Greetings,
I went on a quick trip from Wollongong to WIndorah a couple of weeks ago. This
was a reptile photography trip but I did see a few good birds along the way. I
left Wollongong about noon on Wednesday. In the late afternoon, I saw a flock
of Superb Parrots fly over the road near the town of Wellington. After
spending the night near Gundabooka NP, I continued north on Thursday.
Thunderstorms struck the northern New South Wales and southern Queensland areas
the previous night and there were pools of water on the road. These attracted
small flocks of Bourke's Parrots and Crimson Chats. From Cunnamulla, I headed
west to Eulo before turning north again towards Quilpie. There was a fair
amount of water in the creeks and some of these had recently flooded but the
road was okay when I passed through. I saw a flock of Hall's Babblers a little
north of Eulo.
>From Quilpie, I drove on for the final 2.5 hours to Windorah. Once again,
>there was shallow water on the road in places. An interesting sight not far
>from Windorah was a pair of Spinifex Pigeons. It was a good feeling to
>finally arrive in Windorah and then get out and walk around a little after the
>20 hour drive from the 'Gong. After a short break, I continued along the
>paved road that heads to the west. This road passes through the channel
>country and finally ends about 130 km west of Windorah in an area known as the
>Morney Plains. These plains consist of clay that cracks when dry (the usual
>situation) and this is the home of the Fierce Snake, the target species on
>this trip. I drove until late that night and found a number of interesting
>reptiles including Speckled Brown Snakes, a specialty of the channel country.
>I finally set up my tent on the edge of the Lake Eyre Basin and collapsed
>about midnight.
In the early am hours of Friday, a change blew through and the temperature
dropped dramatically. Whereas Thursday was hot and near 40C, Friday was quite
cool and only reached the low 20s in the afternoon. I got up early and headed
west onto the plains. Before long, I found a lifer, a Grey Falcon that was
standing in the middle of the road. It flushed along with a couple of others
that I had not spotted on the shoulder of the road. These all headed south
across the desolate Morney Plains. I continued driving and a few minutes
later, found the highlight of the trip, a big and beautiful Fierce Snake that
was sunning itself on the road shoulder. What a spectacular snake!
Unfortunately, I did not see many other reptiles that day or night due to the
cool weather. Bird sightings included small flocks of Pink-eared Ducks that
swam in the remnant pools from earlier storms. I heard and saw a few
Red-browed Pardalotes and saw a number of Australian Pratincoles along the road
but nothing really unusual.
I left Windorah early Saturday morning for the long drive back to Wollongong.
I found a single Pink Cockatoo just across the New South Wales border. The
only other unusual species (at least to me) was a pair of Red-winged Parrots
between Bourke and Nyngan.
Here are links to my photos of the habitats and reptiles from the Windorah area:
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13249
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13345
Regards,
David
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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