Sally Sheldon

Thank Lord Bluebonnet, the rain had almost stopped! It's funny how 12 degrees feels different when it isn't accompanied by soaking rain! Turned out that Thargomindah had 15 mm in the 24 hrs to 9am - enough to close all the unsealed roads and stop us checking out Jonny Schoenjahn's Grey falcon nesting site on a repeater tower 50-odd km south of town on Pickarilli station.

We left our somewhat optimistically-named Oasis Motel mid-morning, better-tempered, and looking forward to enjoying more favourable weather, bush camping on the shores of Lake Bindegolly for the next 2 nights. We took a short detour to the south of town, down the first, sealed section of the Bulloo Downs/Hungerford Road, to check out the hundreds upon hundreds of White-browed and Masked woodswallows going gangbusters in the nectar of the flowering Yapunyahs lining the channels along the Bulloo River. Parties of Chestnut-crowned babblers were frenetically upending leaves and bark, hopping and flying between fallen timber and Mulga stands, making up for the insect-feeding time they lost to rain and low temps the day before. A determined female Button-quail of some variety (presumably Little or Red-chested) called incessantly from the bush near us.

We spent 2 nights camping on the shores of the southern lake, as the weather cleared to glorious vistas - perhaps the best being the morning we left, when we saw parties of Emus silently crossing the lake from west to east, leaving an expanding silver wake behind them. During our stay, we combed the lignum on the southern lake's western shore, studied the waterfowl with our scope (the camp site itself was a fine spotting site, thanks to the power of the Kowa!), and spent the best part of our second day walking the 13+ kms from our camp to the shores of the nearly-empty northern Lake and back. That walk was AWESOME: although the lake was nearly dry, and the default bird viewing site an island in a sea of dried-up, salt-lined clay, the sheer grandeur of the site was palpable. Our scope-carting efforts were vindicated with good views of a flock of over 1000 ducks - mostly Grey and Chestnut teal, with some Wood ducks and Pacific blacks - making the most of what the site still had to offer. Thick pieces of eggshell were visible most places we walked along the shoreline, presumably from the last breeding event for Australian pelicans. We returned via the red sandy dunes south of the northern lake, noting the Acacia communities - including the rare Acacia ammophila individuals protected by the Park's gazettal - along the way.

Circuit walk around the Lake 9am to 3pm Wednesday:
Northern Lakes have almost dried out. Only a few v shallow areas remaining.
One flock of c 200 birds, mixed Wood Ducks and Teal, on small Lake in gully on south side of walking track approaching bird viewing point
One flock of c. 350 Aust wood ducks on northern Lake visible from bird viewing area
One large flock of c 1500 ducks on northernmost Lake, comprising 7 Hardheads, 7 Pacific black duck, remainder 3/4 Grey teal, 1/4 Chestnut teal (but hard to judge latter at a distance of c 600m in the grey light, males all in eclipse plumage)

A flock of around 25 Australian pelicans in V-formation flew south over us, investigating and then passing the southern lake ... but 2 of the birds broke away and headed back north... later, one of them returned south again... leaving us musing about their decision-making, communication, and how the birds (re)find each other over such vast areas

Also:
Orange chats c 20
Black Honeyeater (1 male, 1 female)
White-winged fairy-wren parties
White-backed swallows
Welcome swallows
Tree martins
Pied Honeyeater (1 bird)
Chestnut-crowned babblers
Pink (Major Mitchell) cockatoo
Stubble quail (2)
Emu (many... 1 of whom kindly left some feathers on the trail for me to use in my new hat 😊 - possibly the same bird who deposited a massive, purple splat of a poo on the trail: exactly the colour of the ripe Ruby saltbush berries we watched them improbably-delicately feeding on!)

Other bird highlights for the park and surrounding area:
White-browed, Masked woodswallows
Black-faced woodswallows
Chestnut-crowned babblers
Mulga parrots
Blue bonnets
Black falconRead more