Hello David
There are two turn offs from Mereenie Loop Rd that will take you into
the area. The first is via West Bore and takes off the Mereenie loop rd
at 23 56 14S, 131 31 03E. There are no signs and the first 14km is
washed out.
The second (illegal without permission from the oil field operators
(SANTOS/Magellan) alternative turn off takes off at 23 58 24S, 131 30 40
E. The first 14 km through the oil fields is a made road. The tracks
join up about 14 km from the loop rd and are shown on the recommended
1:250,000 Natmap topographic maps.
This area is very remote. Dont take any chances with backup or
safety. I have personal traditional contacts that authorised my
entry. Transit Permits for the main roads such as Gary Junction Rd and
Great Central Rd are available online from Central Land Council and
show you tried.
We have stopped briefly at Hermannsburg and my laptop battery is running
low so i had better finish. Good luck
Regards
Ian
David Stowe wrote:
Hi Ian
If you were able to give any more info before you go it would be
great as we arrive on Sunday 15th. Sounds very exciting!
Not sure if my email last night got lost among the multitudes but it
sounds like you have been busy!
Cheers
Dave Stowe
On 07/08/2010, at 10:48 PM, Ian May wrote:
g'Day all
We have had some delays with minor vehicle repairs at Alice Springs
and consequently will be unable to return to Price SA next week to
post an update as previously suggested.
However after making some repairs today we have decided instead to
resupply and head out again early tomorrow morning into Princess
Parrot country. This time we hope to search from Mereenie Oil Fields
to a point about 23 km. south east of Mt Winter then south west
crossing between Lake Neale and Lake Amadeus at a point about 26 km.
south east of Mt Unapproachable and then WSW to Tjuntinanta via Walu
eventually exiting about 10 km east of Docker River (Kaltukatjara).
This area is remote and unlikely to have been searched much.
We are unable to receive most of our birding emails until we return
to base. Unless something happens to change our plan we should be
back to provide some more information and to answer any outstanding
messages in about 1 week or so.
Regards and good birding
Ian and Pat May
Ian May wrote:
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
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