Hi Birders,
I did a brief, but successful 4 day mission to Alice early November this year prior to a 2 week sojourn in Indonesia.
Flew Qantas to Alice from Adelaide. Arrived 11am. Grabbed Hire car. After checking into the MacDonald Range Holiday Park, I went straight to Alice Plaza for the sewerage treatment plant key from NT Power and water office.
Next -Olive Pink Botanic Garden for Western Bowerbird! Brilliant and bower not bad either.
Headed over t the Treatment works and picked a few nice WW Black Terns as well as the usual suspects in such places.
Next headed out to Kunnoth Bore. Spent most of the time scoping the place and checking accesses to the bore. Not easy as there is now carpets of 3-4 foot high plants everywhere!! Then spent an hour walking up and down the Tanami road looking for Grey Honeyeaters with no success.
Next day up early to head out to Ormiston Gorge. Did the Pound walk which was awesome. Did see the sign about swimming at the beginning but took little notice!! Saw Dusky Grasswrens, Painted Finch and Spinifex birds all very clearly! Also many pairs of Spinifex Pigeon on the track. They all displayed the same disregard for my presence allowing me to get within 3 feet of them and then pointed their bums at me?? Unusual…. Saw a Nice fat well cared for Dingo as well.
When I had done almost the complete loop in 4 hours, I came to the part where you “MAY” have to swim. Here I was faced with a 80-100 meter swim across a lagoon bordered by unscaleable rock walls on each side. With scratched, sore legs and not much drinking water left, the option to turn around was devastating, especially as there was less than 500 meters of the track to go!!. I decided to swim with my bag held above my head. With camera, Binoculars and car Keys all wrapped in plastic I set off only to find my bag was sinking me. Eventually a well timed chance meeting with a European Tourist saved me by us both swimming with it together.
Still a very cool time!
Early next am saw me on Santa Teresa Road. Despite the Spinifex being over head high??? (I had seen it waist high in Gluepot only 2 weeks earlier and had no success in finding Striated Grasswrens) I had great views of Rufous-crowned Emuwren, more Spinifexbirds and the first of the Red-backed Kingfishers. Parrots started to number up as well with Cockatiel, Budgie, Mulgas, ringnecks and many others all gathering around.
The rest of the day was spent at the Treatment plant and Emily / Jessi gap area. Then another evening out at Kunnoth Bore. This time I saw Slaty-backed Thornbills, and got brilliant views of Bourke’s Parrot on the Tanami Road. On walking back to the car close to Dusk I was “buzzed” with a flyby of a lone Flock Bronzewing?? Brilliant.
Last day and I did a pre-dawn start with Chris Watson out north of Alice. After spilling Coffee all trough his brand new Robson’s Birds of South-east Asia… (Hope the other book arrives soon) we set off and one of the first birds seen at dawn was a GREY FALCON. Good start I thought!! He was doing back flips! In seeing this I realise that I had actually seen 2 the day before at Jessi gap but was not able to clearly id them.
We finished with Breaky at the bakery and I spent the rest of the morning packing and headed back to the airport for a noon flight – business class. Nice!
Home by 3.30.
In Closing I did not see a Princess parrot and I had a most excellent time seeing the region in GLORIOUS colour and splendour. A once in a lifetime event.
Cheers
Steve Potter
Adelaide
Trip List
Australasian Grebe
Hoary-headed Grebe
Little Black Cormorant
Little Egret
White-necked Heron
Straw-necked Ibis
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Plumed Whistling-Duck
Black Swan
Australian Wood Duck
Pacific Black Duck
Grey Teal
Pink-eared Duck
Hardhead
Black-shouldered Kite
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Spotted Harrier
Swamp Harrier
Collared Sparrowhawk
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Brown Falcon
Grey Falcon 10 L
Nankeen Kestrel
Purple Swamphen
Black-tailed Native-hen
Eurasian Coot
Little Button-quail10 L
Black-tailed Godwit 10
Wood Sandpiper
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Black-winged Stilt
Red-capped Plover
Black-fronted Dotterel
Red-kneed Dotterel
Masked Lapwing
Gull-billed Tern
Whiskered Tern
White-winged Black Tern 10
Spotted Turtle-Dove
Flock Bronzewing 10 L
Crested Pigeon
Spinifex Pigeon 10
Diamond Dove
Peaceful Dove
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo
Galah
Cockatiel
Australian Ringneck
Mulga Parrot
Budgerigar
Bourke’s Parrot 10 L
Pallid Cuckoo
Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo
Red-backed Kingfisher 10
Sacred Kingfisher
Tree Martin
Fairy Martin
Splendid Fairy-wren
Variegated Fairy-wren
White-winged Fairy-wren
Rufous-crowned Emu-wren 10 L
Dusky Grasswren 10 L
Red-browed Pardalote 10
Western Gerygone 10
Slaty-backed Thornbill 10 L
Southern Whiteface
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Yellow-throated Miner
Singing Honeyeater
Grey-headed Honeyeater 10 L
White-plumed Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
Black Honeyeater 10
Crimson Chat
Red-capped Robin
Hooded Robin
Grey-crowned Babbler
White-browed Babbler
Crested Bellbird
Rufous Whistler
Grey Shrike-thrush
Magpie-Lark
Willie Wagtail
Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike
White-winged Triller
Masked Woodswallow
Black-faced Woodswallow
Little Woodswallow 10
Pied Butcherbird
Australian Magpie
Little Crow
Torresian Crow
Western Bowerbird 10 L
Richard’s Pipit
Zebra Finch
Painted Finch 10 L
Mistletoebird
Little Grassbird
Spinifexbird 10 L
Rufous Songlark
Brown Songlark
Total: 102
New 10: 19
Life: 11
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