Julatten 28th July to Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary 21st August - Part 1

Julatten, Queensland - Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, Northern Territory

Legend:- Green - Campsite:   Purple - Caravan Park:   Orange - Day Use Area:

Bird Species List for this section                                            Part 2  Part 3

Introduction

We travelled in an anti-clockwise direction from our home base in the Far North Queensland and planned an eight week trip through outback Queensland to Alice Springs, with a side trip to Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary. Then south to go up the Strezlecki Track to Innaminka and back into Queensland for a T-van gathering at Kroombit Tops National Park inland from Gladstone. Then back home base but due mainly to the weather this plan did not quite work out as planned. Due to the size of this trip the blog diary has been split into three parts, Hope you enjoy our travels, which were mainly centered around our hobbies of birdwatching and photography with a bit of history thrown in.

28/7/2022 

Finally got away at mid-day after a few dramas with the spare wheel on the roof rack. Headed off to Mareeba for last minute supplies and lunch. Then onto Malanda Caravan Park for a night as we were going to a Birdlife Northern Queensland Group talk at the Malanda Pub. 

Prado and T-van at Malanda Caravan Park

Arranged to meet friends Angus and Karen for dinner before the talk by Martin Willis, a professional wildlife photographer, about Cape York Peninsula birds. As expected there was lot of great photos and information, which paid tribute to Martins skill and patience.. It was a great social gathering as these regular talks had been on hold due to the covid outbreak.

 

29/7/2022 

Had breakfast then packed up, finding I'd left a pair of jeans at home.  Decided to go into Atherton to do some clothes shopping, which was fortunate as friends from Cairns were heading home through Atherton whilst we were there so we arranged to meet for a coffee at the bakery. When we left them we did not get far before we saw some other friends sitting outside another cafe having coffee, so we stopped for another chat. Eventually left Atherton for our next stop at Mt. Hypipamee for lunch. Plenty of tourists here including a few birdwatcher, so more chatting. Not many birds around apart from the usual picnic table scroungers, Australian brush-turkey, Lewin's Honeyeater and Grey-headed Robin.

Grey-headed Robin

From here we passed through Ravenshoe and stopped at Archer Creek Rest Area for an afternoon coffee. Then onto Mt. Garnet where we stopped at the Top Shop to fuel up, usually cheaper than the BP down the bottom of the hill. Then onto our next destination, Pinnarendi Station for two nights. Had another chat to Nadine as we booked in before setting up as it cooled down to 12ºC. 

30/7/2022 

Slept in this morning as we were in no hurry to get out of bed to the cold morning.(12ºC).Slow start with porridge for breakfast. Went for a walk down to No1 Dam but very quiet for birds, not much flowering apart from Grevillea pteridifolia. Mainly Brown HE with a few Little and Noisy Friarbird. Only a Willie Wagtail at the dam and a couple of Pale-headed Rosella who flew over. Big Dam had no birds apart from 13 Peaceful Doves on the track. garden Dam had two Australasian Grebe. Back at camp a Pacific Baza was calling as we downed a hot cup of coffee to warm us up as the wind, which had been blowing all morning, made it quite chilly. 

Pacific Baza

Had a welcome hot shower in the afternoon before going for another walk around the dam circuit but fewer birds than this morning. The evening was spent having delicious pizzas with our Kimberly Camper neighbours as it cooled down. 

31/7/2022 

Not quite as cold last night(14ºC) as a cloud cover came in overnight. Packed up and headed over to the cafe for a coffee and biscuit plus a chat with Nadine. Then back on the road south where we tested out our UHF radio with a road train driver who let us pass him. Stopped at the Oasis Roadhouse for a break (no intention of using it but being Sunday it was closed!). Lindsay took over driving to Blackbraes National Park on mainly bitumen with patches of gravel and roadworks. Stopped at the Ranger Station to use the loo and have lunch under a shady tree. Then drove to the turn off for the 17.5Km drive to the Emu Swamp Campground, had a welcoming committee at the road junction!

