In search of a Rose Robin

Australia has a beautiful variety of colourful robins. In the area our daughter lives in I've seen Hooded, Flame, Scarlet, Red-capped & Eastern Yellow. I've seen Pink Robin down near Melbourne but Rose Robin  has become a bit of a nemesis. I've seen one before but a long time ago and I didn't manage a photo. I can't even remember where it was exactly! Somewhere along the Yarra outside of Melbourne.

Since I've been here (and weeks before we arrived!) I'd been checking eBird sightings in local areas and there were two local sightings of Rose Robin. One was in the area of the dam that has been attracting all the parrots & honeyeaters and another at a site called "Honeyeater Picnic Area'. Both only a few minutes drive away.

I made an effort at the dam, after having my fill of Turquoise and Swift parrots,  and spent several hours in the area where they'd been seen but with no success. Seeing a report of one being seen the previous day at the picnic area I decided to give that ago. 

For the first hour I hardly saw anything but I did stumble across my first live Wombat. Two blundered out the long grass in front of me and went towards their burrow,. One disappeared but the other stayed long enough for me to climb inot a nearby tree to get a photo where the animal wasn't obscured by grass. I've seen lots of dead ones along various roads but this was the first live one! Someone likened hitting a Wombat in a car as like hitting a barrel full of cement. 

Next on the marsupial list was a Swamp Wallaby. A species I've seen regularly. Again I didn't spot it until it started crashing away from me through the undergrowth.

Circling the dam a couple of times I picked up a Turquoise Parrot high up in the canopy on call and there was a Little Pied Cormorant drying itself in a tree whilst an Australasian Grebe swam in the open water. All nice to see but not what I'd come for.

Returning to the car I pondered my next move and decided to follow a dry gully away from the dam that had quite a bit of vegetation around it. I'd been listening to calls of Rose Robin and suddenly heard one in the distance. I couldn't find it! I thought I'd found it when I saw a robin-like silhouette ahead of me but it turned out to be a female Scarlet Robin. Then the male appeared! 

Scarlet Robin male

Scarlet Robin female

What a stunning little bird and I couldn't resist spending the time I had left photographing them as they proved remarkable tame. I'd stumbled into a small area with quite a few species feeding. An unusual call had me looking up and finding a Varied Sitella  - a bit like a cross between a Nuthatch and the American Black and White Warbler.

A group of Buff-rumped Thornbills and Spotted Pardalote's were feeding around me and a female type Golden Whistler was feeding in some low shrubs. 

Buff-rumped Thornbill

A good couple of hours but still no Rose Robin! 

A couple of days later I got a message from one of the local birders that he and a mate were going back to the dam early afternoon and would I be free to join them. As it happened I was planning another trip anyway so we agreed to meet up. The dam was pretty quiet but probably because its fame had spread and there were lots of people there. Hearing that the Pink Robins had been seen nearby again recently we took a wander down the track. A few minutes of searching and there it was. A Rose Robin calling. John spotted it high in the canopy first before it flew towards us calling. Still staying high it gave good views through the binoculars and I even managed a couple of useable photos.

What a great little bird. They're known to be hard to catch up with as they do prefer sticking high up in trees. I was more than happy with the views we had and came away feeling rather smug that I was the only one that managed to get a photo. If it wasnt for John and Tony though I'd probably not have seen it.

More action back at the dam.

With rain forecast at the weekend I decided to pay a return visit to the dam ostensibly to try and photograph the vagrant White-fronted Honeyeater (if it showed again) and a Rose Robin that had been seen nearby......I failed on both accounts but wasn't too disappointed as the range of birds on display was spectacular. Both the Swift and Turquoise Parrots put on a good display but this time they were joined by Crimson & Eastern Rosella's as well as Little Lorikeets.

Juvenile Crimson Rosella

Adult male Crimson Rosella

Little Lorikeet

Little Lorikeets & Swift Parrot

The Swift parrot numbers are dropping off from the record numbers of a few weeks ago but those birds remaining are putting on a good show!

Juvenile Swift Parrot

Adult male Swift Parrot

Not to be put in the shade the tiny Turquoise Parrots made up for their diminutive size with a dazzling display of colour.

A few different species were coming down to drink including Dusky Wood Swallows and Welcome Swallows and a White-browed Babbler

Dusky Wood Swallow

Welcome Swallow

Dusky Wood Swallow

White-browed Babbler

Review of my birding year 2024.

A mixed year with some superb birds seen and some memorable trips.  I managed to add 3 species to my local patch and house list in 2024. All of them wildfowl - an indication of the wet weather we've experienced that affected so many of our small passerines during the breeding season.  Once again the pond opposite our house was the focus of attention with a memorable one afternoon Green-winged Teal proving to be the highlight. Other new birds were a juvenile Garganey that arrived with the first Teal of the Autumn and numerous sightings of Mandarin. Starting in the spring with a single male on the flooded part of the field and culminating in 9 juveniles that revisited on several occasions.

                                      Mandarin

                                        Garganey

Green-winged Teal

Locally our Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat populations crashed with only two pairs of the former and none of the latter present during the breeding season. Lesser Whitethroats were recorded as passage birds only. Once again I've not had a treecreeper on my local patch for the 3rd year running.

My Cheshire list increased by one with the superb Hudsonian Godwit found by Colin Wells at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB. See here for details of that bird.

