Thanks Russ.
What were the mossies like at night? One of the joys of outback birding is
camping under the stars. Bivvying on a desert sand dune is a particular
delight.
Regards, Laurie
> On 27 Oct 2025, at 2:20 pm, Russell Woodford <> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone
>
> I've just completed a fabulous tour through the South Australian Outback. It
> was a commercial tour, run by Bellbird Tours (Peter Waanders, the owner, is a
> long-term Birding-Aus subscriber). Peter has been running these tours since
> 2006. There are several Grasswren-targeted tours: we did the 6-Grasswren
> Tour. Unfortunately, the long-term closure of roads south of Innamincka
> prevented us from getting to the Grey Grasswren sites, so it was really a
> 5-grasswren tour, though I did the 2-day extension and we saw Sandhill
> Grasswren (aka Yellabinna Grasswren if it is split, which seems plausible) to
> give us 6 for the trip.
>
> We visited iconic sites including Murray Sunset NP, Gluepot area, Flinders
> Ranges, Strzlecki Track to Montecollina Bore, Marree, Lyndhurst, Mt Ive
> Station, Port August and Yellabinna. Several of the sites were on private
> property, where permission had been granted for us to enter, and many of the
> key species were incredibly difficult to find. I would struggle to relocate
> most of them. That's why I paid to go on a commercial tour - I would not have
> found any of these difficult birds myself!
>
> Key species of the 192 seen included (* were new birds for me)
> Inland Dotterel
> Australian Pratincole
> Black-breasted Buzzard
> Square-tailed Kite
> Spotted Harrier
> Red-backed Kingfisher
> Elegant Parrot *
> Scarlet-chested Parrot *
> Australian Ringneck (2 races)
> Greater Bluebonnet
> Mulga Parrot
> Budgerigar
> Sandhill Grasswren *
> Striated Grasswren *
> Short-tailed Grasswren *
> Western Grasswren *
> Thick-billed Grasswren *
> Eyrean Grasswren *
> Mallee Emuwren *
> Splendid Fairywren
> White-winged Fairywren
> White-fronted Honeyeater
> Grey-fronted Honeyeater
> Gibberbird *
> Crimson Chat
> Orange Chat
> Red-browed Pardalote
> Redthroat
> Shy Heathwren
> Rufous Fieldwren
> Chestnut-breasted Whiteface *
> Slender-billed Thornbill *
> Chestnut-crowned Babbler
> Chestnut Quali-thrush
> Copperback Quali-thrush *
> Cinnamon Quali-thrush
> Chirruping Wedgebill *
> Crested Bellbird
> Red-lored Whistler *
> Gilbert's Whistler
> Southern Scrub-Robin
> Hooded Robin
> Western Yellow Robin
>
> There were 7 birders on the tour, and two guides, in two Landcruisers. We
> stayed in good quality budget hotels where available, but also in some iconic
> outback pubs, such as Marree and Lyndhurst. Bellbird Tours run a "Comfortable
> 9 Grasswren Tour" so I asked Peter during the trip what the difference was in
> a "comfort" tour: slightly better accommodation, shorter driving distances
> most days, slightly fewer people in each vehicle, and some creature comforts
> like camp stools at all the lunch and morning tea stops. Well, I thought our
> tour was comfortable enough! True, we covered a lot of distance, and there
> was quite a bit of walking, but nothing strenuous or difficult.
>
> The guides were both outstanding, taking time to find the birds and ensure
> everyone in the group had plenty of opportunity to see and photograph the
> birds. I particularly liked the way that the guides focused on the target
> birds at each site, until these had been found and seen by the whole group,
> before moving onto general birding around the site. This approach meant we
> were successful in seeing all the grasswrens, as well as other local
> specialties such as the whiteface, qual-thrushes, parrots and whistlers. Like
> most guides, Peter has known sites for all the target birds, with back-up
> sites for most. He has "rotated" some sites so that the birds are not
> "over-birded." The most difficult birds to see were Sandhill Grasswren and,
> surprisingly, Gibberbird, which was found after dozens of roadside stops in
> suitable habitat.
>
> Our second guide was Katinka Domen, who runs her own worldwide tour company,
> all4birding.com - both our guides were great company and worked hard to make
> sure our trip was thoroughly enjoyable, not just a madcap race through the
> outback ticking off birds. I really felt the pace was just right: yes, some
> long days in the heat, but plenty of opportunity to relax, either chatting in
> the car, or at dinner (we had some fabulous pub meals!) as well as lots of
> time to learn about the birds we were seeing and their habitat. On that note,
> we found the mallee in terrible condition around Gluepot, where they've had
> very little rain over recent years. Murray-Sunset was only a little better,
> but the mallee north of Ceduna in Yumbarra / Yellabina was in excellent
> condition.
>
> The other thing that made the tour so enjoyable was the group - with some
> really outstanding birders and great new friends from Victoria, Brisbane,
> Germany and New Zealand.
>
> Russell Woodford
>
>
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