birding-aus

Re: Princess Parrots near Mt Winter, Northern Territory Update 1

To: David Stowe <>, Birding Aus <>
Subject: Re: Princess Parrots near Mt Winter, Northern Territory Update 1
From: Ian May <>
Date: Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:58:45 +0930
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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