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!

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Bird on!

Flame robins enjoying the conditions, Phillip Island

Gorgeous place (on a nice day)! Gorgeous feathery friends!

It's been a while since I've seen Flame robin. Recently at Cape Woolamai I enjoyed walking along the trail with at least one pair keeping just ahead of me.

Flame Robin (AM), Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island, June 2013

I'm outta here!

My first view was a distant snap of the female. Different from the other birds I'd been seeing that morning, I thought: "Now, that has a "robiny" flavour!"

Flame robin, female

 But which one? A splash of colour on the track ahead and an "insurance shot" is taken.

Subsequent views in different positions enabled enough examination of the colouring and pattern of colour to establish that this was Flame robin. We also see Scarlet robin in Victoria which has less orange in the breast that does not extend so far down the belly. The Scarlet robin also has a larger white forehead patch.

Flame robin, Cape Woolamai

When I'm seeing birds in beautiful surrounds I do like to try to capture something of this but find it difficult. The bird shown above appears on the photo below (bottom left).

Spot the robin!

Checking the conditions, Woolamai surf beach

Some White-fronted chat were taking in a similar view and watching the surfers ...

Now play spot the chat!

The old man and the sea!? I was curious to see what would unfold. This is a decent sized wave (in my book)!

Look at him go!

Although I don't think many cameras were pointing at birds, there was no shortage of long lenses!

The gorgeous weather drew many to Woolamai for many different reasons:

The Instagram perspective

And did I mention that in the summer months Cape Woolamai plays host to TENS of THOUSANDS of Short-tailed shearwater? But that's another story!

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Bird on!