Having enjoyed our previous experience with Princess Parrots so much in late
June, after a couple of weeks in the Strzelecki Desert and Channel Country we
decided to return to Princess country in late July. Having acquired the
necessary permits, we arrived at Jupiter Well (on the Gary Junction Road in WA)
on 21 July and birded the dunes NE of the well the following day. While the
area remained as generally birdy as it was in June, the vibe for parrots was
not good, as there was no sign of any of their tracks in the sand, which were
very evident everywhere in June. We failed to find any that day, although
Budgies (and their tracks) were everywhere.
That evening a vehicle came into the camping area (the only car we would see in
a three day period on the Gary Junction Road). Incredibly it contained our good
friend Dejan Stojanovic with Henry Cook and Mark Semeniuk who were birding
their way through the area and were responding to our previous Princess
message! An amazing coincidence, and perhaps an indication of how few birders
there really are in WA!
We all spent 23 July searching the Jupiter Well area, but again without
success. That afternoon I suggested moving to the site about 44 road kms east
of Jupiter Well, where I had very unexpectedly found 21 birds on 30 June. That
evening we immediately found obvious PP tracks everywhere, including right by
the road, mixed in among Galah and Budgie tracks, providing some nice
comparisons, so hopes were high.
Early the next morning, while everyone else was still sorting out camp, I
wandered east along the dune just south of the road toward where we had them
the previous month. At 0720 I heard and then saw a flock of six Princess
Parrots which seemed to disappear to the SSW after a couple of minutes. I
called Anne on our two-ways, and after telling the guys, she started driving my
way. A minute later she called me to say she had a flock crossing the road
right in front of her, and as I turned around I found them flying north, and
then back south right toward me. I counted nine as they passed me, and then
they were joined by another six that appeared from the east. This mob of 15
settled down in the interdune area immediately south and east of me, and I
stayed on them until Dee, Henry and Seme came jogging up the dune and elatedly
got excellent views of Princess Parrots!
We had great ‘scope views of them feeding and flying on-and-off in this
interdune area for a little over half-an-hour before they suddenly departed
very strongly to the SSE at 0806. Searches in that direction failed to relocate
them. The location, behaviour and timing were almost all identical to what we
observed on 30 June (but note we did not see them at all in the same area on 1
July). Assuming my initial flock of six did indeed depart the area, we had 21
birds in total, the same number as on 30 June, probably not a coincidence. All
the observations occurred within a few hundred metres radius of 22d 45m 37.9s S
126d 58m 11.6s E, mainly in the interdune swale just south of that point, about
43-44kms east of Jupiter Well.
We all departed the area later that morning. Anne and I headed south down the
Sandy Blight Junction Road. We birded along there for a few days, mainly in
areas of known previous Princess occurrence. Although we didn’t find any (nor
tracks) there is plenty of good habitat. Despite being only 250km as the parrot
flies from the area east of Jupiter Well, there was almost no shrub flowering,
and hence very few honeyeaters or Budgies. This probably explains the lack of
parrots in the area at this time. Presumably local rainfall regimes were
sufficiently different even over such a relatively small scale to produce
massive blooming (and hence parrot food) near Jupiter Well, but not on the SBJ
Road.
Clearly we were all very fortunate to refind Princess Parrots near Jupiter
Well, and to watch them for long enough to get some useful behavioural
observations. Good luck to anyone trying for them.
Incidentally for anyone heading that way, the water at Jupiter Well bore is
fairly poor for drinking, but fine for other uses. The water at Solar Bore,
70km east of JW on the north side of the road (shown on Hema maps), is superb
and definitely potable.
Cheers, Jon.
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