Arrived at the campground which was empty so we walked the 800m across the dam wall to check out the campsites on the other side, all OK. So went back and drove the T-Van across and spent sometime trying to get the T-Van level on the uneven ground. Spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the dam - mainly Australasian Grebe (108)and Black Swan (74) with a few other birds and insects. Spent the evening listening to a podcast about Lizards.

Australasian Grebe

1/8/2022 

Decided we did not need a second day at Blackbraes, when we awoke to a foggy morning of 99% humidity. Could not see much of the water on the dam so we did a quick packup and headed to the far side of the dam by which time the fog had lifted sufficiently to do a survey. Plenty of Cotton Pygmy Goose and Pacific Black Duck. Drove off to the ranger station where we stopped to have breakfast and a 20 minute bird survey. Back onto the main road there was not much gravel road from here to Hughenden. Took it easy, stopping at Whistling Bore Dam, lots of Rufous Songlark calling and a few Hardhead on the water. Saw one Zebra Finch, our first for the trip.

Rufous Songlark

Continued on to Hughenden where we stopped at the Robert Gray Memorial Park for lunch. Had a Grey Butcherbird for company trying to share our lunch.

Grey Butcherbird

Then fuelled up ($2.19) and booked into the Alan Terry Caravan Park where we did the quick setup, which we usually do for one night stays.

T-van Quick Setup

Plenty of Yellow-throated Miner around the camp, which was probably the reason there were not many other birds as they were chasing everyone they saw.

Yellow-throated Miner

2/8/2022

Warm night 14ºC. Coffee, packed up and headed south to our usual breakfast stop at a roadside dam. Usual Australian Reed Warbler, Diamond Dove and Magpie-Lark around the Dam. Exploring the area around the dam we added Cockatiel, Budgies, Singing HE and Zebra Finch. 

Budgerigar

Morning Coffee was at Corfield then Winton for lunch at Hollow Log Park. Called into Winton Wanderers Caravan Park to book a site in a few days time after we had been at Bladensburg National Park. Headed for the park and Bough Shed Campground where we found no other campers. Chose a good site and set up before a coffee and a walk in 31ºC temperatures. Found a Black Honeyeater with food heading to a nest.

Bough Shed Campground Waterhole

Later in the afternoon we went down to the river which had quite a bit of water in it but not much birdlife. Back for dinner and a relaxing evening. 

3/8/2022

Did a bird survey around the campground and found more Rufous Songlark who were fast becoming the most common birds of the trip.

Rufous Songlark

After breakfast we headed off to the Homestead to use the facilities and check out the park information. A few Spinifex Pigeon were foraging around the buildings,

Spinifex Pigeon

Took the Scammy Lookout track stopping along the way to check out some Banded Lapwing who were in the same area we had seen them on our last visit, also some Red Kangaroo.

Banded Lapwing

Headed up the rocky jump up track onto the ridge and across a narrow rocky creek crossing, avoiding the water. Arrived at the lookout in time for morning coffee. This is the only place for Telstra reception so we made the most of it. Phoned up Safety Dave to get a couple of Tyre Pressure Monitoring Sensors sent to Alice Springs as we had lost one and needed a spare. 

Scammy Lookout

Then back tracked to Scammy Waterhole where we found a pair of Crimson Chat. 

Crimson Chat - male

Next was Scammy Gorge, where we found White-browed Woodswallow mating. 

White-browed Woodswallow

White-browed Woodswallow - mating

White-browed Woodswallow - mating

Along the track were a few flowering Eucalypts, which had Black Honeyeater feeding in them. Had lunch at off track dam. Back to camp to rest before a late afternoon walk around, but did not find the Chestnut-breasted quail-thrush we were looking for.

4/8/2022 

Early breakfast and walk around the campsite, plenty of Budgerigar around their nest sites with some feeding juveniles.

