Grey Grasswren thanks

[Phil Gregory <>]

My thanks to all the folks who kindly shared their sightings of Grey
Grasswrens. We went back to the site near the Wompah Gate north of
Tibooburra in late June and had very brief views of a group of four birds,
in atrocious light too! They were heard calling briefly and seemed to be
associating with Variegated Fairywrens in the lignum, but were extremely
difficult to see well.
    We had very brief views of Eyrean Grasswren on
the red dune 36 km west of Cameron Corner, then luckily found two rather
more obliging birds in the small sand hummocks about 100m west of Montecollina
Bore some 200 km up the Strzelecki Track. Banded Whiteface was also
seen here and it's a convenient lunch stop if travelling the track.
    The Eastern Thick-billed Grasswren (surely
as good a split as Kalkadoon or Short-tailed?) showed fairly well at the
Chestnut-breasted Whiteface site north of Lyndhust, where the whiteface
also showed nicely. There had been some rain here since May, so it was
really green, and we delighted to find at least 12  Inland Dotterel
5 km north of the Strzelecki Track sign just north of Lyndhurst, with another
small group on the verdant green sward some 2 km north, with a pair Gibber
Chat nearby- yay! We found no Grey Falcons or Letter-winged
Kites though.
    Short-tailed Grasswren proved really hard
in the Flinders Ranges and we had to settle for scuttling glimpses. We
dipped utterly on Striated at Hattah-Kulkyne again despite trying pretty
hard, I  guess it's not a good time of year to find them.
A trip report is available direct from me, too long to post.
Good birding
Phil Gregory
Cassowary House
Kuranda
www. cassowary-house.com.au