The Accidental Sighting

It's not often anyone sees an Orange-bellied Parrot, especially when they're not really looking. But sometimes, mundane things like stopping for a cuppa can lead to extraordinary sights...


The little parrot looked unfamiliar so Lindy Frost snapped a few photos. She wondered, briefly, if it was an Orange-bellied Parrot. But no, she thought, ‘They’re just too rare’.

As it happens, the Port Macquarie school secretary, who was on a caravan holiday with her husband, had seen and photographed the first, documented OBP of the 2012 winter.

The Frosts were one week into their six-week trip through Victoria and South Australia. It was mid-morning and overcast as David (‘not a birder at all’) lowered the car’s tailgate and took out their camp stove. As he made morning tea, Lindy went for her customary stroll, looking for birds.

 Below the lighthouse at Airey’s Inlet on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Painkalac Creek runs through coastal scrub before meandering into the sea. Here in the gloom, an Orange-bellied Parrot was sitting in a dead tree, close enough for Lindy to see something on its leg. Later, it was discovered to be a juvenile bird sporting two leg bands.

‘It was fairly plain green and there didn’t seem to be much in the way of blue on its wings or other identifying features at all,’ she laughs. ‘The local bird brochure had Blue-winged Parrot in it, so I thought that must be it!’ Lindy watched the parrot for a minute or two before it flew off.

It wasn’t until the Frosts returned home that investigations began. Lindy’s father, Graeme Catt, and Alan Morris (NSW Birding-aus) sent the photos to Chris Tzaros (Birdlife Australia), and an identification was made in early July.

The bird – No. 351 on Lindy Frost’s lifelist – was seen on 11 April. It’s the inaugural OBP record for Airey’s Inlet, the first OBP sighting of 2012, and a rare find, she says, with understatement, she was ‘just really pleased to see’.

All photos digitally enhanced

Photos by Lindy Frost