Hello all,
With the recent release of the new 2011 Australian Birdlist, which
includes several updates from the 2008 list, I found myself needing another
grasswren. The newly split Thick-billed GrasswrenAmytornismodestus( Gawler
Ranges SA etc).
I'd only previously seenA textilis, which is now called Western Grasswren from
Shark Bay, Monkey Mia etc.
Having a couple days spare after seeing the Hoopoe in Broome I decided to head
down to Mt Ive Station in the Gawler Ranges. Mt Ive is about seven hours drive
from Adelaide Airport and with dry roads can be reached with a 2WD or SUV quite
easily.
Birdlife in general wasn't all that abundant, with most of the species seen at
the station visible on the drive in. Despite the general lack of birds, the
Grasswren were plentiful. I stayed in the stone cottage and had
seen modestuswithin minutes of arriving and within 100m of my accommodation. I
walked down the side of the main dam, adjacent to the runway. At the back of
the dam wall there was a depression, which although dry, obviously often holds
water. A quick squeak and out popped three grasswren.
The other species on the property and also close to the accommodation is the
A.m.pedleri sub species of Short-tailed Grasswren. To see this I parked at
the base of Mt-Ive and walked straight up the hill to the aerial. I saw two
birds on the way up and a further three on the top. Again, very easy to see.
This ssp is very different in appearance to the Flinder's Ranges race.
Note: The new 2011 Australian Birdlist download Excel version is on Tony
Palliser's Birder's Total webpage.
Cheers
Richard Baxter
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