If you love an ocean adventure and nature then I highly recommend a day aboard the Naturaliste Charters boat from Bremer Bay between late January and early April. Their web page can be found here. The food, boat and crew are excellent. They have an on board Marine Biologist and a very knowledgable crew.
The tours leave at about 8 am and return about 4 pm. This is a good way to see a variety of sea mammals and sea birds. It’s good to look at their facebook posts to get an idea of what species are around at different times of the year. A few years back I went on the tour in early April specifically looking for Black-bellied Storm-Petrel and South Polar Skua. On that trip we saw several sea bird species, including Black-bellied Storm-Petrel and we also saw Sperm Whales.
Sperm Whale blow hole Bremer Canyon – Photograph Perth Birds and Bush
Sperm Whale tail Bremer Canyon – Photograph Perth Birds and Bush
Recently I went on a fabulous tour in late February. The mammals we saw were Orca, Australian Sea Lions and New Zealand Fur Seals. The Orca were near the boat for most of the day!
New Zealand Fur Seal – photograph Perth Birds and Bush
Australian Sea Lion – photograph Perth Birds and Bush
It was a very lucky day for the birds and we saw: Wandering Albatross, Shy Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, White-faced Storm-Petrel, Great-winged Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater and a mega rarity in this area – Great Shearwater. Most of these were called out by the staff so that everyone could see them. However as the staff didn’t have binoculars, some of the trickier to identify species were not mentioned. So birdwatchers are best to have some knowledge prior to boarding or photograph the birds themselves for later identification.
Black-browed Albatross – Photograph Perth Birds and Bush
Shy Albatross – Photograph Perth Birds and Bush
In Western Australia there are some other boat trips organised to specifically view sea birds, however, these are only organised a few times a year and are often booked out by the regular attendees before any advirtising is required. So the Bremer Canyon boat trips are probably the best way to see a variety of sea birds and sea mammals in the south west of Australia.
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel and a male and female Orca – Photograph Perth Birds and Bush
Flesh footed Shearwater (left) and Great Shearwater (right) – Photograph Perth Birds and Bush
Perth Birds and Bush and the author of this article have not received any payments, gifts or discouts from Naturaliste Charters.
Every birdwatcher and bird photographer is different and Perth Birds and Bush is knowledgeable enough to meet these different needs. Let me tell you about three different bird tours for each of Donna, Grace and Geoff. They were all keen bird photographers but all very different in what they wanted from their tour.
Geoff is from the UK and was more of a birder who takes photographs when the opportunity arises. He happy to see the birds and photographs are a secondary but still important part of his hobby. He booked a five hour tour with the primary focus being local endemic species as he had not visited Perth before. On the five hour tour we visited 3 bush bird locations in the Darling Range and one wetland location. The wetland spot was included as he had not seen Tawny Frogmouth and was keen to see some raptors. Geoff definitely photographed more bird species than Grace or Donna but we did not spend time letting the birds get closer to us or trying to move around the birds for better light. We saw at least 53 species on the tour.
Geoff had a great chance to photograph this Spelndid Fairy-wren male in full breeding plumage as it walked closer to us. This wren was perhaps 5 meters from us. My photo is not very crisp as the bird was a little distant and I don’t use a tripod. Nikon D7100, sigma 1.4 converter and Nikon 70 to 300mm lens, f5.6, 1/1600s, ISO 640.
Geoff had a great opportunity to photograph a Western Yellow Robin out in the open. We would have been about 5 meters from this bird but it only stayed in the open for a short time. If we had stayed at this location longer we may have got better photos with the light on the bird etc. I had the same camera set up as above.
Donna from Melbourne wanted to see and photograph 5 bird species that she had not yet seen on her many visits to Perth. These were Western Spinebill, Western Wattlebird, Western Thornbill, Western Yellow Robin and Gilbert’s Honeyeater. We visited three locations during her 5 hour tour and she saw and photographed Western Spinebill, Western Wattlebird and Western Thornbill from her target list. In total we only saw 23 birds but it was the species which mattered. Donna is keen to see her birds but wants to also get photographs of each one. But she does not need to get perfect photos, that is an amazing bonus! She was thrilled to have photographed three of her target species and the next day she went back on her own to one of the spots we visited and managed to take a beautiful photograph of a Western Yellow Robin.
While not one of Donna’s target species, this White-breasted Robin posed a few meters from us while we were looking for Gilbert’s Honeyeater. Unfortunately, I had my camera in my bag when Donna photographed her target birds! But she was within 3m to 15m for the three species on her list that she was looking for. Nikon D7100 Sigma 150-500 lens, f6.3, 1/400s ISO 1600, handheld.
Grace from Canada booked a 4 hour tour and wanted to get fabulous photographs of a fairy-wren and possibly a robin. We went to a location where there are two species of fairy-wren and two species of robins present. She uses a tripod and likes to spend time letting the birds get close to her so that she can take stunning crisp photographs. She got amazing photographs of several Splendid Fairy-wrens, Scarlet Robin and White-breasted Robin, as well as some other species. Several times during the tour the Splendid Fairy-wrens were within 2 meters of us and similarly the Scarlet Robins and White-breasted Robin were within 2 meters of us at least once. We only saw 14 species in the four hours but only need to walk about 100 meters to find the species at the location we were at!
This Splendid Fairy-wren was only a 2 to 3 meters from us when I took this photograph. The sun was low in the sky and the wren was lit up beautifully. I am sure Grace got better photos as she was using a tripod! Nikon D7100 Sigma 1.4x converter, Nikon 70 – 300mm lens, f5.6, 1/3200s, ISO 500 handheld.
These tours were all very different but all three people were very happy with their tours. Communication when booking a tour is the key thing to ensure Perth Birds and Bush will plan the best tour for you. When you book using the booking form please include a comment about what you want from the tour. I always send a bird list back to you from the initial bird tour booking to check what you want to see to make sure that I can plan your tour to meet your wishes!
Perth Birds and Bush 