The very wide brown land: Australia - June-August 2013 (1 Viewer)

Day Forty-three: Parry Creek – Marglu Billabong – Wyndham – Kununurra – Keep River

I was up at dawn for a look around Parry Creek Farm. Things began well with some good but brief views of a Buff-sided Robin behind the toilet block. Later in the morning I had some better views of a pair a bit further up the creek at another waterhole. Definitely a ‘better than it looks in the book bird’ – really smart in fact, and fairly chunky and characterful.

I settled down at the end of the waterhole for a bit to watch what came in. There was a steady succession of small numbers of Masked and Long-tailed Finches, but only two Gouldian Finches – both red-faced – came in to drink. A Black-necked Stork sailed over and an Azure Kingfisher gave close views. Very large numbers of Diamond, Peaceful and Bar-shouldered Doves also swirled in for a drink. A walk further up the creek produced a good mix of birds including a few Lemon-bellied Flycatchers, another juvenile Gouldian Finch and a flock of Star Finches.

Then I headed back to Marglu Lagoon, where plenty was happening. I had thought about having a wander round the whole lake system, but was put off by the sight of two quite substantial Saltwater Crocodiles close to the viewing platform. Three Wandering Whistling Duck were new for the trip, as were a Whiskered Tern and a Pheasant Coucal. Raptors were particularly prominent and - in addition to the usual industrial quantities of Black and Whistling Kites - Brown Goshawk, White-bellied Sea-eagle and Swamp Harrier all appeared. Lots of waterbirds included both species of spoonbill, several Brolgas and good numbers of Pied Herons. An Australian Pratincole sailed over and lots of Fairy Martins were around too. As I drove out towards Wyndham I had conclusive but not great views of a Black-breasted Buzzard flying off towards the hills.

Wyndham Port was a bit lacking in birds, although it was nice to see the sea again, albeit a very different looking one to the last I’d seen in South Australia. In the rather beleaguered strip of mangroves I had good views of a Yellow White-eye and also saw the first Striated Heron of the trip. I then had quick stops at the Grotto and at Lake Kununurra but didn’t see anything new.

I drove back across into the Northern Territory late in the afternoon and headed back to Keep River National Park where I camped. I had a wander along one the trails through the sandstone escarpment but didn’t see too much except for a distant group of Little Woodswallows. As night fell a Southern Boobook began to give its ‘hoarse cuckoo’ song and I had some distant views of it perched on a branch. It and another were calling for much of the evening.

Some birds from Parry Farm:
1. Sacred Kingfisher
2. Intermediate Egret
3. Gouldian Finches
4. Black-faced Cuckooshrike
5. Lemon Bellied Flycatcher

Thanks for all the comments on the photos (not sure why it's surprising that they're good, Rob ). Here are some more from Parry Farm:

1&2. Great Bowerbird
3. Long-tailed Finch
4. Paperbark Flycatcher

Here are some pictures from Marlgu Billabong:

1. A view from a nearby hill
2. Australasian Grebe
3. Brolga
4. Pied Herons
5. A Salty lurking in the shallows

I love those Long-tailed Finches. We had some in an aviary when I was a kid, would love to see some in the wild!

Day Forty-four: Keep River – Katherine – Kakadu

I began the morning with a stroll up to the sandstone escarpment. A nice group of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos were in the trees but I had another bird on my mind. Briefly, I saw a shape scuttle off over the rock and then heard some gruff cooing. I moved back round to have a better view of the rock outcrop and, after a bit of scanning, noticed a dull brown ball-like shape. In the scope and, yes, a White-quilled Rock Pigeon. At first it didn’t do too much but eventually it began to preen, which at least gave some views of the white quills in the wings for which they’re named. Then another joined it, wandering cautiously up the rock face. Then I noticed three more, perched quietly on the corner of the rock. Excellent, but then they sailed down – white wing patches prominent – to give even better views. More gruff cooing and strutting about and then they were off down into the valley floor to feed, or maybe to drink.

