Whyalla Conservation Park

This weekend was the last public holiday before Christmas, and we went across to Whyalla to spend it with family. On Sunday I spent some time at Whyalla Conservation Park. On the way I noticed a bird silhouetted against the sky. As I approached, he began to sing. Unfortunately there was no cover between him and me so I couldn't get any closer.

At the base of Wild Dog Hill I heard the quiet trill of a grasswren, and after sitting still for a few minutes a Thick-billed Grasswren popped up for a second.

As I walked the track to the top of the hill, I saw Singing Honeyeater. This pretty flower was all over the top, which is mainly rock. It appeared to be growing out of crevices. Also looking at crevices was this small lizard.

On the way out of the park I noticed this Australian Pipit by the side of the track. Further along I stopped for this young Shingleback to cross. On a whim, I followed one of the tracks along a line of pylons. There were hundreds of small blue butterflies here, along with at least three Rufous Whistlers. Just before I got to the exit, a flash of green crossed, Mulga Parrot!, but try as I could, the brightly coloured male eluded me. I managed a couple of shots of the female

Lake Gilles Conservation Park

Maryann and I are in Whyalla this weekend, visiting Maryann's daughter. They spent today doing "girlie" things, so I took off and did some birding. First stop was the Whyalla - Iron Knob Road looking for Thick-billed Grasswren again. I started a few kilometres closer than last time, and almost immediately saw one scuttle across the path in front of me. A little "pishing" and up he popped for a moment. I managed a couple of shots, but the light was poor so no keepers. A few hundred metres further on and another one called, this time on the better side of the track light wise. This continued over the next hour or so, and in the end I probably saw about a dozen birds in all. This one was the most cooperative, happily posing and singing for a couple of minutes. As I approached Iron Knob, I noticed a few pipits by the road, so did a quick U-turn, and almost ran over a Brown Songlark. He flew up and started his lovely song flight almost overhead. He is not yet in breeding plumage, and in summer he will be a lovely deep brown all over. My main destination for the day was Lake Gilles Conservation Park, near Kimba in the northern Eyre Peninsular. The lake has always been dry since I have been in Australia, and I had heard that it now has some water in it. It did, though it was nowhere close to being full. The conservation park is old growth mallee habitat with some Bluebush and some spinifex in the understorey. It is well know to birders as it the furthest east that a number of western specialities breed. I was hoping to snap a couple of these, Rufous Treecreeper (I have not seen one in South Australia) and Blue-breasted Fairywren (only seen fleetingly once before). I heard the treecreeper, but didn't get a sniff of the fairywren. I did see Jacky Winter and Golden Whistler though.

Arid Country and a Grasswren

I headed back up to Whyalla this weekend, having not been there for over for a month. The land is very dry again, despite the good rains this winter. There are lots of flowers out though. These pink ones are plentiful along the roadside. We headed up to the lookout on Friday evening to try and catch a bit of breeze and watch the sunset. We missed the sunset by a few minutes, but the view was still good. I then went to the marina to try out a new setting I had found on my camera that extends the maximum ISO from 3200 to 6400 or 12800. I wish I knew about this when I was in the rainforest in Queensland!! On Saturday morning I headed out early to try and photograph Thick-billed Grasswren. Grasswrens are a lovely group of birds, generally confined to arid land. Then tend to skulk in cover, dashing from bush to bush giving short glimpses. I have seen various species of Grasswren but never managed a shot of one. I had just been told of a small population close to Maryann's home and it seemed an ideal opportunity to get familiar with it. The area they inhabit near Whyalla is an area of small sandhills and Saltbush/ Bluebush scrub between a road and a railway track. I slowly drove along looking for any sign of movement. Twice I saw one run across the road and disappear. So I stopped at a likely looking place, and tried my Audobon Bird Call. Up popped a couple of White-winged Fairywrens - no photo, and then a Grasswren, Click! and gone!! This is the highly cropped and magnified result - It is definitely the rear view of a Grasswren. Next time I am over I will give it another go and try to get his good side!! I also saw some interesting tracks in the sand made by a large lizard. I followed the tracks, but couldn't find it anywhere. They were probably made by a Sand Goanna. Going back through Whyalla, I noticed this unusual tree with its even more unusual fruit/nut/seed pod. Finally on the way home to Adelaide I passed the ephemeral salt lake at Lochiel which had turned a lovely shade of pink! This is due to carotene being released by the algae Dunadiella Salina