Broome – bobmcgee

A Road Trip …

Yes, I feel the need for a road trip. Seems like ages since I finished the last one (goodness, is it 6 months already?). Sit here much longer and I’ll take root. Origin Broome, WA, destination Broome. Pick somewhere in between, say Port Fairy, Vic. We like Port Fairy and summers are coolish there. A loop then. How big a loop? Let’s go for the max. Anywhere special on the way?

The classic Highway 1 loop covers roughly 15,000 km (9,400mi). This is Australia, there will be any number of special places on the way, unavoidably. But there is one place the lovely Gayle and I have not visited. It’s been on proposed itineraries but the weather has denied us every time. In this dry, dry continent nothing stops outback traffic faster than rain. Borroloola, NT, population 755. Setting off towards the end of the dry we have a fairly good chance of making it this time. It’s not flooded at the moment. An early start to the wet, though, could soon fix that!

That determines the direction of travel. It will be clockwise again this time. The journey breaks down into four major legs. The journey across the top, Broome to Cairns, is the Savannah Way. It can be completed on sealed road but there are a couple of alternate sections. If Borroloola is included then it would be remiss not to include Hell’s Gate and then Burketown, 365km of corrugated suffering. Tape your beer cans so they don’t rub through. It gets easier from there to Normanton. At that point you choose to take the Burke Development Road via Chillagoe, once again shaking your teeth out of their sockets or the bitumen via Croydon. We’ve traveled both before and unless overtaken by a bout of masochism I suspect we will opt for the latter (and a soak in the Innot hot springs).

Before dropping into Cairns we will pause on the Atherton Tableland, our first opportunity for a flurry of new (for the year) birds. Then up to Cooktown.

The next leg is the east coast, but all in good time. First you will need to endure heart wrenching bulletins of the trip to Hells Gate.

Oyk …

On a more serious ornithological note, the fair city of Broome (population 15,000) looks out over Roebuck Bay, Australia’s most important site for the waders, outnumbering the humans many times over. In Australian (and English) usage waders are birds in the order Charadriiformes. Americans tend to prefer the term Shorebirds and if you say wader they think of herons and such and it’s possible they might have a point. Herons do a lot of wading. Some waders do no wading at all, not all shorebirds live on the shore, but most do. But I digress. The Broome Bird Observatory is the hub of considerable research into the charadriiforms. So it was that on 1st December 2002 members of the Australian Wader Studies Group were in the field (on the beach, actually) using cannon nets to catch birds.

Among the catch that day was an Australian Pied Oystercatcher. It was weighed, measured and closely examined. It was in its third year of life or older. Smart ornithologists can age first and second year Oystercatchers by their moult. It went from being an anonymous Oyk to Oystercatcher 101-07877. Thus if it were encountered again something would be learnt about its movements and survival.

I was not in the field with the AWSG that day in 2002 although I have enjoyed that privilege on other occasions. I was on Gantheaume Beach on the 11th of August 2025 when I met 101-07877. When it faced west I was able to make out the first three band numbers, when it faced east I was able to get the last three. I had no luck getting two numbers in between.

I reported my sighting to the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme. They had records of two Pied Oystercatchers 101-XX877 but the other one is also carrying a coloured flag. Thus we know the identity of this particular little bird, found alive and well just 20km from where it was banded 22 years 8 months and 10 days earlier. Its age is now 25 years or more.

A Little Chat …

More specifically a little chat about the calendar game. Readers in for the long haul know all about the calendar game. For those not familiar with it, it starts on January 1st and you are in the game so long as you have seen more birds in the year than days have elapsed. If you fall behind the calendar you are out. So on January 1st at Taylors Scrape, ~70km from Broome, at 5.31 am I pressed the button “Start New List” on eBird mobile and the game commenced. By the end of the day I was safe well into February.

There is, in birding, a concept called the Big Year. It’s like a super calendar game where you chase all over a region of your own choice, twitch every rarity, get on every birding boat trip, visit every habitat, spend a fortune on travel, stay awake through every very long drive, sleep rough, eat poorly and pay no heed to your impending divorce.

The calendar game is more genteel. One endeavours to see ordinary birds in ordinary places. Travel will still be necessary and novelty will still be welcome. But it’s just a game.

So to summarise. A Big Year is for lunatics. A Calendar Game year is for under achieving lunatics, those of us who are past peak obsession.

So how is it going? I began the year with a big trip across the top of Oz and then south through outback Queensland and NSW to Victoria. On the 16th of March I was in Melbourne with 274 avian species on the list. 75 days in, 199 species ahead. The return trip to Broome was up through the red centre. Our overdue library books were returned to the Broome Public Library on the 18th of April. 309 species were in the bag, 108 days elapsed. The librarian was thrilled to hear that the buffer was holding steady around the 200 mark.

But of course it gets harder. Broome is a great place for birding. Every Australian birder really must get here. I’d rank it number two after Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands. And it is a place where the odd vagrant turns up. But they don’t rain down. Five months of local birding have added only 20 extra species. 249 days into the year 329 species up. The buffer is shrinking, failure beckons. It must be time for another road trip.

