We woke early in the Vic. River Campground, and we set off on a lap of the campground.
Plenty
of interesting birds, good views of Silver-crowned Friarbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Great Bowerbird, and a single Apostlebird - since when
is there only one Apostlebird anywhere??
After
our walk, we headed for the car and drove the few kilometres to the
Victoria River Boat Ramp. Lots of raptors over the burnt paddocks on
either side of the road on the way there, the ever present Black and Whistling Kites being joined by Nankeen Kestrel , and a Brown Falcon who posed very
nicely for us.
Some Bar-shouldered Doves flew off the road ahead of us as we emerged onto the boat ramp.
The
scenery was dry riverbed extending behind us, the river in front, and on
our side of the river, burnt grassy woodland. The other side of the
river seemed untouched by flame, but also appeared pretty clapped out
for birdlife.
Noting a Black-fronted Dotterel on the riverside, we headed up into the burnt bush.
We
were surrounded by Great Bowerbirds and Blue-winged Kookaburras, and a
Whistling Kite was circling hungrily. In the unburnt eucalyptus by the
river, some Rufous-throated Honeyeaters showed well in the morning sun.
Derek
had suggested the boat ramp as a possible good place for Purple Crowned
Fairy Wren, but this area was far too burnt. We could even hear them
calling of the other side of the river, but we couldn't see them.
We
headed, somewhat discouraged, back to the car. Derek said the river
continued round behind a small hill of river stones, and we wouldn't be
able to cross. I went over anyway, and saw that there actually was a safe
crossing, as the water passed underground at that point.
We
crossed, and I played the call. Immediately, we saw a wren silhouette fly over us, and very soon we were surrounded. We moved
slowly up the bank into the tall grass, and a half-coloured male Purple Crowned Fairy Wren flew to an exposed branch at the top of a tree and began singing,
providing perfect photo opportunities. The females also showed nicely,
but stayed in the shade.
Flushed with success, we hit the road and moved on towards Timber Creek, our next campground.
The
trip yielded a pair of Australian Bustards, one of the birds I'd been
very much hoping we'd see while driving. We stopped briefly to check out
a small bird flying over the road, and heard finches, so we headed off
the road into the grassland.
Very
quickly, a pair of Masked Finches showed themselves, another lifer for
me. Long-tailed Finches flew over quickly, and we could hear Double-bars
calling in the denser bushes.
A quick jaunt to the other side of the road yielded a small flock of about 10 Varied Sittella, and another Paperbark Flycatcher.
We
arrived at Timber Creek, and as Sue and Derek started setting up the
camper trailer, a movement by the creek behind the campground caught my
eye. It was brown, black, white and appeared striped - Varied Triller!
bonus! I thought and hurried over.
It
turned out not to be a Triller, but from my point of view even better -
a. Buff-sided Robin showed beautifully among the pandanus fronds,
allowing for nice pictures before it flickered off.
I
walked slowly along the creek, seeing plenty of brown honeyeaters and
noting a colony of Little-red Fruit Bats, and paused for a moment at a small
gap in the pandanus. A female Shining Flycatcher was working the creek
edge, and a moment later her mate flew into view.
The campground itself was full of very tame Black Kites, and also yielded some Rainbow Bee-eaters, Mistletoebirds, Helmeted Friarbirds and others of the usual suspects.
A Black Kite steals some of my cheese...
Helmeted Friarbird
We went for a drive, and found a place a short distance away called Policeman Point. The view was nice over the Victoria River, and I picked up a new species (Yellow-tinted Honeyeater) and we saw the first Zebra Finches of the trip.
We
saw a sign directing us to 'Victoria River Lookout', so up we went. The
hillside was barren and stony, with sparse spinifex, and it was
dreadfully hot. Nevertheless, after admiring the view, I wandered off
for a while and found plenty of Black-faced Woodswallow, Yellow-tinted
Honeyeater, Striated Pardalote, a single Budgerigar, and a Grey-fronted
Honeyeater came very close and checked me out.
