Sooty Owl Redux - another Bunyip evening

Had been chatting with a couple of young birders - Owen and James who were keen to see their first Sooty Owl as well as some of the other avian delights of Bunyip State Forest so I arranged to meet them there last weekend for an afternoon and evening out in the forest. I have probably mentioned before that Bunyip is my favourite birding spot so I didn't need much of an excuse to get out. First birds heard at Mortimers Picnic Ground were Crested Shrike-tit, Satin Flycatcher and Cicadabird so off to a good start. After checking out a nice female flycatcher we chased down the Cicadabird which gave nice views of the male which was a new bird for Owen and his dad. A Brush Cuckoo gave its weird frenzied call and only unsatisfying flight views on the way through.

Crappy Cicadabird shot

From here we drove across Link Road stopping at a couple of my favourite spots which were largely quiet. A single Lyrebird and a couple of Rufous Fantail were of interest as was a single Fallow Deer disappearing into the brush.

Brown Goshawk

At the beginning of Ash Landing Road was a Brown Goshawk which sat nicely allowing a couple of quick snaps - somewhat surprisingly this a bird I dont record particularly often at Bunyip. We stopped at the first creek which was nice and birdy as usual with a number of Beautiful Firetail a highlight. Walking along the road things were again a little on the quiet side although we added Scared Kingfisher and Large-billed Scrubwren to the day list.

A quick trip into Gembrook for dinner and back out to the helipad to await dusk. Southern Emu-wren were common as usual in the grassy heathland as were Scarlet Robin. I managed to get some photos of a rather bold native rodent while the others went off to check out Dyers Picnic Ground to see the resident Satin bowerbird. Later examination of the photos indicated the rodent was a Swamp Rat which I was happy to get in pixels.

Swamp Rat

Before dusk the inimitable Melbourne Birder Steve Davidson showed up  with client in tow also looking for nightjars and other night birds - this was a birder tick for both James and Owen. It was rather cool and overcast with few flying insects but on dusk we heard a couple of brief nightjar calls then nothing. A Sooty Owl called from the creekline north of the helipad but as usual would not come in to visit.... I have heard this bird a number of times over the years but have never set eyes on it. There was a brief moment of excitement as a Sugar Glider flew in and landed above our heads while an Owlet-nightjar churred away in the gully. 

We gave up on the nightjars (Steve had better luck elsewhere) and wandered up Ash Landing Road which was largely quiet aside from a couple of yapping Sugar Gliders and a couple of brief calls from a distant Sooty that was again not responsive. Looking for Sooty Owls in Bunyip is generally a matter of methodically checking likely areas and so it was on our third stop on Link Road. I heard the bird as soon as I left the car so wandered up the road a little and gave a quick burst of the tape and a lovely Sooty flew straight in. As is often their want it gave a great display with wings raised and would not keep quiet.

Who wants a cuddle?

This was a new bird for the other three and in the end we had walk away views as we left it in peace. We continued along Link Road trying other locations with not muck luck as the wind was now rising. Back at Mortimers were a surprising number of Boobooks making a variety of calls- at least 3 or 4 birds giving some decent views which was a nice way to round out the evening.

Chasing that dark ghost - the Sooty Owl

One of my favourite birds has always been that dark denizen of the forested gullies of Eastern Australia, the Sooty Owl. I tend to get a bit of an itch I cant quite scratch unless I get a chance to go out and spend an evening poking around the tall forests east of Melbourne at least once every few months, an itch that gets stronger as time goes on. These forests are magical, sometimes eerie places once the sun drops below the horizon with the gurgles of gliders and the distant calls of a boobook replacing the daytime chorus. But the sound that still gets my heart racing is the piercing "falling bomb" call of the Sooty travelling through the misty night air.

Last Friday night I headed out with a couple of mates to Tarago State Forest which is an area of Mountain Ash, Silvertop and Messmate near Neerim in Victoria. It was my fourth visit spotlighting this year to this area and on each occassion I have seen some great birds and mammals. I was hoping to get better Sooty Owl shots than earlier in the year but unfortunately it was not to be. We arrived just on dark and after fumbling around for gear, opening a beer we immediately got onto a calling Tyto owl. The owl was doing a pitch perfect rendition of the Masked Owl hiss and was clearly a large bird - so we got quite excited thinking it was probably a Masked that was dancing around just outside our torch beams. Eventually we did get brief but good looks of a large female Sooty - a beautiful bird. We left her in peace and continued on. I had not heard a Sooty doing that particular call before and if I had not sighted the bird may have been tempted to put it down as a possible heard Masked Owl - certainly learn new things all the time.

We continued along and as a whole the forest was almost eerily quiet - lit by a near full moon. We heard another Sooty call distantly - this time a more traditional bomb call as well as a couple of distant boobooks. A couple of Yellow-bellied Gliders gurgling were the only mammals - the place is usually alive with Greater, Sugar and Yellow-bellied gliders as well as possums but perhaps the moon was making them wary. The last stop in Tarago just on the edge of a logging coupe again had a Tyto hissing away, although distantly, which we left in peace.

The great thing about spotlighting at this time of year is that you can start early, have a good 4 or 5 hours spotlighting and still be home tucked up in bed before midnight. As the mercury dipped towards freezing we drove back through the eastern edges of Bunyip State Park dodging wombats and a magnificent Sambar stag. Following some hot noodles and a brief drive along the powerline easement in Bunyip we headed back to Melbourne, rather satisfied but already looking forward to the next trip. Its good to know that despite the pressures of logging and significant damage during the Black Saturday fires, there still seems to be a good population of Sooty Owls in the area.

On previous nocturnal visits to this area - have recorded Boobook and Powerful Owls, Owlet-nightjar and Tawny Frgomouth. White-throated Nightjar is easily found just over the hill in Bunyip during the summer months so should occur here too. It is a very good area for mammals too with Greater, Yellow-bellied and Sugar Gliders common as well as Mountain and Common Brushtail, Common Ringtail possums. Long-nosed Bandicoots are often seen on the side of the road in warmer months and Swamp Wallabies are common. Many species of microbat can be seen, particularly in the warmer months and earlier this year a couple of Grey-headed Flying-foxes were recorded. Probably the most noticable mammal is the wombat - generally doing their best to be kamakaze road hazards...

It is also a cracking area for birding during the day during the warmer months - but that can wait for another day....