Mission efficiently accomplished I drove through the national park to the Cockatoo Lagoon, which I’d visited a few days before. Again it was busy with waterfowl, two Brolgas wading about the shallows. Overhead dozens of White-browed and Masked Woodswallows swarmed. I drove on towards the park entrance and stopped where a few birds seemed to be about. Quickly I realised that the burnt areas and grassy patches were thick with Gouldian Finches. Eventually I reckoned there were at least 120 but that was doubtless an underestimate. Once again, about 90% were juveniles. There were also quite a few Long-tailed Finches and, as I was searching through the finches, I briefly saw my second Grey-fronted Honeyeater of the trip.

That was mid-morning and I didn’t do too much birding after that as I had the longest drive of the trip to do. First of all I spent four-and-a-half hours getting back to Katherine and then, after a quick visit to the shops, I had another two-and-a-half hours to get to Cooinda in the famous Kakadu National Park. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher and Northern Fantail were flitting about near my campsite and once again a Barking Owl was calling through the evening.

Here are some views of the White-quilled Rock-pigeons at Keep River:
1&2. Up on the crags
3. Down a bit closer
4. Lift off!

Very much enjoying the report Andrew - those Rock-pigeons are strangely compelling.

Cheers
Mike

Wow, that was now a long read. But what awesome shots you made! Love the Spinifex Pigeon, parrots and rosellas and finch photos!
Did the male Red-winged Parrot eat the seeds of this fruits?

Regards,
Roman

PS.: May I ask which photo equipment you used?

Day Forty-five: Yellow Water – Nourlangie

I began with a boat trip – a famous boat trip in fact – on Yellow Water. Alongside lots of other tourists I sailed the billabong seeing lots of waterfowl including Brolgas, Black-necked Storks, Wandering and Plumed Whistling Ducks, Radjah Shelduck, Pied Heron, Glossy Ibis, Royal Spoonbill and Green Pygmy Goose. Also seen were Sacred, Forest and Azure Kingfishers, though not the Little I was hoping for. White-bellied Sea-eagles were numerous and other raptors included both Collared Sparrowhawk and Brown Goshawk. Aside from Forest Kingfisher the only other new species for the trip was Gull-billed Tern. Great views were obtained of several Saltwater Crocodiles and a single, much smaller, Freshwater Crocodile. It was somewhat spectacular and a nice trip but perhaps a bit over-priced at 90 dollars for two hours. I might have felt differently if I’d picked up one or two lifers though.

Funnily enough I did manage a lifer when I headed back to Yellow Water later in the morning. That was just to follow the small boardwalk near the jetty, where I had good views of a couple of Rufous-banded Honeyeaters. Also prominent here were Paperbark, Lemon-bellied, Leaden and Shining Flycatchers. A walk to a nearby Mardugal Billabong after that was pretty quiet until I found an Arafura Fantail, which fluttered about giving nice views.

In the afternoon I drove up to Nourlangie, where the Anbangbang Billabong was full of waterbirds – actually quite a bit busier than Yellow Water and much more easily accessible. The species present were all fairly common but it was particularly good for the two whistling ducks. In the nearby forest Dusky Honeyeater and Varied Triller were both prominent.

Around and immediately below the rock itself, birds were pretty thin on the ground in the late afternoon heat. I had a couple of close encounters with Red-tailed Black Cockatoo and a Brown Goshawk and a Little Woodswallow whizzed over the crags. A singing ‘silver-backed’ Pied Butcherbird attracted my attention but not for long, as I noticed that perched next to it in the same tree were two Banded Fruit-doves. These beautiful black and white pigeons sat quietly for several minutes to give great views. Excellent stuff to end the day with.

I drove over the Merl campsite, which looked good for birds and promised much in the morning. Sadly it was also popular with large numbers of mosquitos, who made the evening less pleasant.

