My brother and I have just returned from a four day trip strezlecki track
and out towards
Cameron Corner. the highlight was definetely the pair of letter winged
kites hanging around a nest right on the track itself. the female bird
appeared to be slightly immature and there was a lot of calling and one
quick copulation or simulation of same.
Just below Montecollina bore there is a road to compressor no 2, mining no
access road and a few hundred metres south of this, I observed flock
pigeons circling to the east of strezlecki track. There was ephemeral
water presumably still left from the wet previous years. I suspect this
water will be gone in a few months if not sooner. we staked that out for
the afternoon and the next morning. Approx 1 and a half hours before
sunset approx 100 flock pigeons came to drink and approx one and a half
hours after sunrise they came again,(about 150 this time) from the same
direction each time which was south west. I am not sure if there feeding
and roosting sites were a long way away or one and a half hours out from
dark is there preferred time to drink.
while sitting and waiting for the flock pigeons in the morning there was a
whoosh above our head and a black falcon shot over the top of us and
disappeared into the distance. the bird was low and was apparently trying
to flush anything from water but didn't hang around. One thing I noticed
was that the flock pigeons were very flighty and didn't stay long. When
they did stay, they had their drink and stood with their backs to the water
looking out, as if on sentry duty.
Other good sites at the water hole were plenty of Orange Chats and three
dingoes at separate times, I think three different animals but certainly
two different animals as there were 2 males and one female. At night we
were cooking lentils and a dingo came and laid down looking at us from 10
metres away.
In the afternoon and again the next morning we saw what I took to be a male
swamp harrier. It on first glance looked to be a spotted harrier(there
were plenty of these on the trip) but underneath the bird was essentially
white with black wingtips. I figured it was male swamp harrier on
migration, although the fact it was still there the next morning was a bit
confusing. The hours of daylight between the sightings would only have
been 3 hours at the most.
country still looks pretty good with swainsonia peas and senecio daisies
still flowering.
Gary
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