Month: May 2017

Central Australia 2000

1/7/2000 586k

I woke like a little kid at 3.30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. Finally I figured it was time to get up, I’d got most of the car packed last night, and had the rest of the stuff ready to pack, but it still seemed to take forever to get it done, and then how little room there was left for Smathi’s gear, When he arrived we managed to get his stuff in and off we went, drove to Ballarat and met Laurie and Geoff, we stopped for lunch at Little Desert near Nhill and spent a long time birding, from there we didn’t stop until Mt Boothby rocks arriving a bit before dark and found a large flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, had a pleasant time yarning around Geoff’s bonfire, bed 21.30 60species today. We are counting raptors for an RAOU project, today’s were Brown Falcon 18, Black-shouldered Kite 10, Little Eagle 1, Nankeen Kestrel 15, Black Kite 2.

2/7 514k

All the others are early risers and fiddle-faddlers , so I got an extra 3/4hr lie in and was still ready before them. We had some Southern Scrub-robins, one even sat up on a rock for us to get a good view of him after I’d spent 15mins trying to pish one out. We set off at 10.30 and had lunch at Mannum on the Murray River and on to Gawler CP and got a good look at White-browed Scrubwren and found the Collared Sparrowhawk on the way out. Just before Dublin we had another look at the coast but found only wrecked cars and some Bluebonnets. Drove to Mt Remarkable NP and paid $7.50ea to camp, the wind picked up during dinner so we went to bed early 30 new species today, raptors: Nankeen Kestrel 47, Whistling Kite 3, Black-shouldered Kite 12, Collared Sparrowhawk 1, Wedge-tailed Eagle 1, Brown Falcon 1, Swamp Harrier 1.

3/7 500k

I was up first this morning as I realized I’d left my boiled egg out overnight and I wanted to beat the camp Emus to it, which I did, though later they got some of Laurie’s porridge, we got Blue-fronted Fairywren and 20sp all up. We set off for Port Augusta at 9.00 where we did some shopping. Last night I’d had some Canton Satay Sauce for dinner, it was so nice I bought more for future dinners. We had a look at the Arid Botanical Gardens where we got some Redthroat the second new bird today. Up the Stuart Hwy, stopping for what turned out to be Mulga Parrots and drove on to 85k south of Coober Pedy, as it got dark we camped near Mt Sandy, had a look at the stars through my scope and picked out the binary stars of Sirius, the moon was the merest slither. Lake Hart was quite full but there were no birds on it. Found a scorpion in the wood for the fire. I had the rest of the jar of satay sauce with mince, rice and some vegies, absolutely yum. 20 new species added today. Raptors: Black Kite 3, Nankeen Kestrel 17, Whistling Kite 1, Wedge-tailed Eagle 3, Brown Falcon 1.

4/7 600k

We all rose at around dawn and went for our morning search I had a bush with 4 male White-winged Fairywrens in breeding colours in it. We hit the road at 8.00, filled up our tanks at Coober Pedy, Smathi and I had a look in the underground chapel, very peaceful in there, we stopped twice for breaks at dry creeks and both times I had an Owlet Nightjar poke its head out of its hole to take a look at me. We found a waterhole for lunch which had a heap of birds around it, from Chiming Wedgebills and Crimson Chats to White-winged Triller and 100 or so Zebra Finch. A dash to Erildundra where petrol was $1.14cpl, we had a look around but it was all fenced off, so we drove up the main road and found a track off the main road where Geoff built his bonfire of scorpion hiding places and I had satay for the third night in a row, and still enjoyed it. Raptors: Nankeen Kestrel 20, Black Kite 11, Wedge-tailed Eagle 5, Brown Falcon 19 plus 1 road kill, Black-shouldered Kite 1.

5/7 324k

Up a bit later this morning, on the round got Crimson Chat and Brown Songlark, on our way out of camp we got some Banded Whitefaces, at the spot where we were to look for Banded Whitefaces we got Black Falcon. All over there were plentiful wild flowers, and as I walked on the green grasses a pungent aroma rose to the nose, it was very uplifting to the spirit. We stopped at Stuart Hwy site to do a survey, but found nothing special. On our way in to Alice Springs we stopped at a lake and saw a White-backed Swallow dive in to its burrow. Went to the telegraph station for lunch and heard Red-browed Pardalote, Smathi was the only one to see them. We did some shopping and then out to Kunoth Well where Erimophilas were in flower and got Pied and Black Honeyeaters, a flock of hundreds of Budgerigars and a Red-backed Kingfisher, all up 40species. Back to Alice Springs to camp for $9. Geoff went off with a mate and after a nice shower we went in to town and had pizza for dinner, it was late when we got back. Raptors: Black Falcon 1, Black Kite 20, Brown Falcon 5, Nankeen Kestrel 7, Whistling Kite 15, Wedge-tailed Eagle 1, Collared Sparrowhawk 1.

