Kwinana Rockingham Mandurah Branch, 26 October 2025
The October field excursion was to the Port Kennedy Scientific Park, a large reserve that forms part of the Rockingham Lakes Regional Park. It contains a Ramsar Convention Wetland of International Significance. An excellent turnout of 17 members and visitors met at the carpark at the western end of Port Kennedy Drive on an overcast morning. The excursion coincided with day 3 of the Great Southern BioBlitz 2025 (GSBB 2025). Before heading off, Daniel Heald briefed everyone to try to find as many species as possible for upload to iNaturalist.
We started with a walk along the beach towards Becher Point, passing several anglers who were fishing from the beach and spotting Silver Gulls and Crested Terns flying overhead. With Daniel finding and pointing out numerous shells along the beach, as well as invertebrates among the vegetation at the edge of the beach, some of us went ahead to look for bird species that are usually present at the point. Daniel would eventually post around 80 types of shells found on this stretch of beach on iNaturalist. At one point, Daniel’s group spotted at least three species of Peacock Jumping Spiders (Maratus speciosus, Maratus speculifer and Maratus pavonis) from just one small area of vegetation along the beach.
Those of us looking for birdlife were soon rewarded with a sighting of a Nankeen Kestrel perched in a low shrub in the dunes above the beach. Further along, we spied a Caspian Tern at the water’s edge attempting to swallow a very large fish, eventually succeeding to our amazement. On the ocean, a Pied Cormorant was hunting for fish. Out at the point, we expected to find mounds of seagrass wrack, upon which migratory shorebirds are commonly seen feeding, but none were present. It wasn’t until we rounded the point and headed south that we found some seagrass wrack. However, the only shorebirds present were Red-capped Plovers along with some Caspian Terns, an Australian Darter and a Pied Cormorant.
Along the beach, we found Sea Rocket (Cakile maritama) plus Beach Evening Primrose (Oenothera drummondii) in flower. From the beach, we searched out a limestone track that would take us back through the reserve to the car park. Installed by the developer of the nearby golf club housing estate, the track is not easily accessible from either end, as it starts well away from the car park at one end and the beach on the other, with no signage. Thankfully, Google Maps has up-to-date imagery that pinpoints the western end.
Along this track, we added to our bird sightings with Whistling Kites, Australian Pelicans, and a large flock of Galahs spotted overhead. The low shrubbery and small trees were used by woodland birds such as the Grey Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Splendid Fairy-wrens, Spotted Scrubwren, Rufous Whistler and Grey Shrike-thrush. A Fan-tailed Cuckoo was heard calling, and a Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo was spotted on a Grass Tree.
For the BioBlitz, we paid more attention to the vegetation along the track, especially those in flower. This resulted in sightings of several species of large beetles (Chalcopterus) and small beetles (including Neophyllotocus sp. and Eurhopalus sp.), as well as ant species, Army Worm caterpillars (Helicoverpa sp.), and a colourful caterpillar from a Tussock Moth (Orgyia athlophora). Flowering native plants along the track included False Boronia (Pyllanthus calycinus), Hardenbergia comptoniana and Slender Clematis (Clematis linearifolia), while many other introduced (weed) species were also flowering.
At the end of the track, we added more birds to our list, including White-cheeked Honeyeater and Grey Butcherbird. We then gathered at a picnic area next to our parked cars for a cuppa and to sum up a great morning walk. Our bird list uploaded to Birdata totalled 29 species of birds, while the sightings uploaded to iNaturalist for the GSBB 2025 Project from our walk exceeded 150. It had been a very enjoyable morning.
Colin Prickett