Budgerigar, juvenile being fed

Also Jacky Winter collecting nesting material

Jacky Winter - with nesting material

Then headed out to an area where Southern Emu-wren had been seen previously. site passed Skull Hole. Searched the Spinifex and found an adult Spinifexbird feeding a juvenile but no Southern Emu-wren. 

Spinifexbird - adult

Called into Skull Hole but it was getting hot so we went back to camp for morning coffee after a survey of the area, which did not record many birds. A lone Crested Pigeon was one of the few seen.

Crested Pigeon 

After the reviving coffee we packed up the T-Van and travelled back to Winton along the Opalton Road. This is a longer route to get back to Winton but far better condition than the park road, which goes via the homestead. Checked into the Wanderers Caravan Park and set up camp as the temperature rose to 35ºC! A record August temperature for Winton. In the afternoon visited the Winton Treatment Works but found locked gates and keep out signs. We used to be allowed to check out all the ponds but this time could only see one pond from the road. A couple of Plum-headed Finch were sitting on the perimeter fence and five Diamond Dove were in a tree overhanging the fence.

Diamond Dove

5/8/2022 

Strong winds blew for most of the night which resulted in a lousy nights sleep. The Greengrocer (remember them?) came around in his van early morning shouting out for business, which he got from many people including us. Lindsay bought some bacon from him for our breakfast which went well with scrambled eggs. Then headed off to the shire council offices to ask about access to the Treatment Works only to be told that there is no more access due to the dreaded workplace health and safety! Had a quick look at the poo ponds through the fence. (Update from John Lowry: He and Len Ezzy sent a letter to the Winton Shire Council highlighting the importance of birdwatching to Winton and offered suggestions on how to merge the aims of birdwatchers and the Winton SC. This was discussed at the councils November meeting with an outcome of an extra fenced off pond being built with facilities [John and Len suggested 2 hides] for birdwatchers). Let hope this solution happens. Then headed off to fuel up and go to the bakery for a coffee, no bread apart from the usual Western Queensland white stuff. Checked out the Spar store and found their last Wholemeal loaf, better than white. Left town on the Boulia Road where we started to see Australian Pratincole along with about 12 Ground Cuckoo-shrike that flew off from the side of the road. Stopped at the Diamantina River crossing and a rest area where we had afternoon coffee. The scenery was very green due to recent rains.

Winton - Boulia Road

Stopped off at Cawnpore Lookout and found a Red-backed Kingfisher perch on one of the few dead  tree stumps.

Red-backed Kingfisher

Continued along the road and took a side track, where we found a good place to camp for the night. In the evening we heard an Australian Owlet-nightjar and a Spotted Nightjar. 

Boulia Road Campsite

6/8/2022

Better nights sleep with a few light rain showers in the early morning. Packed up quickly in case anymore showers came along, which they did not. Went for a walk around the surrounding country, including a couple of mesa’s. Found 5 Spinifex Pigeon displaying then Lindsay found two Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush - managed a few photos. As we were heading back to camp a Grey Falcon flew overhead - fantastic. The scenery around this area is quite stunning.

Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush

Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush

 

 

Winton - Boulia Road Scenery

Had a banana for breakfast and got back onto the road to stop at Hamilton Hotel ruins rest area, where it was still very windy making boiling a kettle very difficult. Here we had a Banded Lapwing with 3 juveniles in tow for company plus a Great Cormorant flew over. 

Banded Lapwing - juvenile

The fence posts along the road made great perches for Brown Falcon, then in the open country we started to see groups of Flock Bronzewing. Stopped to observe them and try to take photos but they would not co-operate and kept a distance, even turning their backs on us as this not so good photo illustrates.

Flock Bronzewing

Horsfield's Bushlark

Did managed one of a nearby Horsfield's Bushlark. Continued on to the Boulia Racecourse Reserve alongside the Burke River, where we found a suitable site and set up camp. Telstra coverage here, which allowed internet access to catch up on Birdata surveys.