6/7 140k

Up at dawn and off by 8.00, to Simpson’s Gap, we were there too early with no sun on the rocks. Went down to the creek and got some Brown Honeyeaters, back at the gap where after an hour we gave up, I saw a dingo at the shelter and some Black-footed Rock Wallabies on the rocks. On to Stanley Chasm where Geoff decided he had to get an eye infection looked at so went back to Alice. At a suitable spot I gave a pish and immediately 8 Dusky Grasswrens came bounding down the rocks towards me almost as if they were coming to greet me. Smathi and I continued in to the chasm to the pool at the back where we could go no further without dropping our daks in front of the tourists. We stopped twice on the way to Ellery Ck at one spot we got 20sp with Grey-crowned Babblers and heard Western Warbler and Horsefield’s Bronze Cuckoo. At the second spot a pair of Pallid Cuckoos chased each other around for the entire survey. We got to Ellery Ck at 14.00 had lunch then explored but we hadn’t found much by 16.30 when the others showed up, it turned out that Geoff had only scratched his eye. We did the Dolomite walk and heard some Purple-crowned Emuwrens, then had a quick glimpse of some as they crossed the road on our way out. Went to Serpentine Gorge and found a nice secluded camp spot where I had a go at Geoff for building another giant bonfire in a spot where we weren’t supposed to use the wood, it did no good. Raptors: Nankeen Kestrel 2, Black Kite 8, Wedge-tailed eagle 1, Whistling Kite 1, Collared Sparrowhawk 1, Brown Falcon 1.

7/7 281k

We had a little rain early in the morning, I got out to cover up my fridge and then put other peoples stuff away too, and as soon as I’d done that it stopped raining. After brekkie we went to Ormiston Gorge where we got good looks at a Western Bowerbird displaying at its bower. We got some Dusky Grasswrens on the pound walk, and then I got a brilliant look at a Spinifexbird 3m from me on a rocky outcrop. We walked up the gorge a bit; it was full of water and dying fish which apparently happens each year as the water cools down protozoa builds up in their gills. We got a Red-browed Pardalote in the creek on the way out. We got our permit to do the loop and an ice cream in Glen Helen and had lunch by a still running creek near Gosse Bluff. The flowers here are stunning, everything is in bloom, it’s such a treat to see the desert so lush. Didn’t get a good look at King’s Canyon as we arrived as the sun was going down. Got some petrol at $1.19cpl. Went back to the campsite at $12 ea, dinner shower bed. Raptors: Nankeen Kestrel 9 Wedge-tailed Eagle 1 Little Eagle 1, Brown Falcon 8 plus 2 road kill, Black-shouldered Kite 1

8/7 547k

Up before dawn to have another shower and off at 8.00. We stopped at Kathleen Springs and then in sand dune/Desert Oak country, where all of a sudden there were no birds. Got the local subspecies of Striated Grasswren, met up with Keith and his wife and said goodbye to Smathi as I dropped him off at the base of Ayers Rock where he’ll catch a bus back home. The initial part of the track west was awful, I was down to 20kph several times in the corrugations, but as the kms rolled by I got up to 90kph. Stopped at Armstrong Ck by myself for a look around then another spot further on on the Great Central Rd. We camped in the Desert Oaks near Docker River. Some local aborigines were camped here too and let off fireworks and sang Neil Young songs. The others wanted to go on, but I pointed out that we’d seen a camel and I didn’t want to risk hitting one of them in the dark, so we stayed.

