Hmm, not sure. They seemed quite curious and come very close. It was the
only explanation for their behaviour I could think of. Perhaps someone else
has a theory?
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Shute
Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2015 5:56 PM
To: Bill Stent
Cc:
Subject: Trip report: Messa Rocks, Big Desert,
Victoria,15-18 September 2015
That sounds like a great trip. But why does lack of human contact make
fairy-wrens and scrub-robins confiding? Surely humans don't hunt species
like that.
Peter Shute
Sent from my iPad
> On 20 Sep 2015, at 4:56 PM, Bill Stent <> wrote:
>
> Trip report: Messa Rocks, Big Desert, Victoria, 15-18 September 2015
>
>
>
> When Dean Hewish asked whether I'd like to visit a feature in the Big
> Desert
> he'd found on Google Earth I was enthusiastic. The prospect of walking in
> trackless desert has always been attractive to me, and birding is a great
> way of discovering solitude. I was also after some dark skies, and the new
> moon looked promising.
>
>
>
> Dean's target was Messa Rocks. There were a couple of pictures on
> Panoramio,
> but the location was ambiguous, with the two near- identical pictures
> marked
> as being separated by 7.7 km. Eventually we decided the feature was at S
> 35°
> 40.430' E 141° 13.223'.
>
>
>
> The general area is reached by travelling down one branch of Messa Track,
> on
> the western side of the Murrayville Track. We didn't know the condition of
> the track or how far we could get the Land Cruiser down the track. We
> decided we'd figure it out as we went along, taking enough gear and water
> to
> stay safe, including a personal locator beacon as added insurance.
>
>
>
> Leaving Melbourne on Monday morning, we arrived at Broken Bucket at the
> southern end of Murrayville Track soon after lunch. A Bustard had been
> reported at Broken Bucket a couple of weeks before, and I was hoping to
> tick
> one off, but that wasn't to be. However, it's a very comfortable camping
> spot, with bore water and a modern pit toilet. The birds there are a bit
> thin, but we recorded 16 species. There were no stars that night, with
> thunder and lightning and some rain, but not enough to be a problem (the
> Murrayville Track becomes impassable even with a 4WD when muddy).
>
>
>
> On Tuesday morning we drove the 30 odd kilometres to the turnoff, stopping
> along the way at a few sites. The turnoff to Messa Track West is about 2
> km
> north of The Springs, which is where the Track kinks north.
>
>
>
> After a couple of passes we found the track. There's a sign that says
> "management vehicles and walkers only", but we knew that the 2 miles to
> the
> west of the Track itself is public land, so we went that far and parked
> the
> 4WD. The track is quite overgrown and the 4WD picked up a few extra
> scratches as we went.
>
>
>
> Taking everything we'd need for the next two days, we set off further. I
> had
> to leave the 500 mm lens behind, which hurt, but water was more important.
> We also took a geocache to drop "somewhere".
>
>
>
> Messa Track West winds through sandy country, with mallee and heathlands
> dominating, but several unburnt areas had relatively tall Cypress Pine
> stands, up to about 3 metres tall, and in the recently burnt areas there
> are
> loads of pine saplings about a foot tall. We began hearing Gilbert's
> Whistlers in these areas, but didn't see any well.
>
>
>
> The track splits 10.3 km from the turnoff, with the right fork heading to
> a
> formation called The Granites. We kept to the left and reached Messa Rocks
> after another 2.9 km for a late lunch.
>
>
>
> The original land level at Messa Rocks was put down while under the sea, a
> long time ago, probably earlier than last century. Dean is an amateur
> geologist so he'll have more details. The crust is a metamorphic mix of
> sandstone and strange marble-sized nodules, and covers a softer
> under-layer,
> and so as it weathered, it formed a cave just large enough to crawl into.
>
>
>
> The birds there are wonderful, and because humans don't come here more
> than
> once every couple of years, they are very confiding. A bit of pishing and
> I
> had Variegated Fairy-wrens and Southern Scrub-robins at my feet.
>
>
>
> We bush bashed our way south to drop the geocache a couple of kilometres
> south, passing through more Cypress Pine, mallee and heath. The country is
> pretty open there, and the going was slow but not too difficult. On the
> way
> back we finally got good close looks at Gilbert's Whistlers, watching a
> male
> patrol his territory while calling to a female nearby. Again, the birds
> didn't seem troubled by our presence, although we didn't approach too
> close.
