Today we got up early to leave Kings Canyon and head to Alice Springs, where we will be staying for six nights in order to explore the town and the surrounding area. While packing up the car, we spotted a pair of Western Ringnecks, or Port Lincoln Parrots, depending on which field guide you go by! The ones that call them Western Ringnecks seem to list them as a separate species, and others that say Port Lincoln Parrot have it as a sub-species of Australian Ringneck, which also includes the Mallee Ringneck which I have seen back home. So not sure if this is just a recent split, making this a lifer, or if there is still some confusion! Anyway, the photo below was actually taken later in the day at our Alice Springs accommodation, but I wanted to put it first!
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| Western Ringneck/Port Lincoln Parrot, Alice Springs, NT. |
On the way to Alice Springs we stopped off at the Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve and went for a walk to see the 12 craters formed 4,700 years ago when a meteor broke up into four large fragments and eight smaller fragments before impact. The largest crater is 180 metres wide and 15 metres deep, and has plenty of trees and shrubs growing at the bottom. Found a few birds there, including budgies and pied honeyeaters, but didn't manage any photos of them. Got a photo of an interesting looking caterpillar!
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| Henbury Meteorite Crater, NT |
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| ID required, Henbury Meteorite Crater, NT |
Eventually we got to Alice Springs and checked in at the Stuart Caravan and Cabin Tourist Park. After being tipped off by Jim Oatley that Western Bowerbirds actually thrive in suburban environments, we went for a wander to look for one. In the caravan park grounds we found a very relaxed ringneck which didn't mind me getting close to photograph it. We walked across the road to a local park, and then around the corner to another park that showed up on Google Maps - Westland Park. It is a small park with some scrub hiding it from the street, and looks like people probably take their dogs there to run around. I wandered around for a little while, watching white-plumed honeyeaters, then spotted something very different up in the trees - a Western Bowerbird!!! A lifer for me, and one of the birds I was most hoping to see on the trip. Unfortunately it stayed quite high up in the tree, and it was getting late in the day so this is the best photo I got. Jim also told me that there are quite a few resident bowerbirds in the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens in town, so we will be heading there at some point before we leave.
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| Western Bowerbird, Westland Park, Alice Springs, NT. |
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