9/7 410k

Overnight the wind got up a nice breeze, and as it moved through the Desert Oaks it set up a lovely sighing whoo. Up at dawn and took a photo of the Peterman Ra. Stopped at the Warakurna roadhouse and picked up some fruit. At Warburton I got a car sticker at the furthest point I’d get from home, 2194km on a bearing, the petrol pumps had cages around them and the windows and doors of the buildings were heavily barred, it looked like something you might find in a ghetto somewhere. The road was in excellent condition so it was easy to cruise at 95kph most of the time. As we turned south onto the Connie Sue Hwy though it deteriorated to a rough and at times heavily corrugated track that was often so narrow that I had to put my aerial down and fold in my mirrors. I took the lead and would warn the others of any impending doom upon the track to Keith towing his camper trailer. At one of my survey spots I found Rufous-crowned Emuwren and then had some Grey-fronted Honeyeaters come and check me out, they came right out to the ends of the branches to within arm’s length, bobbing their heads from side to side and chattering, like they’d never seen a human before, it’s also possible that they were breeding nearby and saw me as a threat. We got close to McKenzie Gorge before darkness called a halt to the day.

10/7 91k

Up early and headed off with Geoff before the others and did some surveys over the next 2 sand dunes at Connie Sue Hwy N and Connie Sue Hwy S. The others still hadn’t turned up so we went back and found that Laurie was having problems with his starter motor, so we pushed his car onto the track and I tow started him, it didn’t play up again for the day. We stopped at Waterfall Gorge which would be some sight in the rain, but was now just another dry creek bed with one large pool and a few puddles left over. The birding offered nothing new. We made it to base camp in time for a late lunch, a short rest, and then we borrowed a trailer and went to collect firewood from a few kms down the track. The whole area has had a bushfire through it recently. During cooking dinner I smelt burning and thought it was coming from Geoff’s , but it was mine, I hadn’t put in enough water to rehydrate both the fish and the rice, I scraped it out and it wasn’t too badly burnt. I showed a geologist a rock I’d found at Waterfall Gorge and he suggested that the white markings in it were clay balls not fossils as I’d hoped.

11/7 106k

Up late today and had a shower, it felt weird to be able to look up and see the sun, and feel an occasional breeze make its way through the curtain. Laurie had problems getting his car started again so got someone to look at it. I kept going and did a survey a few kms up the track and another on the track to Sydney yeo Chasm, where I thought for a while I was lost, it’s an awful feeling that oh shit realization that you’re not where you thought you were. I held my nerve and found my way out to my car. We did some more surveys on the way in but there weren’t many birds. A large area has been burnt recently, as around the campsite. We met Anne Beadell and Connie Sue on their way out of the chasm. The chasm itself isn’t all that spectacular, but there’s a real feeling of rugged age and remoteness. The drive in though slow is wonderful and although the scenery isn’t anything to come out to see there’s a fantastic feeling when you stand on the top of a sand dune and all you can see in all directions are Marble Gum, Mulga, Wattle and Thryptomene covered sand dunes forever. Sat around the campfire and analysed what we’re seeing in the bird populations we’ve encountered so far.

12/7 0k

After brekkie we walked out to the lookout then out into the plain where we got 2 Bustards, we did a 5km triangle back to the camp doing some surveys along the way, got some Bourke’s parrots in the gully on the way back. At one stage we had 3 gps units on, they all agreed on the bearing to take, back for lunch, and had a bit of a siesta, the others went off to the chasm, I had a wander around the camp fringes. We had some botanists come and visit us after dinner, after they left Keith’s wife Shirley cooked us some pikelets with honey, chatted around the campfire til late.

13/7 109k

After brekkie we retraced my wander yesterday afternoon and the first bird we saw was a Slaty-backed Thornbill, the next site had Southern Whiteface, Jacky Winter and Sitellas. Later on the track I flushed a few birds, so we stopped, Laurie and I did the left Geoff and Keith the right, we got Mistletoebird and the usual honeyeaters when we heard an excited call from Keith who had found a Scarlet-chested Parrot, we all got a good look. On another survey we got Crimson Chat and Peregrine Falcon. Rolled in to camp in time for dinner which is the first of my dehydrated mince, which tastes just like fresh.

