the project area prior to leaving, and then target these species in the field. For this assessment, we had a large focus on the Brush-tailed Mulgara (Dasycercus blythi). In 2006 two species of Mulgara were described, which previously represented a single species. When they were split, the Crest-tailed Mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda) was assigned federal protection while the Brush-tailed Mulgara is only listed as a state priority species with no formal legal protection. However, the federal environment agency regards the two species as morphologicaly indistinguishable, and as a result both species come under the blanket cover of the federally protected species. This has been a huge pain for mining companies throughout WA, as projects with Mulgara present have conditions slapped on to them, even though in reality it is the Brush-tailed Mulgara present. Anyway, lots of people are working towards resolving the matter, but as they are a hot topic at the moment, we spent lots of time targeting them, with good results. Moving away from all the administration stuff, they are just super cool little critters, very nice to handle and not aggressive at all.

A Brush-tailed Mulgara that was captured in one of our traps.

Motion cameras are an effective method to sample for Mulgara. We generally bait the area with sardines which has proven effective in attracting these cool little critters in for a look.

A live action shot of an individual we encountered while road spotting one night.

If you know what you are looking for, you can detect animals without seeing them. This photo shows the diagnostic tracks of the Mulgara. they have a quadrapedal gait, like most dasyurids, where their two back feet stay together and the two front feet go one in front of the other. We know they are Mulgara as there are no other dasyurid species of this size in the area we were surveying. 

The environment out in arid Australia is one of extremes. Extreme beauty, and the other scale, extreme hardships and pain. Once you spend a bit of time out there, and you see the good side, it's hard not to fall in love with it. Landscapes go on forever, as do the sunsets and the contrasts in colours need to be seen to be believed. Following good rain the biomass just booms. Grass and seeds springs up everywhere, which the insects follow and so do the fauna. But they don't call it a boom and bust system for nothing, and more often then not it is bust. The flies will drive you mad, literally. Perfectly sane people will walk around the bush until a fly buzzes in your eye for the 3,421st time that day, at which point you lose the plot and curse every expletive under the sun for five minutes. That should get you through until the next day. I don't wear a fly net, because you can't see as well out of them, so prefer to suck it up (literally, i think we average a fly or two intake per day. It is so funny when it happens to someone else in mid conversation)

After the flies it is the heat, dust, sweat, cuts, bruises and bumps, tiredness and missing the family. It's funny how a three week old dead kangaroo under the shower block can detract from the serenity. But if you can get through the tough stuff, it makes you appreciate the environment out there so much more. Not everyone survives, only the passionate ones, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ahhhhh the flies, this is merely a tiny subset of the flock that constantly follow you. An unwanted daily source of additional protein intake.

Being out in the bush working it is inevitable a few injuries will occur from time to time. Being involved in the mining industry we are very safety conscious, but mishaps are still bound to occur. Here i had an unfortunate incident involving the seat belt in the car, like a magic trick, one second my finger nail was there, the next it was gone!

Blue skies and warm sunny days are the norm. Contrasting with the red dirt of the outback, the landscapes of this harsh land can be amazing, especially following good rain as was the case during this survey. Here I am in my standard "get on that bird" pose. 

Early mornings might be tough when you are rolling out of the swag, but once the birds are calling and the sun pokes its head above the horizon, where else would you want to be? (As always there is an equal reaction, as with the first rays of light, also come the first swarms of flies)

And the end of the day. These sunsets are dime a dozen in the outback. 

Another day another dollar, or something like that. Actually out here, money is one of the furthest things on the mind, which is pleasantly refreshing. It's a great feeling to kick back at the end of a hard day, for a few beers with good mates. 

So thats a baseline fauna survey in a nutshell. Don't let the pretty animal pics on facebook think we are just out there gallivanting around the country to photograph geckos and the like. It is a complicated, hard thought and calculated process, with lots of stress and demands (both mental and physical) at times. And its critically important we do it well. My own morals and high standards demand we work hard to make sure we leave no leaf un-turned in the pursuit and protection of threatened species. But as no doubt it has become overwhelmingly clear, the results are worth it, and I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to have a job I thoroughly enjoy and am passionate for.

