Hello again
Subsequent to my previous post, just returned to Alice Springs after
spending a week searching for Princess Parrots with Geoff Jones and Don
Hadden in the area between Mereenie Oil and Gas Field and Mt Liebig,
Northern Territory.
Great news.
We have located many hundreds, of Princess Parrots at various
locations. From the observations so far, most birds are concentrated
mainly within 4 or 5 areas however it is likely to be many more because
our searching was somewhat restricted by difficult access. It is likely
that there are many hundreds, probably thousands of birds spread over a
much greater area than we could cover.
When we return to Price SA next week I will post a complete report
including coordinates and details of all our sightings. For those
interested to have a look, two reasonably accessible areas offer high
probability of locating birds if visited over a period of at least a day
or two. Remember the hot weather will arrive soon and the current
ideal conditions will almost certainly deteriorate quickly
Please note; The following information refers to Map datum WGS 84.
Coordinates are in Deg, min, sec. Time is Australian Central Standard
The first location is the most south eastern population we encountered.
First birds only approx. 17 km from the Meereenie Loop road at 23 56
04S, 131 22 28 E
More than 100 birds scattered at various locations adjacent to and off
the track for about 15 km traversing west to 23 59 01S, 131 14 08E.
Approximately 65 km from Kings Canyon Resort. The birds can be found
dispersed singly, in pairs and in small flocks of up to 20 frequenting
open tall forest areas of Desert Oak and Eucalyptus (Bloodwood?). Many
are found while feeding between dawn to about 11.00 and again from about
1500 until dusk At these times birds usually flush from the ground and
fly about calling loudly often circling and settling again in nearby
desert oaks.
The other location offering reasonable access is approximately 60 km
south west of Mt Liebig and 23 km WSW of Browns bore. Birds were
scattered in pairs and flocks up to 20 birds encountered along about 7
km of track from 23 39 22S, 131 03 48E to 23 41 46S, 131 00 46E.
Although we experienced cold conditions, now is the seasonal transition
and very hot weather can be expected soon. These areas are extremely
remote so proceed with caution and with full safety preparation. Arrange
transit permits and be equipped with 1:250,000 topo maps.
Please report your sightings on birding-aus. When this exciting and
remarkable natural event concludes, I hope to compile the sightings and
post a full report on birding-aus with full acknowledgments of course.
The country is in great condition and birding is excellent at
present. Pat and I found Geoff Jones and Don Hadden to be great
company. They are professionals and took hundreds of pics. More than
once I watched Princess Parrots nearly landing on their cameras and I
cant wait to see the results of their photographic extravaganza. On my
next posting, I will provide links to their web sites. We also want to
thank Llane and Don Hadden for their generous hospitality when we
returned to Mt Liebig on Wednesday evening.
If you intend to visit, please contact Don Hadden at Mt Liebig. You
will find his email address above.
Regards and good birding
Ian and Pat May
St Helens, Tasmania
(currently at Kurnoth bore west of Alice Springs)
0428337956
Ian wrote:
Hi all
It is pleasing to report that on Friday 23rd July 2010 Pat and I
located good numbers of Princess Parrots frequenting an area of more
than 100 sq. km within the Northern Territory between Yulara and Mt
Liebig within a geographic area that could be described as the eastern
Gibson Desert. The minimum number of birds observed were estimated to
be more than 100 but it is probable there were many morein the area.
The birds were very active and had formed numerous flocks of mostly 12
to 20 birds. One flock comprised more than 60 birds.
At about 1030 am on Friday morning while driving east along a remote
abandoned seismic track a flock of about 15 Princess Parrots flushed
noisily from vegetation in front of us. Calling loudly they allowed
great views before heading south west. In a state of excitement we
searched the surrounding dunes for more birds without success and
after about an hour we continued traveling east. After traveling
about 4 km further east we flushed another flock of about 20 birds.
We decided to camp at this location and at about 4.30 pm while looking
south across a broad valley between the dunes several flocks of from
12 to 20 birds were observed simultaneously wheeling in from various
directions and merging to an area about 300 meters from me where they
landed to commence feeding. Minimum estimate of 100 birds in the area
on Friday. On Saturday 24th, as we were driving out we came across
several birds then a flock of more than 60 perched in full view on a
dead desert oak. Many birds were on the ground feeding among
spinifex covered sanddunes while others were perched in Desert Oak.
There are many flowering Gravilliar, Cassia, Eromophila and acaia in
the area. It is hard to estimate numbers accurately because they are
so mobile however there could be several hundred in the area
We have just resupplied at Alice Springs and now stopped at Erldunda
to send this email message before heading back out therein about 20
minutes and out of phone and internet range. Sorry if this message is
a bit rushed but as we speak storm clouds are brewing to the south
west so we could be in for a wet night. We are heading out to the
site hopefully to take some more photos. Meeting Geoff Jones and Don
Hadden at Mereenie Oil Fields on the way. I will post full details
including GPS coordinates when we return in about a week.
Regards
Ian May
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
