Sorry this is a bit late, got distracted by a trip to Washington DC...
-K
Tue. 10 Dec. Little Desert NP
Woke up this morning to several raucous groups of Kookaburras
that had us surrounded. They are the first to wake up and the last to go
to sleep. I got up before sunrise to have a walk around. The river was
all hung with mist, and it was very picturesque, red gum trees
highlighted with the yellow light of first sun on them reflected in the
still water. There was a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in one of the small
ponds, along with a White-faced Heron. Spotted Pardalotes, Yellow-plumed
Honeyeaters, Australian Magpies, Magpie-larks, White-browed Babblers,
Eastern Rosellas, Galahs, Red-rumped Parrots, and a pair of Crested
Shrike-tits were ripping bark above our campsite. I ran into my first
Emu as I walked a bit down the road. Once Stephan was up, we drove to
the nature walk south of Kiata. On the road there we stopped for a
Shingleback Lizard which is definitely one of the more bizarre reptiles
I have ever seen. When annoyed it opens its mouth and shows you its
black leaf-shaped tongue.
The nature trail is relatively short. In fact, most of the birds
in the area can be found around the picnic area. The trail is worth
walking, however, since there is a Malleefowl around the mound which is
marked on the trail. You need to approach very quietly, since there is
no blind, and as soon as it notices you it walks very quietly into the
bushes and is quickly lost from sight. Other birds along the trail
included Variegated Fairy-wren, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, White-eared
honeyeater, White-plumed Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird, Spotted Pardalote,
Tree Martin, Golden Whistler, and Little Eagle. Also on this trail was a
Sand Goanna, which was one of the prettier Goannas that I have seen with
its striped patterns.
We drove on to the nature trail South of Nhill, which was
bird-free in the heat of mid-day. I dropped Stephan off at Mt.
Arapiles, and stopped at a pond on the way back where there were
Hoary-headed Grebes, Australasian Grebe, Straw-necked Ibis, Black Ducks,
Gray Teal and Wood Duck. At the Nhill sewage treatment ponds there were
also Australian Shelduck, Sacred Ibis, Chestnut Teal, Black-fronted
Dotterel, and Black-winged Stilts. I stayed at the campground south of
Kiata, so I could do the nature trail at a cooler time of day the next
morning.
Wed 11 Dec. Little Desert, Wyperfield NP
This campground is deserted. ItUs very odd to sleep out by
yourself in the middle of the mallee with only Magpies and Galahs for
company. Woke up to do the red gum walk next to the campground. This
morning the New Holland Honeyeaters are out in force. It seems that
wherever there are New Hollands, there are millions of them everywhere,
making picking out anything different especially difficult. The other
honeyeaters in the area were White-plumed. Other birds included Diamond
Firetail, Jacky Winter, Willie Wagtail, Brown Treecreeper, Rufous
Whistler, Striated Pardalote, Emu, Eastern Rosella, and Noisy Miner.
IUm pretty sure I heard a Frogmouth, and I flushed something that looked
like a quail but I was unable to find it again. In the trees around the
campground were Red-rumped Parrots and Purple-crowned Lorikeets, which
were especially pretty, with the purple and red and yellow on their
faces. No Mallee Ringnecks yet, unfortunately. Mammals on this walk
included Gray kangaroos which were outnumbered by rabbits, hares and two
foxes. Now I have seen most of the native animals I am likely to see,
and also most of the introduced ones.
The trip back to the nature trail turned up nothing new, except a
better look at the Malleefowl, so as it started to get hot, I left for
Wyperfield National Park. On the way out of Little Desert I stopped for
a few Kestrels, Black Kites, Cockatiels, and a RichardUs Pipit. When I
got to Wyperfield finally, it was very dry and very hot, but instead of
completely wasting an afternoon reading I went on the Brambuck Nature
walk. The special bird here was the Splendid Fairy-wren. These live up
to their name, the male is like a little feathered sapphire. I canUt
believe that this color blue actually exists in nature. For most of the
walk through the mallee the only other bird I saw was a Rufous Whistler
and a Brown Falcon until I got to the red gum trees of the lake bed. In
the trees there were White-browed Woodswallows, Galahs, a couple of Emu
far off in the heat-haze, and an Australian Hobby which when I first saw
it, mistook it for a Peregrine. I immediately realized that it was too
small to be a Peregrine, however, but I was still happy to see it perched
right up on a tree where I could examine it for as long as I wanted. Saw
another Shingleback, but it seems that most of the birds are smarter than
me and stay out of the mid-day heat. Some interesting little sand
insects too, that look a bit like small pale colored mantises that
skitter along the sand almost like little lizards. Flies were AWFUL here.
