Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Inala on Bruny Island, Tasmania

Along with Maria Island further north, Bruny Island is one of the remaining strongholds for Forty-spotted pardalote. Nearly all of the Tasmanian endemics can be seen on Bruny and when I read that the owner of a property on South Bruny was a naturalist and ran birding tours of her property ..... Well thankfully Bruny is one of those places where there is no shortage of other things to do when a birder departs from the family itinerary for a few hours!

Forty-spotted pardalote, Inala, South Bruny (15 April 2014) 

During the tour the focus was not on photography so much as identifying and learning about local birds and animals. The property is called Inala (website: http://www.inalabruny.com.au) and my guide was Dr Tonia Cochran - she knew the local species intimately. At one stage she identified a short chirp as evidence that a Pink robin was close by and wanted to try to call it in. A few "psshh" noises later and the robin duly appeared and checked us out!

And just what is going on here? Pink robin, Inala

Apart from a trio of local Wedge-tailed eagles it was the smaller birds that were the feature at Inala - robins in particular. The endemic Dusky robin was pointed out and I came across some very obliging Flame robin. Several Scarlet robin were also seen, often perching on barbed wire fences.

Flame robin, Inala, Bruny Island, Tasmania
Scarlet robin
Distant view of Dusky robin, a Tasmanian endemic species 
Partially cleared land, Inala
Inala, the gums at left are an example of the favoured by endangered Forty-spotted pardalote

This was an enjoyable & memorable outing which included views of Tasmanian thornbill and scrubwren, Black-headed, Strong-billed, Yellow-throated and Crescent honeyeaters, Yellow wattlebird and those mentioned above amongst many others. I would certainly commend a visit to others!

Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday


Bird on!

19 comments:

  1. What a great place. That pink robin is brilliant and right out of the 80s.

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  2. HI Phil When my daughter lived in Sydney we were just about to make a trip to Tasmania but suddenly they moved to Queensland and I never got and I am disappointed so it great to hear that you have been there and visited this particular site where you got some fantastic shots of Robins.

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  3. Robins everywhere! Nice one Pete :-)

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  4. Oh those little robins are so sweet, and what beautiful colours! The pink one is my favourite!

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  5. Vivid colours!! Boom, Bobbi and Gary.

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  6. my goodness! just beautiful robins!

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  7. Oh ,so lolley colours scarlet robin is my favorite ,nette

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  8. Gorgeous little birds...all so different from our American robins. Love the scenery. What a nice place to visit!

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  9. It sounds like a great place for a birder to visit. Great photos and very interesting to see all those different robins.

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  10. Love the colours of those pretty robins.

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  11. They are cute and have lovely colours, Nice scenery and wonderful photos.

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  12. Hi Pete, thanks for your visit. It is such a treat to see those Pardalote photos - they're such tiny little souls and I have been driven to distraction trying to photograph them here in Gippsland. Well done.
    The Robins of course are so sweet, their colours are just brilliant :D)

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  13. I love the Australian Robins so much and get disappointed that the Flame, Scarlet and Red-capped are just rare visitors to Brisbane. I love the Pink Robin photo where it's looking direct at the camera - it sounds like you had a very good guide!

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  14. That Flame Robin is a beauty.

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  15. What a gorgeous series of shots, Pete! The Scarlet Robin & Flame Robin are absolutely beautiful!

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  16. Epic robins! Nice series of birds here. Most of them were new to me!

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  17. G'day PS,
    A smorgasbord of Robins - you lucky ..... Just about my favourite bird and I haven't seen a pink yet so thanks and good for you.
    Regards,
    Gouldiae

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  18. Glad you enjoyed Inala with my friend Tonia. It's a wonderful place. Great shots of the robins :-)

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