Monday 1st September
We spent the morning driving from Kununurra to Victoria River Crossing in
NT, stopping at several places on the way, including Dingo Creek, the East
Baines River and Bullita Access Road. Raptors were a highlight -
Black-breasted Buzzard, Black & Whistling Kites (both common), Spotted
Harrier, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Black Falcon (by Bullita Access Road) & Nankeen
Kestrel. Just west of Timber Creek we found our first Diamond Doves. We had
no luck with Gouldian Finches at Timber Creek. Later, we checked in at the
campground at Victoria River Crossing.
Late afternoon I went down to the river crossing. I could hear
Purple-crowned Fairy-wrens* singing west of the bridge but couldn't see
them.
crossing the bridge, I had more luck - a male seen briefly. In all there
must have been at least five males around. I also managed to find my first
Red-browed Pardalote in the tall trees beyond the river. A Greenshank was on
the river and a couple of Star Finches were by the riverside. Silver-crowned
Friarbirds and Agile Wallabies (the night-shift) were common around the
campground.
Tuesday 2nd September
I was hoping for better views of Purple-crowned Fairy-wrens so I got up at
first light and went down to the river again. This time I struck lucky. The
bird that was probably the male I had seen the day before showed in the open
for several minutes, singing from time to time, the early morning sun
shining on his purple crown - what a stunning bird! I also had brief views
of a female the other side of the road. Also of interest were a Brown
Goshawk and a Yellow-rumped Mannikin.
The drive to Katherine produced nothing out of the ordinary, apart from the
usual raptors. In the afternoon we checked in at Nitmiluk National Park
Campground. Here I was pleased to see Apostlebirds again - delightful birds,
I think. Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Great Bowerbirds were equally tame and
spent much time around the camp sites. We decided to walk the Lookout Trail.
Along it we saw our first Common Bronzewing of the trip and a Northern
Fantail*. At dusk, Agile Wallabies came around the camp sites, some
approaching very close. It was a shame to see some people feeding them,
despite the signs warning them not to.
Wednesday 3rd September
In the morning we drove to Edith Falls, in Nitmiluk National Park. On the
way in, we stopped along Edith Falls Road at the site 5 kms in, mentioned in
Niven McCrie & James Watson's book 'Finding Birds in Darwin, Kakadu & the
Top End' - but found little. Around the Edith Falls car park and Loop Trail
we found mainly common birds - the more noteworthy were a Little
Shrike-Thrush and Northern Fantail. On the way back along Edith Falls Road
we stopped again at the site mentioned earlier. After a bit of persistence
we managed to find near the pools a Little Woodswallow* and a Gouldian
Finch*. Other finches here were Double-barred, Masked and Crimson.
We finished the day at Pine Creek, where we checked in at a tiny camp site
by a petrol station. A walk around the area produced a good list of birds,
the highlight being 5 Northern Rosellas* along Lookout Road. No luck with
Hooded Parrots, though!
Thursday 4th September
I took an early walk around the village. Birds were even more plentiful than
the previous afternoon. By the water gardens I saw Nankeen Night Heron and
Azure & Sacred Kingfishers. Other highlights were 7 species of parrot &
cockatoo, including the 5 Northern Rosellas again and several Figbirds. It
was a great disappointment not to find any Hooded Parrots. Interestingly,
Jim Ostwald of Mary River Park told me later that he had found Northern
Rosella more difficult to locate of late than Hooded Parrot! That's birds
for you!
By late morning we arrived at Cooinda where we checked into the campground.
Here we saw a Dingo foraging around the camp sites! Late afternoon I took a
walk down to Yellow Waters. It turned out to be particularly good for
Honeyeaters - Rufous-banded Honeyeater* being the
commonest Honeyeater - & Flycatchers - Leaden, Broad-billed, Shining &
Paperbark. Varied Trillers were easy to find. Just before midnight I heard a
Large-tailed Nightjar* calling.