A late afternoon walk turned up a Common Bronzewing, which was new for the trip. Meanwhile back at camp a pair of Black-faced Woodswallow were displaying to each other, usually a precursor to copulation but this time they lost interest.

Boulia Camp Site beside the Burke River

Black-faced Woodswallow

Black-faced Woodswallow

Around 7.30 a pair of Australian Owlet Nightjar fired up from adjacent trees followed by two Eastern Barn Owl screeching. 

7/8/2022 

Had a sleep in until 7.00am due to temp. of 8ºC! Eventually got up for a warming coffee before a walk around the camp area. Added Black shouldered Kite to our trip list plus there were lots of White-browed and Masked Woodswallow feeding in a flowering Eucalypt next to our camp. Budgies were also nesting and a Rufous Song lark was seen carrying nesting material. 

Rufous Songlark

White-browed Woodswallow

Tried the bird detection feature on the OM-1, which worked well nailing the White-necked Heron eye for focus.

White-necked Heron

Decided not to go into town and have a day off at the camp. Had another walk around the camp in the afternoon before dinner and found Little Friarbird in the flowering Eucalypts and another pair of Budgerigar enjoying themselves.

Little Friarbird

Budgerigar

Also had a Brolga fly directly overhead which, resulted in this photo of a hammerhead Brolga!

Brolga

After dinner a Barn Owl started to call along with an Australian Owlet-nightjar so we went down to the river and found two Eastern Barn Owl, one adult and one immature sitting in a tree, another was calling not far away. Back at camp an Owlet-nightjar showed up.

8/8/2022

 

Another cold night and sleep in with a porridge breakfast and slow pack up. Had two Australian Pelican swimming in the river, an Intermediate Egret foraging on the river bank and a female Magpie-lark marching up and down letting everyone know she was there.

Australian Pelican

Intermediate Egret

Magpie-lark - female

Had trouble lining up the Prado to the T-van due to the sun shinning into the reversing camera and the angle of the van to car because it was on the edge of a slope. This episode reminded me of a future job, which involves removing the useless plastic spare wheel cover and move the reversing camera to align with the hitch better. A Red-winged Parrot was suitably amused as it watched on.

Red-winged Parrot - female

Eventually took off for town to visit the general store for a few items, white bread again so gave that a miss. Fuelled up ($2.50lt) and left town for the Donahue Hwy, which became the Plenty Highway at the Northern Territory border. This stretch of the road is mainly bitumen with a few gravel stretches to Tobermorey Station, 250km from Boulia. Lindsay drove a section of this road and scored a gravel section. Plenty of treeless stretches of Ironstone country before we found a lunch stop at an old gravel pit off the road. Crossed the border into the Northern Territory and found Tobermorey Station (5km from the NT/QLD border). 

Tobermorey Station Campground

Here we booked in for a night. Went for a walk along the surrounding flood levee wall in the afternoon and had 81 Spinifex Pigeon and 114 Crested Pigeon. A few Brolga flew into forage on the watered grass, apparently regular visitors.

Brolga

Back at camp we found we had run out of gas so had to use the cookshed for dinner. 

9/8/2022 

Another 8ºC night so a slow start. Boiled the jug in the cookshed for a coffee before going around the levee wall again, hardly any birds so we headed for a dry creek area, where we found some birds including Paperbark Flycatcher new trip bird. Back for porridge and to pack up for a 9.30 departure to get back onto the Plenty Highway. Stopped along the road for morning coffee and found three Chiming Wedgebill and a White-browed Babbler. Further along the road is a roadside dam, this was very productive with at least 500 Zebra Finch plus at least 150 Budgies but best of all two Black Falcon swooping down trying to catch one of the birds. Another surprise here was a Gull-billed tern.