I thought about how to finish this blog, and settled on the below image to sum it all up. The inland salt lakes of Western Australia have long been considered a potential strong hold for arguably the worlds most enigmatic and rarest bird species, the Night Parrot. Those that know me will attest that over the years I've developed something of an obsession for this nocturnal, arid dwelling parrot. So we weren't going to miss the opportunity to try and track down this highly cryptic species. We spent many star filled, clear nights out waiting, listening and hoping that we would hear that two-note call I have read about a thousand times in the literature. Alas it wasn't to be on this occasion, but i live in hope of tracking this species down in WA somewhere, hopefully sooner rather then later.

Listening for Night Parrots under a southern sky. Although we didn't hear any calls of interest, the experience itself makes it worthwhile. Having an excuse to sit out under the stars for a couple of hours is what being a dedicated zoologist is all about.

The Gibb River Road

My first blog, how exciting! Starting off on a low intensity twitch, with a thoroughly enjoyable family twitch with my lovely wife Kellie and three year old boy Jaxon, across the Gibb River road of the Kimberley in August 2014. So this one is more travel diary, with some more technical diaries to come in the future. Hope you enjoy :)

The Gibb River road is an iconic Australian holiday. It is regarded as one of the great adventures, through one of the last wild frontiers, the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Having talked about it for a while with Kell, and a brief visit to Broome earlier in the year, we were hooked on the Kimberley and decided to embark on our own Gibb River adventure in August 2014. So a family twitching trip was decided on, which meant i couldn't go hard core adventuring, but also meant i could spend quality camping family time with Kell and our three year old boy Jaxon, you beauty!

After much research, we decided with only three weeks for the trip, we had to sacrifice some well known spots. We were conscious of too much travelling versus chill out relaxing time, so planned our schedule around two to three night overstays at each location, with only four or five camping spots all up. In order to choose which spots to stay at, I did a bit of research for potential bird lifer species at various locations. Should i get a good proportion of potential lifers, i could edge over 400 birds for my WA list, a noteworthy achievement. It showed Mitchell Falls as clearly the stand out location, but also the furthest diversion off the Gibb.....

We decided to see how things were panning out, and just wing it a bit once up there. With all the massive planning and preparation required for a trip like this, it felt like forever before we finally got on the road. In order to save time, we decided to to do two large driving legs on the way up, Perth to Newman, the Newman to Broome.

Jaxon with his portable dvd player on the long drive up. Best $90 ever spent and meant Jax was entertained for 12 hour drives.

The drive to Newman went well. I was excited to show Kell the landscapes and habitats i regularly work in, through the Murchison and Pilbara regions. I also took the opportunity to give (another) Night Parrot natural history lecture, as we drove through the Fortescue Marsh region.....

On any big road trip, my largest fear is always car trouble. Almost on cue, the Navara starting showing worrying signs, with coolant over-pressurising in the cooling system, forcing itself out of the reservoir tank, an issue i hadn't seen before. We limped in to Roebuck Plains caravan park (scene of the epic Hoopoe twitch a few years earlier), and i arranged to drive in to Broome the next day to met a mechanic. The mechanic diagnosed the issue as a buggered thermostat or radiator cap. A relatively minor repair, so after purchasing a new thermostat and cap, i went about changing the thermostat in the mechanics workshop. All went well and after a one day delay and slab of beer for the mechanic who helped me out, it was back en route to the Gibb.

There are worse place you could be stuck for a day - Cable Beach...

It was great to get back on the road, although we were a little apprehensive as to whether we had actually fixed the problem (thankfully we had no further cooling issues). A quick stop in at Derby for last supplies before it was off to our first camping spot - Windjana Gorge. The Gibb River road is legendary for its corrugations that swallow up small soft road four-wheel drives. We had no such issues for the first leg of the drive, but once we turned off the main road to detour down to Windjana, things noticeably got worse. However slow and steady we made it to Windjana, and were immediately impressed by the mighty Napier Range which literally erupts out of the surrounding plains.

Jaxon with an impressive termite mound and very impressive Napier Range in the background.

