The traveling Najade is traveling - WA? Why Not?

Najade

Najade

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
This is gonna be my thread for Western Australia. Did a stint in the south-west for a little over a week and just moved to the Pilbara.

Went to two zoos so far:
Armadale Reptile & Wildlife Centre
Perth Zoo
as well as Barna Mia.

The rest of the trip was wildlife stuff and we'll see how things go up north as they happen.
 
Day 1

I got my Atlas rental and headed for Armadale.
(I'd hoped to do Perth Zoo in the beginning of my trip to avoid the school holidays but I was still in talks about the possibility of going bts at the time so couldn't and Kanyana had decided to take the Boodie off their meet and greet list, so I scratched a visit there altogether.)

Armadale Reptile & Wildlife Centre
@LaughingDove's review here was my main reason for going as I wanted to see the four legless lizard species. Sadly it seems like there's only one left.
Overall the place is nice but there were a couple too many enclosures that seemed just sort of filled up with Stimson's Pythons and there wasn't really much conversation to be had with or info to be had from the keepers...

Animals checked off my list:
Fraser's Legless Lizard

Animals not checked off my list:
Gray’s Legless Lizard
Common Scaly-foot

Animals seen (wild):
Red Wattlebird
Galah

Onwards to Dryandra it was the usual ravens, ringnecks and bronzewings. Arriving there I got my first of many Western Grey Kangaroos of this trip.

Barna Mia nocturnal tour
At the tour ($20/$15,50 concession; need to book in advance but no minimum number required) we were only a group of three and so got to go into both predator-proof exclosures (Barna Mia 1 and 2). The tour starts with a short PPP talk about conservation, the centre's work, the animals etc. Then we headed out to the feeding stations (three per exclosure). Most animals come into the first station and then it becomes continuously less. Mala, Woylie and Bilby were always around and easy to see. We also had a couple of Brushtails around that come into the exclosures for a feed. Boodies only came around in Barna Mia 2 and we only saw one Quenda.

Animals seen:
Wurrup
Boodie
Quenda
Dalgyte
Woylie
Common Brushtail Possum

Animals not seen:
Marl

After the tour I went for a bit of spotlighting walking the Wandoo Walk where I saw Common Brushtails, Eastern Greys and had good views of a Red-tailed Phascogale. After that I drove around for a bit and got a Woylie and Barn Owl on Gura Road, two more Woylies on another road in the upper north-western area and another Common Brushtail pulling into the Arboretum parking area.

Animals seen:
Kenngoor
Common Brushtail Possum
Woylie
Western Grey Kangaroo
Barn Owl

Next up: Dryandra
 
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Day 2

Dryandra
I took the path at the Arboretum, then left at the cross-section and walked back via Marri and Tomingley Road. A midday drive around only added one species to the list.

Animals seen:
Mardo
Western Grey Kangaroo

Painted Buttonquail
Western Rosella
Varied Sittella
Striated Pardalote
Spotted Pardalote
Rufous Treecreeper
Weebill
Western Thornbill
Western Golden Whistler
Australian Magpie
Willie Wagtail
Scarlet Robin
Western Yellow Robin
Singing Honeyeater
Dusky Woodswallow
White-browed Babbler
Grey Shrike-thrush
Red-capped Robin

In the evening I got Western Greys, Common Brushtails and a Woylie again.

Next up: Stirling Range Retreat
 
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I’m going to have to find my Mammal Identification Guide to look up some of these animals, because I have no idea of what they are...
 
I'm sure now that I have some more time again I'll get around to it...maybe:p
 
Day 3
On the three hour drive I saw Galah and Australian Ringneck.

Stirling Range Retreat
When I arrived at the retreat I got some good advice from the woman at reception and had a wander around. I didn't go on any of the longer walks but mainly stayed in the camping area and got two Shrike-tits and some other stuff after only a short search.