August saw me, Chris, Steve and Al making my 1st Scilly's pelagics trip for 11 years and what a memorable few days it turned out to be with the undoubted highlights being the record number of Wilson's Petrels seen in British and Irish waters in a single day (121) and a lifer in the form of Scopoli's Shearwater. Coupled with a very showy Spotted Sandpiper and an evening Storm petrel ringing it was a great trip. See here for details of that epic 'big Wilson's day'.

I had to wait until our annual trip t oFair Isle for my next lifer. After the disappointment of two years ago when we missed Tennessee Warbler on two consecutive days on Yell by 5 minutes (see here ) one turned up on Fair isle the day before we were scheduled to arrive. A nervous wait ensued with no news of the bird but  it was re-found just as we were picking our luggage up off the runway on the Fair Isle airstrip. A brisk 10 minute walk later and we were watching this little American gem by ourselves!  See here for details of that trip.

A great trip with Pectoral Sandpiper and Golden Oriole being self finds and seeing the Tennessee Warbler , Ortolan Bunting and Arctic Warbler in the hand along with colour ringing numerous Yellow-browed Warblers in the hand.

My next lifer of 2024 came in the form of the widely expected Pale-legged leaf Warbler at Flambourough in October - just as I'd returned from Fair Isle and just before my trip to Fetlar. Details here. What a bird! 

Fetlar proved to be wet and windy with the highlight being a putative Eastern Yellow Wagtail found by Paul Macklam and submitted to the BBRC. having to leave Fetlar early due to the poor wether I managed to jam in on the White-winged Scoter on the mainland - my 2nd in the UK and by far the best views. Details here

Next up was the sublime Yellow Warbler at Hythe in Kent. Being found fairy late on Christmas Eve meant a nervous wait for me until the day after Boxing Day when all the family events were behind us. I'm glad  I made it on the 27th rather than waiting until the weekend as the bird promptly did what has become known as the infamous Friday night flit.

The undoubted highlight of 2024 for me personally was my long-awaited and anticipated trip to Antarctica in January. A dream trip and one that lived up to all expectations. I fell in love with Antarctica and am  already planning a return trip within the next few years. A close second was visiting our family in Australia to see Amy perform as Maria in the Sound of Music in May. A time that happened to coincide with a big local influx of Swift Parrots. An Australia lifer for me - see here  - along with Rose Robin - see here. With a trip to Malaysia in March and Florida in November I ended up with a global year list total of 516 species.

So, what of 2025? I'm hoping for at least three lifers in the year to take my BOU list up to a nice round 550 species. Finally catching up with Green Warbler would be nice along with Siberian Thrush and a Yellow-breasted Bunting!  Hopefully I'm going to Iceland for two weeks in May catching and flagging Red Knot on their migratory staging grounds. We've already booked Fair Isle from 26th September until 3rd October and I will probably end up on Fetlar for a week early October. I'm taking Jan to the Seychelles for her birthday in November so that will provide an opportunity to see a few more island endemics.

Another mega grip back.

It's 08.26 on a beautiful sunny morning and my head is still reeling with the joys of Cuckoo's and Yellowhammers after last nights foray into the deepest depths of Cheshire when the SMS from RBA breaks the pleasant dream.
Mega. Cleveland ORPHEAN WARBLER Hartlepool Headland trapped + ringed + will be released at bowling green c8.45.

Fc*k. Another mega in a week!

Surely this won't be seen again I thought sipping my coffee as the first of many calls from mates offering / wanting lifts came through. Chill I thought to myself. No chance of this being relocated. Then I remembered.........White-throated Robin. Almost exactly a year ago in the same place and the same circumstances. Trapped, ringed and released in the bowling green. More expletives. I'd better go.

A few calls later & I was on my way to pick up Groucho, Robbo and Ian. News had already come through that the bird was still showing when we left and continued to come through every 40 minutes or so until we arrived  on site to find the rest of our mates already there. The Cheshire A team move quickly. A quick peek through Ash's scope and there it was sitting forlornly in a privet bush fluffed up and not moving much.

After about an hour it perked up and went for a bit of a fly round at which point I struck lucky with the camera and managed a few record shots as it dived from the privet bush into a rose bush.

Not the best pictures in the world but given the views of the bird skulking in the bushes for much of the time this was the best I could do. Another mega unblocked.

Another gripping day on Shetland

After the Thick-billed Warbler of the previous day there were a few thick heads amongst the group and a leisurely start was in order. Deciding to start with a very showy Arctic Warbler we set off for Voe where we spent a couple of hours in glorious sunshine watching a ridiculously tame Arctic Warbler down to less than 1 metre as it flitted around low in the willow scrub hunting insects. To say the bird was 'showing well' was an understatement. This will count as one of my best ever experiences on Shetland.

 

 

Searching the gardens around Lower Voe resulted in yet another Yellow-Browed Warbler and massive disappointment in finding the pie shop had run out of pies! 

 

Once again we found our plans being interrupted when an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler was found at Hoswick..... In the very garden we'd spent ages looking into when news of the Thick-billed Monster broke. Local news suggested the bird was showing very well so we headed down. Sure enough the bird excelled by being on virtually constant show despite the occasional bout of bullying from the local House Sparrows.

One of the things we've learnt over the years is to keep plugging away. The previous day we'd been at Hoswick in the pouring rain with a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers to show for our efforts..............................here's Chris & Pod optimistically playing Siberian Blue Robin on the iPod at the very same garden the Eastern Olivaceous appeared in overnight.

 

As well as the Eastern 'Ollie' the same garden hosted a fresh- in Garden Warbler feasting on the rose hips.

 

 

With an excellent night organised by the Shetland Bird Club and a few beers in town with some of Shetlands finest it was another good day.