We had an early flock of 8 Oriental Plovers at the Timber Creek Airstrip, NT,
September 17, 2007.
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
----- Original Message ----
From: David Stowe <>
To: Peter Marsh <>
Cc: birding-aus <>
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 8:11:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Darwin, Kakadu and the Kimberleys trip report
Hi Peter
Did you get any photos of the Oriental Plover?
I have never heard of anyone seeing this species even though Morcombe
says large numbers arrive in nth Aus. Are they more common than i
have thought in the north?
Cheers
Dave
On 10/10/2007, at 4:33 PM, Peter Marsh wrote:
> Dear Birders,
> My wife and I have just returned from a 15 day trip to Darwin,
> Kakadu and the Kimberleys. The initial 13 days (23 Sept to 5
> October) were on a guided trip with Klaus Uhlenhut and the last 2
> on my own but greatly assisted by Darryel Binns.
>
> In all some 200 species were seen. Highlights (for me at least)
> were as follows :
> Howard Springs
> Rose-crowned Fruit-dove
> Rainbow Pitta - a pair came in to a very short taped call and
> stayed around providing excellent views
>
> Buffalo Creek
> An early morning stake out on a falling tide found the elusive
> Chestnut Rail in the usual spot across the river from the boat
> ramp. While the group waited for this species I scoped the wader
> population on the beach to find a host of species including
> Sanderling, but still returned in time for the rail!. Green Backed
> Gerygone was found in the tres along the road into the boat ramp.
>
> Pine Creek
> Produced Hooded Parrot in the Water Garden in the middle of town as
> well as a number of finch species.
>
> Chinaman Creek, Katherine
> This creek is some 16 Km along the Victoria Highway from Katherine
> (Section 7.23 in Thomas and Thomas). There was quite a bit of water
> still in the creek which reduced the significance of the pools
> mentioned by T&T. Between the Highway and the old road we saw
> Gouldian Finch (both red and black faced races with a number of
> young) and Hooded Parrot.
>
> Mataranka
> We saw the Red Goshawk (presumably female) at Mataranka Cabins with
> 2 chicks covered in white down with a few pin feathers coming
> through. Unfortunately we did not have time to wait for the male to
> show.
>
> Mary River Roadhouse
> Northern Rosella were present in the trees behind the roadhouse.
>
> Gunlom
> An early start at Gunlom was productive of all we could hope for
> except the White-throated Grasswren. White-lined Honeyeater was
> seen in the trees at the top of the falls and further into the
> valley we found Sandstone Shrike-thrush and Chestnut-quilled Rock-
> pigeon. A number of flocks of Varied Lorikeet flew over.
>
> Nourlangie Rock
> Banded fruit-dove was seen from the lookout and then great views on
> the rock art track when a couple of birds flew in and perched above
> our heads.
>
> Anbangbang Billabong
> 31 species were seen in an hour including Restless Flycatcher
> (Paperbark form) feeding young.
>
> Muriella Park
> The red-eyed form of Partridge Pigeon was flushed on the road into
> Muriella Park and one provided great views perched.
>
> Yellow Waters Cruise
> An afternoon cruise on Yellow Waters provided a feast of waterbirds
> but not the hoped for rarities despite the best efforts of our
> guide and driver.
>
> Kununurra and Surrounds
> A feast of finches were provided at Kununurra with
> Yellow-rumped Mannikins
> Long-tailed Finch
> Masked Finch
> Zebra Finch
> Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
> Crimson Finch
> Star Finch
> Double-barred Finch
> and (on the last morning)
> Pictorella Mannikin.
> We saw no Gouldians in this area but did have a plethora of other
> good birds. Among these was the Buff-sided Robin near the lakeside
> caravan park.
>
> Lake Argyle Cruise
> A splendid morning was spent on the lake and provided sightings of
> the White-quilled Rock-pigeon; great views of Oriental Plover and a
> possible Long-toed Stint. This last bird was wading in deep black
> mud at the edge of a low island adjacent a group of sharpies. To
> all the world it looked like a miniture sharpie (slightly smaller
> that a Red-kneed Dotterel). It had a streaked brown cap, wing
> coverts with broad black centres and a longish slightly downturned
> bill. There was little in the way of a white eyebrow and a speckled
> band stretched across the chest. Unfortunately the legs looked
> black - probably because of the mud but possibly because it was not
> what I thought! There were more Yellow Chats than one could poke a
> stick at on the same island.
>
> Mitchell Plateau
> Produced the Kimberley Honeyeater (to be split from the White-
> lined) but unfortunately not the Black Grasswren. The BG was heard
> but did not choose to show itself in the time we had available at
> the site.
>
> Lanyer STW
> A trip to the Lanyer Sewerage Works with Darryel produced a couple
> of Yellow Wagtails and a Little-ringed Plover.
>
> Holmes Jungle
> Daryel produced good sightings of both the Red-chested Button-quail
> (in short grass) and Red-backed Button-quail (in longer grass and
> reeds). I flushed both species the following day for others but
> provided much less satisfactory views.
>
> Many thanks to Klaus for a great trip and to Darryel for his
> assistance in Darwin.
>
> Regards
> Peter Marsh
>
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
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