g'Day all
Early last week Pat and I spent a few days visiting relly's and old
friends from Quorn to Lyndhurst but while there we decided to drive up
the Strzelecki Track, Lyndhurst north to Merty Merty mainly to have a
look at the country after recent rains. On the way north there was no
other traffic except for three bogged and abandoned road trains in the
Cobbler Desert. We had a fantastic couple of days birding although the
wind was blowing se gale force, dust storms from Lake Callabonna and
Lake Frome were raging reducing visibility to about three km and despite
this, the rain had not quite stopped so driving off road was
treacherous. Creek crossings were flowing across the road on Sunday and
Monday but by Wednesday had receded and we passed the first north bound
traffic headed for the Moomba Gas fields on Tuesday
The country is looking great almost completely covered with ephemeral
chenepods and native grasses.. The grasses are developing seed rapidly
and vegetation everywhere is set to commence flowering but at this
point, only a few salicornia, cassia, mistletoe and acacias have burst
so far. It is going to be a great natural history year in the outback,
not just because of the obvious rain response but because it is the
first post drought rain across the area and it this combination (drought
allows the build up of plant available soil nutrients) that triggers
exceptional outback seasons.
Nomadic birds are already irrupting and many have brightened up into
breeding condition. There are many hundreds, perhaps thousands of
budgerigar flocks of up to 100 birds each flying across every imaginable
landscape and the watercourses are full of hollow searching birds.
Cockateil also but in hundreds, not tens of thousands. Orange and
Crimson chats in abundance. Same for Pied and Black honeyeaters.
The Fairy Wrens (White-winged and Variegated) are looking even brighter
than their usual splendour as are Cinnamon Quail thrush.. Along approx.
200 km of road we observed more than 10 Black Falcon mostly in pairs and
more visible later in the day while hunting. Australian Dotterel were
in small flocks of 20+ birds all across the stony gibber plains and many
have separated into pairs displaying breeding behaviour. Gibberbirds
are also common on the gibber. Banded Plover are spread in pairs
breeding across a vast area of the sandy desert. On Wednesday morning,
while searching for Eyrean Grasswren (unsuccessful probably because of
wind), one only Letter-winged Kite calling loudly attracted my attention
as it was flying high in a northerly direction. After that I searched
some other of my known sites but could not find any others.
Surprising dips were Eyrean Grasswren, Grey Falcon, Banded Whiteface,
Chestnut-breasted Whiteface, Chestnut-tailed Thornbill, Brown weebill
but the wind was relentless
Insects are also irrupting. We could see evidence everywhere of
forthcoming locust plagues, probably this year in biblical proportions.
Flies, Mosquitoes and sandflies (Midges) are there in great abundance as
are hairy caterpillars and just about everything else that can bite and
itch. And believe me, everything is hungry after the drought.. My
advice is to take insect repellent with you in quantities and strength
great enough to challenge the organic status of the land
Bird list from Leigh Creek to Merty via Strzelecki track and return; 28
February to 2 March 2010 (in no particular order)
Crimson Chat Common in stony hills and in sandy desert
Orange Chat irrupting over chenopod shrublands
Gibberbird Common in suitable habitat Single birds, occasional pairs.
Breeding condition on any flat stony plains
Mulga Parrot 5 Leigh Creek watercourse
Mallee Ringneck Parrot as above
Cooper Creek Red Rump Parrot 10 + of this distinctive subspecies at
Strz xng
Blue-bonnet Parrot common Coolibah floodplains plains
Galah common
Little Corella large numbers in several locations and along creeks
searching for hollows
Budgerigar everywhere
Cockatiel small flocks mainly at watercourses
Nankeen Kestrel widespread
Letter-winged Kite 1
Brown Falcon widespread in pairs
Black Falcon at various localities
Brown Goshawk 1 at Frome Ck.
Fork-tailed Kite common at Strz Xng and all route
Whistling Kite 1 at Mt. Lyndhurst station
Black-breasted Buzzard 2
Spotted Harrier 2 sandhills near montecollina bore
Little Eagle 1 at Mt. Lyndhurst Stn
Wedge-tailed Eagle In groups of up to 5 at many locations feeding on
roo carcasses
Barn Owl calling at night Strz Xng
Owlet Nightjar called from Coolibah Creek near camp at Merty
Grey Teal (ducklings) several locations borrow pits, dams etc.
Wood Duck (week old ducklings on several waterholes at Frome and Pelican
Creek)
White-faced Heron 1 Blanchewater Ck.
Stubble Quail 2
Black-faced Woodswallow widespread and common
Masked Woodswallow Strzelecki Creek 20+
White-browed Woodswallow 100 + at watercourses
White-winged Wren widespread
Variegated Wren along watercourses and sanddunes
Thick-billed Grasswren Relatively common in suitable habitat mainly
along acacia watercourses through chenopod plains from Lyndhurst to the
Blanchewater
Rufous Field Wren as above
Australian (Inland) Dotterel Common on stony plains. Also on
sanddunes swales breeding
Black-fronted Dotterel 1 at Lyndhurst dam
Banded Plover. Widespread across sandy and stony deserts possible
density greater than 10 pr per sq. km across Strzelecki Desert adjacent
to road
Masked Plover Occasional at flooded borrow pits
Red-necked Avocet Several at flooded claypans near Strzelecki Ck.
Australian Pratincole Several on road at Murnpeowie
Pipit widespread
Brown Songlark (irrupting across Mitchell grass plains)
Rufous Songlark (watercourse vegetation everywhere)
White-backed Swallow. common in sandhill country
Welcome Swallow. Occasional and widespread
Tree Martin Watercourses
Fairy Martin Blanchewater Ck ruins
Fork-tailed swift Strzelecki creek area, see separate report on birding-aus
Red-backed Kingfisher 2 at Strz xng
White-winged Triller 1 at Strz xng
Raven common on watercourses and around dams
Little Crow Common in sanddune deserts esp near mulga and acaia shrublands
Australian Magpie. widespread
Magpie-lark Occasional along water courses
Willy Wagtail Common
Cinnamon Quail-thrush. Common along shrubby small watercourses across
gibber plains and also sanddune deserts
Red-browed Pardalote. common along coolibah creeks
Mistletoebird. occasional in acacia shrublands
Southern Whiteface 3 Strz crossing
White-plumed Honeyeater common along red gum creeks
Yellow-throated Miner. occasional on red gum creeks near Leigh Ck
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater. Acacia shrublands common
Singing Honeyeater Acacia shrublands common
Pied Honeyeater Acacia shrublands in sandy desert common and irrupting
Black Honeyeater as above but less common than pied
Chestnut-crowned Babbler widespread in sandy desert shrublands
Ground Cuckoo Shrike two at Frome Ck Also two at Neeroodla siding north
of Port Augusta
Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike 3 at Pelican Creek
Wedgebill common in acacia shrublands from Lyndhurst to Murnpeowie
Common Bronzewing Pigeon 1
Crested Pigeon common
Diamond Dove common along eucalypt watercourses
Peaceful Dove several seen at flooded creek near Leigh Creek
Emu Common beside roadside south of Leigh Creek to Hookina
Regards and good birding
Ian and Pat May
St Helens Tasmania
currently at Price
0428337956
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