BROOME BIRD OBSERVATORY

For some time, I had been eyeing off the courses at Broome Bird Observatory from the cool climes of Melbourne. I decided to do one, and not just fly in and out, but drive there, as you do (and as I did - see recent blogs for details of that drive). It was to be a five-day live in adventure, focusing on the birds of the Broome region.

The Observatory is several kilometres out of town, then along a 4WD track. I felt prepared: I had a Troopy! I had arrived early for the course, so I decided to go out and camp there. It's fair to say the whole enterprise at BBO is rustic, with a fly-wired mess hall available 24/7 (overlooking a bush garden where all sorts of wonderful birds come in for a drink morning and evening). Ablutions are clean, but you will often have frogs or even a snake for company. I never saw snakes but apparently they're around. Frogs - there were heaps, but they were lovely and harmless.

My camping spot was very handy to the mess hall, and even though it was bloody hot, I had a Sirocco fan in the Troopy and the upstairs bed was cool. I could sleep, and did! It's just that next morning, I realised I had been invaded by ants, and I didn't have an insect repellant with me. The camp custodians came to my assistance, and I began the tedious job of getting rid of these very insistent creatures. I was a little panicked because I knew that they could be very difficult to get out once they had invaded. I'm pretty sure it's because I camped under a tree, and they dropped down from there. What's more, small mountain ranges were appearing on my face and my arms and legs: Broome mosquitos are silent but almost ready types, and I was having an allergic reaction to their stings. 

The heat continued unabated, and it all felt a bit much, so I decided to bale, and go back to town until the course started. Enough of this camping malarkey! I rented a (brand new) cabin with air-conditioning at another central caravan park. The pool was less than ten metres away and I had a view of the bay. What's more I had a bathroom sans frogs, a bed sans ants. No mozzies in there either! I got clean and stayed that way, barely putting my nose outside all weekend, except to get a much-needed haircut. I was Over. It.

But come Tuesday, the course began and off I went back out to Roebuck Bay.  My fellow participants were all fantastic and had flown in from all parts of Australia. Many were real bird experts; one had his own scope, only one other was a photographer. But all of us were mesmerised by the garden near the mess hall where the birds come in to drink. It was like Netflix 24/7 - but better!

On our first evening, the staff took us out to the Roebuck Plains. We travelled in two Troopies, each with extra seats. It was a bit squeezy, and the air-conditioning never did make it the back seats but it was okay. Like everything else at BBO, they were rustic. But they worked. The Roebuck Plains are Indigenous-owned and managed, so restricted access, and it was wonderful to be out there. So wast and so empty - and yet so full of interesting things.

We had gone out there looking for yellow chats but they eluded us. But we did see oriental plovers and an Eastern grass owl. Very cool! Next day we headed out on foot to Roebuck Bay, just metres from where we stayed. And that's when we began to meet the waders properly. The staff were extremely patient and very good educators: even though several species were crowded on the distant shores - and we were eager to see them all - our instructors trained the scopes on one species at a time, and made sure we all had a good look at each one and recognised its distinguishing features before we moved on to the next.

It soon began to sink in with me that watching shorebirds is a long distance activity. They tend to huddle in groups down near the water's edge, and you can't really approach them without startling them. Secondly, I learnt that many look very very similar: sometimes we were looking for red kneecaps as THE distinguishing feature, or a turned up bill. So photographing them was a different experience from raptors or bush birds. 

Our course included excursions to other nearby areas with very different habitats: bush, wetland, swamps, mangroves. We even ventured into the mug (ugh!). Not my favourite bit.

The colours of the Kimberley are stunning - it' impossible not to photograph the scene as well as the birds!

We were extremely fortunate to have an international research team onsite during our course, and we called by to see them in action in Roebuck Bay. They showed us the birds they had captured, and how to handle them while they were tagging them, Incredible and mighty are those tiny birds who fly half way around the globe without stopping.

Our second attempt to find the yellow chats on Roebuck Plains was much more fruitful. Not only that, but decent views of the pratincole, and a fleeting glimpse of a red-backed button quail!

On yet another excursion, we managed to see a range of birds, and sometimes many hundreds in one flock. The variety was astounding.

I learnt a great deal on this BBO adventure: the staff were absolutely brilliant young people who did the teaching, guiding, feeding and cleaning. Hats off to them! They did a fine job in very trying conditions, for we had been out in the full sun in 40 degree days. My fellow participants were a really interesting bunch of people and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. I also learnt that the waders are probably not my favourite birds, and that it's photographing the birds that gives me the greatest pleasure.