With the cooler months upon us, another run up into the outback was in order. The Strzelecki track and creek would be our area of interest this year. This time around though, we would head across to the east from Leigh Creek through Nepabunna and then turn north out on the plains east of the Gammon Ranges and follow the Mt Hopeless Road to where it meets the Strzelecki Track just before where the Cobblers start.
We left at dawn as usual, making our way through the mid north and along the western edge of the Flinders Ranges. Our first outback birds for the trip were seen a few creek crossings north of Parachilna with a pair of Black-breasted Buzzards making an appearance above the highway. Always a thrill to find this far south, they have been consistent in this area for us over the past couple of years.
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| Black-Breasted Buzzard |
Copley bakery for lunch was enjoyed before pushing off along the Nepabunna road. We had taken this route for the chance of finding my ultimate bogey bird the Ground Cuckoo Shrike. It was quite a good drive with some nice scenery and birds. Just as always for me not the GCS!
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| Views north from the Nepabunna Road |
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| A nice little waterhole we found along the Nepabunna Road with lots of birdlife around and even a Peregrine Falcon calling from the cliffs in the background |
Making our way across then out onto the eastern side of the Gammon Ranges we turned north onto the Mt Hopeless Road.
A Sturt Desert Pea spotted by Michael in a dry creekbed had me pulling the Hilux to a stop not too long after. Amazingly a first for me, considering how many trips I've done into the outback!
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| Sturt Desert Pea on the roadside |
The daylight was starting to wane by this stage and the search for a campsite was well underway. Eventually we found a suitable creek and pulled up for the night. With about half an hour of light left we went for a wander to see if any birds were around? The whole area was very dry, not having seen any rain for quite sometime. Highlight of the walk was a Black Honeyeater found in a patch of flowering Eremophila.
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| Camp one east of the Gammon Ranges |
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| Our traditional steak and red night was enjoyed on the first night as always! Never disappoints! |
The next morning, we were off early. The first bird to stop us was an Australian Hobby sitting low on a Bluebush in lovely early light. I tried to stalk in close to it, but this bird was having none of it and flushed. A little while later Michael spotted a big flock of birds on the horizon. We were heading north, and the flock was heading south so we turned and chased. I'm not sure what we were hoping for them to be? In the end it was a big flock of Galahs! You can tell it was early in the trip and the excitement strong still, to be turning around for a flock of these very beautiful but super common Cockatoos!
Heading north again we passed Moolawatana Station. Just on the outskirts we spotted a pair of Black-Breasted Buzzards hunting on the wing. We never quite got close enough for any decent shots before they moved out of reach further to the east.
North of Moolawatana Station the Gibber desert really becomes prominent with its sandy base and a layer of rich red stones on top of the sand typical of the country north of the Gammon Ranges. With it came our first chance to connect with my favourite Chat of the desert country the Gibberbird. We found a pair fairly quickly, which was interesting in the fact it's probably the most southerly pair we have come across to date.
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| First Gibberbird for the trip just north of Wooltana Station |
Keeping the wheels turning for a while across the gently undulating gibber hills just north of the Ranges, we eventually came across a dry creek line which looked perfect for Red-browed Pardalotes. Again, we'd never seen them this far south before but thought it was worth a shot. A little burst of playback had a couple of birds calling back not too long after.
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| Our most southerly record so far of a Red-browed Pardalote |
Whilst photographing the Pardalotes we could hear a commotion from a bunch of White-plumed honeyeaters a little deeper into the creek in a thick patch of small River Red Gums. Expecting to hopefully find an Owl getting rudely interrupted from his daytime snooze, we were quite surprised to find it was an Olive-backed Oriole which was getting harassed! Not a bird I was expecting to find right out here! I normally associate this species with habitat which has much higher rainfall. Just shows that when it comes to birding... expect the unexpected!
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| An unusual find out here we thought... an immature Olive-backed Oriole! |
Over the last stretch of the Mt Hopeless Road before it joined the Strzelecki Track I went into Dotterel mode. This involves giving yourself a quite substantial headache by scanning the gibber passing by out the side window looking for Inland Dotterels. You can do a LOT of kilometres between sightings of this fantastic little desert wader! Which means very sore eyes by the end of a long driving day! Fortunately, this wasn't to be one of those days as I managed to spot a small flock of around 14 birds within the first hour of scanning. Gotta be lucky sometimes!
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| Michael slowly stalking the small flock of Inland Dotterels in the foreground |
After a typically frustrating session with the always wary Dotterels, we made our way to the junction with the Strzelecki Track. Turning right we wasted no time moving off the gibber plains and up into the sand swale country known as the Cobblers. A harsh unforgiving environment but always with some interesting birds to see.
Stopping in at the now defunct Montecollina Bore for lunch, we wandered around the bore where we had once swum and looked out over the now dry area which was once a thriving wetland full of wetland birds like Crakes, Grassbirds, Stilts etc. To be honest the place is now just depressing and it's such a shame some of these more popular bores couldn't be left on for both the people moving through but even more importantly the birds. We didn't hang around...
Anywhere in the Swale country north to the Strzelecki creek crossing is a chance for a Letter-winged Kite. This rare outback beauty is one of the main reasons we head for this track. Unfortunately there had been no reports of any being around of late. They've been mostly up in SW Queensland after some good seasons up that way. We still stopped at all our usual spots checking every tree thoroughly. None were found on this trip but there were plenty of other outback birds to keep us amused.
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| This old quarry north of Montecollina Bore on the Strzelecki Track, held a breeding pair of Red-backed Kingfishers |
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| A Red-backed Kingfisher at the quarry shown above |
Our second camp for the trip would be along the Strzelecki Creek near where it crosses the track. We had been told a spot to try for some Grey Falcons which we searched, but came up empty.
