My wife and I
have just recently returned from a trip starting from Sydney on 12/6/04 to
Darwin via
Mount
Isa and return via Alice
Springs and Port Augusta and back home arriving on 11/7/04. We traveled over 10000
kilometres. It was not just a birding trip (my wife thinks it was) but I did
manage to do a good deal of birding along the way.
Places of
interest are as follows:
Bowra Station at Cunnamulla: 48 species
including Crested Bellbirds, however I missed out on the Hall?s Babbler which
had been seen the day before we arrived.
Blackall: 25 species including close
views of Plum-headed finches.
Mount Isa ? Lake Moondara area: 22 species
including Varied Lorikeets, Long-tailed finch and red-winged parrots.
Mount Isa sewerage ponds: 23 species including
100+ Pink eared ducks.
Longreach Lagoon at Elliot: 24 species,
nothing special, just the large amount of birds at the lagoon.
Mataranka : 28 species including Red
Goshawk, Little Bronze Cuckoo and Yellow-tinted Honeyeater.
Gunlom: 22 species including
White-lined Honeyeater. I missed out on the White-throated grasswren which had
recently been seen by others in the park.
Yellow Water Billabong: The cruise
fantastic for the sheer amount of birdlife seen but only 29 species were
recorded including Radjah Shelducks, Green Pygmy Geese, Jabirus and Magpie
Geese.
Muirella Park: 24
species including Partridge Pigeons seen 3 time on road to park. Masked finches
were seen around campsite. Red-backed fairy-wren and Green Pygmy Geese seen on
Bubb Billabong walk.
Mamukala Wetlands: 21 species including
Crimson finches, Lemon-breasted Flycatchers, Long-tailed finches.
Fogg Dam area: 26 species including
Barking Owl on rainforest walk, yellow-tinted Honeyeater and Comb-crested
Jacanas.
Holmes Jungle, Darwin: 18 species
including good views of a Rainbow Pitta, Zitting Cisticola, Little Kingfisher,
and Orange-footed Scubfowl.
Buffalo creek, Darwin: Only a
short visit and saw 10 species including Yellow-white-eyes.
Alice Springs area: 31 species including Major
Mitchell?s Cockatoo and Gibberbird on old south
Rd. At the sewerage ponds 50+ Red-necked Avocets were
seen. It looks like some upgrading work is being carried out at the ponds to
make it a better place for birders. I did not stay long as the Alice
Springs show was on and helicopter rides coming in over the ponds
caused the birds to move to the far western end and hard to view.
Our next stop
after leaving Alice Springs was Coober Pedy. Not a
birding place as only 7 species were seen.
Port Augusta: Only 15 species seen in the short time
we were there but I was impressed at how close you could get to the birds as
they are used to people walking around. Three new sitings for me were the
Splendid Fairy-Wren, Chirruping Wedgebill and the White-winged
Fairy-wren.
Our next stop
was Gluepot Reserve for 2 nights. A
total of 34 species were seen including Mulga Parrots, Crested Bellbirds,
Gilbert?s Whistler, Red-lored Whistler, Red-capped robins and Brown
Treecreepers.
We headed home
via Mildura and Junee, not intending to do any birding but did see Yellow
Rosellas near Waddi which is 60ks west of Narrandera and Blue Bonnets at about
70 and 30ks west of Narrandera.
This was a very
enjoyable trip for me and for my wife who is not a birder and had to put up with
me slamming on the brakes and jumping out of the car with binoculars in
hand.
We saw 198
native species of which 61 were new to us.
Cheers
Anthony
Katon
