Last Sunday with Darlene Kneen did some atlassing in the
Camooweal area (13km east of the NT border & a very humid 37Cels )
after a 5.00am start from the Isa.
We checked out.....
- Lakes Francis and Canellan (1-1/2km from town on the
Georgina River)
- Camooweal Caves National Park camping area (a high clearance
vehicle needed !)
- Camooweal Caves National Park (Old Nowranie Stn waterhole,
14.5km sth of Camooweal down the Urandangie road)
- Camooweal Sewage ponds.( 400 meters from town along the
Rocklands Stn road)
We turned up a total of 51 species for the day, and added
6 to the list I have been compiling for the QNP & WS (Qld Nat Parks
& Wildlife Service) This list now totals 97.
These were ....
- Grey-crowned Babbler,
- Singing Bushlark, (There were 1000's and my
1st record in this or the Isa area)
- Little Button-quail,
- Variegated Fairy-wren,
- Sacred Kingfisher,
- Pictorella Mannikin (Juveniles) (Darlene
had recorded adults here previously)
Other noteworthy birds in the park were.....
- Australian Bustard
- Australian Ringneck (Cloncurry
Parrot) This is the western extremity of their range
- White-necked Heron at a nest
with 4 fluffy young.
- Female Collared Sparrowhawk or male
Brown Goshawk (How I wish they would wear nametags
!)
- A Bowerbird was heard, and I forgot to
track it down and identify it as the 1st atlas shows this to be Great
Bb territory and not the Spotted !
At the lakes the noteworthy birds included .....
- Darter also was at a nest with 4
young.
- Black Swans (2) ,(two years ago a pair of
breeding swans were recorded.)
- Two lots of zebra finches making nests in
the bottom of very large raptor nests
- Green Pygmy-geese (one only could be seen
in thick lilies at a distance) (this is their southern territorial limit)(should
I have said Pygmy-goose ?)
At the sewage ponds....
- Plumed Whistling-ducks (with
young)
- Australian Grebes (with young)
Everywhere were....
- Cockatiels
- Singing Bushlarks (thank goodness Slater
has the sense to put them on the same page as Pipits& Larks
!)
However only a few White-plumed H/e and a
single Grey-headed H/e were recorded.Even
Budgerigars were noticeable by their absence...which worries me
!
I can recommend that birdo's travelling thru to the NT
visit the lakes. They are accessed by a reasonable but unsignposted gravel track
that turns south 50 meters west of the Georgina River causeway. A great
treelined place to have a rest and do some birding.
We missed out on the Carpentarian Gw at the
"new" site 40km east of Camooweal.
I can email anyone interested my Birdlists either as an email
or a Word Document
Regards, Bob Forsyth, Mount Isa, NW Qld.
ps Our sighting of the bustard reminded me
that.....
The Bustard is an elegant fowl
With
minimum reason to howl
He escapes what would
be
Illegitimacy
By the grace of a fortunate vowel
!
Anon
