H friends,
I am proud to announce that I managed to see two of Australia’s most difficult parrots in just two weeks. I travelled to Jupiter Well and saw 2 Princess Parrots two weeks ago last Saturday, and on the Saturday just passed saw two beautiful Scarlet-chested Parrots at Gluepot.
The SCP’s were on the Southern Boundary track. We first saw the female who was feeding on the Marieana (bluebush) shrubs only a foot or two above the ground. She flew across the track and then flew back and into the scrub. We went in and soon found the male, also feeding on the succulent shrubs jjust above the ground. An important point here: don’t expect to find the birds sitting high in a tree. Then both of them alighted on a horizontal branch about 5 feet off the ground, and proceeding to allopreen each other furiously. They were quite throughout. They did not utter any sound either while flying or while perched.
I thought it might be good to give some more information about Jupiter Well itself. By my trip meter it was 124 km west of the turnoff to Kiwirrkura. By the way, diesel at Kiwirrkura cost $2.80 a litre for diesel.
There is no sign announcing Jupiter Well, but it can be easily recognized by three 4 gallon drums: 1 on the south side which is blue with a white central panel and two on the north sie: 1 green with a white central panel and 1 white with a blue central panel. You can drive into the area on the north side and you will find a pump, that delivers quite potable water. The well itself is on the south side, reached by a track below the road with a white arrow atop a wooden post. The original well is now dry. There are many places to camp on the north side. A warning, though. There is a small sand dune, and if you cross that you can reach extra camping places, But there is deep sand after the dune. I had to engage low 4WD to get out.
I was very lucky to see two parrots in flight about 30 km past the well. All the spinifex clumps in the area were had many seed stems arising from them, but all the seeds had been shed. It would have been perfect about a month before. I suggest that before heading out there you ring either (or both) the Kiwirrkurra store (08 8956 8453) or the Kunawarritji community beyond Jupiter Well (08 9176 9040) and ask if there has been recent rain. If there hasn’t it’s probably not much use heading out there.
The Gary junction road was generally good; a bit corrugated in parts, but nothing serious.
Dr John Penhallurick
86 Bingley Cres
Fraser A.C.T. 2615
Australia
email:jpenhall@bigpond.net.au
Phone: Home (612) 62585428
Mobile:0408585426
sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt Aeneid Book 1,line 462 “The world is a world of tears, and the burdens of mortality touch the heart.”
Magna est veritas et praevilabit Vulgate, Book of Edras
Si vis pacem para bellum Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Flavius_Vegetius_Renatus ‘s De Re http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Re_Militari Militari, book 3
Please visit my website:http://www.worldbirdinfo.net
Please also visit my blog at http://jpenhall.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/proof-that-there-is-not-a-scrap-of- evidence-in-favour-of-the-ipccs-attack-on-carbon-dioxide/
===============================
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 ===============================
