My dad and I planned this trip a few months ago and it's finally happening! We are travelling for 16 days, from Adelaide to Uluru and Alice Springs and back again, and birding everywhere along the way.
This morning we made an early start and headed north, arriving at Crystal Brook by 9:30am. We had morning tea, then stopped at Bowman Park, as recommended by Lauren Butler (THANKS LAUREN!). It was a beautiful park, but the weather wasn't fabulous so we only stayed for half an hour, but I now know that it is worth the trip just to go there, and I really want to go back and explore! I spent most of the time watching Purple-crowned Lorikeets and Variegated Fairy-wrens, which I haven't seen in a long time.
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| Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Bowman Park |
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| Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Bowman Park |
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| Variegated Fairy-wren (male in eclipse), Bowman Park |
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| Variegated Fairy-wren (male in eclipse), Bowman Park |
Fortunately, the weather was better in Port Augusta when we arrived. We headed straight to the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens, a known birding hotspot in the area. It was a bit quiet in terms of bird activity, being the middle of the day, but we still managed 16 species, including a lifer - Chirruping Wedgebill - and 3 additional ones for the year list (Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Grey Butcherbird, and Yellow-throated Miner).
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| Grey Butcherbird, Arid Lands Botanic Gardens, Port Augusta |
My lifer!!! The chirruping wedgebill, looks just like the chiming wedgebill, but have different vocals and their ranges don't entirely overlap.
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| Chirruping Wedgebill, Arid Lands Botanic Gardens, Port Augusta
Singing honeyeaters are EVERYWHERE here.... they are the New Holland honeyeaters of Port Augusta.
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| Singing Honeyeater, Arid Lands Botanic Gardens, Port Augusta |
Babblers were everywhere as well, but were a bit shy and too quick for me.
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| White-browed Babbler, Arid Lands Botanic Gardens, Port Augusta |
Spiny-cheeked honeyeaters didn't make an appearance until we were nearly about to leave. They LOVED these flowers.
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| Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Arid Lands Botanic Gardens, Port Augusta |
We had a good first day and I can't wait to see more on the rest of the trip!
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