Dear All,
Just a quick report on an all-too-short trip to Danggali Conservation Park in
South Australia (33*16'S,140*15'E about 75km north of Renmark) over Easter.
Eight of us (me, Stuart Dashper, Chris and Rosemary Lester, John, Jack and
David Barkla and Charles Giffard) met up at Gluepot where we spent a night and
day birding with other members of the Birds Australia Vicgroup. From here we
struck out northwards to Danggali. A 4 hour trip by a necessarily very
circuitous route to Danggali, which is only 56km from Gluepot, saw us arrive at
Canopus in the middle of the park after dark on Saturday night.
We spent 3 nights at the Canopus camp site (which has no facilities, by the
way). The habitat of Danggali is mainly mallee with small stands of Belah and
some chenopod plains. As you would expect, the birding is brilliant. The
highlight without a doubt was a pair of Scarlet-chested Parrots initially
spotted by Chris when he flushed them from cover in an area of mallee on a sand
dune ridge. The mallee here had a diverse mid storey of hakea, grevillea,
acacia and eremophila with extensive patches of Triodia ground cover. We were
able to observe the birds a further three times. We twice had excellent views
of the birds in flight although not all members of the group were able to get
onto them unfortunately. Also in this particular spot we found an amazingly
high density of Striated Grasswrens that are relatively easy to observe at
close quarters.
Another treat was a small pool of water on the side of the track which we
watched for a couple of hours. The water attracted a dazzingly array of
honeyeaters and parrots, inlcuding very high numbers of White-faced,
Spiny-cheeked, Purple-gaped, Brown-headed, Yellow-plumed and Grey-fronted
Honeyeaters as well as Mulga Parrots and Mallee Ringnecks. Chris, who was
trying to get some close up photos had an entertaining encounter with a pair of
Major Mitchell's Cockatoos that landed within a metre of his camera lens. I
can't wait to see the photos.
Other birds of note were Chestnut Quail-thrush, Apostlebirds and a Black-eared
Cuckoo near the camp site, Southern Scrub-robin, Black Falcon, White-browed
Treecreeper in a couple of stands of Belah and so on. I've copied a list of our
records from the park over Easter below. Danggali is a fabulous area of
relatively untouched mallee that any birder would certainly find rewarding.
regards,
Susan
Susan Myers
Ph. +61 3 9899 9303
Fax +61 3 9890 8911
email
website http://www.websurf.net.au/~susan
Emu
Australian Wood Duck
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Brown Goshawk
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Brown Falcon
Australian Hobby
Black Falcon
Nankeen Kestrel
Common Bronzewing
Galah
Major Mitchell's Cockatoo
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Australian Ringneck
Mulga Parrot
Scarlet-chested Parrot
Fan-tailed Cuckoo
Black-eared Cuckoo
Southern Boobook
Spotted Nightjar
Australian Owlet-nightjar
White-browed Treecreeper
Brown Treecreeper
Splendid Fairy-wren
Variegated Fairy-wren
Striated Grasswren
Spotted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Shy Heathwren
Weebill
Inland Thornbill
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill
Southern Whiteface
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Striped Honeyeater
Black-eared Miner(not confirmed)
White-eared Honeyeater
Purple-gaped Honeyeater
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Grey-fronted Honeyeater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
White-fronted Honeyeater
Jacky Winter
Red-capped Robin
Hooded Robin
Southern Scrub-robin
White-browed Babbler
Chestnut-crowned Babbler
Chestnut Quail-thrush
Varied Sittella
Crested Bellbird
Gilbert's Whistler
Grey Shrike-thrush
Restless Flycatcher
Willie Wagtail
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Black-faced Woodswallow
Dusky Woodswallow
Grey Butcherbird
Australian Magpie
Grey Currawong
Australian Raven
Apostlebird
Richard's Pipit
Mistletoebird
Welcome Swallow
67 species
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