14/7 179k

We took two beginners out to Ryan’s Bluff for the morning, I found a Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush for them, we went up to a track opposite the old parallel number one track to a spot Ken had found yesterday, and found all the common honeyeaters in abundance as well as hundreds of Zebra finches. Went further out the track but found nothing interesting and went back to Ken’s spot for lunch. Back to camp for a shower, the trip was 54k, did some washing in the manual vacuum washing machine then lazed. In the late arvo went out to Wood’s Point and got great views of 20 Little Woodswallows, one zoomed me as I was trying to get a look at some White-winged Fairywrens by pishing them, there were also 40 Bourke’s Parrots, which we’re seeing regularly now. Back for dinner then we went out to Waterfall Gorge spotlighting, I went in Keith’s car, we got nothing on the way up whilst Laurie and Geoff got Spotted Nightjar and Boobook Owl. We were feeling a bit down but then we got a Tawny Frogmouth and by the time we got back had seen 8 Spotted Nightjars. As we got in to camp we found a Spotted Nightjar 50m from the main campfire we’d done 125k. It was 23.30 and bed time.

15/7 101k

Ken joined us today, as we went south and I got the bronze medal for the third sighting ever of Purple-Crowned Emu-wrens in the area, and after some ordinary searches found the first sighting for this camp of Striated Grasswren, I should be called the Wrenman! Around the main campfire I was asked to give a report of last night’s and today’s activities.

16/7 123k

The morning floated by today doing nothing. Late in the arvo I went south with Neil, Rene and company, we had lunch at Cooper Hills Ck I showed them the Emuwren and Grasswren sites, got a quick glimpse of the Emuwren but only tracks of the Grasswren. Went in to Point Sandercock and met up with some others who were spending the day in there, took a photo of the bluff, out and around to Point Lilian, the richness of the rock’s colour was brilliant, I walked down the creek bed to a natural bridge on the right hand side, got to the top of that for a wonderful view over the Spinifex covered plain in the late arvo sun, went back to get my camera. It was time to leave and ended up driving back in the dark, getting there in time for the evening meeting. I got out my scope and through broken cloud we got glimpses of a lunar eclipse during which it went pink. Ken informed us that the Desert Discovery bloke assigned to us for the second part of our trip would be late joining us I let my displeasure be known, Ken then said that he wasn’t impressed with our lack of help in camp activities such as doing a water run, or the evening campfire or generator. We’d understood that we were supposed to focus on doing atlassing, he walked off on me leaving me angry. It was after midnight when I went to bed.

17/7 150k

Got to talk with Cheryl and Martin and later with Stuart our Desert Discovery man and then with Ken, and it seems as if it won’t be as bad as I’d envisioned last night. I expressed my concerns about some of the practices of Desert Discovery, the main one is that they have a communal pit for throwing rubbish in, the days of burn bash and bury are long over and it is now the policy that you take all your rubbish out of wilderness areas, Ken had destroyed a tyre on his way in, and since we had not left Melbourne, he got Keith to bring a new one, the old one was tossed into the pit, I took all my rubbish out. Also for such a fragile area I thought that there were way too many people, it’s great in one sense in that there are people here from all backgrounds of expertise doing studies in the area, but the effect on the camping area is profound. I was critical of Geoff’s bonfires at night, but they paled in comparison to the amount of wood burnt around the many campfires at camp including the main communal one, my views were of course dismissed. Ken was also disparaging of Cheryl and Martin’s old Holden Rodeo ute. Ken had brought in a jerry can of fuel for me, which I put in my car after a worry that it was leaded rather than unleaded. We set off on our reason for coming on this trip, to atlas squares that have not been atlassed yet, I followed Laurie and Geoff down the road. His car now has an oil leak and is burning oil, not good methinks. We did a few surveys down the Connie Sue Tk, on Connie Sue Hwy N of Neale junction I got both Rufous-crowned Emuwren and Striated Grasswren. We got to Neale Junction Reserve which is mostly burnt out; it must have been a huge fire, all the way to Sydney Yeo. Had our last dinner together as this little group as tomorrow Laurie and Geoff head off down the Anne Beadell Hwy and we keep going south. There were patches of light rain today and in to the evening.

18/7 145k

The birding today was absolutely awful with most sites only having 2 or 3 species. Whenever a new bird was sighted we stopped to do a survey around it. We had a group photo at the actual junction under a huge Marble Gum and Laurie’s party headed off east. Ken’s party caught up with us and we camped just north of where they’ll head off east. Found that some of my dehydrated meat has mould on it, I don’t know whether I didn’t cook it enough or didn’t dehydrate it long enough. The wind was howling all day today which wouldn’t have helped our birding efforts, our camp is a bit exposed too.

