A few weeks ago I went to a long weekend campout at Dongara with BirdLife WA members. A wonderful relaxing weekend for me birding with friends and being organized by the wonderful campout leader Sue!
We visited lots of sites but the highlights were definitely:
- Coal Seam Conservation Park
- Ellendale Pool
- And the 4.6 km Dongara River Mouth walkway.

As a group we saw 110 species of birds after visiting a wide variety of different habitats in the area. This included quite a number of year first birds for myself and many others on the trip!
Bird highlights were: Mulga Parrots, Australian Ringneck subspecies zonarius, White-winged Fairy-Wren (in breeding plumage), Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Redthroat, White-plumed Honeyeater, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Red-capped Robin, Little Woodswallow, and Zebra Finch.

We stayed at the Sea Spray Caravan Park which has a variety of accommodation options and is located right on the beach and next to the river mouth. So it is well located for birdwatchers! I found the caravan park to be well maintained, clean, and the owners were welcoming and helpful. Their most basic camping option is a powered site with ensuite which was very luxurious for this Aussie camper!


BirdLife WA have campouts most long weekends but are for members only. You can become a member by visiting the BirdLife Australia website at http://www.birdlife.org.au/ . Unfortunately, I don’t have time to go on many of the campouts but I always have a wonderful time when I do!
