Rhonda and I have just returned home form our winter “escape”.
We had planned to depart on 3 April and head to the south-west (WA). But,
late in planning we decided to buy a new caravan – you probably guessed
it, delivery dates kept slipping and we finally departed on 13 May. Our
first stop was the Barossa
Valley where it rained on
us for five days with strong westerly winds and more forecast. So we made
a decision to abandon WA and headed north, doing Cober Pey, Uluru, Allice,
Mataranka, Katherine, Litchfield, Darwin, Kakadu, then back to Tennant Creek
and east to Mt Isa. From there we followed the Matilda Highway through, Longreach,
Blackall, Cunnamulla, Bourke and home (13,000km in all).
Birding was good but we missed a lot, being inadequately
prepared for a Top End/western Queensland
trip. Nevertheless we recorded 241 species including 65 lifers. Best
birds were the Banded Fruit-dove, White-lined Honeyeater, Red Goshawk, Hooded
Parrot (female only and in the streets of Pine Creek), Carpentarian Grasswren,
Bourke’s Parrot, Hall’s Babbler and Chestnut-breasted
Quail-thrush. We searched for and missed the Flock Bronzewing, White-throated
Grasswren, Gouldian Finch, Chestnut-quilled Rockpigeon, Grey Falcon and
Kalkadoon Grasswren.
For anyone heading to the area some gems for birding were
Mataranka, Fogg Dam near Darwin (great waterbirds) and Cunnamulla. At the
latter we stayed at a property just out of town called Bowra Station for four
days during which we recorded 97 species including six lifers (including
Bourkes Parrot and Hall’s Babbler). Bowra is also a good location
for the Grey Falcon (even though we failed to find it).
Lindsay Hansch