Budgerigar 

Black Falcon

Gull-billed Tern

Lunch stop was a large quarry with little birdlife and afternoon coffee was had at Arthur River, which looked like a good camp area. We decided not to stop here so continued on to the Jervoise Roadside stop but this was full of cattle so we went to nearby Jervoise Station to camp ($20.00). Pretty basic but adequate. Road conditions today were OK. Cooked dinner over the fire pit, which was a hassle but we managed.

10/8/2022

Up at first light to take a few photos of the sunrise before resurrecting the fire pit to boil some water for a coffee.

Sunrise at Jervoise Station

Packed up and had breakfast - not much of a dawn chorus this morning Pied Butcherbird and Australian Magpie with a few Corella. Back onto the Plenty Highway, the road was fairly good gravel to start with then bitumen followed by some more gravel. Looked for a place to pull over for morning coffee but nothing suitable until we had driven 144km and found a communication tower access road. Put some air in the tyres as we were back on the bitumen road, then a coffee. Lindsay drove from here to Gemtree Caravan Park and Roadhouse, where we booked in and were  taken to our site in a very large area for campers.

Gemtree Camp Site

Lunch then a snooze and a coffee with hot water from our neighbours caravan. Had an immature Crested Bellbird hopping around the camp.

Crested Bellbird - juvenile

In the evening we went out to the Gemtree dinner with our neighbours, roast around a fire pit in front of the reception area. Met another couple and had a pleasant evening chatting. 

11/8/2022 

Had an early morning bird walk but all quiet and no new birds but a hole in the ground got our attention. It is the hole of a generally nocturnal ant Rhytidoponera sp. There are many species in this group occurring in low rainfall (Desert) country, as well as higher rainfall areas. This particular group are large 10mm+ and have nasty stings. Members of this group often have nests that look like Volcano's with lots of Spinifex or Casuarina pieces around the hole entrance and are common in the right habitat. Members of the nest mostly forage individually. (Thanks to a friend in Darwin for this information).

Ant Rhytidoponera sp.Nest

Packed up and moved down to the Café for coffee and a vanilla slice, yum. Had a chat with a cyclist who had travelled down the Tanami Track. He had started in Darwin cycling 200-300km a day - good luck to that. Also met a couple of guys on motor bikes who had travelled from Perth and were heading north. Eventually left at 9.50 am and back onto the Plenty Highway, mainly single lane bitumen until 8km from the Stuart Highway, where it turned into dual lane bitumen. Turned onto the Stuart Highway and stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn rest area.  Then on to Alice Springs, where we went to fill the two gas bottles. We found that one was full and one empty, which meant something was wrong with the system again. So we then headed to our caravan site at the G'day Mate Tourist Park. Spent the afternoon trying to find a gas fitter to look at the gas system but they were all booked out for up to 8 weeks! After further investigation we came to the conclusion that the gas regulator was at fault. In the evening we went to the Gillen Club and met four other T-van and former T-van owners, who were staying at another caravan park. Had a good but noisy evening swapping stories. Headed home as the temperature started to fall.

12/8/2022 

Another cold night down to 1ºC, we survived! Up and out to try and get a new gas regulator. Went to Desert Dwellers camping, they had none however they put us onto Reece plumbing who they knew had some. So we obtained one from them and then went into town to park alongside the Todd River. Had a short walk back to the mall where we found the bakery and as it was nearing lunch decided to indulge in a coffee and some food. Still cool with a biting wind. After lunch we called in to the Northern Territory Megafauna museum next to the bakery for a look at their Dinosaur display, interesting. 

Megafauna Display

Megafauna Display

Lindsay visited the optometrist to get some eye drops for a troublesome eye. I went to the Post Office to pick up two tyre pressure monitors we had ordered, whilst in Bladensburg National Park. Back at camp fitted the gas regulator and it worked! Hooray. Also fitted one of the tyre pressure monitors and adjusted it. Had one of the many Australian Ringneck around the campsite visit us in the vain hope it could scrounge something to eat off us, but no luck here.

