2008 Tour Narrative
Our first afternoon was spent around several wetland reserves, where we had Freckled Duck and Baillon’s and Australian Spotted Crakes among a wealth of other waterfowl. The next day we visited the famous St. Kilda saltfields. Most of the Banded Stilts had moved out, but we still saw one nice group including some adults in breeding plumage. The Fairy Terns put on a good performance, and we had good views of a Slender-billed Thornbill beside the minibus. That day ended with Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, an extremely local species still present in good numbers around Blanchetown.
The next day we visited Gluepot, a remote mallee reserve run by Birds Australia, the country’s principal non-governmental bird conservation organization. With knowledgeable local assistance, we found some splendid Striated Grasswrens (only our third encounter in 24 years), followed by a group of White-browed Treecreepers (second time ever on this tour). Other nice birds that day included acrobatic Varied Sittellas, musical Crested Bellbirds, shy Shy Heathwrens, cooperative Chestnut Quail-thrushes, and hyperactive Chestnut-crowned Babblers.
The next morning we enjoyed beautiful Regent Parrots feeding in a wheat field beside the road and circling overhead against a brilliant blue sky: what a color contrast! Then came Apostlebirds so close we could almost touch them, a territorial Redthroat near Morgan, and a splendid picnic on the River Murray at Blanchetown. A return visit to Brookfield on the way back to Adelaide produced the hoped-for White-fronted Honeyeaters and lots of kangaroos, including a few stately Reds.
Next we flew north to Alice Spring in the Red Center of Australia. After lunch we visited the Olive Pink Botanical Gardens to view the Western Bowerbird’s bower; while there we found an active nest of Gray-crowned Babblers. Later we visited the Old Telegraph Station, seeing a Common Walleroo as soon as we arrived and a Dingo just before we departed. In between we had splendid views of an Australian Hobby perched in a dead tree.
The next morning we visited Simpson’s Gap. We started well with a pair of Pink Cockatoos that may have been nesting near the visitor center. Majestic Wedge-tailed Eagles soared overhead and Little Woodswallows cruised around the cliffs, but small birds were rather scarce. We did the see the Black-tailed Rock-Wallabies, though, the main mammal specialty. In the afternoon we drove out to Kunnoth Bore—only to find the well dry; a quick bit of lateral thinking put us back on the main road at dusk between two rain puddles, and to our great good fortune two Bourke’s Parrots came in to drink, giving us great scope views.
The next day we joined the tourists on a trip to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), fantastic geological features. We enjoyed close encounters with Pied Butcherbirds, Rainbow Bee-eaters, and Gray-headed Honeyeaters at the Rock, and there were dozens of Zebra Finches coming in to drink at the Olgas.
On our final morning in Alice we always make a pre-breakfast visit to the sewage ponds, never knowing quite what we might find. This year’s highlights included two Long-toed Stints, a Latham’s Snipe, twenty or more Wood Sandpipers, a bunch of Black-tailed Native-hens, and a lovely group of Variegated Fairy-wrens, including at least two beautiful males.
On then, north to Darwin, where our first afternoon started with no less than three Beach Thick-knees at East Point, a species we often miss on this tour. With Bush Thick-knees nesting there as well, we were able to compare both species within an hour. The Orange-footed Scrubfowls have been getting noticeably easier to see around Darwin in recent years, but this was the first time we had seen them feeding out in the open on the beach!
On our next day, at Buffalo Creek we found that the Chestnut Rails had finally learned how to put on a show: three sightings in about half an hour. A flock of Fork-tailed Swifts overhead was an unexpected bonus, the first time we’d seen this long-distance migrant in years. A Rainbow Pitta performed well at Howard Springs, but an Oriental Cuckoo was a good find at Marlow’s Lagoon. Barking and Rufous Owls in the Botanical Gardens livened up the afternoon’s proceedings.
The following morning we headed out to Palmerston Sewage Ponds for a session in the mangroves. Mangrove Robins and Mangrove Gerygones performed very well, and the ponds themselves provided excellent views of side-by-side Whiskered and White-winged Black Terns; sharp-eyed members of the group picked out a couple of Freshwater Crocodiles. Later at Fiddler’s Lane Lagoon we enjoyed good numbers of Little Curlews and Australian Pratincoles (not to mention several thousand Magpie Geese). Amazingly, the single White-necked Heron present was our first of the tour. A flock of 42 Oriental Plovers at Nightcliff Mangroves started the afternoon well, and then Knuckey’s Lagoon provided a wealth of birds to study, including many firsts for the trip, such as Green Pygmy-Goose, Comb-crested Jacana, and Black-necked Stork.
We then drove out to Kakadu, finding such delights as White-browed Crake, Mangrove Golden Whistler, Broad-billed Flycatcher, and Masked Finch en route. Our Yellow Water boat trip was very successful, with not one but two Great-billed Herons, two Striated Herons, our only Rufous Night-Herons of the tour, and five species of kingfisher including point-blank views of Little and Azure Kingfishers. And all this among a wealth of waterfowl, with birds visible in every direction. On the drive back to Darwin, a stop at the Mary River produced the hoped-for Buff-sided Robin and an unexpected pair of Northern Rosellas.
David Fisher
Updated: November 2008