Animals seen:
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Inland Thornbill
Spooted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Western Spinebill
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Red Wattlebird
New Holland Honeyeater
White-cheeked Honeyeater
Gilbert's Honeyeater
White-winged Triller
Western Crested Shrike-tit
Rufous Whistler
Australian Magpie
Grey Fantail
Willie Wagtail
Australian Raven
Western Yellow Robin
Silvereye
Tree Martin


Next up: Cheynes Beach
 
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Cheynes Beach
Because the day was still young I decided to drive on to Cheynes. Got a map and advice on where to go at the Caravan park. I went to the scrubbird site first but only had a very unsatisfactory run-across-the-path out of the corner of my eye and some silvereyes. As middle of the day isn't the best time I headed for the heath-areas behind the car park to scout out some potential flowers for honey possums later (saw cuckoo, honeyeater, firetail). Met some other birders and went back with one of them to the scrubbird site. While we were waiting a group of very showy fairywren came around for a visit and then we got lucky and the scrubbird ran across the path about a meter away from us so we had some good views:)
Because it was getting dark I didn't have time to look for the other skulkers or the rock parrots.
After dark I went back to the flower patches but only saw a stick-insect and no possums. At the caravan park there was a mop of western greys grazing and I surprised a quenda that was trying to sneak past me when I turned on my head-torch (it literally had a caught in the headlights expression on it's face:D). With no honey possums I decided to give Sterling another go and headed back. On the road out from Cheynes I had a Quokka passing my way.


Animals seen:
Quenda
Quokka
Western Grey Kangaroo

Pacific Gull
Noisy Scrubbird
Brush Bronzewing
Fan-tailed Cuckoo
Grey Currawong
Red-winged Fairywren
(Southern Emu-wren)
New Holland Honeyeater
White-breasted Robin
Silvereye
Red-eared Firetail

King's Skink

Stick-insect

Next up: Stirling Range Retreat (by night)
 
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Bluff Knoll Road
Coming back I drove up and down Bluff Knoll Road before going to the retreat. Didn't see any honey possums here, but got another Quokka.

Animals seen:
Quokka
Western Grey Kangaroo

Stirling Range Retreat
I'd been told before to check the banksias in the pool area and when I went there around midnight I got one honey possum that stuck around for a bit in the one right opposite the gate to the pool. After a couple minutes it was joined by a pygmy-possum on the same plant. I checked back a couple more times during the night but didn't have any more sightings.

Animals seen:
Noolbenger
Mundarda

Next up: Perup
 
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MattyP said:
I’m going to have to find my Mammal Identification Guide to look up some of these animals, because I have no idea of what they are...
Click to expand...

Wurrup, Kenngoor, Dalgyte and Mardo are new names for me too, so I looked it up. Here is a "translation":

Wurrup = Mala = Rufous Hare Wallaby
Boodie = Burrowing Bettong
Quenda = Southern Brown Bandicoot
Dalgyte = Greater Bilby
Woylie = Brush-tailed Bettong
Mardo = Yellow-footed Antechinis
Kenngoor = Red-tailed Phascogale
 
Day 4

Bluff Knoll Road
Had another go at the road early morning. Only spotted one mammal.

Animals seen:
Kwoora

Had a quick look at Mt Trio car park but didn't see the Western Whipbird that's supposed to be there and then it was off to Perup.

Animals seen (on the road):
Carnaby's Black Cockatoo
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Australian Wood-duck
 
Perup
I drove around during the day but it was overcast and Perup isn't great for birds anyways.

Animals seen:
Willie Wagtail
Western Golden Whistler
White-browed Scrubwren
Scarlet Robin
Grey Fantail

During my first night drive around 8pm I saw three quendas, a woylie, a western grey and a tyto-type owl.
The second drive around 2am yielded common brushtails, two woylies and a tawny frogmouth.

Animals seen:
Quenda
Common Brushtail Possum
Woylie
Western Grey Kangaroo
Tawny Frogmouth
 
Perup Nature Guesthouse
After that I went back to Perup Nature Guesthouse for some on-foot spotlighting:
At the main accommodation area I had great views of a brush-tailed phascogale and quenda and common brushtail at the lookout over the lake. At the start of the Ringtail Walk I had another quenda come very close to sniff my shoes and what might have been a quoll (couldn't 100% ID it, before it ran off). On the trail I had a couple more brushies and another phascogale. At the car park I found a mob of western greys. On the Bandicoot Scoot I found common brushtails, a tammar wallaby and a slender treefrog.
Another night drive around 5:45am only got me another Woylie.

