Home via Moorrinya NP, the Lynd, etc

Started the home leg of our trip intending to camp overnight at Moorrinya NP, just 150km up the road from Forest Den. We toured the park by car for several hours until early afternoon, stopping at water points that Martin had used to train the Lake Eyre Basin rangers in bird ID in Sep 2022. The park was relatively quiet, with good grass cover after recent rains, and the QPWS Rangers busy completing winter patch burning. We were reminded how much warmer the temperature had become when we narrowly avoided clipping a fast-moving Brown snake ducking for cover along the road to one of the dams. After checking out the campground, a tight circle of numbered, open campsites all facing each other, with 2 campers already in residence, we revisited plans; having failed to make contact with Jason, the head Ranger, to authorise an ad hoc bush camp spot, we lunched at Tom's dam and then headed out of the Park to put a dint in tomorrow's travel distance, backing ourselves to find a roadside camp en route for tonight.

Some random bird highlights for Moorrinya:
Collared sparrowhawk (at campground)
Black-chinned HE (H)
Spiny-cheeked HE
Striped HE
White-plumed HE
Brown HE
Grey fantail
Striated pardalote (nesting in tiny road cuttings)
Yellow-rumped thornbill
Hooded robin
Brown treecreeper

We pressed on via Torrens Creek and Prairie, noting the changing vegetation as we headed north into different red and black soil habitats. We used the tourist drive road to cut across to the Kennedy Development Road and after checking out the Flinders River crossing, decided to camp the night at the roadside lookout with a spectacular view north towards Mount Spurgeon on the Dividing range. Unbelievably, not a single vehicle came past overnight, so we had the place all to ourselves - along with some Common Bronzewings, Owlet-nightjars, and the dingoes that howled to greet the sunrise from the gorge below.Read more