Australian Ringneck

13/8/2022

Another 1ºC night, slow to get out of bed! Lindsay made a delicious cooked breakfast before we headed to Olive Pink Botanic gardens. 

Climbed up a hill to a lookout, photographing some Black-footed Rock Wallaby and Common Wallaroo (Euro) on the way.

Black-footed Rock-wallaby

Common Wallaroo (Euro)

The view from the lookout showed most of Alice Springs.

The Gap from the Lookout

Back down at the bottom we walked a few tracks but saw few birds apart from Yellow-throated Myna who were chasing every other bird they saw. However we did find Western Bowerbird, two pairs, one with a nest and a juvenile standing beside it. Had a coffee at the café and watched the Yellow-throated Miner, Grey-crowned Babbler and Western Bowerbird fighting over a piece of toast on the ground. Kept us amused for a while.

What Else Could You Want!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow-throated Miner

Grey-crowned Babbler

Western Bowerbird

Also saw Spotted Dove (introduced species) walking along the road and White-plumed Honeyeater trying to get a drink out of the water fountain.

Spotted Dove

White-plumed Honeyeater

Back for lunch then out to Simpson's Gap. Stopped at the woodland walk but not much happening here so continued on to the car park at the end of the road. We had just started walking to the gap when we spotted some movement in the spinifex and a pair of Dusky Grasswren popped up for some photos. Lucky break! 

Dusky Grasswren

Dusky Grasswren

Continued on to the gap and had the place to ourselves for five minutes until people started to arrive.

Simpson's Gap

Saw a Black-footed Rock Wallaby amongst the rocky slopes of the gorge. 

Black-footed Rock Wallaby

Back to the Caravan Park via the Treatment works so we knew where to go tomorrow. Back at camp we were surprised to get a message from a friend of ours from Darwin days. He took our wedding photos 46 years ago and is now living in Hawker South Australia.

14/8/2022

Much warmer morning today up to 3ºC! Got organised with a bowl of porridge before heading out to the Treatment Works to meet Tanya, our guide. Signed in at the gate and donned our high-vis vests before reading the signs telling visitors what they were not allowed to do, including no swimming in the ponds or drinking the water! We wandered around the ponds for two and quarter hours. Main species were Grey Teal, Hoary-headed Grebe and Little Crow. Other good species were White-winged and Splendid Fairy-Wren, Red-necked Avocet, a Wood Sandpiper and a couple of White-backed Woodswallow.

White-winged Fairy-wren

Splendid Fairy-wren - adult non-breeding male

Red-necked Avocet

Red-capped Dotterel

Had a good time then returned to camp. The afternoon was spent around the camp getting ready to leave tomorrow.

15/8/2022 

Not quite so cold only 8ºC! Packed up and headed into town for a coffee and muffin before food shopping. Back to car only to find I had left my sun glasses at the coffee shop. Luckily someone had handed in my $10.00 pair of sun glasses. Visited the Telegraph Station, where we had our packed lunch before heading to the Tanami Track. Bitumen all the way to the Tilmouth Well Roadhouse. Stopped at Kunoth Bore, which we've been to on a previous visit but this time the bore was derelict. However we checked it out and the first bird we saw was an immature Red-capped Robin sitting on a fence, then two Brown Falcon displaying overhead. 

Red-capped Robin - immature

Continued on the Tilmouth Well Roadhouse, where we checked in and set up camp for the night. This Yellow-throated Miner came to visit as the sun was setting.

Yellow-throated Miner

Had dinner in the roadhouse, Chicken Schnitzel for me, Hamburger for Lindsay. Heard Tawny Frogmouth in the evening, 1st for trip. 

16/8/2022 

The day started well with a pair of Australian Hobby mating in the adjacent Napperley Creek. 

