Yes the homemade U bolt made it to Alice Springs, it was great to drive into
Alice again almost felt like a homecoming. We had lived in Alice for 7 years
and really enjoyed that time. We planned to spend about 10 days in Alice
catching up with friends and old haunts, so again only a mild effort was put
into birding. My first spot was once one of my regulars, the Effluents
Ponds. The lists follow,
10/10/04 Alice Springs Effluent Ponds (Time 0630).
Black Swan (one on a nest), Magpie-lark, Willie Wagtail, Grey Teal, Eurasian
Coot, Torresian Crow, Australasian Grebe, Common Sandpiper, Red-necked
Avocet, Pink-eared Duck, Pacific Black Duck, White-faced Heron, Fairy
Martin, Masked Lapwing, Black Kite, Black-winged Stilt, Galah, Straw-necked
Ibis, Silver Gull (still one bird, I wonder if it is the same that I saw 7
years ago?), Whiskered Tern, Hardhead, Wood Duck, Domestic Ducks x4 (not
there 7 yo), Hoary-headed Grebe, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Black-tailed Native
Hen, Red-kneed Dotterel, Common Greenshank, and behind the ponds in the
woodland and saltbush seeps Clamorous Reed Warbler, White-winged F/wren,
Crimson Chat, Red-capped Dotterel, Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike, Rufous
Songlark, Black-fronted Dotterel, Brown Falcon, Zebra Finch, Little
Grassbird and Australian Ringneck.
Finke Gorge National Park; spent a night here to catch up with Ranger Dennis
and his partner Di and to show the kids the beautiful Palm Valley.
13/10/04 Palm Valley (1755)
T. Crow, Rufous Whistler, White-plummed H/e, Pied Butcherbird, Western
Bowerbird, Mistletoebird, Clam. Reedwarbler, Weebill, Sacred KF, Budgie,
Grey Shrike Thrush and Splendid F/wren.
14/10/04 Around the Ranger Station, acacia shrubland, (0610).
Mistletoebird, Brown H/e, Singing H/e, Crested Bellbird, Bush Stone Curlew,
Ruf. Whistler, Spiny-cheeked H/e, Red-capped Robin (with young),
Yellow-throated Miner, Pied Butcherbird (Juv), Rainbow Bee-eater, Mulga
Parrot, Zebra Finch, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Redthroat (1), Splendid
F/wren, Variegated F/wren, Striated Pardalote, Hooded Robin, Black-faced
Cuckoo-shrike, Western Bowerbird, Red-backed KF, Aust. Ringneck, Grey
Fantail (3), Willie Wagtail, Budgie, Grey Shrike Thrush, Chestnut-rumped
Th/bill, Nankeen Kestrel.
I was hoping to see Bourke Parrots, which are known from the area, but
missed out. We said our goodbyes to Dennis and Di and travelled to Glen
Helen via Gosse Bluff. Gosse Bluff is a crater believed to have been create
by the collision of a comet thousands of years ago, we did the short walk
and read the European and Aboriginal versions of how the crater was formed,
both having the common theme of something falling from above.
We arrived at Glen Helen early in the afternoon.
Glen Helen Gorge and waterhole, River Red Gum and wetland. (1300)
The interesting observations were, Budgie nesting, Eurasian Coot with
chicks, Darter, Hardhead, Grey-headed H/e, Peaceful Dove, Intermediate
Egret, Little-black Cormorant, White-faced Heron and Purple Swamphen. I didn
?t see any Dusky Moorhen this time, but they are normally there.
We returned to Alice dropping into Ormiston Gorge, Ochre Pits where I heard
Rufous-crowned Emu-wren in the Triodia longiceps opposite the viewing
platform, and Ellery Bighole on the way. The major difference from the last
time I saw this area is that much of it had been burnt, but there is habitat
for Emu-wrens and Spinifexbird between the Ochre Pits and the Ormiston
turn-off and just south of Tylers Pass near Gosse Bluff.
I didn?t do a list for Alice itself but did notice an Australian Hobby
pestering other birds, I also noticed the Spotted Turtle Doves which now
make-up most of the towns dawn chorus. I didn?t notice any Barbary Doves, I
guess they?re still there?
18/10/04 Our time in Alice had run out, we reluctantly headed north toward
Tennant Creek. We flushed a nice Black-breasted Buzzard from the roadside
near the Gemtree turn-off and did a short walk at the Devils Marbles in the
middle of the day, where a few Spinifex Pigeons took shelter from the heat.
We stayed in Tennant for a night, the House Sparrows are well and truly
established in the town now. We dropped into Mary Ann Dam on the way out and
spotted a few White-breasted Woodswallows. Then we headed across the Barkly
Tableland, this was going to be my best chance to see Letter-winged Kites, I
reckon I scanned every tree across the Barly but to no avail. We arrived at
Avon Downs where the Kites are seen from time to time. It was the middle of
the day so my chances weren?t good but I still checked out the trees, and
the woodland in the river. Some birds were around including Brolga,
White-necked Heron, Great Egret, Whistling Kite, Singing Bushlark and Royal
Spoonbill, but unfortunately no LWK. I almost suggested we camp here for the
night in the hope that I may see the kites during their active periods but
it was very hot and the free camping site had no shade so thinking of the
family welfare I kept my mouth closed and we continued onto Camooweal.
Well here we are in QLD, we have traveled across a large portion of the
country and I still haven?t seen a new bird. That night in the Camooweal
Caravan Park I lay in bed with anticipation brewing. Now I was in unfamiliar
country, within the next few hundred kilometers we will be traversing the
distributions of Carpentarian Grasswren, Kalkadoon Grasswren, Spotted
bowerbird, Cloncurry subsp of Australian Ringneck and then into Halls
Babbler country.
To be continued,
Peter Wilkins.
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