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GREAT GRASSWREN HUNT - NORTHER
SOUTH AUSTRALIA 23-24 MAY 2003
Robin Benson & Alan
Morris
The final part of our trip to central
Australia was not really a Grasswren hunt at all although there was the
possibility of seeing the Thick-billed Grasswren in the Marla and Cooper Pedy
areas. Our main interest was to try and find the Banded and Chestnut-breasted
Whitefaces which had been reported north of Marla in South Australia and the
latter at a site south of Cooper Pedy. We had already checked out sites at
Uluru, Erldunda, Curtin Springs and near the SA border for Banded Whiteface
without success. So we were now heading for the recently reported site located
35 km N of Marla. However, on 23/5/03 as we were travelling south along the
Sturt Highway at a location 55 km north of Marla, Robin and I simultaneously
saw some small parrots, his were flying across the road while mine were seen
flying parallel to the road. Bourke's Parrots we called in
unison and stopped the car. Eventually we located 11+ Bourke's Parrots within 80
m of the road, feeding on the ground and perched in a dead tree. In the same 2
ha site we also saw Pipit, 4+ Crimson Chat,
Zebra Finch, Black-faced Woodswallows,
Mistletoebird, Crested Bellbird and
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater. It was an area of low mulga, saltbush
and scattered acacias and eremophilas. Grid ref 26 51 26 S, 133 21 53
E
Further on at the planned site, we
spent three hours searching for the target species without any success and only
saw a few pairs of Southern Whiteface. At this site the
bonus was finding two pairs of Chimming Wedgebills, a bird both
of us had missed until now. We had great and close views. A Little
Button-quail was flushed while looking for the Whitefaces in locations
as suggested in our directions. Other species of interest was a
Black-breasted Buzzard, Singing Honeyeater,
White-winged & Variegated Fairy-wrens, and
flocks of Galahs and Cockatiels going to
water.
The following morning we pushed
further south at at a place called Cotton Brush Creek, 25 km N of Cooper Pedy
where it had recently rained and there was some green grass, we found
Budgerigars, Zebra Finch, 10+ Brown Songlarks
and the other usual species. We lunched at a site 12 S of Cooper Pedy where
Chestnut-breasted Whiteface had recently been reported and spent one hour
searching the site but again had no luck.More Brown Songlarks, White-winged
Wrens and Kestrel were seen here. We made two other stops
enroute to Port Augusta. One near the Tarcoola Turnoff where we were looking for
Slender-billed Thornbills at 30 09 45S 135 11 30 E, we found in Mulga/ bluebush
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Red-capped Robin,
Chestnut-rumped and Inland Thornbill, in
addition to the usual honeyeaters etc. The other stop was 37 km N of Port
Augusta, near the railway line at 32 13 42 S, 137 31 52 E, where again in
mulga/bluebush we had good views of Crested Bellbird,
Australian Raven, Ringneck Parrot, the two
thornbills, Yellow-throated Miner, Singing & Spiny-cheeked
Honeyeaters.
We finally located the
Slender-billed Thornbill on the Yorkey Rd, c 8 km N of Port
Augusta on 25/5/03, seen when we stopped to look at a Rufous
Fieldwren and heard thornbills calling. We located a small group
of Slender-billed Thornbills feeding in bluebush/saltbush and then in some low
shrubs along the road, eventually giving us some good views. This being a new
bird for me. Rob and I had spent some considerable time in the same general area
last year looking for this bird so it was good to finally nail it!
In all we managed to see 174 species
in the 17 days we were away, 10 new species for Robin and five for me. Many
thanks to those people who so generously provided information about the various
sites. We are more than happy to reciprocate if any one would like the details
of any birds/sites mentioned. We drove straight back to the Central Coast from
Port Augusta stopping overnight at Cobar. Highlights of the return trip were
Superb Parrots near Nevertire and a pair of Black
Falcons at the Warren STW, the female of which was watched going into a
large stick nest in a large Redgum (a Whistling Kite's nest?) and trying it out
for size, while the male watched from an adjoining tree. Then both flew away
some distance.
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