Alice
Springs Trip
I spent much of July birding
in the Centre and driving to and fro via Adelaide.
Here are some
impressions.
The Riverina and mallee are
having an average or better season and look very green compared to
Canberra. A trip west in
the spring should be productive.
SA settled districts are green. During the drive north I
noted large numbers of Kestrels and BS Kites hovering over the roadsides. Noisy
Miners everywhere.
I stopped at Pt Wakefield to bird in the
samphire/mangroves and was surprised to see a Little Wattlebird in the
mangroves.
At Pt Augusta I called in to the birdhide in the bay for
close views of Banded Stilts.
The Arid Lands Botanic Gardens on the northern outskirts
are showing the effects of the hot summer. White-browed Babblers, Chirruping
Wedgebills, a Redthroat and the usual Honeyeaters were
evident.
Further north it was fairly
dry except for a band of country around Lake
Hart north of
Woomera. Cinnamon Quailthrush and WW fairywrens were the common bush birds. I
found Chestnut-breasted Whitefaces and Banded Whiteface at the usual sites along
the highway. Wedgetails feeding on kangaroo roadkills were a conspicuous part of
the scene.
Jane, Julie and Sue joined
me in Alice
Springs and we camped at Redbank
Gorge in the West
Macdonnells and saw Slaty-backed
Thornbill in the mature Mulga at the campground. A walk up Mt Sonder gave
magnificent views over the range and we were lucky enough to find a small group
of Painted Firetails among blackened sticks high on the ridge. On the way up
Julie was treated to a flypast by a Grey Falcon, a big tick for
her.
At Ormiston Gorge we dipped
on the Spinifex Pigeons and it seems this is the only reliable site near
Alice
Springs so we should have tried
harder. Walking into the Ormiston Pound Julie found Dusky Grasswrens among the
fallen boulders and we found a Red-browed Pardalote in the River Redgums along
Bowman Creek. Returning the next day to Ormiston Gorge we found Painted
Firetails coming to drink at the far end of the gorge. Grey-headed Honeyeaters
and Western Bowerbirds are also easily found in the campground
area.
Jane and I spent the next
two days walking over Brinkley Bluff. Most of the west MacDonnells have been
burnt in the last few years and are very bare but I got good views of Hooded
Robins and Grey-headed Honeyeaters. We came down in heavy rain and retreated to
A. S. to dry out. A visit to the Desert
Park the next day was
a highlight. Wonderful displays of arid zone birds and animals including some
very noisy Chiming Wedgebills a species I have yet to see beyond the bars.
Almost every bird was displaying or nest building in response to the
rain.
We then spent a night at Trephina Gorge, attractive but a
bit of an anticlimax after the grandeur of the west Macs. The area seemed even
drier than the west and the only bird of note was a nice male Redthroat in
degraded grazing land on the way back.
I made a visit to the Rufous-crowned Emuwren site on the
Santa Teresa road but despite perfect conditions we failed to find any trace of
the bird.
A visit to Kunoth Well was much more productive. We
birded along the nearby side road in tall Mulga and also south of the windmill
in some old paddocks with a grassy understory. Highlights included Crimson Chat
and great views of Splendid Fairywrens. Between these sites is a large open area
with many muddy channels. The scattered Eremophilas on the west of this plain
would be a good place to look for Grey Honeyeater in better weather than we
had.
We visited the
Olive
Pink
Bot
Gardens on a cold
showery morning and saw very little beside some very tame Red-breasted Babblers.
There were some attractive gardens across the road that would be worth
investigation with more time.
After the others flew home I drove out to Newhaven
arriving on a Monday evening to find I had the 650,000 acres all to myself.
Birds were initially hard to find too. Best birding was in the tall mulga around
the camping ground. Much of Newhaven has been burnt in wildfires in recent years
and will take years to recover. The badly burnt hills were a disappointment with
only a few Zebra Finches and Grey-headed Honeyeaters to keep up my hopes. The
?Lakes Tour? was more productive with frequent sightings of WW Fairywrens and
Banded Whitefaces. I understand Banded Whiteface favour recently burnt areas.
The southern end of the ?Dunes Tour? took me through better Mulga and I saw both
Babblers there. Many Zebbies were drinking at some recently filled
claypans.
On the way to Newhaven the 50-60 Kms out from Tilmouth
Well (part of Mt Wedge stn) had been blessed with more rain. In this area I saw
Bourke Parrots fly by and saw Pink Cockatoos. There were extensive areas of
flowering veg. particularly upside down plant (Leptosema). Pied Honeyeaters,
Masked and White-browed Woodswallows feeding on the ground were highlights of
this patch which finishes 100 km from
Newhaven.
Showers continued as I drove
down to Adelaide.
Lake
Hart and Island
Lagoon were half covered with
water. I was told of good falls in the Uluru and
Kings
Canyon area. Spring
should be bird rich in those
areas.