Animals seen:
Wambenger
Quenda
Common Brushtail Possum
Woylie
Tammar Wallaby
Western Grey Kangaroo
Slender Treefrog

Next up: more Perup
 
I can live with most of your mammal sightings, as I've seen the species in the wild or in zoos, but honey possums is something else. A species I would love to see (I had a slight hope that it was kept by Perth Zoo), so I'm a bit jealous!

Najade said:
I'll leave further translations to you @AWP ;)
Click to expand...

Fine, here they are:

Kwoora = Western Brush Wallaby
Wambenger = Brush-tailed Phascogale (I knew this one!)
Noolbenger = Honey Possum
Mundarda = Western Pygmy Possum

The last one reminds me to look up which species I saw several years ago on Kangaroo Island.

Walpurti is next? Or maybe Ngwayir? (translations will follow if @Najade has actually seen these species)
 
Day 5

Perup
Another day of driving around got me two more western brush wallabies (+some extra stuff) and my main target around 2pm on Corbalup Road when I'd just decided to move on. (I feel like half the time as soon as you give up all the animals come out of the woodwork just to mock ya...)

Animals seen:
Walpurti
Kwoora
Western Grey Kangaroo

Scarlet Robin
Western Yellow Robin

Heath Monitor

Barna Mia
Back at Dryandra I had another go at the nocturnal tour and even though we went into both areas and the guide took me out again after everyone else had left we couldn't find any Barred Bandicoots:(

Animals seen:
Wurrup
Boodie
Quenda
Dalgyte
Woylie
Common Brushtail Possum
Southern Boobook

Animals not seen:
Marl

Next up: Dryandra
 
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AWP said:
I can live with most of your mammal sightings, as I've seen the species in the wild or in zoos, but honey possums is something else. A species I would love to see (I had a slight hope that it was kept by Perth Zoo), so I'm a bit jealous!
Click to expand...
I had seen some on the last trip although it wasn't great views. This time I only got the one.

Other trip reports make it sound like you will just fall all over them in the right areas, but I wasn't that lucky. Maybe I'm not great at finding them or it was the wrong season or those other people had thermal imagers I don't know...:confused:



The last one reminds me to look up which species I saw several years ago on Kangaroo Island.
Click to expand...
There's only Little or Western Pygmy-possum around, I think.

Walpurti is next? Or maybe Ngwayir? (translations will follow if @Najade has actually seen these species)
Click to expand...
What about Marl?:p
 
Interlude: Dryandra vs Perup

Both places are good for mammals, but Perup doesn't have a lot of birdlife, which makes the stretches between seeing mammals pretty dull and boring.
Dryandra has parking spots and nice walking trails that are missing at Perup, which is pretty much all roads, the main one at 100km/h which I didn't enjoy because I always felt like there would be a car coming up behind me as soon as I slowed down for too long. Even the dirt roads seem fairly well used. The only real walking trails were at the guesthouse which requires you to fork out a lot of money (starting at $120). Dryandra also felt a bit smaller and more compact in general (trees not as high, areas more well marked, etc.)

Wifi is spotty in both but at Dryandra I had a good connection at the Lol Gray picnic area as well as a parking spot on Coolbardie Road. At Perup I got a decent connection when I pulled into the second overgrown "road" on the right at the start of Corbalup road.
 
Day 6

I had a look at the Lol Gray Trail but only got honeyeaters and silvereyes.

Ochre Trail
Had a daytime walk up to the small ridge and back. One of each mammal and seven shrike-tits.

Animals seen:
Nyingarn
Mardo

Australian Ringneck Parrot
Rufous Treecreeper
Striated Pardalote
Western Spinebill
Western Crested Shrike-tit
Grey Shrike-thrush
Willie Wagtail
Black-faced Woodswallow
Singing Honeyeater

Next up: the most frustrating thing
 
Najade said:
There's only Little or Western Pygmy-possum around, I think.
Click to expand...

I know, but one of them is very rare according to Menkhorst. I guess the rare one is the Little Pygmy Possum, so seeing the Western is more likely.

Najade said:
What about Marl?
Click to expand...

Reading about Dyandra en Perup, I was expecting Walpurti aka Numbat, but amazing that you actually saw it in the wild!

How many strange names are left?

Nyingarn = Short-beaked Echidna
Marl = Western Barred Bandicoot
 
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