Janet and I left Alice Springs on 6/09/09, headed for the Jupiter
Well area in search of the Princess Parrot,
We arrived at the site 44k east of Jupiter Well at 1630 (Central
Time) on 7/09/09. We spent the next 4 days in the area between there
and Jupiter Well, with emphasis on the sites where birds had been
reported as roosting or feeding in the Birding-aus reports of Don
Hadden(10/08/08), Greg Little (12/09/08), Donald Kimball (10/09/08),
Jon King (2 & 30/07/09), Alan Stuart (28/08/09), and Ian May
(31/08/09). Our GPS readings corresponded with those given in these
reports so are not repeated here.
We saw 5 Princess Parrots flying south over the 44k east site at 1805
on 9/09/09.
The birds were about 700m east of where I was standing on top of the
sand dune on the north side of the road, however a good view was
obtained as I was looking east with the sun behind me. The pp's
characteristic flight and long tails were unmistakable. I watched the
birds fly south to at least the third dune south of the road. I
followed up as quickly as possible but did not see or hear them again.
Although I had been hoping for a close encounter with the parrots, I
consider that we were extremely lucky to have seen them at all. I
had been walking the dunes in the area to the south of the road for 2
hours. We had just driven off to the west when, on the spur of the
moment, I stopped and thought I'd just take a quick look at the
habitat over the top of the dune to the north of the road. If I had
not done this we would not have seen the birds.
We continued searching the area until 1000 on 11/09/09 when we headed
back to Alice via the West MacDonald Ranges.
Although many plants have finished flowering, the area still has a
diverse range of plants in flower and other interesting sightings
included Black, Pied, Grey-headed, Golden-backed, White-fronted and
Brown Honeyeaters, Little Button-quail, Bustard, 7 species of Raptor
(but not the Grey Falcon), Rainbow Bee-eaters and a single Welcome Swallow.
In analyzing the previous reports, in an effort to apply logic to
what is a very random occurrence, I came to the conclusion that all
reports used Central (NT) Time, except for Jon King who used WA time.
This was my best guess but I could be wrong.
The road was good for such a remote area. I had 2 punctures, 1
ruining the sidewall.
The max daily temperature from the 6th to the 11th was 35, 27, 29,
31, 35 & 36. There was usually a breeze so it was OK in the shade,
but very hot in the sun. The area was basically fly and mossie free,
which made our stay a very enjoyable camping experience.
Thanks to the authors of the previous reports and to Greg Little and
Alan Stuart for valuable follow-up details.
Frank Pierce
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