Nannup

Visited: spring and summer

Recommendation: This lovely little village is a great place to visit with Black-Cockatoo regular visitors. Bush birds galore along the creek make it a wonderful place to see wildlife.

Nannup is inland, between Busselton and Augusta. It is a charming little village with everything you might need from art shops to a craft brewery. I love going here, it has such a nice feel about it and the atmosphere is so welcoming. There is a caravan park in the centre, an arboretum and a wildflower park. The sports oval is the place to start as there is a bridge across the creek giving views of the water and surrounding trees. The wildflower walk runs along the other side of the oval and leads around the green towards a track along the creek. 

The area is renowned for purported sightings of the Tasmanian Tiger. The 'Nannup Tiger' has moved into legend and brings people to the area - just in case. I prefer my animals to be definitely alive and Nannup didn't disappoint. 

On my first proper birding visit to Nannup, I was looking for the Baudin's Black-Cockatoo. I knew the area was a hotspot for them but I didn't really think I would see any. I had already had great success seeing the Carnaby's but the Baudin's are critically endangered rare. It was getting late in the afternoon and I started at the bridge by the arboretum. Almost immediately, I heard the wail of black-cockatoo. Dozens of them flew down the creek and some settled in the tall trees nearby. 

The only way to really tell Baudin's from Carnaby's is by the bill, with the former having much longer mandibles and the latter, shorter. I could see through my camera that the bills on these birds looked long but its hard to tell in the field, especially when you are not familiar with the birds. It was only when I downloaded them that I could tell they were Baudin's Black-Cockatoo. I was amazed by how many there were and I followed them around the creek trying to get better shots.

The photo below left, shows a male with the dark bill and red eye-ring and a female with the grey bill and dark eye-ring. 

Baudin’s Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii)

You can walk along the creek and it takes you back to underneath the bridge. There was a little waterbird activity in the creek. Nothing very exciting, but some nice photography opportunities. 

Australian Maned Duck (Chenonetta jubata)