Tassie Endemics

As Lynn and I prepare, plan and arrange to spend almost a year traveling and birding in Australia, I have taken this step into blogging. I will blog our travels and my gratitudes along the journey. It is what I have been doing on facebook, but in a more permanent form I suppose. It seems pretty easy so far, however I am just learning and experimenting and battling with the non-intuitiveness of technology. I have been "working" on getting this to post properly for over an hour now. We will see. Regardless, I am grateful for this next step in communication and sharing.

As I mentioned just a few days ago, we have booked a pelagic out of Eaglehawk Neck in Tasmania for 5 December and I am thrilled and grateful. We will be spending about two weeks in the wondrous Land Down-under the Land Down-under. We went there for a week in early December 2012 and it is one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited. We will spend some time again on one of our favorite places, Bruny Island. It is gorgeous and it’s a location where one can get all twelve of Tasmania’s endemic birds. I have seen the twelve (with a bit of luck, this can be done in a day or less of birding) but Lynn has only seen a few, so we will be finding these birds again… together. I am grateful.

“Endemic” is a lovely word to a birder. It means the bird can only be seen in this specific place making it necessary to go there, and most birders like “to go there.” So I thought I would post the photos of my twelve Tassie endemics. All the shots except the Thornbill were taken on Bruny Island and mostly they are just recording shots (especially the Scrubwren) but they are special to me and I am grateful to have seen them and to have managed to get any sort of photo. 

Strong-billed honeyeater 

Dusky Robin

Black-headed Honeyeater

                                       Yellow-throated Honeyeater

Yellow Wattlebird

Black Currawong

Tasmanian Scrubwren

Green Rosella

Tasmanian Thornbill

Forty-spotted Pardalote

Tasmanian Native-hen

Scrubtit 

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.