Western Australia - September 2026
Dates: September 10-21, 2026
Leader: Max Breckenridge
E-bird
Total Species: 154 birds
Click Here to view list.
Overall Summary
Our group of new and old faces assembled in the tidy city of Perth for this compact but relaxed tour around the southwest of Western Australia. This tour focuses on a relatively tiny fraction of the entire state, but it is by far the most unique and endemic-rich part of it.
On our first afternoon in Perth, we birded the excellent Herdsman Lake, with our first birds being a roosting pair of Tawny Frogmouths, alongside amazingly close looks at Blue-billed Ducks and a displaying Musk Duck—one of the most bizarre and ancient representatives of this family. The next morning, we visited a couple of locations where the flat coastal plains of Perth meet a range of low hills to the east. A huge flock of endangered Baudin’s Black-Cockatoos feeding and flying around us at eye level was a wonderful start, with great looks at gorgeous Splendid Fairywrens and Red-capped Robins also very well received. Nearby, a short walk into some marri forest revealed our first Western Yellow Robins and the smart Western Spinebill, along with plentiful Western Wattlebirds.
From Perth, we headed east for two nights in Narrogin, close to the fantastic Dryandra Woodlands. We enjoyed several sessions in the forests here, with great weather and birds making for a very pleasant visit. Highlights included a pair of the scarce Western Shrike-tit; beautiful Purple-crowned Lorikeets in abundance; Regent and Elegant Parrots feeding together; comical Varied Sittellas; Little and Wedge-tailed Eagles overhead; a vociferous Restless Flycatcher; and our first Short-beaked Echidna. Leaving Dryandra, we made for Albany for a four-night stay in great lodgings overlooking scenic Shoal Bay. Along the way, we stopped at Frankland River, where a single Western Corella was a great reward, and then, in the tall forests of Porongurup National Park, we came across a confiding Western Shrike-tit and some less-than-confiding Red-eared Firetails and Red-winged Fairywrens.
Our time around Albany was fantastic, with repeat visits to beautiful Cheynes Beach and Stirling Ranges National Park, as well as productive stops at Lake Seppings and Rushy Point on different days. In the heathlands of Arpenteur Nature Reserve above Cheynes Beach, we did battle with the “three skulkers” here and were rewarded with great looks at two of the three (Western Bristlebird and Western Whipbird), while the mouse-like Noisy Scrubbird eluded us despite our hearing its piercing song at close range. Tiny Southern Emuwrens delighted us, and an abundance of honeyeaters attracted to the flowering banksias added much colour, along with cute White-breasted Robins and confiding Common and Brush Bronzewings around the caravan park. One of the undoubted highlights here was watching a mother and calf Southern Right Whale right below us at some small cliffs near the end of Cheynes Beach. In the scenic Stirling Ranges, we did well to get excellent looks at both Shy Heathwren and Western Fieldwren, as well as more Western Whipbirds, Tawny-crowned and Purple-gaped Honeyeaters, a curious Southern Scrub-robin, and several groups of Emus. In Albany itself, we found some wonderful Red-eared Firetails at Lake Seppings and several tiny Fairy Terns at Rushy Point, among many others.
Departing Albany for the tall karri forests around Pemberton, we first visited Torndirrup National Park, where a strong southwesterly was pushing several species of albatross along the dramatic coastline. Closer to Pemberton itself, we had much-improved views of gorgeous Red-winged Fairywrens, as well as a large group of Gilbert’s Honeyeaters. We enjoyed more fine lodgings that night on the shore of a mirrored lake surrounded by lush, tall forest.
Our final day was mostly spent traveling back toward Perth, but not before a visit to the continent’s most southwestern point, Cape Leeuwin, where a pair of Rock Parrots showed at close quarters. It was a fitting highlight to end another highly enjoyable visit to this region of the country, with a fantastic group of keen birders already planning their next trip Down Under!
Day-by-Day Summary
September 12 - AM: Arrivals into Perth and transfer to hotel; PM: afternoon birding at Herdsman Lake; night: Pan Pacific Hotel.
September 13 - AM: Morning birding at Ellis Brook Valley Reserve and Victoria Dam; PM: afternoon birding at Dryandra and transfer to Narrogin; night: Albert Facey Motor Inn.
September 14 - AM: Morning birding at Dryandra; PM: afternoon birding at Foxes Lair Nature Reserve and evening spotlighting at Dryandra night: Albert Facey Motor Inn.
September 15 - AM: Morning birding at Dryandra; PM: afternoon birding at Frankland River and Porongurup National Park, transfer to Albany; night: Hilton Garden Inn Albany.
September 16 - AM: Morning birding at Cheynes Beach; PM: afternoon birding in Stirling Ranges National Park and Jebarjup Nature Reserve; night: Hilton Garden Inn Albany.
September 17 - AM: Morning birding at Cheynes Beach; PM: afternoon birding at Lake Seppings near Albany; night: Hilton Garden Inn Albany.
September 18 - AM: Morning birding in Stirling Ranges National Park, Jebarjup Nature Reserve, and Bob’s Lake; PM: afternoon birding at Rushy Point near Albany; night: Hilton Garden Inn Albany.
September 19 - AM: Morning birding at Torndirrup National Park and Lake Powell Nature Reserve; PM: afternoon birding at Gloucester Tree near Pemberton; night: Karri Valley Resort.
September 20 - AM: Morning birding at Cape Leeuwin near Augusta; PM: transfer to Perth; night: Pan Pacific Hotel.
September 21 - AM/PM: Departures from Perth.
Wildlife Seen:
MAMMALS:
Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
Yellow-footed Antechinus (Antechinus flavipes)
Western Quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii)
Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus)
Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
Western Gray Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus)
Red Fox (I) (Vulpes vulpes)
European Rabbit (Oyrctolagus cuniculus)
Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis)
REPTILES:
Western Mourning Skink
Shingleback
King's Skink
Common Scalyfoot
Heath Monitor
Dugite
Tiger Snake