Tour Narrative
Bad weather almost snookered us at Adelaide. Heavy rain had made the tracks around the St. Kilda saltfields very soft, calling for careful driving. But it was all worth it, as we had fabulous views of a group of Banded Stilts, including several adults in breeding plumage: very lucky, given that the vast majority was inland breeding. Our visit to Billiat Conservation Park was a stroke of good luck, producing as it did a Malleefowl walking beside the road; we’ve struggled to see this species in recent years. Other highlights here included beautiful Regent Parrots, an unexpected Black-eared Cuckoo, nesting White-backed Swallows, four species of fairy-wren, and of course those fabulous Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats!
Our flight north to the “Red Center” around Alice took us over vast areas of “green desert,” where the rains had produced a massive growth of vegetation and much flowering. The areas around town were almost unrecognisable, with only the steep slopes of the escarpments revealing red rock. A walk adjacent to the Desert Park illustrated the amazing ability of Central Australia’s nomadic birds to take advantage of local conditions. Very few of the species we saw there that afternoon were Alice residents; instead, most were nomads that had moved in to the areas temporarily: Little Button-quails, Diamond Doves, Budgerigars, White-winged Trillers, Rufous Songlarks, Crimson Chats, and Masked Woodswallows. We also saw some lovely Banded Whitefaces (a species never before encountered in the 24 years we’ve been conducting this tour) and an excellent Ground Cuckoo-shrike that perched up for scope views.
Our day trip to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and Kata-Tjuta (the Olgas) revealed a lot more blooming desert and yet more nomadic species, including Pied Honeyeaters and more Masked Woodswallows.
We spent the final days of the tour around Darwin, where we spent several very productive days enjoying a wealth of colorful species. Highlights included a brief Chestnut Rail, a single Oriental Plover, two noisy Collared Kingfishers, a pair of Barking Owls, a beautifully obliging Rainbow Pitta, and several bizarre Frilled Lizards.
- David Fisher
Updated: December 2010