Hi all,
There’s been little in terms of reports from SA on Birding-aus lately so I thought I’d provide a short overview of what’s been happening the last two months or so.
Of course, everyone would be aware that Scarlet-chested Parrots have bred at Gluepot between late July and mid November. An estimated 300-400 birders have come to search for these normally elusive birds and most have succeeded. Following the fledging of the last nest the show appears over for now, but we’re hoping they’ll stick around somewhere on the Reserve. There are many other good birds present, including more Red-lored Whistlers than in previous years, and Striated Grasswrens have returned to most large patches of spinifex. Unfortunately it’s still downhill for the Black-eared Miner. Major Mitchells have returned and flocks of Budgies have taken up residence following the drying up of their usual outback haunts. Little Buttonquail is almost common and a small number of Painted Buttonquail have turned up; I even saw them in the Flinders Ranges for the first time.
Around Adelaide a small number of Painted Snipe have turned up as well as Freckled Duck. Interestingly, the latter species breeds in outback lignum-lined waterways and went without being seen for almost a year while there was plenty of water around in the outback, and as with Budgies (and many other species) they’ve now started turning up in the settled areas. A fortnight ago I saw a group of 15 Frecklers.
All grasswrens here have also been showing well including Short-tailed at Stokes Hill, Western near Whyalla, Thick-billed at Lyndhurst, and Eyrean and Grey on the Birdsville Track. Other good species seen there recently include Yellow Chat, Flock Bronzewing, Brolga, Bustard and Oriental Plover, while Banded and Chestnut-breasted Whitefaces are still around in their usual haunts.
The Letter-winged Kite site on the Strezelecki track now appears deserted after the birds moved a little way north and then a fire ripped through the area. It would be good to re-locate them but they may have dispersed. Black-breasted Buzzard has been seen at irregular intervals after having bred again near Marree.
Unusually scarce birds include Pied Honeyeater and Crimson Chat, who have no doubt moved further inland, while Orange Chat is common. Gibberbird has also increased in numbers again (despite many of the gibber plains becoming overgrown…!) while Inland Dotterel numbers peaked earlier and have started dropping again. This is not the case for Cinnamon Quail-thrush, of which on a recent 3-day trip we counted over 40 birds.
Finally, around the Murray river, the waterbird bonanza continues, with incredible numbers of fish-eating birds (grebes, cormorants, darters, night-herons etc) as well as crakes and rails. Interestingly, while last year Spotless Crake increased and dispersed rapidly, it seams that this year Spotted Crakes have taken over. Latham’s Snipe are back, too, and we saw and photographed a confiding one only a few days ago.
OK folks that’s another excellent birding season in a nutshell, I’m sure I’ve missed stuff, feel free to reply with your highlights, in the meantime I’ve put some more bird photos on my website (below).
cheers
Peter
