G'day All,
TRIP FROM NTH VIC TO THE GULF OF CARPENTARIA & BACK
My daughter and I have just returned from a four-week trip in our dual cab
ute from Cohuna in Nth Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria & back. We went
so as to enjoy our great country, its wildlife (especially birds), plants
and the unique outback with its vast distances and its special towns. We had
a safe and happy time, mainly in our swags under the stars at night, but
occasionally in a tent in the towns.
>From home we followed the Murray River to Swan Hill & Mildura. We noted the
different birds with which we are familiar in our area and those which are
more rare and western as we moved on, such as MULGA PARROT, CHESTNUT-CROWNED
BABBLERS, WHITE-BROWED TREECREEPERS, CRESTED BELLBIRDS and MAJOR MITCHELL'S.
Before Broken Hill we called into Scotia Sanctuary, which has a breeding
programme for special marsupials such as Bilbys. The sanctuary has vermin
proofed an area of several thousand acres, and are in the process of
releasing them into the "wild". It is well worth a visit if you ring
beforehand - 03 5027 1200. (Previously the Earth Sanctuary organization
owned this and other sanctuaries, but the Australian Wildlife Conservancy
now owns this one and some others).
It was not until we were on the north of Broken Hill that we began to see
the more typical inland birds such as INLAND DOTTERELS and AUSTRALIAN
PRATINCOLES. There were large numbers of Pratincoles all through Nth NSW and
Western and Central QLD.
At Tibooburra we took the sandy track to Cameron's Corner, which leads onto
the Sturt Stony Desert the Strzelecki Track or North to Innamincka and
Birdsville. We had heard of recent rains, which had turned this area of
undulating sand dunes clothed with Cane-grass, Spinifex and various Acacias
interspersed with grassy swales into a Garden of Eden. We were about a
fortnight too late to see it in all its glory, but still enough to imagine
the days when men walked in innocency with the Lord. It was here I found my
first lifer. As the bright desert colours softened in the hour before
sunset, when a touch of purple & pink began to add their pastel colours to
the clear atmosphere, on top of a sand dune a pair of EYREAN GRASSWRENS came
out of cover and perched on a dead branch and sang for us. It really was
something to watch them in the pure, gentle light of the late afternoon.
There had been reports of BANDED WHITEFACE and also BLACK & PIED HONEYEATERS
in the area, but we only saw one flock of BANDED WHITEFACE. We also enjoyed
sightings of CRIMSON CHATS, BUDGERIGARS, and CHIRRUPING WEDGE-BILLS, SPOTTED
HARRIERS & COCKATIELS. A SPOTTED NIGHTJAR also appeared overhead after
calling one night. We saw no PIED HONEYEATERS the whole trip.
Ian May had reminded me that a race of the RED-RUMPED PARROT (caeruleus) is
to be found in the Innamincka area. The male is described by Pizzey & Knight
as, "paler, bluer and whiter below". I looked diligently in the area for
them, but for three days the wind was so strong and gusty, it would "blow
the tail off a Kangaroo" and the old timers would say! I hope to catch up
with this bird another day though. Does anyone know of a good area to see
them?
We went down the Strzelecki Track to just beyond the crossing, hoping for a
sighting of a LETTER WING KITE. My daughter Lydia has been looking to see
one for some years. None were in the reported spots here, and though we
hoped to see them in the Channel country, they were one bird we missed. A
view of a GREY FALCON and BLACK-BREASTED BUZZARD near Innamincka made up for
our failure. The odd RED-BACKED KINGFISHER, PALLID CUCKOO & DIAMOND DOVE
began to be seen too.
Crossing the vast Sturt Stony Desert towards Birdsville, we came across
small numbers of FLOCK PIGEONS. Their sighting was my second lifer. There
were in fact good numbers of them all the way to Mt Isa both around water
but flying over and perched on the ground of the vast grasslands of the
area, which were still green from recent rains.
At Birdsville we saw our first ORANGE CHATS AND GIBBER CHATS for the trip.
In fact, GIBBERBIRDS were one of the most common birds we came across in the
vast, lonely gibber and sparsely grassed plains. We also had some good
sights of CINNAMON QUAIL-THRUSH as they ran under some small bushes around a
recently dried out soak in this area.
We spent several days in Diamantina National Park, which is east of Bedourie
and Boulia. The vast grasslands of the Channel Country, interspersed with
their many creek beds and occasional jump up and wonderful rocky gorges and
occasional sand dunes was a stunning place. I have never seen so many
DIAMOND DOVES in one place as I did here. There were also sightings of
INLAND DOTTERELS, PAINTED FIRETAILS, BUSTARDS, SPINIFEX PIGEONS, GRASS OWL,
PLUMED WHISTLING DUCK, RED-BACKED KINGFISHER, & PLUM-HEADED FINCHES among
many others. I had heard from some, who were here a couple of months ago, of
Brolgas and a green countryside, but it had dried out and the Brolgas had
flown.
