Although I’ve shrunk away from initial 100% confidence, I’m still about 80%
sure that I heard a Carpentarian Grasswren at the reserve Friday morning (20
June). I just couldn’t convert to a sighting in the limited time I had
available. As expected, Carabirini Reserve, being a Northern Territory
conservation resource, is presently comprised of a ‘mosaic’ of newly burnt
patches, recently burnt patches (with perhaps one to two years old spinifex),
and fairly recently burnt patches comprising precious limited expanses of
undergrowth that look to me to be maybe five years post-‘cool burn’. The
Barrawulla walkway passes through a section of perhaps a couple of hundred
metres of this relatively mature habitat, adjacent to the magnificent sandstone
domes, perhaps a km before the (currently unsuitable) stretch mentioned in
Dolby and Clarke. It’s a beautiful section of the park with a concentration of
birds predominated by very active and cheeky Sandstone Shrike-thrushes. I
mention this uncertain Grasswren record because I think it is worth a look by
any birders that may find themselves in that area prior to the next wave of
NT-style environmental management. I don’t believe there have been confirmed
northern sightings of Carpentarian Grasswrens for a few years at least, and who
knows, perhaps if a sighting can be confirmed, an argument for genuine
protection can be mounted.
John Weigel
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