Some shots from Yellow Water:
1. Azure Kingfisher
2. Forest Kingfisher
3. Black-necked Stork
4. White-bellied Sea Eagle
5. Nankeen Night Heron

stonechat1 said:

Wow, that was now a long read. But what awesome shots you made! Love the Spinifex Pigeon, parrots and rosellas and finch photos!
Did the male Red-winged Parrot eat the seeds of this fruits?

Regards,
Roman

PS.: May I ask which photo equipment you used?

Click to expand...

Thanks Roman. I'm not really sure what the Red-winged Parrot was eating - I guess they mainly go for the seeds though.

I use a Sony A77 with 70-400G lens.

Some more shots:
1. A big boy
2. The business end
3. Banded Fruit Dove at Nourlangie - a bit more of a 'distant record shot'

A few shots at Nourlangie:

1. The rock from Anbangbang Billabong
2. Anbangbang Billabong
3&4. Some rock art
5. The view to the west from the rock

That shot of the dove's plenty nice enough Andrew! An easy bird to miss, and if you follow the recent split (and call it Alligator Fruit Dove), a species with a pretty small and mostly inaccessible range. :t:

Day Forty-six: Merl – Bardedjilidji – Ubirr – Mamukala – Alligator River – Nourlangie

I had a quick stroll round the campsite at Merl early in the morning, getting good views of a Black-tailed Treecreeper as I did so. Once again the ‘supercharged Dunnock’ call was useful for picking it out.

Then it was off to the nearby Bardedjilidji trail, which weaves through sandstone outcrops and also through some monsoon forest along the river. This rather easy walk was excellent – probably the best bit of Kakadu I visited. Little Woodswallows were common around the rocks and gave excellent views as they perched on dead trees. A pleasing bird to pick up was a female Cicadabird, which was busy demolishing a huge grasshopper, which looked almost as big as the bird itself. The main bird I was looking for was also reasonably forthcoming. At the first cliff face that caught the soon I had a good scan until a round shape was seen pottering along a ledge. This was a Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon, the eastern counterpart of the White-quilled I’d seen a couple of days ago. It gave some good views before fluttering up to a pinnacle. Some even better views were had of another bird later on. A pair of Sandstone Shrike-thrush were also seen on the rocks, the male singing beautifully.

A bit more wandering round the forest produced Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Yellow Oriole, Rufous-banded and Dusky Honeyeaters, Leaden Flycatcher and Arafura Fantail. I scanned across the tree tops and saw four plump white shapes in the top of one tree. These turned out to be Pied Imperial Pigeons, probably just arrived back to breed. A bit of squeaking near some riverside trees produced an immediate result when a Bar-breasted Honeyeater appeared right above me. Just round the corner things got even better when a dark shape moved on the forest floor. A luminous blue streak came out of the gloom and then the colours resolved themselves into a Rainbow Pitta. It bounded enthusiastically through the leaf litter just a few metres in front – brilliant stuff.

Next I went to the nearby rock art site of Ubirr. A Short-eared Rock Wallaby gave some close views in the car park and I again saw a Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon, but just briefly this time as it flew. Not too much was about here but I saw the first Spangled Drongo of the trip and a selection of commoner bush birds.

In the afternoon, with the heat a bit stifling, I headed to the hide at Mamukala. This overlooks a floodplain with plenty of waterfowl. Wandering Whistling Duck were numerous and there were plenty of Whiskered Terns and Green Pygmy Geese. I searched for raptors and had some success, seeing a distant but reasonably clear Black-breasted Buzzard, as well as both Swamp and Spotted Harriers. A quick stop at Alligator River turned up a Yellow White-eye, as well as Lemon-bellied Flycatcher and Rufous-banded Honeyeater. For the second time in as many days I discovered that making squeaking noises isn’t just good for attracting little birds; it’s also excellent at bringing in Brown Goshawks. The bird here steamed in on three separate occasions, almost like an obedient sheepdog. It would fly in, perch in a tree perhaps five metres away and stare down at me for several minutes. Amazing.