A good spot to camp was found and then we used the last bit of light in the day to wander about from camp and see what birds were around? Not long after we found both an active Black-breasted Buzzard nest and an active Little Eagle nest within 200m of each other! Pig damage along the banks was disappointing to see. I had hoped they hadn't got this far out into the desert but seeing the diggings they'd defintely been there at some stage!
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| One of a pair of Black-Breasted Buzzards breeding along the Strzelecki Creek |
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| Camping along the Strzelecki Creek we were visited by an intriuged Eastern Barn Owl wondering what was going on? |
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| A closer image of the interested Eastern Barn Owl |
The next morning started with another walk, this time a little further away from camp. Lots of birds where around with plenty of the usuals like Budgerigars, Diamond Doves, Woodswallows, Cockatiels etc. A Red-browed Pardalote was calling so we chased that and got some nice images.
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| Budgerigars along the Strzelecki Creek |
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| Our second Red-browed Pardalote sighting of the trip was along the Strzelecki Creek |
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| Cockateils were around in reasonable numbers |
The Strzelecki Creek crossing would be our turn around point for this trip, so after packing up and doing a little more exploring around the creek we then set off back down the track.
Scanning and searching through all the potential Letter-winged Kite trees again as we had the previous day. Still with no luck!
Not far south of the crossing we came across a Strap Snouted Brown Snake on the track. Pulling up for a look we followed it off the side on foot, as it seemed calm and pre-occupied! It went up to a small dense bush and started poking it's head in and out of any openings it could find. Eventually a Plains Mouse hopped out with the snake hot on it's heels! It went from bush to bush and the snake kept pushing it back out of each bush. After about a minute or two of this happening it managed to find a small burrow and dived in. The snake wasn't done yet though and went as deep into the burrow as the diameter would allow. After a minute with it's head down the burrow it eventually retreated and moved off looking for something else.
It was an amazing encounter to see and watch unfold! All in broad daylight! We saw a total of four of this species of snake on the road this day. More than we've ever seen up that way before... conditions must've been favourable for them at the time.
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| Strap-snouted Brown Snake on the hunt |
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| Plains Mouse wondering how to escape! |
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| So unusual to see in broad daylight! I guess a Strap-snouted Brown Snake chasing you will do that! |
The rest of the afternoon we put some kilomtres behind us so that we would have a bit of time for birding in the morning before we headed off for home.
Petermorra Creek would be our camp on the third night. Rolling in with about two hours of light left it gave us some time to set up camp and still check the area out for birds.
Red-backed Kingfishers had been quite common most places we'd been once north of the Flinders and they were here in this creek as well. Following the call we got a few shots and then got distracted by some Woodswallows up high. I hit a little burst of playback and to my surprise a bunch of them dropped down immediately and landed on a perch right in front of us! It was nice getting them to co-operate in such good light.
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| Red-backed Kingfishers at Petermorra Creek |
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| At Petermorra Creek I managed my best shots of White-Breasted Woodswallows |
Moving off the next morning we stopped in a few likely looking spots for Gibberbirds. It took a little while as can be the case with these sometimes unpredictable little marvels of the outback. On about our fourth stop we found a pair that came in to check us out but only from a safe distance so we didn't stay too long with them.
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| An early morning Gibberbird on our last day |
I was back in Dotterel scanning mode as we kept on the move south. Luckily again it didn't take long before I saw a couple about 30m off the side. We got out and did a little stalking. Now this can be very hit or miss with Inland Dotterels mostly they're wary little buggers but this group which turned out to be about eight birds strong played the game a little bit. As an added bonus whilst on my belly taking shots of the Dotterels a pair of Gibberbirds walked into view! So we had a great little session with both.
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| Inland Dotterels |
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| This Gibberbird wandered in whilst photographing the Inland Dotterels |
The next bird to spot us was a Cinnamon Quail-thrush crossing the road just before a little drainage line. We jumped out and managed a few shots of the three Quail-thrush that were there, before our attention turned to the drainage line. It looked a good chance for Thick-billed Grasswren (raglessi). We slowly made our way up the drainage line until I eventually spotted one dive into a bush just behind us. We tried to coax it out but was having none of it! So with Michael on one side and myself on the other we moved back to the road. Just as we neared it the little Grasswren dashed across, stopped on the opposite grader bank just long enough for a quick shot and disappeared off into the thick shrubs.
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| One of three Cinnamon Quail-thrush we stopped for at a drainage line that proved very fruitful |
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| Thick-Billed Grasswren (raglessi) our most easterly record of this subspecies |
The exicitment at this spot wasn't finished though. As we got to the road an unusal bird burst off the gibber in front of us and headed off behind some bushes to an unknown distance up a small sloping hill. We didn't see it land but split up and headed in the general direction hoping to see it again and get an ID. We walked about 200m up the hill but found nothing. Splitting up we headed back towards were we found it. Michael had moved further to the left when we got down the hill and met up with the drainage line again. meanwhile I had a theory in my head that maybe we walked straight past it on the way up the hill and it then had moved back down to where we originally saw it. So I went back down there... when I was about 10m from the spot I nearly stepped on it before it burst again! This time we got a much better look as it banked off in front of me, right past Michael and off up the drainage line until it was out of sight. Comparing ID notes together we believe it was an Oriental Plover in breeding plumage. We walked about a kilometre up the drainage line in a hope to get a photo but unfortunately we could'nt relocate it.
By this stage the day was getting away from us so we had to pack away the hiking boots and hit the road for home. Another fantastic trip done into one of our favourite outback areas... full of cool birds and camping every night under the always stunning outback sky!
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