Australian Hobby - mating

A short time later a Black Falcon appeared on the scene and tried to catch one of the hobby’s whilst the second one tried unsuccessfully to chase it off. They were quite high in the sky but I kept the camera rolling and managed to get a few crappy shots of the event. Considering the birds almost a speck in the sky and I was using my Olympus micro four-thirds camera with 300mm lens + 1.4 tele-convertor (full frame equivalent 840mm) and handheld, they tell the story - just. The second shot shows the falcon clutching the hobby with a trail of feathers behind it, if you look closely, quite an exciting episode.

Black Falcon pursuing an Australian Hobby

Black Falcon with Australian Hobby in talons

Left Tilmouth and continued up the Tanami Track for about 20km until we came to the turn off for Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary. The 138km stretch of road to Newhaven was pretty good gravel until we reached the Siddeley Range where it was very rocky and beyond lots of corrugations. We also had to contend with a few road blocks along the way until we came to the sanctuary boundary.

Road Block - feral camel

Arrived at the campground entrance and picked up a tour guide folder before selecting a camp site. Set up the T-Van with the full awning, which was a learning curve as we had not set one up for several years.

Newhaven Camp

Had lunch and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon to recover from the awning set up! Pink Cockatoo came in to drink at the tank in the camping area late afternoon along with hundreds of Zebra Finch.

Pink Cockatoo

Zebra Finch

17/8/2022 

Cold overnight 8ºC. Went for an early morning walk along the Eremaea’s track at the foot of Lookout Hill overlooking the campground. 

After breakfast we took the Dunes self guided tour, which took us to Lake Bennet via the Desert Oak Dune fields. Semi-saline Spinifex plains with ephemeral freshwater lakes. It was at the first lake that we flushed a quail which we decided was a Stubble Quail after much debate. Then onto the Dessert Oak dune fields where we stopped for morning coffee.

Desert Oak Dune Fields

Walked around the area but not much happening, Black-faced Woodswallow and Singing Honeyeater were all we found.

Black-faced Woodswallow

Continued along the Lake Bennett Road, stopping along the way to bird, found Banded Whiteface and Inland Thornbill. Had our lunch at Lake Bennett under a shady tree as it was quite warm.

Lake Bennett 

By now it was too hot to do anything else so headed back to camp for a shower and a rest. Had a walk around the campsite but the flies drove us back to the T-van. Caught up on paperwork and chatted to fellow campers. Listened to an Ann Jones podcast about moths in the evening. The temperature rose from 17ºC to 20ºC due to cloud cover - warm night for us. 

18/8/2022 

After last nights temperature rise it dropped to 14ºC, which was a warm night for us - slept in until 6.40. Had a coffee and breakfast before going out on the Hillside Drive. Not many birds along the first section but we did see a couple of Grey-headed Honeyeater just before Honeyeater Hill. Teamed up with John and Lisa (American couple who had many mutual friends with us), to look for Emu-wren but we were unsuccessful. I climbed to the top of Honeyeater Hill and had great views of the surrounding countryside including the predator proof fence.

View from Honeyeater Hill

Continued onto Little Mesa, where we had lunch. During lunch we spotted a raptor over the mesa, turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon. Continued along the track which followed the predator free fence before returning to camp. By this time it was 31ºC and the windy had got up. Later in the afternoon I climbed Lookout Hill behind the campground to get Telstra coverage at the top of the hill to download some emails.

19/8/2022

Warm overnight 10ºC! Up for porridge and a big day out with Lisa and John. Had a chat with an Australian Wildlife Conservancy ecologist before we headed off on the Mt. Gurner Track, a 112km round trip. Started to see Brown Falcon hunting and perched in trees in burnt areas along the track at the beginning, most of them were light phase birds.

