| Birding
On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002 Emmalee Tarry |
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Tasmania |
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I very much wanted to go to Bruny Island. There is a car ferry from Kettering, but the problem is that on the island some roads are paved and some are not. As you drive the island the sealed road will suddenly turn to dirt and that makes for a serious problem with the rental car insurance. Remember my rental insurance specifically limits me to driving on sealed road. While I sometimes risked driving on unsealed road when there was little chance of accident, that is really not the case on Bruny Island. There is a good deal of traffic here and opportunity for accident.
To see Bruny Island I needed a driver. The campground director arranged for me to take a tour of Bruny Island with Robert Pennicott. Robert normally run nature trips on a boat out of Adventure Bay on the south east side of the island. His clients see Southern Right and Humpback Whales, Dolphins, White-bellied Sea Eagles, Fur Seals, Oystercatcher. He is temporarily beached because he just bought a new boat and delivery is delayed. He will go to Queensland next week to pick the new boat up at Noosaville. So today he in willing to be a bird guide for AU$150.
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Robert Pennicott points out the burrow of either a
Short-tailed Shearwater or Little Penguin on Bruny
Island. The new boat will carry 48 passengers and go 25 Knots Robert told me that has a colony of breeding Buller's and Shy Albatross which he could reach on a day trip. Anyone interested in a pelagic trip from Bruny Island should contact Robert. |
| Bruny Island Charters Robert Pennicott PO Box 25 Margate Tasmania 7054 |
Phone: 03 6234 4446 FAX: 03 6234 3166 info@experiencetas.com.au |
The car ferry from Kettering cost AU$21 round trip. ( That is called AU$21 return in Australia.) Walk on passengers ride free. The first boat leaves at 7:30 and then every 15-30 minutes thereafter. The trip takes 15 minutes. At the dock I saw Common Blackbird, Silver Gull, Kelp Gull, Little Black Cormorant, Black-faced Cormorant, European Goldfinch, New Holland Honeyeater, Masked Lapwing.
Robert met me on the other side with his Toyota van. Our first stop was at a pond on the left hand side of the road which met the description of the pond Thomas and Thomas called Dusky Robin Pool. On some big logs by the pond there were Superb Fairywrens. We walked a bit up the road and found Dusky Robin and Black-headed Honeyeater.
The road from the ferry is sealed. We drove on this road and took the second left on a dirt road to Dennes Point. This is a one lane road on which you can meet a large truck. To get the best spot for Forty-spotted Pardalote drive 8.2 km on this dirt road until you pass a quarry on the left. Go up the hill and look for a blue house on the right. The sign on the gate said "321 Lauriston". Across from the gate is another gate and a grass track up the hill. Park on the road and walk up the grass track until you are about eye level with the canopy of the White Gums on the hill below. Look for Striated, Spotted and Forty-spotted Pardalotes in the canopy. I saw both Spotted and Forty-spotted here. This hillside is actually a National Park but there is no sign to indicate this.
At another stop on this road I had Scarlet Robin, another Dusky Robin, and European Goldfinch.
Back on the sealed road we headed south toward the narrow isthmus that separates North Bruny Island and South Bruny Island. An immature White-bellied Seaeagle was sitting in a tree. Before the isthmus the road deteriorates to a two lane dirt road.
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On the isthmus between the two island you can see a colony of
several thousand Short-tailed Shearwaters and several hundred Little
Blue Penguins. If you come here in the evening with a strong torch you can watch the Penguin parade and also watch the Shearwaters come in to their burrows. |
| At the pier outside Adventure Bay where Robert will dock his
new boat we saw several Pacific Gulls including one that stayed put while I got
this picture. Notice the huge red-tipped bill. Just past the store in Adventure Bay look for Blue Gum trees on the beach side of the road. Usually Swift Parrots can be found here. In winter Southern Right Whales come right into the bay just like they do at Warrnambul. |
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Sooty Oystercatcher on Bruny Island. |
| This is the lighthouse at the southern end of South Bruny Island. |  |
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This is a Pacific Black Duck with her brood, but
notice that two of the duckling are very dark. Has she adopted offspring of
another species? This photo was taken in the campground at Adventure Bay. I also saw the Tasmanian Native-hen here. I returned on the 3:15 PM ferry. |
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