Royal Adelaide Show

The Royal Adelaide Show is held in early September every year. It is the highlight of the agricultural and horticultural year. There are many events, and people come from all over the state, and some from inter-state to compete or spectate. The agricultural and horticultural judging classes are very well supported, as are the dog and cat classes. One of the most popular sports on show is the wood-cutting where the three main events are the "underarm", the "standing block" and "tree felling". There is great competition between the various states. For the kids, there is a huge fun fair area with many rides and lots of sideshows and other entertainments. In the main arena were the showjumping, the daily grand parade, and a motor cycle stunt team that provided great entertainment.

Outback - Part 5

So we said goodbye to "the Alice" and headed South on the Stuart Highway. We stopped at a few likely looking spots but didn't find anything of interest until we tried a site near Erlunda. We had tried this site on the way up without success. We could hear a few birds in the scrub, and with some pishing and squeaks from the Audobon bird call we soon had an audience as first Southern Whiteface, and then Banded Whiteface, (our target for this site) posed briefly. We stopped the night in Coober Pedy, and just had time to look for Cinnamon Quail-thrush at the eastern end of town. Light was fading fast, so the ISO had to be cranked up to the detriment of quality. In near darkness, we noticed a small ditch with a Spotted Crake on it, so determined to return at first light to investigate. This we did, and found 7 Spotted Crakes along a 15M (50ft) stretch. We also saw a Black-fronted Dotterel there. Continuing South we stopped at an area of Gibber. We had been tipped off that there was a small population of Chestnut-breasted Whiteface here. This was one of the key birds we were looking for on our original itinerary. After walking for a while, we spotted one creeping around a scrubby area. Not an easy task, as they are very well camouflaged. Keeping South we entered the desert area of the Woomera Rocket Range, and even in the few days since we last passed through we could see a difference. More flowers, and the scrub seemed alive with large grasshoppers. Once again South, this time moving into an area of sparsely wooded sand dunes. Here there were some beautiful daisy type flowers, and the trees were alive with White-winged Trillers and Chestnut-rumped Thornbills. Just as we were leaving I noticed a Spotted Jezebel butterfly. Final birding was back in Port Augusta, at the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens. No Cuckoo this time, but I did see this cuckoo Bee, so called because it lays it's in other bees nesting chambers. There was a noisy pair of Nankeen Kestrels on the roof of the cafe, and in the courtyard a beautiful display of more Sturt's Desert Peas. Irresistible!! And so to the stats. Over the 8 days we travelled 4,700Km (2,800 Miles) saw 132 species (but this is liable to change as I keep remembering others!) of which 10 were new for me. The outback is in totally stunning condition at the moment, and if you get a chance to see it, do not delay!!

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.........