Outback - Part 4

Our last day in Alice dawned bright and sunny!! At last we were going to be able to do some "proper" birding. We headed out early, going McDonnell Ranges west of Alice. 1st stop was Simpson's Gap, a tiny gorge through the range. We were the second car there, and hoped that the birds hadn't been disturbed too much. But the sun wasn't shining into the gorge yet, so it was still bitterly cold and hardly anything was moving. We spotted a small movement in the rocks, and there was a Black-flanked Rock-wallaby. As the sun started to warm the gorge, so the tour buses started to arrive, and signaled that it was time to move on. On the way back to the car I flushed a pair of Collared Sparrowhawks, one of which wheeled around behind a large ghost gum, but didn't come out the other side. Investigation showed he/she was sitting on a nest.

As we drove west we stopped at an interesting creek. The hillsides were full of flowers, and also a few birds including this stunning Red-backed Kingfisher. West again, the next stop was Ormiston Gorge. The gorge goes through to a natural pound, and the slopes and valleys here are full of interesting birds. At the beginning of the gorge were some Grey-headed Honeyeaters busily investigating the flowers. As we walked along the first valley, we could hear the high pitched calls of Dusky Grasswrens. I spotted one, then a pair, but they would not come too close. I tried "pishing", but ne response, so I played a short snatch of their song, and they immediately came to see who was on "their patch". We continued along the track, and eventually got to the rim of the pound. The view was stunning, as was the walk back through a lovely valley. We spent much more time at Ormiston than we had planned, and so had to head back to Alice to begin the journey home.

Outback - Part 3

We woke to the sound of rain on the tents and another wet day in store. As I had damaged the gas lamp the previous day, first stop was the camping shop. It was still wet so we headed to the Olive Pink Botanical Garden where we were guaranteed at least one "tick". A Western Bowerbird has set up his bower close to the car park here. We soon found his bower, with his display of white, silver and green items carefully arranged to catch the eye of any passing female. True to form, he soon showed up and noisily scolded us!! This commotion soon set of his neighbours, the Yellow-throated Miner and Port Lincoln Parrot who came to investigate what the noise was about! As you would expect, there are lots of interesting plants in the gardens. After we had wandered around it was soon time for lunch. Whilst we were eating a lively group of Zebra Finches moved within range, foraging along the edge of the path. After lunch we headed east towards Santa Teresa, a well known site for Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, but had to turn back as the unsealed road was too slippery to negotiate even though I have all-wheel drive. So we headed along the East Macdonnell Ranges (on a sealed road) and spotted a group of seven Brown Quail feeding on the side of the road. As the light faded, the skies cleared, hinting at a sunny day to follow.........

Outback - Part 2

So we turned round and headed back towards Port Augusta, where we would camp before heading up the Stuart Highway to Alice Springs, the red centre. Next morning dawned drizzly, so we called in to the Arid Lands Botanical Garden in the hope that the weather would clear for our long drive North. The birds were keeping their heads down, but we did see this Pallid Cuckoo, and on the way out a nice group of Sturt's Desert Pea, South Australia's national flower. As we continued north, the skies cleared and the desert was blooming. The drive to Alice Springs takes two days to complete comfortably (allowing for birding along the way)and the highway is long, straight and can be very boring. We saw lots of raptors along the way, with more Wedge-tailed Eagles and some Brown Falcons posing nicely in trees along the verge. We were soon in new territory, which comes with the added benefit of new birds. We stopped at a few spots, including one just short of the Northern Territory border where I saw a Bourke's Parrot, a real icon of the red centre. In the drier areas, our common Superb Fairywren is replaced by White-winged Fairywren. I didn't manage a shot of the stunning male, but this is the first time I have photographed the female. Carrying on to "the Alice", the weather deteriorated again, and we finally arrived after dark, in persistent drizzle, looking forward to new birds in the morning!!