19/7 88k

Ken and Keith went to get Jamie and Jeff from the railway station, I slept in but still arose to ice. I did a little loop back north then east in to a valley and south to the main track and back to Black Tank which has great water and back up to the camp at 14.30. It was a really nice relaxing day, and got my first look at Ground Cuckoo-shrike as it flew over a donga I was surveying, and the second as I finished my lunch. A donga here is a depression in the limestone landscape where water has dissolved some of the rock, the vegetation is always better than in the surrounding area, and thus the birds tend to congregate in them. Ken and Co. came back at 21.00 with news that Jamie had lost some of his food off the train, so we’ll have to help feed him.

20/7 157k

Said our goodbyes to Ken, Keith and Co. and headed off south down the Connie Sue Tk. After doing a few surveys one of which had a Gilbert’s Whistler and good looks at the Nullarbor form of the Bluebonnet we met up with Martin and Cheryl and had lunch soon after, just parking in the middle of the track. Premier Downs was an abandoned homestead. The dongas got bigger in the afternoon but were still mostly devoid of birds. Camped near a bore that had Banded Lapwings, and talked birds until late. The others all sleep in swag, Jamie by the fire, M&C under a tarp, me I sleep in my tent.

21/7 80k

Checked out Yellow Tail Bore and found lots of Crested Pigeons and Banded Lapwings, the cuckoos have also moved in to the area. The birding was sparse throughout the day and the scenery nonexistently flat with few trees. As we moved out of the station areas the dongas increased a bit in diversity and thickness of the grass therein. The big change though was in the surrounding grasslands that were now covered in predominantly Paper Daisies, Everlastings, Goodenias etc. The effect of these and the greens of the grasses were quite subtly stunning. The track was difficult to find and hard to follow at many stages, selected a donga to camp by.

22/7 100k

Some time during the day the track either wandered north of where the map indicated it should be or we missed a turn off but we ended up 19k north of Yurrama. The road south was full of bull dust, the trees thinned out apart from in the occasional donga. We found some Yellow-rumped Thornbills, a Black-shouldered Kite and my second sighting of the beautiful Orange Chat. We keep getting sights of Rufous Fieldwren, but I have yet to get a good look at one. There is a brand new bore at Yurrama and the others had a wash in it, I chose to laze in the late afternoon sun. We camped only a few hundred meters from it. Stuart was supposed to catch up with us last night, but still hasn’t showed up. We have an old Flying Doctor Service radio, each night we broadcast our location at a specific time, so that Ken knows where we are, and theoretically so does Stuart, strangely we are not getting any reply, so we’re worried that it isn’t working.

23/7 116k

Off by 8.00. The track remained easy to follow, at several stages today I got in to 5th (top) gear and 60kph. The dongas became more spaced out; they still hold Singing Honeyeaters, White-browed Babblers, often a Willie Wagtail and sometimes Magpies and crows. The grasslands became sparser though we found some good patches of Blue Bush with Nullarbor Quail-thrush in them, they were very shy though like most of the birds we’ve encountered here only allowing quick glimpses of them as we flush them. At one donga there were some car wrecks and Jamie found a gecko, he brought it back to take a photo of it, but it tried to escape and in trying to recapture it I squashed its head, I felt so sorry for the unfortunate little guy. Later we found a larger one and I managed to hold this one whilst Jamie photographed it. We found a flock of 15 Bluebonnets towards the end of the day with some Yellow-throated Miners and the first sighting of some Grey Shrike-thrushes for a while were an interesting surprise.

24/7 162k

Went and had a look at Decoration Cave, but on the surface it was just a small hole with a bit of bird pooh around the edges, one for the cavers. We turned south for Forrest; the substrate was seared dry, the countryside boring and the birds also. Then we came to a stretch of Myall and Blue Bush, which was good enough for a photo, Jamie got another gecko, but the birdlife was still poor. There we were out in the virtually treeless plain and things got really boring, apart from a stop for a group photo. Then suddenly the grass got green the Pipits were back and we came across a flock of 30 Inland Dotterels, they really look incongruous out here. We also got Orange Chat in the same area. The track was good enough to reach 70kph and we got in to Forrest at 16.30 and met Max and Yvonne who were very hospitable. We stayed in the old meteorological station on the floor and had a hot shower and took our washing down to be washed. Had a group dinner, Cheryl & Martin provided meat, I provided pasta, sauce and vegies, Jamie washed up. It was late by the time we extricated ourselves from Max and Yvonne.

