Twitching the LBB in Broome

Further to the various comments on the effort of getting to Broome and seeing its now famous LBB, I would add a the following:

Accommodation at the BBO is only $50 a night for an air-conditioned room. And the kitchen is available to prepare ones own meals. This significantly improves ones birding experience and reduces costs. Also saves some of the awkwardness of dragging your, grey Roebuck ooze covered boots, red Pindan mud encrusted trousers, plus not-so-faint odour of the Broome Waste Management Facility through the foyer of a non-birding establishment. I was their only guest and apparently the only one for some weeks which seems a shame for such a world-class birding establishment. I hired a Mitsubishi Outlander for ~$94 for two days from Avis and it coped with reasonably deep pools out to the observatory – just. (Thanks to Kath at the observatory for guiding me back out after a second downpour on Sat night!) While fuel is much more expensive in Broome but I would still not have clocked up as many km as a typical weekend birding on my home patch. As I was able to start from Perth, the trip probably cost no more than a typical pelagic.

The big questionwhen yopu get there is then was how much time to spend at the reeking tip trying for the gull and how much to go visit the sewage works, wader roosts, mangroves and Roebuck Plain. I luckily managed to get the balance about right – as a confiding Oriental Cuckoo showed up while I was sitting on the viewing platform at the Observatory on Sat evening and an Asian Dowitcher seen from the same spot the next morning got added to my life list. Oriental Pratincoles and a nice Eastern Grey Wagtail were the highlights of an early morning walk out onto the Roebuck Plains. Then it was back to the tip following up George Swann’s helpful alert that the gull had returned. I disapperaed by the time I got there but on my 6th or 7th visit to the tip over the weekend and about 4 hours there in total I saw the beast before heading for the airport with a grin and a great birding experience under my belt.

And a promise to get back to Broome for an extended stay as soon as I can afford the time and fare (- now where have all my FF points gone…)

Mark Stanley ===============================

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