Mt Isa to The Gulf

Almost finished a trip with Klaus Uhlenhut from Mt Isa to the Gulf. Conditions are dreadful. The area did not have a wet season and everything is parched. There is no water in the Leichardt or Cloncurry Rivers and most creeks are dry. Mr Isa’s water supply is down to 30% I’ve been told by locals. We have only seen a few cane toads, mostly at Adels Grove. No other amphibians, reptiles or mammals and very few insects. The birding has been very hard and we have been unable to find even a welcome swallow. Feral cats are everywhere. Much of the land has been burnt and what is left has been eaten by cattle that did not go to Indonesia as pastoralists had planned. As an ecologist, it is a shocking sight to see tree skeletons everywhere and little habitat left for anything to survive. Chris Melrose Christine Melrose 0407705140 cmelrose099@gmail.com =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================