I once again ended the day at Nourlangie. It was a bit quiet but I saw another Banded Fruit Dove in roughly the same area as yesterday – in the wooded ravine behind the lookout. Then it was off to Jabiru for the night, the evening being pleasingly less mosquito-filled than yesterday. Barking Owls were again calling and squadrons of Flying Foxes flew out at dusk.

1-4. Rock art at Ubirr
5. The wetlands at Mamukala

Here are a couple of shots of the Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon at Bardedjilidji and a Rainbow Bee-eater at the same site. Then there's a flock of Wandering Whistling Duck from Mamukala, and an interloping Hardhead.

Here's a 'nature red in tooth and beak' sequence of an Australian Darter dealing with a fish at Mamukala.

And here's my faithful and obedient Brown Goshawk at Alligator River.

1. Close
2. Closer
3. Really close!

Day Forty-seven: Jabiru – Nourlangie – Mamukala – Adelaide River – Fogg Dam

After leaving the campsite at Jabiru, where a good selection of honeyeaters were in the trees, I headed back to Nourlangie. I decided not to head to the main car park initially but to drive along the unsealed road to Gubara. This eventually passes close to the rocky escarpment, which I thought might give some opportunities to look for one of the birds I was still missing. It didn’t take too long for some promising calls to filter down from the rocky slopes, but they were initially quite distant. Once again I enlisted the help of a faithful Brown Goshawk, this time a juvenile sitting stoically in a tree. It soon attracted the attention of various birds including the ones I was looking for: White-lined Honeyeaters. A couple of these nicely marked Top End endemics came in to to bother the hawk, whilst others gave their rather mournful call from the crags.

I had one other bird I hoped to find in Kakadu. A little further along the road a group of pigeons trotted along the road – could this be them? Well, no, but it was a new species for the trip: a group of Emerald Doves. I drove back along the road, hoping for success and stopped when I saw a dark brown shape on the road, perhaps a hundred metres ahead. It was hard to discern much detail at first so I drove closer, rather slowly. I wasn’t sure what the bird would do but it didn’t move too far as I got close enough to see a bit more. And there it was: dark brown with white underparts and a bold red eye ring: a Partridge Pigeon. I’d been expecting to bump into one of these eventually but it took rather a long time to do so. It quietly wandered into the roadside vegetation where it gave some good views. Job done.

Next, I again stopped at Mamukala. Just in front of the hide I had close up views of a Broad-billed Flycatcher. It was a slightly dull bird, so probably a female, but the broad ‘spade-bill’ was very obvious from certain angles. I took a walk along the trail that leads around the wetlands. Long-tailed, Masked and Crimson Finches were all seen but it was often a bit quiet. Swamp Harrier and Collared Sparrowhawk were amongst the raptors seen. Eventually the trail comes alongside some grassy floodplain, which is where most of the waterfowl were hanging out. Large numbers of Magpie Geese were in amongst the grass and there were also hundreds of egrets, Pied Herons and Whiskered Terns. Goodness knows what was hidden amongst the grass.

I continued along the road towards Darwin and out of Kakadu National Park. Early in the afternoon I stopped at the Adelaide River Crossing. ‘Is this it?’ is a question that will occur to you on your first visit to this site. After a few minutes exploration it will dawn on you that you really are looking for a rare bird in a pub car park. A thin strip of riverside forest runs alongside the edge of the car park and here you’ll hope to find ‘the boy’. I only saw one bird in the trees, but happily enough it was ‘the boy’: a spanking male Mangrove Golden Whistler. Rather a nifty bird, subtly different to regular Golden Whistler.

Next stop, and where I spent the rest of the day, was the famous Fogg Dam reserve. This site is great for seeing wetland species but also has very good forest. It was in the latter where I saw my first Red-headed Honeyeater, as well as an obliging gang of Little Bronze Cuckoos. A Grey Whistler, slightly less colourful than the whistler I’d seen at Adelaide River, was also around. Interesting that in northeast Queensland, where I’d previously seen this species, it’s easily confusable with Lemon-bellied Flycatcher. In the Top End, the latter is yellower and the former less yellow, so the two species are very obviously different. Several Rose-crowned Fruit Doves were calling but remained stubbornly out of sight.