Windjana also produced the first lifers for me for the trip! Two Grey Goshwaks flying through the gorge was great. And early morning got us Sandstone Shrike-thrush, our only sighting for the trip. Within the freshwater pools in the gorge are Freshwater Crocodiles, which Jax was very excited to see. A local Southern Boobook Owl was present at camp and gave us great views early in the night.

A colony of Little Red Flying Foxes make themselves at home within Windjana Gorge.

Me and Jax, who is pointing out the local Freshwater Crocodiles.

A Windjana Gorge local.

From Windjana it was back up to the Gibb and on to our next location, Mt Barnett station and Manning Gorge. The camp site was busy at Mt Barnett, but it was an excellent spot and in hind sight was probably my most enjoyable spot to stay. The camp site is along the river which has beautiful clean white sand, with deep water pools to swim, splash and go fishing in. Upon arrival on the first afternoon, we were sitting down just relaxing when i spotted the telltale jizz (general impression, size and shape) of a small flock of pigeons walking down for a drink on the far side of the bank. A quick look through the bins revealed White-quilled Rock Pigeon, a lifer! I also spotted some honeyeater action revolving around some flowering grevillea on the opposite side of the river. I had to investigate and was rewarded with another lifer, Bar-breasted Honeyeater. These days when i see flowering trees and shrubs, i target them hard for birds, and often get rewarded. Tim Lowe's excellent recent book "Where song began" describes the long and important relationship between Australian honeyeaters and its flowering plants, and how they have helped shape our environment and the world.

Kell and Jaxon after the trek to Manning Gorge.

Jax and his walking stick.

Why not?

I managed to get out and do some spotlighting in the sandstone escarpments surrounding Mt Barnett. Although significantly warmer then down south, this time of year is cold for up here and the resulting reptile activity is poor. Even still, i managed to find a few frogs and geckos.

Rock Frog - Litoria coplandi (Frog IDs are my achilles, correct me if I'm wrong!)

Gehyra nana

Being an avid fisherman, i took an opportunity the next day to catch some Cherabin and Rainbowfish with Jaxon, before heading off down river by myself. I found an excellent water pool, and had a blast catching Sooty Grunter virtually every cast. I also flushed a Black Bittern, which is always great to see. That afternoon i took Jax and Kell down to my newly found water pool, close to camp but completely to ourselves, and probably had the best afternoon of the trip, sitting on beautiful sand on the banks of a lovely water hole, catching Sooty Grunter one after another on lures with my family, and sucking down a few red cans. Absolute bliss and i couldn't imagine anything better.

Fishin with the young bloke on isolated water hole with red can = winning!

Success (Sooty Grunter) 

Kell trying her luck

The next morning I was up early and birding the surrounding woodland. I love getting up early for first light. You can't beat that smell of a fresh day, and when the birds are calling it's going to be a great day. A thoroughly enjoyable morning, with 42 species in 45 minutes, including very rewarding lifer Northern Rosellas. These days I've gained enough confidence in my birding ability to really trust me senses, which is critical in nature observation. Prior to the trip, in my research phase, I decided the call of Northern Rosella was similar to our local south west Red-capped Parrot. So when in the field, following a tiny squak, i was confident i was on to them. I tracked down these two parrots about 300 m away from where i initially heard that single call, which was really satisfying.

We took a little trip to nearby Galvin's Gorge, a really pretty little spot which we had to ourselves. Jax spotted a Merten's Water Monitor (Varanus mertensi), and i went for a swim, over watched by a Wandjina spirit rock painting. The Wandjina is the rain or cloud spirit of the Kimberley who in the dreamtime helped create the landscapes and inhabitants.

Merten's Water Monitor basking at Galvin's Gorge.

Wandjina rock art

Unfortunately while staying at Mt Barnett, Kell had noticed fluid leaking out from underneath my car. Tracing it to the source, it was apparent the fluid was diesel, and we had a pin-prick hole in the fuel tank. Bugger. It wasn't too bad, but we decided it wasn't worth the risk detouring to Mitchell Falls, so the lifers up at Mitchell Plateau would have to wait for another trip, and instead would head straight to El Questro station.