Friday 5th September
Early morning tragedy - a Dingo caught and started to eat a Pheasant Coucal!
We went to Nourlangie Rock, to see the rock paintings and hopefully pick up
a few good birds. Along Nourlangie Road I was lucky to spot an Emu by the
roadside (we later found out they are quite uncommon in the area). At the
Rock, we managed to see White-lined Honeyeaters* quite easily - at least 4
birds in all, quite noisy & conspicuous. I suspected that Chestnut-quilled
Rock-Pigeon & Banded Fruit-Dove might be trickier! As luck had it, a Banded
Fruit-Dove* flew over us and landed in a tree, giving brief but good views.
The Rock-Pigeon was a no-show, though. A non-avian highlight was a large
Eastern Blue-tongued Skink (good eating according to one of the Aboriginal
Rangers!). The nearby Anbangbang Billabong was good for water birds -
Magpie-Goose, Plumed Whistling-Duck, Green Pygmy-Goose, Pacific Black Duck,
Darter, Little Pied Cormorant, Australian Pelican, White-necked Heron, Great
& Little Egrets, Glossy, Australian White & Straw-necked Ibises and Royal
Spoonbill.
We still hadn't seen Black-tailed Treecreeper so we called in at Mardugal on
the way back to Cooinda. We tried the Gun-Gardun walk. After what seemed
long a long time walking in the heat, we got excellent views of a female
bird*.
On a late afternoon walk to Yellow Waters, I managed to see a White-bellied
Sea-Eagle catching a fish - the Eagle, perched, saw the fish jump out off
the water slightly then glided down to snatch the fish; an awesome sight! In
the area I also saw a Grey Goshawk and a Brush Cuckoo* calling
frequently and driving the Restless & Paperbark Flycatchers crazy.
After dark, I thought I heard a Barking Owl calling. On further
investigation
I discovered the calls were made by Glenn Threlfo (from O'Reilly's
Rainforest guesthouse at Lamington NP in Queensland) who was leading a small
group of birders! We remembered Glenn from our stay at O'Reilly's the
previous year - it's a small world! Glenn tipped us off about a possible
spot
for Little Kingfisher on Yellow Waters.
Saturday 6th September
We had a booked a dawn cruise on Yellow Waters. It was quite beautiful -
leaving before sunrise and seeing the sun rise through the mist. The cruise
was excellent and produced 35 bird species and good, close, views of
Saltwater Crocodiles. Highlights were 4 Nankeen Night-Herons, 4
White-bellied Sea-Eagles, 2 Azure Kingfishers and 1 Little Kingfisher* - at
one stage we had the two kingfisher species in view at the same time.
We then left the Cooinda area and drove up to Jabiru, where we checked in at
the campground at Jabiru Lodge. As we parking at our site we saw a Partridge
Pigeon* wandering between the sprinklers! After lunch we went to Ubirr,
where we admired the rock paintings and wonderful views (shades of Crocodile
Dundee!). We then did the Mangarre Walk, where we found two new birds,
Rainbow Pitta (2 gorgeous birds bouncing around in the leaf litter) and
Green-backed Gerygone. Torresian Imperial-Pigeons were calling in the area.
Non-avian sightings of note were 2 large ''Salties' on the East Alligator
River and colonies of Black & Little Red Flying Foxes (what a smell!).
We were now running short of options for Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon so we
tried the nearby Bardedjilidji Sandstone Walk. The McCrie & Watson book said
that the birds might be feeding on the ground in late afternoon so it was
worth a try. We had just got a short way along the walk when noisy calls
attracted us to a flock of 50+ Varied Lorikeets* in the trees along the
track - a nice surprise. A few minutes later, as we were going past the
first main sandstone outcrop I saw movement on the ground - a foraging
Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon*. Many thanks, Niven & James!
To be continued.
Rob
Robert Grimmond
Kent, UK
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