I planned a 10-day trip to Central Australia in early May in the hope of
seeing three species as yet unseen by me, namely Grey Honeyeater,
Black-eared Cuckoo and Flock Bronzewing. I thought that I had a better
chance to see the last-named because it is more predictable in its
behaviour, and this was to be the case.
I flew to Alice, picked up a tall campervan and very soon had knocked the
vent cowlings off the roof in the Coles carpark. I birded a little around
Alice without seeing anything out of the ordinary, but did find the very
good and new café in the Olive Pink Botanic Garden. Avocets and a Peregrine
were at the Sewage Treatment Works.
I headed to Kunoth Well/Hamilton Downs Road for two nights and camped/birded
there evenings and mornings without a hint of the Grey Honeyeater. Mulga
and Bourke?s Parrots were there together with various Thornbills as recent
contributors to Birding Aus have mentioned. Lloyd Nielson?s book had
alerted me to the existence of the albicauda Grey Fantails and I saw these
very friendly birds on a few occasions.
I then drove the 700 or so km to the Barkly Homestead and stayed one night
at the caravan park there. After checking out the nearby bores, I chose the
one just off the Tablelands Highway mentioned in Thomas and Thomas, namely
the No. 6 Hinkler bore, some 20 km north of Playford River or about 77 km
north of the Barkly Homestead. I set up my campervan and watched the area
around the bore from about 1600. At 1720, the first three Flock Bronzewings
arrived and settled away from the bore. Small groups joined the originals
over the next 20 minutes until there were about 17 in total on the ground
still away from the bore. As each group arrived, there would be a little
display flight until the flock went to ground. I watched until dark at 1830
but did not see the birds come to drink at the lower pond ? they may have
flown to the upper pond which I could not monitor from where I was parked.
I looked for the birds from first light the following morning until about
0800 but did not see any Bronzewings. Thanks again to Thomas and Thomas,
and to those who advised them in the early 1990s.
There was a posting on Birding Aus on 25 April reporting a sighting of Grey
Honeyeater at the Ochre Pits, near Glen Helen in the Macdonnell Ranges, west
of Alice Springs, so I drove there over two days from the Barkly Tablelands.
I spoke to Sheila at Glen Helen, one of the sighters and late in the
afternoon, walked about 2 km along the track from the Ochre Pits towards the
Larapinta Trail and saw no birds, in habitat I would have thought unusual
for Grey Honeyeaters (after Hamilton Downs Road). That night, I spoke to
Colin, the other sighter who said that the birds were part of a mixed flock
that crossed the stony ridge that the track follows. I would suggest that
others interested in the above report talk to Sheila and Colin at Glen Helen
Lodge.
After some birding in the usual but very quiet places in the West Macdonnell
National Park, I headed off to the Santa Teresa Road, south-east of Alice
Springs. I had hoped there to see Dusky Grasswren again and Rufous-crowned
Emu-wren for the first time in the NT. I camped there overnight and
wandered about for two hours in both evening and morning and saw only one
Grasswren. I did see there the only Crimson Chats and White-winged
Fairywrens of the trip.
After the rattling Santa Teresa Road, I headed back to Kunoth Well/Hamilton
Downs Road for one more night, hoping that the Grey Grasswrens had returned.
They had not but I did see Crested Bellbird and Common Bronzewing which I
had heard the week before. Next time, I will come here when I know that the
Eremophilae are flowering.
I spent my last night in Alice Springs, going in the evening and morning to
the Old Telegraph Station Reserve where Lloyd Nielson?s book says that
Black-eared Cuckoo has been seen. Did not see the bird but did see the only
Cockatiels and Red-browed Pardalote of the trip as well as crippling views
of a perched Hobby.
Please contact me if you require further information.
Regards,
Gil Langfield
Melbourne Australia
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