25/7 86k

I discovered that I’d bent a rim yesterday, so Max gave me a big hammer and I bashed it back in to shape, and then discovered that my right front shocker was loose, they were brand new for the trip. I tightened it up but it still doesn’t feel right. Filled up the tank at $1.40cpl, I was lucky in that you’re supposed to book ahead to buy petrol and he only just had enough. I took a photo of the transcontinental railway, and we had some serious showers come through today, in the middle of one we got Slender-billed Thornbill. The showers eventually made the track sloshy and my car got thoroughly muddy. Martin wrecked a tyre by slashing the wall on a rock. The showers persisted in to the evening, and we used wood from Deakin to light a welcome fire in the blustery conditions.

26/7 107k

Overnight we only had a light shower so the track along the railway was okay today, we saw some heavy showers cross the track ahead of us, but by the time we got there the track was dry. The wind was moderate to strong all day, so what little birdlife there was, was very hard to find. The Rufous Fieldwren remained common, with Crows, Wedge-tailed Eagles, Nankeen Kestrels, White-winged Fairywrens and the ever-present Pipit the only birds available to see most of the time. Though at Hughes there were Welcome Swallows and Singing Honeyeaters in and around a stand of trees. Towards the end of the day we found a flock of Orange Chats. I waited a long time for the sun to come out at one spot to get a photo of some lichen on rocks. Most of the time we were in 2nd or 3rd gear doing 20-35kph, my top speed today was 40kph. The old sleepers and sleds are used for firewood at night otherwise it would be a cheerless existence.

27-28/7 26k

Drove in to Cook and said goodbye to Cheryl and Martin. Had a look around the old hospital, now gutted with just the bare bones standing. For nearly two days I sat and read my book and watched Pipits, Black-faced Woodswallows and Singing Honeyeaters get as close to me as they dare, The Pipits won with them going under my chair, with the Singing Honeyeaters a close second. Ken, Keith and Cathy in an Oka arrived near sundown on the 28th and I accosted Ken asking him what happened to Stuart, it seems that he had lost our track at Double Pump Bore, where we had had difficulty finding the right track as at most bores, but it wasn’t all that hard, so he had just turned around and gone home. He over reacted and said that we were stupid for heading out without him, but clearly we were better navigators than him, which was all he was there for, so we didn’t miss him at all. It turns out that our Flying Doctor radio was sending so Ken knew where we were anyway. Later he came back and appologised, which I appreciated.

29/7 297k

Left early and zoomed up the Volks Hill Rd to get to Oak Valley by 13.00, we didn’t make it since the track was really rough in spots, slowing us down. Ken used his satellite phone to organize someone to be there, so we got to fill up our tanks at $1.10cpl and got water too and left the Maralinga community. The place looks like a dump we even saw some humpies, I don’t know what they did with their $13million in compensation, but they didn’t use it on housing. Did a survey at Vokes Hill-Cook Rd 1 south. We camped at the wells near Wyola Lake. As we were setting up camp some people came through in a 4wd telling us that their fridge had broken down, they were on their way back home but all the fish they’d caught wouldn’t last and would we like some, I got several days worth of fresh fish… nice! The days are in the high 20’s the nights cold and still.

30/7 132k

Got some Slaty-backed Thornbills early on, then some Rufous Fieldwrens displaying at Vokes Hill-Cook Rd 2, then got a Gilbert’s Whistler at Vokes Hill-Cook Rd 3,  and then at Vokes Hill-Cook Rd 4 got a Splendid Fairywren in full breeding plumage, they should be called Supercallafragalisticexpialidotious Wrens. More Supercallafragalisticexpialidotious Wrens at Vokes Hill-Cook Rd 5, and got Jacky Winter and Weebill at Anne Beadell Hwy 695355, and capped it all off with Nankeen Kestrel and Sitellas at Anne Beadell Hwy 695356, on a great day’s birding, especially compared to our run across the Nullarbor. The track was just brilliant, lovely narrow twisting with interesting sand hills and good vegetation. Had lunch at the T junction with the Anne Beadell Hwy then headed east, still a wonderful interesting track that follows rather than crosses the sand dunes. Ken put a hole in his sub-tank apparently with a rock flipping up.