>
>
>
> Overnight it cleared, and while I took some ordinary photos of the Milky
> Way, Spotted Nightjars cackled distantly to the north and south.
>
>
>
> Next day we explored the area, taking the path back to the fork and then
> towards the Granites, which is a similar feature to the west. The track
> petered out half way so we took some compass bearings and bush bashed our
> way there, before returning in a direct line to the camping spot. The rest
> of the day we sat around the cave, watching things like Brown Falcons
> passing food in flight. It's amazing they can actually fly upside-down for
> a
> moment.
>
>
>
> We returned to the car the next day, following the trail we'd come in on.
> Passing through some sparse mallee and heath, we heard a Whistler call. We
> were pretty familiar with the Gilbert's call, which goes "chee-oo,
> chee-oo,
> chee-oo", sometimes getting louder as it goes. This one was a bit
> different,
> going "ee-chee-oo, ee-chee-oo". I got the bins on the bird, which had
> landed
> in a dead branch sticking out of a nearby mallee tree. The little beggar
> had
> the red bib patch extending over his bill up to his eyes. I practically
> threw the bins at Dean and told him to look carefully (actually I think
> those weren't quite the words I used). He agreed - Red-lored Whistler. Not
> a
> tick for me, but easily the best view ever. And not a Cypress Pine (bigger
> than a foot high) in sight.
>
>
>
> We stayed the night again at Broken Bucket, and again no Bustard, and no
> Malleefowl. Oh well. Next day we drove back to Melbourne, taking a
> circuitous route around Yanac and Telopea Downs, rather hopelessly looking
> for the elusive tick. Alas, no.
>
>
>
> One of the best trips I've done, and thanks to Dean for suggesting it!
>
>
>
>
>
> Broken Bucket, 15 Sep; 18 Sep 2015
>
> Weebill
>
> Grey Currawong
>
> Australian Magpie
>
> Red Wattlebird
>
> Grey Butcherbird
>
> Australian Raven
>
> Grey Shrike-thrush
>
> Wedge-tailed Eagle
>
> Spotted Pardalote (yellow-rumped form)
>
> Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
>
> White-eared Honeyeater
>
> Yellow-rumped Thornbill
>
> Galah
>
> Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
>
> Golden Whistler
>
> Australian Shelduck (2 flying over treetops)
>
>
>
> Murrayville Track between Broken Bucket and The Springs, 16 Sep; 18 Sep
> 2015
>
> Pallid Cuckoo
>
> Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
>
> Brown Falcon
>
> Willie Wagtail
>
> Gilbert's Whistler
>
> White-backed Swallow
>
> Striated Pardalote
>
> Weebill
>
> Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
>
> Galah
>
> Spotted Pardalote
>
> Australian Magpie
>
> Red Wattlebird
>
> Red-capped Robin
>
> Yellow Thornbill
>
> Restless Flycatcher
>
> Australasian Pipit
>
> Masked Lapwing
>
> Pacific Black Duck
>
>
>
> Messa Rocks, The Granites, track between and direct line between, 16 Sep
> 2015
>
>
>
> Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
>
> Pallid Cuckoo
>
> Weebill
>
> Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo
>
> Gilbert's Whistler
>
> Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
>
> Galah
>
> Willie Wagtail
>
> Crested Bellbird
>
> Australian Kestrel (1)
>
> Variegated Fairy-wren
>
> Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
>
> Australian Raven
>
> Southern Scrub-robin
>
> Spotted Nightjar
>
> Grey Butcherbird
>
> Inland Thornbill
>
> White-eared Honeyeater
>
> White-Browed Babbler
>
> Shy Heathwren (1)
>
> Varied Sittella
>
> Striated Pardalote
>
> Hooded Robin
>
> Brown Falcon (pair)
>
> Grey Shrike-thrush
>
> Spotted Pardalote
>
> Rufous Whistler
>
> Golden Whistler
>
> Silvereye (1)
>
> Red-lored Whistler (1)
>
> Red-capped Robin
>
>
>
> Yanac area, 18 Sep 2015
>
> Australian Magpie
>
> White-fronted Chat
>
> Red-rumped Parrot
>
> Galah
>
> Crested Pigeon
>
> Mallee Ringneck
>
> Common Bronzewing
>
> Willie Wagtail
>
> New Holland Honeyeater
>
> White-Browed Babbler
>
> Welcome Swallow
>
> Weebill
>
> Australian Wood Duck
>
> Corella (sp?)
>
> Grey Teal (probably)
>
>
>
>
>
>
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