Later that afternoon I walked up to the Eastern Lookout, and
along the trail were Rainbow Bee-eaters and a variety of thornbills,
including, Yellow-rumped and Inland. In the late afternoon, the
kangaroos were out, and there were plenty of Sulfur-crested Cockatoos,
Galahs and Corellas flying around the campground. There are feral bees
here as well, and they swarm around the water tanks and the sinks in the
bathrooms, making a visit to either of these spots risky until after
dark. Went to bed hoping for Mallee Ringnecks in the morning.
Thr. 12 Dec. Wyperfield, Hattah-Kulkyne NP
Was woken up by Galahs again. I actually slept in and didnUt get
up until about 5.30. I did several walks today, in places that had
looked promising while I was scouting the day before. At the Eastern
Lookout were a pair of Pink Cockatoos that I had been hoping for which
were showing off for each other on a dead tree; I love the orange and red
pattern in their crests, itUs like they have Japanese paper fans on their
heads. There were no Malleefowl at the public mound when I stopped by,
but there were quite a few White-browed Bablers there. At the second
trail along from the lookout, which was pointed out to me by some
birders who were in the area, there was lots of activity, including
large numbers of chittering swooping White-browed and Black-faced
Woodswallows, White-winged Choughs, Spiny-cheeked and White-plumed
Honeyeaters, Gray Currawong, Weebill, and Inland Thornbills. Some new
mallee birds, Southern Scrub-robin and Ground Cuckoo-shrike.
The Tyakil nature walk was also very nice, since there were no
flies out yet. Plenty of Brown Treecreepers and White-plumed
Honeyeaters...I heard a noisy chittering up in the trees and looked up to
find the little bird that was making it when suddenly my binoculars
settled on an owl! I was surprised to find that next to that one were
two fluffy babies and another behind. They were just roosting, and I
finally decided that they were the Boobook Owls I had heard the night
before. This was the best surprise moment of the trip, I wasnUt
expecting to actually see them so well. Along the trail were more
thornbills and Rufous Whistlers, a gorgeous singing male Red-capped
Robin, Splendid Fairy-wrens, and Tree-martins.
Soon after the flies started to wake up (around 11 am), I packed
up all the gear into the increasingly unorganized pile that was the back
seat of my little car. Hattah-Kulkyne National Park was my next
destination after driving forever through mallee scrub without seeing
much except for Crested Pigeons and Galahs on the side of the road. But
I was greeted in the Parking lot of the information center by a pair of
Mallee Ringnecks! I was so happy since I was getting worried after
several days of no-shows. The other lifebirds in the parking lot were
Apostlebirds, at least 15 of them. I love these, they look almost human
in the way they crowd around talking to each other, and the expression on
their faces.
Hattah Lake was home to Wood Ducks, Black Ducks, White-faced
Herons, Australian Pelicans, White-necked Heron, Little Black Cormerant,
Darter, Masked Lapwing, Pied Butcherbird, Great Crested Grebes, and
numerous loud Galahs and Sulfur Crested Cockatoos. The Rosellas in the
area were all of the yellow subspecies, which threw me off for a few
seconds since I was looking for Regent Parrots. Red-rumped Parrots were
also fairly common in the area, often flushing up from the side of the
road. My campsite was inhabited by a 5 foot long Goanna which promptly
climbed up a tree nearby to be scolded by the Yellow-throated Miners. A
late afternoon walk on the nature trail found me a single Red Wattlebird
and a heart-stopping startle by a legless lizard.
continued...
Katie Bertsche
Katie Bertsche .........If you're too busy to go birding, you're too busy.
http://www.bowdoin.edu/~kbertsch
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