Aside from the large numbers of Magpie Geese and other waterfowl, a few Australian Pratincoles cruised over the marshes. They were also seen right next to the road on the way to Fogg Dam, alongside the old airfield. Raptors included White-bellied Sea Eagle, Swamp Harrier, Black-shouldered Kite and an Australian Hobby. The latter seemed to terrify the hundreds of Tree Martins enough that they all left the area almost instantly.

It had been a good day but it ended less favourably as I arrived into Darwin. I hoped to stay in one of the caravan parks that abound but they all seemed to be either fully booked or there was no one on duty. In fact almost everything seemed to be booked up and I eventually ended up, after an hour or two of driving around, at a noisy backpacker place on Mitchell Street right in the city centre. The noise from the pub below was so loud I had to put on the air conditioning to conceal the pub noise rather than to keep cool. Not my best night’s sleep in Australia.

Below, a few shots of Fogg Dam with lots of Magpie Geese and various other waterfowl.

Day Forty-eight: Lee Point – Buffalo Creek – Palmerston Sewage Works – Fogg Dam

After recovering from the arduous night in central Darwin, I headed north to Lee Point. The point includes some nice beaches and scrub and I’d heard it was good for roosting waders. The tide was well up but there didn’t initially seem to be any waders around. Eventually I could see some in the distance, but they were more towards Buffalo Creek. I decided to go back to the car and drive down there. I parked near the beach at Buffalo Creek. As I came out onto the sand, a Pacific Reef Heron waded along the strandline. There was a small flock of Far-eastern Curlews and a few Greenshank but most of the waders were still rather distant and across a rather deep creek. I pottered around the scrub for a bit, seeing Red-headed Honeyeater and Lemon-bellied Flycatcher.

Wondering if I might have to go all the way back to Lee Point and then walk down, I drove a little further north and managed to get a bit closer to the waders. The creek was still in the way though. Somewhat surprisingly, on the other side of the creek to me were some birders. I asked them how to get across and they said they’d walked down from Lee Point and that the creek went back quite a bit further. I decided it was ‘wet feet’ time and took off my shoes and socks and waded across to join them. We had an enjoyable time looking through the flocks of waders and terns. Five species of tern were present : Caspian, Gull-billed, Whiskered, Greater-crested and, most pleasingly from my point of view, around twenty orange-billed Lesser-crested Terns. Most of the waders were Greater Sandplovers but in amongst them I picked out at least two short-billed Lesser Sandplovers. There were also several Red-capped Plovers and Red-necked Stints. A few Sanderling and Turnstone eventually appeared and then a couple of goodies popped in. First, a Great Knot scuttled its way through the group and then a splendid Terek Sandpiper joined the throng. Finally a group of ten Grey Plovers arrived. Offshore at least three Brown Boobies cruised around. Large-billed Gerygone and Yellow White-eye were in the shoreline scrub.

I then headed back to Lee Point and spent a bit of time looking around the scrub near the car park. There was plenty happening with Arafura Fantail, Northern Fantail, Grey Whistler, Helmeted Friarbird, Pheasant Coucal and Varied Triller all seen. I hadn’t seen the bird I hoped for though. Eventually the other birders reappeared and, almost as soon as they did, so did the bird I was looking for: a Green-backed Gerygone. It flitted around for a bit before disappearing back into the scrub. Then I joined a couple of the birders for a vigil waiting for Chestnut Rail to appear. The tidal conditions (falling on a spring tide) were apparently good but none came out from cover. Azure Kingfisher and Common Sandpiper were about all I saw as I waited.

In the afternoon I tried to figure out how to access Palmerston Sewage Works. I’d been told that the outfall was good for mangrove species but I still have no idea how to get there. The place is locked up, with signs saying it’s closed because of crocodiles, and the fence continues a long way in both directions. Any tracks petered out into impenetrable scrub and grass. I decided it wouldn’t be such a good thing to hack my way through all this in the heat of the day, so decided I’d head elsewhere. I saw Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Collared Sparrowhawk and Pheasant Coucal while I was looking.

