hi all
i had a chance to?spend a few days on a waterhole near betoota, the last stop
before birdsville,?recently.
highlights were completing the wedgebill set with chirruping, plus three
blue-billed ducks.
gorgeous spinifex pigeons were in good numbers but alas the feral pig (and
occasional cat) infestation in the maze of lignum channels meant other
terrestrial birds were much scarcer than they might otherwise have been.
shooters had been thru there just before us and cleaned up 180 pigs but there
were still a few around.??
other birds seen included: grey-headed HEs, spotted bowerbirds, white-breasted
and black-faced woodswallows, hooded and red-capped robins, a white-winged
triller, zebs, ringnecks?and a couple of flocks of budgies. it's?great to see
how much more beautiful they are the wild. ??
i had a strange HE that looked for all the world like a banded, apart from the
location of course. it was dark above, white below with a distinct black band
across the chest. medium sized.?any ideas welcome, just out of curiosity.
one day i?had a snooze?on the far bank after a long walk and woke to find black
kites circling above me menacingly. it felt like i was in a spaghetti western.
the icing on the cake came on the?trip back when i picked up a grey falcon
sitting in a tree about 25km west of windorah.
the country west of quilpie is stunning after recent rains and there were lots
of birds and water around, however?being the only birder on this trip, stops
were very limited.?some of you will no doubt sympathise.?
there is something spellbinding about the vast floodplains of the channel
country and even the gibber. i highly recommend stopping at dion's lookout.
the roads were surprisingly good too. i can't wait to go back.
on the way?back to "civilisation" i got pink-eared duck and shoveller on the
dam at my in-laws' property near wallumbilla (only 8 waterbirds but 5 diff
spp).?and a nankneen night heron, striated pardalotes and red-winged parrots at
my bro-in-law's place near surat.?
happy birding
shane b
ascot q
-----Original Message-----
From: mat & cathy <>
To: Sent: Sun, Jul 12, 2009 6:56 pm
Subject: (yet another) Laughing Gull update Cairns - sunday
Hello all,
We saw the Cairns Laughing Gull well this morning - Sunday 7am.
It was on the fake-beach of the "fish-sculpture"-swimming pool initially,
and then joined a larger flock of gulls on the adjacent mudflat.
I was also happy to see a lone Pied Imperial-Pigeon opposite the hospital -
I was not expecting to see one in July.
Unlike Phil, I had no luck with the Mangrove Robins at the north end of the
esplanade this time though.
Cheers,
Mat and Cathy Gilfedder
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