Water crossing in to El Questro station

We found El Questro way too touristy and a bit of a let down to be honest. Having stayed on many stations throughout WA, i was very underwhelmed at this over-priced wannabe outback station. I struggled with the concept of paying for a "Wilderness Pass" to help protect the local wildlife, yet the station was still actively stocked with cattle, destroying and degrading the habitat. Presumably the cattle are to entertain the tourists, but leaves me wondering about the wilderness quality. The best thing was the very helpful mechanic who helped me drain the fuel tank, and patch the small hole with some QuickSteel which held for the rest of the trip. Birding was pretty quite, Green-backed Gerygone was a welcomed lifer and Shining Flycatcher a nice WA tick. 

After a couple of nights it was time to move on once again. Next stop Parry Creek near Wyndham. Not before a stop off in Emma Gorge. I've swum in many cold places before, i grew up in Bridgetown (aka Fridgetown) swimming in rivers and dams, and the southern ocean coming straight from Antartica. But that is nothing compared to Emma Gorge, I love extreme environments, and the crazy senses they bring on. And swimming in Emma Gorge was extreme, it was lung draining, skin burning, ball inverting freezing cold. And i loved it! It was also a saddening experience, after swimming up to a rock ledge just above water level, with the anticipation of seeing a lifer tree frog of some sort, i was greeted with a packed ledge of Cane Toads, our first encounter with this alien species.

Emma Gorge - ball invertingly cold, but spectacular. 

Wyndham doesn't have a lot going for it. Its up there with Wiluna status as places you should avoid. However, Wyndham will always have birders flocking to it, as during the dry season, it is one of the best places in Australia to see the Gouldian Finch. One of the worlds most recognisable and stunningly coloured birds, they have undergone a severe population reduction to now be federally protected and listed under commonwealth law as Endangered, with an estimated population potentially as low as 1,000 adult birds. I love finches, and the thought of seeing a wild Gouldian had been one of the key drivers to complete this trip. So I was anxious (to say the least) about dipping on this bird. We pulled in to Parry Creek farm and caught up with the manager, who informed us Gouldian's had been seen recently, great news.

Kell and Jaxon striking a pose on a rustic tractor at Parry Creek.

The next morning i was up pre-dawn for a stake out at the local billabong where Gouldian's are supposed to come in to drink. Every now and then in this nature observation business, you see something that literally takes your breath away, a surreal moment, which makes you question whether it is actually real or not. This morning I was to have one of those moments! I had spent about 30 minutes of scanning the edge of the water back and forth, watching other finch species such as Long-tailed, Masked and Double-barred Finches coming in to drink. After a standard left to right scan of the bank, i went back to the start point and through my bins there right in front of me was an adult male Gouldian Finch. It was there, right in front of me, jumping around on the ground. I hadn't seen it fly in, it just appeared right in front of me. It was a great moment and one i won't forget. That morning there were two adults and three juveniles.

With the pressure off, we could relax. The next morning Jax and Kell came down, and over a 20 minute period were treated to sensational views of up to 45 individual Gouldian Finches. Six birds were adults with the remainder juveniles, a great sign of breeding success. Nothing too tricky about tracking down these guys, but absolute birding bliss.

Absolute birding bliss - Gouldian Finch (adult and juveniles) lifer action

With the key species in Wyndham ticked off, we didn't really feel the need to stay any longer so off we headed to our next destination - Lake Argyle. After the dry and dusty Savannah woodlands of the Gibb, Kununurra was a refreshing change of scenery with green lush gardens and water everywhere. Lake Argyle caravan park was pretty specky, with the highlight infinity pool overlooking the lake. I was after Mannikins, as to date hadn't run in to any of the three potential species of the region. I hit up a small creekline and was rewarded with great views of a nice flock of Chestnut-breasted Mannikins. I didnt have alot of time for photography during the trip, but was happy to get some nice pics of these guys.

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin from near Lake Argyle.

Infinity pool at Lake Argyle.

Getting close to the end of our holiday, we decided to treat ourselves and go for the sunset jet boat cruise. Not too much wildlife action out on the lake, a few Freshwater Crocs, some Euro's on the islands and Masked Lapwings running around on the banks. But the weather was beautiful, and was a nice way to cap off the trip.

