Three friends and I will be spending 3 weeks birding in SE Australia prior to a
short visit to New
Caledonia. None of us have been to this part of Australia, although 3 of us
have been to
Queensland. We will have a car and have used Thomas & Thomas (and recent
postings on
birding-aus) to work out a provisional itinary (we also have Bransbury?s book).
The trip splits
into 4 parts, but is flexible within each part (depending on what has been seen
at the time!):
July 21-26: Sydney-Canberra-Deniliquin
July 28-Aug 1: Deniliquin-Melbourne-Portland
Aug 3-7: Portland-Victoria Malle-Adelaide
Aug 8-14: Adelaide-Birdsville-Adelaide (with 4WD)
We would be grateful for any further information, recent sightings or specific
sites, comments or
advice on any part of the trip. I will not have access to e-mail after 17
July. The places we
intend visiting (and, drawn heavily from Thomas & Thomas, the birds we might
hope to see) in
the final part of the trip are:
Aug 8-14: Adelaide-Birdsville-Adelaide (with 4WD)
Adelaide ICI (if access possible): Banded Stilt, Red-necked Avocet, Elegant
Parrot, Blue-billed
Duck
Port Gawler/Port Prime: Rock Parrot, Elegant Parrot, Slender-billed Thornbill,
White-fronted
Chat.
Strzelecki track (possibly to Whiteface site only): Chestnut-breasted
Whiteface, Thick-billed
Grasswren, Cinnamon Quail Thrush, Rufous Calamanthus, White-winged Fairywren,
Redthroat,
Chirruping Wedgebill, Orange & Gibber Chat, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater.
Birdsville Track: Letter-winged Kite, Inland Dotterel, Eyrean & Grey
Grasswren, Cinnamon
Quail Thrush, Gibber, Yellow, Orange & Crimson Chats, Flock Bronzewing.
Any recent observations, alternative or more specific sites would be most
welcome. Any other
reasonable places to look at between Adelaide and Lyndhurst would be helpful
too (breaking up
an otherwise very long journey).
Many thanks in advance for any information,
Richard Fairbank
West Sussex, England
|
