Birding Margaret River, Busselton, Bunbury

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When: February 2026 Weather: Hot 32C

OM1 mk2 150-400mmZuiko Pro

After we were done Mandurah, we stopped at Bunbury for lunch and shelter from the unrelenting western australia sunshine….as we had the whole afternoon ahead, we drove down to the Margaret River area, targeting the Malbup Hide and Wonnerup area near Busselton.

First port of call was the Malbup Hide, just a short walk from the main road…it overlooked a water body with a number of water birds around
a white faced heron from afar
white faced heron in flight
a brown honeyeater buzzing a fantail
white faced heron in the bushes
along the Layman Road further in, this Nankeen Kestrel posed
great crested tern in flight
Swamp harrier
we then arrived at Bunbury to visit the Big Swamp Parkland Viewing Platform where a lovely Pacific Black Duck welcomed us in the early evening light
a mother coot was feeding her baby
coot junior
shelducks
and as the evening wore on , a kindly local birder brought us to see another tawny forgmouth!
a lovely common bronzewing
common bronze wing
ringneck
new holland honeyeater
shelduck
Little corellas were everywhere
and as the sun set, the black fronted Dotterel made an appearance
such a pretty bird
pair of dotterels
finally the sun set over the big swamp

Birding Busselton and Bunbury did not yield many new birds but that was probably due to it being the hot 2-4pm time.

Overall still an interesting drive.

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