31/7 149k

My first survey today at Anne Beadell Hwy 695358 got a good selection of birds including Major Mitchell Cockatoos and from then on the diversity declined at 695361,695362, 695352, 695350 . Keith found some Scarlet-chested parrots again, I got a good look at them, the male in particular looked resplendent in the sun, I set up my camera to photograph it, but Shirley wouldn’t let me take the shot until Keith had got his, so of course the bird flew off before Keith got set up and neither of us got the shot. I searched for them but couldn’t find them again just some Budgerigars. When we caught up to Ken he wasn’t happy as he’d instructed us not to do much birding in an attempt to get to Tallaringa Well today. So he promptly dropped his trailer and went back 35k looking for them after he’d said that he’d seen some Scarlet-chested Parrots but hadn’t stopped, sometimes he confuses me. Keith and I mozied on through Emu, I went up a dead end track at Old Emu Station, and found some glazed rock from the atomic blast and a Crimson Chat. We went in to look at the ground zero obelisk and took a group photo minus Ken. Appropriately there were zero birds at ground zero. At our campsite we had some Bourke’s Parrots. Ken turned up after dark saying he’d tried to call us on the HF radio after getting lost on the airfield at Emu and after hitting some bad corrugations going too fast had hit a tree and damaged his mudguard and door, so with the prior damage to his fuel tank he’s a bit cranky.

1/8 91k

Ken awoke to find that as well as the panel damage he now had damaged the tyre wall and it was now flat, so he used a plug waited 5min pumped it up and off we went. My first survey  at 695342 had 100 Budgerigars, 695341 had Wedge-tailed Eagle,  and 695338 had Brown Goshawk, thenthe track went boring for a while, and then got some Slaty-backed Thornbills and a Redthroat at 695336. The last survey was at 695334. We did 5 surveys to Ken’s 2 as he was driving very slowly. We found Tallaringa Well dry and Ken went and had a look at the track for tomorrow and we all put our shade cloth across the front of the vehicle for the expected seed problems on the expectedly poor track. I found that I’d lost the rubber out of the same shocker that was loose back at Forrest and was rattling around ineffectually. I had brought an old bicycle tube so we cut it up into little squares and punched a hole through the middle, fixed.

2/8 103k

Another of Ken’s tyres was flat this morning, so we were late getting away. The track started out okay but at the 20k mark crossing sand dunes it disappeared and we had to walk ahead to find it, then Ken destroyed another tyre wall, he now had no spares and returned to camp to fix them. So I ventured forth for another 2k to start doing surveys in the 29deg 132deg block which no one had surveyed yet, doing survey numbers 695326, 695324, and 695322, getting Brown Falcon, White-backed Swallow, Tree Martin then Welcome Swallow in succession. Got both Variegated and Splendid Fairywren, a murder of 28 Little Crows. My last survey site was quite lush at 695320, and I got 150 Budgerigars and Crested Pigeon. I’d have liked to have kept going but there wasn’t enough time to get back in a reasonable time. On the way back we got Chestnut Quail-thrush.

3/8 224k

Drove out to Coober Pedy stopping to do a few surveys at 695329, 695331, inside the conservation park, and 904379 and 904377 outside the conservation park. At one spot Shirley who usually sits in Keith’s car whilst we survey, went for a walk and still wasn’t back or within earshot when we got back, I found her footprints in the sand and followed them, once she’d realized she was lost she had dragged a stick which made it easier to track her across the sand to the track, but she’d turned the wrong way and was heading away from the cars when I jogged up behind her. Then I had to chase after Keith who was calling away but couldn’t hear me calling back because he’s going deaf. Ken had built a fire and put some green leaves on it to create visible smoke. Got a glimpse of a very wary Cinnamon Quail-thrush. I got some shocker rubbers from the servo at Coober Pedy. Said goodbye to the group as they were staying in the Caravan Park, paying $20. I stayed dirty and drove south till 20.00 nearly hitting a sheep and a fox, and stopped 20k North of Glenambo.