Brown Falcon - light morph

We passed through Bloodwood Corimbia opaea and sand plains before the old derelict Mt. Gurner Homestead Bore where we saw a few patches of the invasive introduced Buffle Grass. Then entered a patch of Blue Mallee Eucalyptus gomophylla, sand plains and open saltbush flats. Took a short detour off the main track to Dingo Hill, where we climbed to the top for spectacular views of the surrounding landscape.

View From Dingo Hill

Back on the main track we turned off for Mt. Gurner passing through stands of Weeping Mulga Acacia paraneura.

Views from Mt. Gurner Road

Arrived at Mt. Gurner for a late lunch before exploring the area. Found a family of Splendid Fairy-wren but nothing else apart from a Central Military Dragon seeking refuge in a clump of spinifex.

Central Military Dragon

Then back to camp with one stop, where we found a family of Purple-backed Fairy-wren and photographed Grevillea wickhamii. 

Purple-backed Fairy-wren

Grevillea wickhamii

Back to camp and another hill climb, this time Lookout Hill for internet access. 

20/8/2022 

 

Back to cold morning 3ºC Collected the camera trap and found Desert Mouse and Hopping Mouse recorded during the early evening. After breakfast we set off on the Lakes Tour, which started off passing, through some soft and dense old growth Spinifex Triodia pungens before stands of Mulga Acacia aneura. Then the track passed through more spinifex and some Inland Tea-tree Melalueca glomerata before a series of dry lakes scattered along the route. Stopped at Susie’s Lake to look for birds, the best seen were Purple-backed Fairy-wren and Hooded Robin. Further along was Bottleneck Lake and Tectnicornia Lake, where we stopped for a coffee. Then on passing Swan Lake, which is saltwater but again dry. The road passed through some Calcrete ridges, which is a Limestone formed by cementation comprising of soils, gravel and shells formed by calcium carbonate deposited by evaporation. Then the vegetation changed again to Saltbush and Blue Bush. We did stop when we heard a bird call and found a Grey Shrike-thrush. We arrived at the dry Lake Bennett and climbed a sand dune to survey the vast area the lake occupies.

Lake Bennett Parking Area - lake in background

Lake Bennett Sand Dune

On the sand dune we found a Weebill foraging in an Acacia shrub.

Weebill

Also found this Melophorus Sp. ant. They only forage in the heat of the day and are very fast runners, this one stopped long enough to get a photo. These are a large diverse group found in many habitats of mostly inland arid Australia. (Thanks to our friend Tony in Darwin for this information).

Melophorus Sp. Ant

Lake Bennett

We found a shady spot here for lunch before returning to camp with a stop along the way to record Western Gerygone. At the camp there was an Australian Hobby in a tree eating an item of prey, which looked like a Zebra Finch. Had a pleasant evening with new found friends Lisa and John who came over for a chicken curry. Plenty of stories told! 

21/8/2022 

9ºC this morning. Made a quick dash up Lookout Hill to get some internet for the English Premier League football results - my team Arsenal won 3-0 away, great. Back down at camp Lindsay had cooked up a very nice breakfast as the temperature rose quickly to 16ºC. Then headed back to Susie’s Lake to explore it a bit more. We took a walk around the lake looking for Little Button-quail reported the day before but no luck for us. There were a few parties of Purple-backed Fairy-wren, Inland Thornbill, the usual Zebra Finch and Singing Honeyeater. Took some photos of an Australian Golden Orb-weaver spider but as the wind was blowing it was nearly impossible to get a non blurry image.

Australian Golden Orb-weaver 

We had a very productive afternoon tidying up the T-van and Prado. We took down the full awning whilst the wind had dropped. We had the campground to ourselves apart from a House Mouse who got into our rubbish. We also put out a water bowl, which the Zebra Finch quickly found.

Zebra Finch

Over the past few days a Black-faced Cuckooshrike had been roosting in a tree beside our campsite and tonight was no exception as it was back again making some interesting calls. This photo was taken when the cuckoo-shrike was waking up in the morning - look familiar?

Black-faced Cuckooshrike

    Part 2  Part 3