Re: Innamincka fishing trip

After reading Peter Pfeiffers quick note about Innamincka I thought I would throw in a couple of quick comments about my trip to Innamincka just after Easter.

Mine was a family holiday with very little birding although I did get out to the dune country for an hour or so on two mornings.  I guess the highlights were fleeting views of some very elusive Eyrien Grass-wrens and Cinnamon Quail-thrush.  On the nearby gibber plain and in the interdune flats were Banded Lapwing.  The inderdune flats were also occupied by large flocks (thousands) of Little Corella busy digging for (presumably) corms and roots.

Large numbers of Black Kites were having a very easy time of it with tens (hundreds?) of thousands of small fish trapped below the causeway, all trying very hard to go upstream.  Of an evening about 30 or so LB Cormorants would fly up the river but, despite the fish, these weren't seen at the causeway.  My kids had a great time transporting buckets containing 100 or more fish at a time from the bottom to the top of the causeway.  They must have "saved" thousands of fish.

The weather was hot but the Cooper was a saving grace as we spent hours lounging in the creek surrounded by hundreds of Corellas amid the constant nipping of shrimps and small fish on any part of the anatomy that was submerged in the brown waters. 

 As the area had been flooded relatively recently I was expecting a bonanza of breeding, particularly of Budgerigars but we only saw very small numbers of Budgies anywhere.

Cheers

David Geering
Regent Honeyeater Recovery Coordinator
Department of Environment & Conservation
P.O. Box 2111
Dubbo  NSW  2830
Ph: 02 6883 5335 or Freecall 1800 621 056
Fax: 02 6884 9382



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