4/8 1301k

It rained a lot overnight and I was worried about getting back to the road, but apart from some puddles in the low areas I found I could skirt my way back to the track on higher ground, and the track back to the road was okay. The rain had washed all the hard earned mud off my car. Coming in to Port Augusta the first traffic light I’d seen in 5 weeks was red. In Port Augusta I bumped in to Neil and his team from Desert Discovery at the petrol station. Just south of Port Augusta there is a stand of trees, they looked huge compared to anything I’ve seen in the last 5 weeks. Somewhere in the late evening I nearly hit a truck as he pulled off the road then back on to it as I overtook it with a car coming the other way, thankfully it slowed down. Home late.

 

Bird list for surveys I submitted for trip. % is of the 33 surveys.

  • Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes 1 (3.03%)
  • Diamond Dove Geopelia cuneata 1 (3.03%)
  • Australian Bustard Ardeotis australis 1 (3.03%)
  • Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax 4 (12.12%)
  • Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus 1 (3.03%)
  • Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides 2 (6.06%)
  • Brown Falcon Falco berigora 2 (6.06%)
  • Galah Eolophus roseicapilla 2 (6.06%)
  • Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo Cacatua leadbeateri 2 (6.06%)
  • Mulga Parrot Psephotellus varius 5 (15.15%)
  • Australian Ringneck Barnardius zonarius 3 (9.09%)
  • Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus 3 (9.09%)
  • Variegated Fairy-wren Malurus lamberti 3 (9.09%)
  • Splendid Fairy-wren Malurus splendens 6 (18.18%)
  • White-winged Fairy-wren Malurus leucopterus 1 (3.03%)
  • Rufous-crowned Emu-wren Stipiturus ruficeps 1 (3.03%)
  • Striated Grasswren Amytornis striatus 1 (3.03%)
  • Crimson Chat Epthianura tricolor 2 (6.06%)
  • Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Acanthagenys rufogularis 10 (30.30%)
  • Singing Honeyeater Gavicalis virescens 2 (6.06%)
  • Grey-fronted Honeyeater Ptilotula plumula 5 (15.15%)
  • White-fronted Honeyeater Purnella albifrons 3 (9.09%)
  • Yellow-throated Miner Manorina flavigula 11 (33.33%)
  • Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus 1 (3.03%)
  • Weebill Smicrornis brevirostris 2 (6.06%)
  • Redthroat Pyrrholaemus brunneus 1 (3.03%)
  • Rufous Fieldwren Calamanthus campestris 1 (3.03%)
  • Southern Whiteface Aphelocephala leucopsis 6 (18.18%)
  • Yellow-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza chrysorrhoa 2 (6.06%)
  • Inland Thornbill Acanthiza apicalis 3 (9.09%)
  • Slaty-backed Thornbill Acanthiza robustirostris 4 (12.12%)
  • Chestnut-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza uropygialis 14 (42.42%)
  • White-browed Babbler Pomatostomus superciliosus 7 (21.21%)
  • Varied Sittella Daphoenositta chrysoptera 2 (6.06%)
  • Cinnamon Quail-thrush Cinclosoma cinnamomeum 1 (3.03%)
  • Gilbert’s Whistler Pachycephala inornata 1 (3.03%)
  • Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris 6 (18.18%)
  • Grey Shrike-thrush Colluricincla harmonica 11 (33.33%)
  • Crested Bellbird Oreoica gutturalis 11 (33.33%)
  • Chiming Wedgebill Psophodes occidentalis 1 (3.03%)
  • Pied Butcherbird Cracticus nigrogularis 1 (3.03%)
  • Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus 1 (3.03%)
  • Black-faced Woodswallow Artamus cinereus 6 (18.18%)
  • Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys 4 (12.12%)
  • Little Crow Corvus bennetti 8 (24.24%)
  • Red-capped Robin Petroica goodenovii 6 (18.18%)
  • Jacky Winter Microeca fascinans 1 (3.03%)
  • Hooded Robin Melanodryas cucullata 4 (12.12%)
  • Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata 3 (9.09%)
  • Australasian Pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae 1 (3.03%)
  • Brown Songlark Cincloramphus cruralis 1 (3.03%)
  • White-backed Swallow Cheramoeca leucosterna 1 (3.03%)

If you would like to contribute the the well being of this world, our world, your world, an easy and effective way to do it is to join a quality environmental group. There are many spread across the world all plugging away trying to make the world a better place for wildlife. We belong to Birdlife Australia, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). You can donate your time and or money to these and many others knowing that the world will be a slightly better place because of your effort.