Lydia and I delighted in the granite outcrops and wooded hills around Mt
Isa. Here, in an area where I had not visited before, we began to see quite
a few new birds. After searching for several hours on two days, we finally
got some very good sightings of a pair of KALKADOON GRASSWREN as they fed
among the Spinifex tussocks and in the lower branches of the shrubs of the
Mica Creek site. It was very satisfying to see them so clearly, We also saw
at Moondarra Caravan Park and at Lake Moondarra great sightings of VARIED
LORIKEETS, RUFOUS-THROATED HONEYEATERS, SILVER-CROWNED FRIARBIRDS, PAPERBARK
FLYCATCHERS, (race nana of the RESTLESS FLYCATCHER) & LONG-TAILED FINCH.
There were also good sightings of SPOTTED BOWERBIRDS, CRIMSON-WING PARROTS,
BLACK-NECKED STORKS, JACANA, BAILLON'S CRAKE, & the RED-BREASTED race
(rebecula) of the GREY-CROWNED BABBLER. Just before Dajarra we also saw a
flock of HALL'S BABBLERS.
After a few days in Mt Isa, we headed off towards Camooweal and the McNamara
's Road site for the CARPENTARIAN GRASSWREN. We ran into Jonny Schoenjahn
and Nick Blackwood also searching for this special bird. We searched
separately, and after a false alarm with a SPINIFEXBIRD, Jonny & Nick found
a pair of CARPENTARIAN GRASSWRENS. They signaled for us to come -
interrupting my first sightings of a pair of BLACK-TAILED TREECREEPERS.
After pointing out a patch of Spinifex where there were brief, tantalizing,
distant sights of this bird, Jonny and Nick had to leave us. Lydia and I
patiently followed them, getting 4 or 5 good brief sights of 5 to 10 seconds
each. Then it happened! A bird jumped up into a low shrub, and for 2-3
minutes it postured, showing us all angles in the early morning light,
including displaying with wings out and tail fanned, and only about 2-3
metres away. It was a jewel with its flashy white throat contrasted with a
vivid black whiskered facial mark and dark streaked head. A very special
sighting. We also saw LITTLE BUTTON-QUAIL, GREY-FRONTED HONEYEATERS, LITTLE
WOODSWALLOWS and a first for Lydia and myself - the CLONCURRY form of the
AUSTRALIAN RINGNECK PARROT.
Onto Camooweal, we visited The Caves. Once again we saw the CLONCURRY
PARROT, more LITTLE WOODSWALLOWS and a few more common birds. From here we
went to Gregory Downs and onto Ardel's Grove & Lawn Hill ( Boodjamulla) NP.
As others have noted, after the wide-open spaces, with their sprawling
undulating grasslands and their light cover of acacia and other shrubby
trees, dusty and hot at this time of the year, it was like a mirage to come
to the wonderful water-land and oasis of Lawn Hill. There were some great
first sightings to be had here too. The first was a large flock of
PICTORELLA MANNIKINS which having been disturbed from the side of the road
as we drove along, obligingly flew through the dust of our car and landed in
low trees not too far from the road, and allowed me to approach and get good
views of both male, female and immatures. We were delighted with the
confiding BUFF-SIDED, WHITE-BROWED ROBINS (race cerviniventris). WHITE-GAPED
HONEYEATERS were very common. Other firsts here were the vivid RED-COLLARED
LORIKEET, the incredible PURPLE-CROWN FAIRY-WRENS or, as my daughter called
them, the "little darlings", flitting through the Pandanas Palms &
YELLOW-TINTED HONEYEATERS. I thought it a privilege to also see a breeding
pair of NORTHERN ROSELLAS, the male in all his startling beauty in a gum
tree by Louis Creek at the Frenchman's Garden, while his mate was in a
hollow nearby. Perhaps the most memorable bird for Lawn Hill though, was not
the most strikingly coloured, but one that seemed to epitomize the lonely
wonder of these ancient, grand rocky watered & forested gorges. The
SANDSTONE SHRIKE-THRUSH, with its haunting calls echoing around the gorges
in the late,mellow afternoon sunshine will long live with me. There was also
a first sighting of a BAR-BREASTED HONEYEATER, though it was an immature,
and as someone else reported, several ARAFURA (RUFOUS) FANTAIL just up from
the falls, and also back down the gorge towards the campsite. Other notable
birds seen here were, GREAT BOWERBIRD, WHITE-BREASTED SEA EAGLE, BLACK
FALCON, RED-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO, VARIED LORIKEET, SILVER-CROWN FRIARBIRD,
BLUE-WINGED KOOKABURRA, RUFOUS-THROATED HONEYEATER, CRIMSON FINCH, BARKING
OWL, DOUBLE-BAR FINCH, LONG-TAILED FINCH, GOLDEN-BACKED (race laetior of the
BLACK-CHINNED HONEYEATER), LEADEN FLYCATCHER, CHESTNUT-BREASTED MANNIKINS, &
the race albogularis of the WHITE-THROATED HONEYEATER.
....... concluded in Part 2
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