Strzelecki Track 2000 continued ...

Day seven
Returning to the Bulloo Overflow the following morning we made our way down towards the lake and it was not long before we could hear the Grey Grasswrens making their excited chattering calls. We could see them moving ahead of us in the sparse clumps of lignum around the edge of the lake. We decided to stay put and send Dave out —Dave being the youngest —to push the birds back towards us. Quite a few flitted back and eventually all of them settled in a large lignum bush out in the lake. We had excellent views in the scope with up to eight birds visible in the one field of view, which wasn’t surprising given that we counted 40 birds leaving that lignum bush. It is gratifying that their numbers can build up quickly after a flood. Prior to 1998, Grey Grasswren numbers were dwindling yearly and the species was increasingly difficult to locate.

Other birds of note at the Overflow included a male Redthroat carrying food to a nest; good numbers of Pink-ear Duck, Grey Teal, Hardhead, Gull-billed Tern, a few Black-tailed Native-hens and Orange Chat and my first record at this locality of Pallid Cuckoo, and roughly 190 Plumed Whistle-ducks. On the way back to Tibooburra we saw about 20 Wedge-tailed Eagles feeding on dead kangaroos — the best numbers I have seen there since the rabbit calicivirus went through a few years ago. A great excursion celebrated with a few beers in the Family Hotel that night.

Day eight
Heading west the next morning to Cameron’s Corner, about 60 kilometres out, we started encountering the first of many Pied Honeyeaters. There was an incredible array of birds in flowering Eremophila maculata around the edge of a canegrass swamp. As well as male Pied Honeyeaters doing display flights, there were Crimson Chats and White-browed and Masked Woodswallows flocking to the Eremophila nectar. Quite a few Black Honeyeaters were present and good numbers of Budgerigars and Rufous and Brown Songlarks. All up, quite a spectacle.

We flushed six Stubble Quails from the cane-grass swamp, my first record for NW –NSW. Sturt National Park gave us our first pair of Black-breasted Buzzards near their nest, more Pied Honeyeaters, and our first Owlet Nightjar. A Corner Store ice-cream and we were on our way west across the Strzelecki Desert. We had not gone far before we encountered a group of Banded Whiteface. A swamp a little further on produced the only Red-kneed Dotterel for the tour. It is difficult to overstate how fantastic this area looked. The dunes were covered in wildflowers and water lay between the dunes. Pied Honeyeaters were singing everywhere when we pulled up; it was so good we decided to camp near a likely looking sand dune. Thunderstorms to the west made us glad we’d stopped. We only had a few spots of rain but enough to bring up Neobatratus centralis — a cute burrowing frog.

Day nine
I thought we were hearing Eyrean Grasswrens calling on the dune just behind our camp the next morning but we walked about a kilometre before we saw a solitary male.We encountered two more solitary males — the females were probably on nests. Crimson Chats were nesting, and everywhere Pied Honeyeaters were doing their display thing. A sudden shower sent us scurrying back to camp. We could hear those calls again coming from behind the camp and this time found a pair of Eyreans feeding young within 40 metres of camp.

The drive to Strzelecki Creek produced a few more Spotted Harriers, dozen of Crimson Chats and Pied Honeyeaters and hundreds of Masked and White-browed Woodswallows and Budgerigars. Near the creek we saw our first Black Falcons and had a pair of Ground Cuckoo-shrikes on a nest beside the road. A pretty good day, all up.

Day ten
We spent part of the following day along the Strzelecki Creek searching for raptors for which the area is renown. While there are still quite a few raptors, the numbers don’t compare to what was there prior to the introduction of the rabbit calicivirus. Black Kite and Wedge-tailed Eagle numbers have plummeted. Raptors recorded: a pair of Black-breasted Buzzard, a few Spotted Harriers, Little Eagles, Australian Hobbies and Black Falcons, and we flushed Boobook and Barn Owls. No Letter-winged Kites or Grey Falcons were seen in this area. It was an excellent season along the creek although the creek had not flowed because the Cooper Creek had not reached a high enough level.

While not wishing to be repetitive, there were hundreds of Budgerigars nesting in the coolibahs (Eucalypyus microtheca) along the creek and all the usual desert nomads were in good numbers: Masked and White-browed Woodswallows, Crimson and Orange Chats, White-winged Trillers and Diamond Doves. Red-backed Kingfishers were quite plentiful and we saw around eight more Ground Cuckoo-shrikes. Red-browed Pardalotes were located fairly easily around our camp. Travelling south, down the Strzelecki Track, we got a few Spotted Crakes at a roadside bore and admired a cluster of Fairy Marten nests under a recently constructed information shelter.

A group of Australian Pratincole caught our attention while we were crossing the gibber plain, as did a few Inland Dotterel and Gibber Chat late in the day.

Day eleven
Near Lyndhurst the next morning, the dreaded Chestnut-breasted Whiteface was top of the agenda. Fortunately it proved painless with half a dozen birds, including a pair feeding a recently fledged juvenile, ticked off before long, as were the other local specialities: Rufous Fieldwren and Cinnamon Quail-thrush, the latter included a family group of two adults and two juveniles. However, our roll came to an abrupt halt when we started to look in earnest for Thick-billed Grasswrens. We scoured hills and plain and it was not until we had all but thrown in the towel that a pair finally surrendered — not far from our vehicles. Later we were to learn that Lyndhurst recorded only one inch of rain for all 1999! Of all the inland species, grasswrens seem to drop to the most perilously low numbers in droughts; conversely they seem to build their numbers up quickly in a good season. The pair we saw was feeding young.

Day twelve
In sharp contrast to the well-moistened inland, the Flinders Ranges and to the south were the driest I have ever seen them; however, we managed to locate all we were after around the gorges. Elegant Parrots were entering nest holes in the ancient redgums and Redthroats were performing some delightful mimicking. Of course wherever Redthroats are, Black-eared Cuckoos are usually the support act — we saw a nice adult male. Pairs of Sparrowhawks and Black Falcons were tending their respective nests. Grey-fronted Honeyeaters were also encountered in the patches of mallee in the Flinders Ranges.

One of the English lads got a Grey Falcon when he returned to the vehicle to grab his camera. I thought it was the Irish that had a monopoly on luck!

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