Yes, the Chestnut-breasted Whiteface, said to be South Australia's only
endemic bird species and indeed a frustrating quarry. With some useful
advice from Barry Bucholtz about a specific location between Marla and the
NT border, I stopped there and after about 30 mins searching a pair flew
overhead calling. I got some preliminary video which was adequate for ID
purposes, and that sighting might have sufficed for a mere ticker. However
after I changed to a longer lens for some serious work the pair disappeared,
and were not found after 2 hours of further searching. I called at the same
spot on the way back 2 weeks later. There was an unpleasant stiff easterly
and very few birds at all, but I cast around fruitlessly for another couple
of hours. I suspect they had moved to some more sheltered area. After that
I took the road Coober Pedy-William Creek-Marree-Lyndhurst, which should
have been through their heartland. At promising spots I drove slowly with
the window down, and checked most small-bird sightings and whiteface noises.
All this did was confirm the abundance of Southern Whitefaces. By the time
I got to Lyndhurst I was whitefaced-out and did not go the 20k to the east
to check out the Thomas&Thomas spot. At that point you are right in the
grid cell where the 98/02 atlas recorded most sightings. I did plan a
morning at Aroona Dam - the Leigh Creek water supply, which had been
recommended for various purposes - but the road was closed due to recent
rain. (There was a Southern Whiteface nest with young right at the
turn-off, so I suppose it might have been more of the same.) The Banded
Whiteface is child's play by comparison.
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