I spent the rest of the day at Fogg Dam. Initially I walked around the forest looking for Rose-crowned Fruit Doves. They were calling everywhere but always at a bit of a distance. As soon as I got close, they seemed to go quiet. While I looked I found a lovely Pacific Baza perched up in the canopy picking at something (a lizard perhaps) that it had caught. Then even better, a primordial shriek revealed a Channel-billed Cuckoo cruising over the treetops – a brilliant looking bird. I was almost giving up with the fruit doves when I heard one calling across the road. I hung about for a bit and was almost heading back to the car when one flew over. I didn’t see where it landed but it immediately started cooing once it did so. I never found where it was perched, so the views remained pretty poor.

Dusk was falling on the marshes, and reams of Magpie Geese, herons and ibis were all gathering. An Australian Hobby once again careered around overhead. The whole place heaved with life – sort of like a good day in north Norfolk but warmer and with better birds.

Day Forty-nine: Knuckey Lagoons – Nightcliff – East Point – Buffalo Creek

This was my final day on the road. I began at Knuckey Lagoons, a busy place for waterbirds with loads of the usual Magpie Geese, egrets and herons. A few Australian Pratincoles showed nicely and a Brahminy Kite sailed overhead. In the trees by the lake there were several Figbirds and Helmeted Friarbirds. Holmes Jungle Swamp was a bit unpleasant, being thick with mosquitoes and not all that attractive a proposition for birding. A few Grey Whistlers and hundreds of Black Kites were about all I saw.

I headed down to the coast at Nightcliff hoping to find roosting waders. I mostly found Masked Lapwings, but there were also several Greenshank, Whimbrel and Common Sandpipers. I returned an hour or so later when the tide had gone down a bit. There were no more waders but I had good views of a smart Collared Kingfisher on the rocks and also saw Lesser-crested Tern and Pacific Reef Heron. I thought I might find some more waders at East Point and did find a few on the north shore on the rocky reefs. Seventeen Grey-tailed Tattlers were good to see, together with several Red-necked Stints and a Great Knot.

The afternoon was a bit disappointing, with a further trip to Knuckey Lagoons and a short look at Buffalo Creek hoping for Chestnut Rail yielding little. By mid-afternoon I had to take the car on a final journey into the centre of Darwin, where we part company after a month on the road. I had a wander around Bicentennial Park, just by city centre, seeing Varied Triller, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, White-breasted Woodswallow, Rainbow Bee-eater, Rufous-banded, White-gaped and Brown Honeyeaters, Little Friarbird and Pacific Reef Heron rather easily. By late evening it was time to go to the airport for a red-eye flight back to Sydney.

Below, a few pics from the beach in Darwin.

Day Fifty: Eastlakes – Royal National Park

I arrived into Sydney at dawn and picked up a hire car. I was only going to have it for a few hours but thought it would give me a chance to see a few more birds. I began where I started, at Eastlakes. The weather was a much more pleasant than it had been in June and there were plenty of birds about. The Superb Fairy-wrens were getting into breeding plumage and a few Fairy Martins were in amongst the Welcome Swallows. A Little Grassbird was seen along the edge of the reeds but no crakes or rails appeared. A few Brown Quail again appeared – this seems to be a good site for seeing these.

I continued south to Royal National Park. With a degree of symmetry, this is where I ended my previous trip to Australia in 2009. It was good to re-familiarise myself with the east coast birds I started the trip with, such as Eastern Yellow Robin, Brown Thornbill, Yellow-faced Honeyeater etc. A Rose Robin gave good views near Audley. It was generally pretty quiet for birds though and I was a bit too tired from the flight to look really hard.

Early in the afternoon I headed back to the airport and I was soon flying over the interior of Australia and back to the UK.

Only fifty days? Hardly worth going really. Nice trip report all the same; an excellent taster for a bit of Aus I haven't visited.