Hi Angus, Heading out to Newhaven from Alice Springs on Saturday afternoon we stopped at a nice bit of flowering mulga on the side of the road, and the first 2 birds sighted were – Grey Honeyeater! We couldn’t believe it, we had found Grey Honeyeater before even seeing our first Willie Wagtail for the day! We stopped another km up the road and I suspect we had another 5 fly over in a family group but they were so fast we couldn’t get a bead on them, however they were the right size, shape and colour. The rangers at Newhaven controlled proceedings pretty well on the Princess Parrot ‘tour’, rightly so, considering there was a bus with 13 passengers that joined us! Nobody was allowed to leave the track we drove in on. Anyway, no Upside-down plants visible however there may have been some in the dunal areas out of sight. We only(!) got a fly past of approx. 42 Princess Parrots that alighted in a tree briefly nearby before flying over our heads and out of sight over the nearest dune. I did manage to get the scope onto them twice and got reasonable views and a couple of flight shots with the camera but what a great experience it was. I noticed a Grasswren briefly twice bouncing between the Spinifex beside the track while we were waiting, it was fairly dark so I was unable to identify it. I would appreciate anybody that gets a better view passing on the details. I suspect based on the lack of rocky outcrops that they were Striated Gw however we were unable to see any tonal difference between the back and underside of the birds which means I cant rule out Dusky Gw, however it was still pre-dawn when I saw them so this may account for my not noticing it. After our Princess Parrot morning we carried on to track down Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, a lifer for Kay. On the way we had a full blood male Dingo in beautiful condition come right up to our vehicle and pose for a few photos. We also got similar close views of a male camel and a Western Brown Snake. Unfortunately we had to return to Alice Springs in the afternoon but stopped off at the locations where we had seen the Grey Honeyeaters on the outward journey but alas we didnt see them again. Arriving in Alice just after dusk we saw Black-flanked (or footed) Rock Wallabies on the escarpment. This was followed in the morning by some very photogenic Dusky Gw silhouetted in the morning sunrise, another lifer for Kay. Then it was time to pack up and head home – what a fantastic whirl-wind trip. I would strongly recommend Newhaven at the moment – the desert is looking quite spectacular. I would also recommend Central Car Rental’s who provided us with a brand spanking new Nissan Patrol and for an additional $15/day we got all the camping gear you could possibly need including swags, -10degC sleeping bags, tables, chairs, gas stove, cutlery, washing up bowl and a 20L container of water. Cheers, Carl Newhaven – Princess Parrots and the Upside-Down Plant – Leptosema Chambersii from [Angus Innes] [Permanent Link][Original]
To: Birding Aus < birding-aus@vicnet.net.au> Subject: Newhaven – Princess Parrots and the Upside-Down Plant – Leptosema Chambersii From: Date: Thu, 17 May 2012 21:01:40 +0000 What an interseting resource Birding Aus is! I raised queries about the major sightings of Princess Parrots in the Newhaven Sation and whether these sightings could be related to the observations of Ian May in 2010 that a critical component of the botanical environment of the Princess Parrots appeared to be a stunted needle leafed plant – that Anthea Fleming quickly identified as the Upside-down Plants, Leptosema Chambersii . He said that the PP appeared to derive moisture or nectar from the near ground flowers. (This was in a broader botanical environment of Desert Oaks and Spotted/Bloodwood Eucalypts, Spinifex and an orange flowered grevillea.) The following link and comment was received by me from Stephen Ambrose. They confirm the significant presence of the Upside Downplants on Newhaven. Stephen hoped to follow up with personal observations shortly.Stephen’s references: “Alice Springs Field Naturalists Club Newsletter, May 2010http://alicefieldnaturalists.org.au/10_05.pdf Pages 5 to 8 of the newsletter discusses a ASFNC field trip to Newhaven and there are several references and a picture of flowering Leptosema chambersii.” Carl Billingham is also heading for Newhaven this weekend and will give an update. Obviously plants do not flower continuously but, so far, the interesting observation by Ian May, that the plant appeared to be a critical component of the habitat of the PP may be supported and, at least, cannot be rejected. “One swallow does not make a (British) summer”. Does Leptosema Chambersii significantly help to make a princess?Angus Innes ===============================
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 ===============================