Black-faced Woodswallow
Grey-fronted Honeyeater
Rainbow Bee-eater
Back
in town, a brief chat with a somewhat abrupt Ranger directed us to a
small, open-fronted Shadecloth hide in front of the ranger office. You
wouldn't know unless you were standing in the hide, but there was a
small man-made water hole hidden in the grass. As we walked up, we could
see 3 finches sitting in a nearby Baobab tree, and I idly scanned them,
expecting to see Long-tailed Finches. My expectations were met - but
only by 2/3rds. I was amazed to see that the third bird on the branch
was an uncoloured juvenile GOULDIAN FINCH!!!!
We hurried into the hide, and the finches soon flew down. Several Longtails, a couple of Masks, and the Gouldian showed very well for a short time. By this time it was 2pm or so, so we were very surprised to see the Gouldian, as they're generally morning-only drinkers.
Chuffed,
we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, until we went to check out
a dripping tap that Case Hulsebosch, a birding friend, had told us about at a place in Timber Creek called
Hickey's Beach, near the community office. We sat there for some time,
but saw little of interest other than a fast moving fantail that I
couldn't identify.
Retiring to camp, we spent a while watching the fruit bat colony ship out, and then went to bed.
30th August
We
woke in the Timber Creek campground early enough to watch the bats
returning, and headed straight for Hickeys Beach to look for Gouldians.
We
sat at the dripping tap for an hour, with almost no action other than a
single lifer, the Fantail from yesterday which proved to be Northern.
Then, with no warning, a couple of leaves fluttered out of the tree.
Except
they weren't leaves. They were two male Gouldian Finches, a black
headed and a red headed, drinking at the puddle. I was too far away for
really good photos, but photos were taken and the birds took off
quickly.
Ten
minutes later, three Gouldians, another black head and two red heads,
all male, were in the tree, but they didn't come down to drink,
unfortunately. Just as we were leaving, I snapped a photo of some small
green birds flying over head, and I was delighted to see they were
Varied Lorikeets!
We
left Hickeys Beach since it was so dead, and headed for the ranger
office hide. As soon as we arrived we realised we should have gone there
first. The place was cracking - White-gaped, Rufous-throated, Yellow-tinted and Brown Honeyeaters were drinking, Masked and Long-tailed Finches,
Paperbark Flycatcher, and overhead some Crimson Winged Parrots. No Gouldians, but it was getting too late for them anyway. I got up close to the
Honeyeaters, which allowed for some nice photos.
Rufous-throated Honeyeater
Long-tailed Finches
White-throated Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
Red-winged Parrot
Yellow-tinted Honeyeater
Paperbark Flycatcher
We returned to the road, destination Lake Argyle. Not many interesting birds along
the way, when we stopped at the border I picked up Pied Butcherbird.
The habitat basically shifted immediately after crossing the border, and
became a series of spectacular hills and rock faces, much more like the
habitat I had seen in the photos and had been looking forward to.
We headed first to Kununurra to shop. Having done so, we drove through some absolutely stunning country to Lake Argyle.
In
the front office of the campground, we ran into Mike Fidler, a friend who is very involved with the Save the Gouldian Fund.
As it happened, we were put in a campsite right next to Case Hulsebosch, Derek's friend, Aussie Finch Forum member, and also the man who'd given us GPS coordinates for sites
on the way. The heat was oppressive, so we went to the pool.
The
pool, in my opinion, was the second best part of the day (after the Gouldians). Apart from being refreshing and cool, it was an infinity pool
with a spectacular view of the lake and gorge. Absolutely stunning.
Nothing
much has happened since then. Tomorrow morning we have a boat trip
out onto the lake specifically to find the Yellow Chat! I have no doubt
we'll see other birds too, but it leaves at 5.30am, so perhaps some sleep will be necessary...
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