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!
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| Flame robin, Inala, Bruny Island, Tasmania |
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| Scarlet robin |
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| Distant view of Dusky robin, a Tasmanian endemic species |
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| Partially cleared land, Inala |
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| 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!
Bird on!
