Everywhere we went in Tasmania on our last trip two years ago we had to look up to see birds! Around Broome we don’t really have many tall trees, as we live in cyclone territory. You really notice the difference when you go somewhere else birding and by the end of the first day you have a stiff neck from looking up at birds. I suppose the fact that we do spend a fair bit of time on shorebird research makes our “looking up” muscles a bit lazy! Thankfully when we went in search of the Forty-spotted Pardalote there was a sign all about them just beneath a tree that they were in and you could lean back on it and observe with relative ease-perfect! On our visit to historic Port Arthur we came across this pair of White-faced Herons on top of one of the old stone buildings.
We took a day trip to historic Maria Island on the east coast and after dodging a very large Tiger snake we came across this stunning Scarlet Robin. It wasn’t keen on sitting still, but you could hardly miss it in the trees. There are some beautiful robins in Tasmania.
We also came across the Tasmanian Native-hen on the island and they are about the same size as our Purple Swamphens, which are also present. Thankfully these birds are down on ground level and gave our necks a rest from looking up! They were quite happy to wander around close to people in National Parks and campgrounds looking for food.
No doubt we will return from Tasmania with sore necks once again, but we won’t care! Looking forward to sharing our birding adventures when we return.
Clare, you know the term “warbler neck”, which birders are prone to catching when searching the trees at North American migrant hotspots for 16 hours/day for warblers? It is real, and it hurts.
However, just by the words “dodging a tiger snake”, you have made clear that “tree birding” is not encouraged in Tasmania, and also (presumably) not very common within the local birding communities as natural selection will sort out the “unfitting” from the “fitting” birders rather quickly. However, it does help to spot the packs of viscious Tree Frogs lurking on the upper branches of trees for insouciant birders… 😉
The Tree Frogs in Tasmania are brown like the trees and we didn’t see any-too busy watching out for Tiger Snakes! We did see Green and Gold Frogs at a Wetlands area near Launceston, though and they were rather cute! We saw all 4 of the robins this time-Pink, Scarlet, Flame and the dull Dusky! You will be pleased to know they have some nice European birds there like Sparrows, Blackbirds, Starlings, etc….so you will feel at home when you get yourself to Tasmania!