We are well into the dry now. The ground has dried out enough to venture out into low lying parts of Roebuck Plains, to Kidney Bean and Duck Lake. This is home to the Yellow Chat. They are beautiful and not easy to find elsewhere. I added it to the list this morning.

I have so enjoyed this little chat.

Fusion Moonrise …

It was advertised Thus …

Experience one of Broome’s most magical natural events at the Fusion Moonrise, taking place on Sunday, 10 August. As the full moon rises over Napier Terrace, it aligns perfectly with the iconic Fusion sculpture located at the Carnarvon Street roundabout in Chinatown — creating a breathtaking visual that draws photographers, locals and visitors alike.

The moon is expected to rise at approximately 6:30pm, with its peak alignment above the sculpture occurring at around 7:10pm. This rare phenomenon only happens twice a year, making it a must-see moment that blends Broome’s rich cultural heritage with the beauty of its natural environment.

The photographer faces a few challenges. You cannot make the moon large by getting closer, the distance you can move your tripod is nothing by comparison with the distance from the lens to the moon. If you want the moon to be big in frame you must use a long lens. If you use a long lens and want to get the sculpture in the frame you must move back. The moon stays at the same angle (the distance you can move the tripod etc.) As you move back the apparent distance between the moon and the top of the tripod increases. If you want to bring the distance down you must move forward and use a wider lens. By the time the moon is just off the top of the sculpture it is tiny in frame.

The moon at night is very bright in the sky. The sculpture on the other hand is quite dull and not artificially lit. How dull varies depending on whether headlights are playing on it or not because only part of the street is closed to traffic. So a long and not entirely predictable exposure for the sculpture, shorter for the moon. You’d like them both in focus? Well good luck with that!

The only answer I can think of is … to Cheat! Take a few shots of the sculpture, choose the best. Take a good shot of the moon. The fusion occurs when you the merge the two.

If the Crocodiles …

… or the Irukandji don’t get you watch out for the Pied Oystercatchers.

I’m just back from Cygnet Bay at the top of the Dampier Peninsula. It’s a very beautiful spot, the birding was good and the weather was, of course, perfect. I enjoyed long walks on the beach. Some of the migratory waders are on their way back. Common Sandpipers are here, early Sand-plovers have been seen. It’ll soon be buzzing. Not to mention the resident waders like Red-capped Plover and Pied Oystercatcher. Apple Mangrove was in flower, Kingfishers and Herons were about.

In my bird banding days I put a ring or two on Oystercatchers, they are timid in the field and docile in the hand. Adorable. One foraging on the sand started giving a ticking alarm call. It was quickly joined by its mate and they were up and away in hot pursuit of a White-bellied Sea Eagle. They dived at it, pecked at it and harassed it until it was gone from their happy place. The character in the photo above subsequently began ticking away at me. It then led me off in a distraction display. I was happy to play along – I was going that way anyway.

I did some bush birding too. That can be the next episode.

Willie Creek …

One of the experiences we always inflict on our visitors is the tour at the Willie Creek Pearl Farm. It’s really interesting, I love it. Our current visitor took a pass on the tour but had heard it was a great place to fish. Intelligence was, low tide. So we headed out first thing this morning. He caught nothing … should have taken the tour.

I went for a wander and soon had the perfect view of a crocodile hauled out on the beach. Not, perhaps perfect for a photo, but perfect for an encounter. The best place for closer encounters is the Malcolm Douglas Wildlife Park. We were there recently. A top priority for a croc farm is ensuring the visitors are not eaten by the residents. Photography is not a high priority at our croc farm, too many fences … but you can hold little crocodiles (adorable). So, compare and contrast crocodile photography wild versus captive (you shouldn’t have any trouble working out which is which) …

I took my dearly beloved to the Willie Creek Pearl Farm on her birthday once. You’ll never guess what I bought her. It was a hot day and she really appreciated it. The ice cream that is.

Irukandji …

We have a visitor at the present time escaping the deep freeze of a Victorian winter. Just as small children are an excellent excuse to go to the zoo, a visitor is an excellent excuse to go to the croc farm and to head out whale watching. Having inflicted these activities on our guest we gave him the choice of what to do next. His response was to swim at Cable Beach.

So off we went to Cable Beach and found the beach closed. Someone had detected the presence of Irukandji … the hard way. This is much more of a wet season phenomenon so they were extremely unlucky.

Back in the days when the pearling was done by men in old fashioned diving helmets most of their skin was well covered but from time to time a diver would be stung by nobody knew quite what leading to extreme pain, vomiting and a profound sense of dread and depression.

On the opposite side of the continent, north of Cairns, beach goers were similarly affected in the summer months. This was in the ancestral land of the Irukandji People and in 1952 Hugo Flecker gave it the name Irukandji Syndrome. What caused it was a puzzle. Subsequently Dr Jack Barnes, a general medical practitioner, thought he had the answer in a casserole dish, a tiny jellyfish retrieved from the waters of Palm Cove.

