DAY 11
Our early morning walk is again hampered by a strong wind and bird
sightings are very limited. George and I managed to flush a Spinifexbird and get
brief looks as it flies, with its tail down, to another Spinifex clump. Again,
this bird is very reddish-brown in colour.
After a great breakfast of pancakes and honey we walk northwest along the
track as the camp is being packed up. We get good views of two Horsefield
Bronze-Cuckoos, two Brown Songlarks and eight more Orange Chats, including
stunning looks at a male sitting on a dead branch.
As we continue on our way by vehicle a strange sight is a White-necked
Heron flapping across the desert, must be water somewhere. The lunch stop is at a small dam where
we get good views of a pair of White-backed Swallows. A Little Eagle flies over
and many Zebra Finches come in to drink. After lunch we see two more camels
beside the road and just miss a feral cat with our front wheels. A bit later a
young camel ran beside the car at about 35 to 40 km/hour for a short
while.
Near the end of the day we saw our first Red Kangaroos of the trip and
several Australian Bustard are flushed from the roadside. We arrive at our
campsite with a male Bustard standing on the highest point around and another 3
or 4 Bustards flying around. Steak for dinner tonight, done on the barbeque
plate over some hot coals. The previous night we had a fabulous roast dinner
cooked in a hole filled with hot coals.
We covered 325kms today with little birding time but with the wind it was
hardly worth stopping. Today was the only day of the whole trip that we did not
see Brown Falcon! Only 21 species today.
White-necked Heron
Spotted Harrier
Little Eagle
Australian Bustard
Galah
Budgerigar
Horsefield?s Bronze-Cuckoo
Red-backed Kingfisher
Variegated Fairy-Wren
White-winged Fairy-Wren
Singing Honeyeater
Grey-headed Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
Crimson Chat
Orange Chat
Black-faced Woodswallow
Pied Butcherbird
Zebra Finch
White-backed Swallow
Spinifexbird
Brown Songlark
Signing off for the night
Dick Jenkin
DUNGOG NSW