Looking back off the back of the Lake Argyle speed boat.

Me and Jax took the chance to have a bath.

By the time it was to leave, it dawned on us we were only 600 odd km from Darwin. And it was very tempting to keep heading north instead of the 3,000 km trip back to Perth! Unfortunately not this time, so it was three days of very solid driving back to Perth. Apart from the two minor vehicle hiccups, the Navara got us home safe and sound and was a good workhorse for the trip. I ended up seeing 135 bird species from Broome onwards, with 25 of those birds WA ticks and 11 lifers. Mammal, reptile and frog activity was low, with just three, 10 and four species respectively. But August represents the worst time of year for reptile activity so not surprising. We all had a fantastic time, and the only disappointing element was not being able to stay longer. But I feel there will be a dedicated hardcore twitch to the Mitchell Plateau some time in the future....

Rainbow Paddlepops make any long drive better.

"Sam" the crocodile was with us every step of the way.

Thats 7,023 km for the trip. WA is a big state.

Birds for the trip:

Brown Quail

Magpie Goose

Wandering Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Duck

Radjah Shelduck

Black Swan

Grey Teal

Pacific Black Duck

Hardhead

Australasian Grebe

Hoary-headed Grebe

Crested Pigeon

Spinifex Pigeon

White-quilled Rock Pigeon

Peaceful Dove

Bar-shouldered Dove

Little Black Cormorant

Pied Cormorant

Little Pied Cormorant

Black-necked Stork

Black Bittern

Eastern Great Egret

Intermediate Egret

Little Egret

Cattle Egret

White-faced Heron

White-necked Heron

Pied Heron

Nankeen Night Heron

Glossy Ibis

Australian White Ibis

Straw-necked Ibis

Royal Spoonbill

Black-breasted Buzzard

White-bellied Sea-eagle

Whistling Kite

Brahminy Kite

Black Kite

Brown Goshawk

Collared Sparrowhawk

Grey Goshawk

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Australian Kestrel

Brown Falcon

Peregrine Falcon

Brolga

Purple Swamphen

White-browed Crake

Australian Bustard

Bush Stone-curlew

Black-fronted Dotterel

Masked Lapwing

Common Sandpiper

Common Greenshank

Gull-billed Tern

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Galah

Little Corella

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Cockatiel

Red-collared Lorikeet

Red-winged Parrot

Northern Rosella

Varied Lorikeet

Horesfield's Bronze Cuckoo

Pheasant Coucal

Brush Cuckoo

Barking Owl

Boobook Owl

Azure Kingfisher

Blue-winged Kookaburra

Red-backed Kingfisher

Sacred Kingfisher

Rainbow Bee-eater

Black-tailed Treecreeper

Great Bowerbird

Red-backed Fairy-wren

Variegated Fairy-wren

Weebill

Mangrove Gerygone

Green-backed Gerygone

White-throated Gerygone

Red-browed Pardolate

Striated Pardolate 

White-gaped Honeyeater

Yellow-tinted Honeyeater

Grey-fronted Honeyeater

Yellow-throated Miner

Bar-breasted Honeyeater

Rufous-throated Honeyeater

Banded Honeyeater

Brown Honeyeater

White-throated Honeyeater

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Silver-crowned Friarbird

Little Friarbird

Grey-crowned Babbler

Varied Sitella

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike

White-winged Triller

White-breasted Whistler

Rufous Whistler

Sandstone Shrike-thrush

Australasian Figbird

Yellow Oriole

Olive-backed Oriole

White-breasted Woodswallow

Black-faced Woodswallow

Little Woodswallow

Silver-backed Butcherbird

Pied Butcherbird

Australian Magpie

Northern Fantail

Willie Wagtail

Torresian Crow

Leaden Flycatcher

Shining Flycatcher

Paperbark Flycacther

Magpie-lark

Jacky Winter

Lemon-breasted Flycatcher

Buff-sided Robin

Horsefield's Bushlark

Golden-headed Cisticola

Rufous Songlark

Yellow White-eye

Mistletoebird

Double-barred Finch

Long-tailed Finch

Masked Finch

Crimson Finch

Star Finch

Gouldian Finch

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin