A short trip to South Australia

["John Barkla" <>]

On Thursday of last week, my wife Gabrielle and I decided, at short notice, to spend a week in South Australia.  Our goals were to -

1. look for Short-tailed & Thick-billed Grasswrens, Cinnamon Quail-thrush, Chestnut-breasted Whiteface, Chirruping Wedgebill, Rufous Fieldwren and Ostrich, all of which would be new for Gabrielle; and
2. visit some remote and infrequently visited places, looking in particular for new sites for Chestnut-breasted Whiteface.

We drove from Melbourne to Broken Hill and then down the Barrier Highway to Cockburn.  We planned to drive through Mulyungarie, Benagerie and Frome Downs to the Gammon Ranges, but could not get permission to cross one of the properties along that route.  We were therefore forced to take the public road from Yunta through Koonamore, Curnamona, and Martins Well into the Flinders Ranges and then through Wirrealpa to Arkaroola in the Gammon Ranges. From Arkaroola we drove north through Mt Freeling Station to the Talc Mine road, then onto the Strzelecki Track to Mt Lyndhurst Station.  From Mt Lyndhurst we went south to Mt Arden Station at Port Augusta and then home via the Clare Valley and Robe. We had an absolutely marvellous time, seeing all of our target species, but failing to find any new sites for Chestnut-breasted Whiteface.

 

Our highlights were -

• many Chirruping Wedgebills east of the Flinders Ranges;
• our first 2 Thick-billed Grasswrens 1 km south of Curnamore, further east than I had not seen them before;
• a Gibberbird 35 Km east of Martins Well and another 2 on Mt Freeling Station;
• regular sightings of small numbers of Crimson Chats;
• 2 Little Button-quail in Triodia near Appealinna Ruins
• 3 Short-tailed Grasswrens on the road into Appealinna Ruins (about 1 km along the road there is a conveniently clear area on the right hand side to park the car - we found them in very dense Triodia where they were easy to hear calling but very difficult to see well;
• 11 Short-tailed Grasswrens at Stokes Hill Lookout (2 were about 200m from the lookout in a SW direction.  The other 9 were all in the same general area to the SW.  From the lookout, looking SW you can see a largish stand of blue foliaged Eucalypt trees about 1 km away (not the stand of mixed Pines and Eucalypts 250m away in a SSW direction).  There is a small rise to the left of these Eucalypts, with a fence running along its south (left) side.  Across the base of the hill there is a shallow gully.  We found 7 Grasswrens in the gully and along the fence line and 2 more on the hillside itself. We had brilliant views and watched 2 birds feeding beside Triodia clumps for 10 minutes or more.
• 12 Cinnamon Quail-thrush, most of which we saw when we were looking for new sites for Whitefaces on Mt Lyndhurst station;  
• 4  Chestnut-breasted Whitefaces on a small hill 200m NE of the mine at the well known site on Mt Lyndhurst.  An hour later we found 4 more 50m from the recently erected No Public Access sign on the road into the mine.  There is a reasonable probability they were the same birds that we had seen earlier because the 2 sites were only 300m apart;
• about 60 Orange Chats on Mt Arden Station (there were lots of small birds which almost certainly would have increased our Chat tally to over 100 if we had stopped to identify them, but we needed every minute we could muster to find an Ostrich); and
• a pair of Ostriches with a half grown chick on Mt Arden Station, as I was despairing that if we did not find them soon it would either be dark or we would have nowhere to stay in Port Augusta.

Mark, Anne and son Lockie Scammell (the other son was in Adelaide) of Mt Lyndhurst Station were very helpful and can usually provide accommodation in the Shearers' Quarters at the very reasonable rate of $20 per night. There was a road crew in when we arrived, but they were happy for us to sleep in the old barn for free.  Naturally, they are not set up to provide meals.  Despite what you may read in Thomas & Thomas and elsewhere, they DO NOT want people camping anywhere on their property.  As a courtesy, they appreciate being asked for permission to bird and they are always happy to give it. The property is in brilliant condition after recent rains and the chances of finding Chestnut-breasted Whitefaces are excellent.  There were 2 nests found in this area last year.

 

John Wilkinson of Mt Arden Station was very gracious when we turned up unannounced to ask permission to look for Ostriches.  He does not live on Mt Arden Station and we had a number of long telephone conversations to sort out where we had to go.  He also does not want people camping, so if you want to find Ostriches, you need to have a base nearby.  We spent the night before at Mt Lyndhurst and that night in a motel in Port Augusta.  It would be almost impossible to find the Ostriches without John's map of his property.  The distances are vast, there are lots of tracks to confuse and the birds seem to be confined to a few discrete areas.  You need to organise to obtain a photocopy from him (or someone else who has been there) beforehand.  I am grateful to Chris Lester for giving me the map John had given him.  Chris's posting on Birding-Aus gives all the other information you need for this bird.

 

I would be happy to add to this report if anyone needs it

 

John Barkla