Jack would have been familiar with Koch’s Postulates published in 1890 when medicine was coming to grips with which agent caused which disease. The third postulate requires that the supposed agent cause the appropriate disease when a healthy organism is exposed to it. The good doctor’s activities had drawn a crowd so right there and then, on the beach, he called for volunteers to make contact with the jelly fish.

Enthusiasm was limited. In the end Jack himself, his 10 year old son Nick and a Lifesaver named Charles “Chilla” Ross elected to be stung. There is some delay before the onset of stomach cramps, vomiting and severe pain but it wasn’t long before Koch’s postulate was satisfied. Jack drove into town to obtain medical care for the trio from his colleagues. It was December 1961, medical experiments are done a little differently these days – now you have to sign a consent form first.

Quod erat demonstrandum and the jellyfish was named Carukia barnesi, in honour of 10 year old Nick I hope. It has subsequently been joined by perhaps as many as 15 more similar species under the catch all name of Irukandji Jellyfishes.

They are tiny (about the size of a finger nail) and transparent. They have 4 tentacles, the stinging organs (nematocysts) are found on the tentacles and around the bell. The toxin is extremely potent. In 2020 some 23 people were stung in the vicinity of Palm Island, Queensland. Seven required hospitalisation, none died but deaths have occasionally been reported.

Many of the nematocysts at the site of a fresh sting are not discharged. Rinsing them off seems like a good idea. There is a lively and unresolved debate as to whether this should be with vinegar or not but your mother was right – don’t rub it.

I have not photographed Irukandji nor am I rushing off to Cable Beach to try and catch one but I have scoured the internet and shamelessly filched a couple of photos …

Jellyfish …

A trip to the beach in the last few weeks has revealed a massive influx of jellyfish (and tourists). These particular jellyfish (and many of the tourists) have a distinct red colouration.

The third shot was achieved by getting in the water and shooting upwards including the reflection from the surface.

Calling, once again, on the amazing resource that is iNaturalist I believe that this is Crambione mastigophora common enough in the Indian Ocean and known to “bloom” from time to time. The dome grows to about 15cm in diameter. They feed on invertebrates and small fish. When prey come in contact with those tentacles they are stung and then transferred to the mouth under the dome.

The common name given by iNaturalist is Sea Tomato but that is shared by some other critters including a sea anemone in the Mediterranean. Elsewhere I have found it called Tomato Jellyfish which I think a better choice.

Sula …

There is an anecdote, apocryphal I’m sure, relating to the days when Bird Week was a thing at the resort on Fraser Island, Queensland. The leaders were on the ferry. Our hero is a well known birder, author and broadcaster. As the boat neared the shore he started dancing with excitement calling out, “Boobies, boobies”. His fellow bird nerds were in in-principle agreement but more restrained. Quite what the tourists made of it is a matter of speculation.

There are nine members of the Sulidae. Three temperate species are called Gannets, the remainder prefer warmer waters and these are the Boobies. They all have similar body forms and feed on fish and squid by plunge diving. They are restricted to marine habitats and for the most part stay fairly close to shore.

The species I see most often is the Brown Booby. It is found near tropical shores all around the globe with the exception of the west coast of South America. They can often be found at the Port of Broome or the nearby Entrance Point. They loaf on rocks or floating navigation aids when they’ve nothing better to do. They are quite happy to feed close to shore. They patrol up and down and plunge onto their prey. They tend to do this singly or in pairs or a trio. It’s good to watch and each one does the best it can but it’s not the spectacle of a frenzied mob turning the surface to foam that flocks of Gannets occasionally provide.

The scientific name is Sula leucogaster, the sulid with the white belly which doesn’t advance your identification at all because all the sulids have white bellies. The common name, Brown Booby, doesn’t help greatly either. At anything greater than arms length they look black and white. They are the only sulid with a dark hood cut off sharply across the upper breast.

Roebuck Plains …

William woz here. Dampier that is. Twice, in 1688 and 1699. He left his name on the peninsula and both his ships have also been immortalised in the names Cygnet Bay and Roebuck Bay. In the latter there is a little island called Buccaneer Island in his honour. Behind Roebuck Bay the Roebuck Plains stretch off into the distance, open country, occasionally flooded, few trees. sometimes swarming with ducks and Magpie Geese, the nesting place for terns. Other times a dry grassland, home to the beautiful Spotted Harrier and the Red-backed Kingfisher. And like most of Australia’s Kingfishers the Red-back wouldn’t know what a fish is.

Dampier was a pirate, a naturalist and an author. He circumnavigated the world three times. His botanising increased the sum of human knowledge, his writing added plenty of new words to the English language and inspired Banks, Humboldt and Charley Darwin himself. He published the first English language recipes for Guacamole and Mango Chutney. Where would we be without guacamole? Living in Broome I trip over his name almost every day but on the whole he is not as well known as he should be. I recently watched a YouTube video that gives a reasonable account of the guy. You may enjoy it …