Top End 2013 - Wyndham

2nd September

We started today with a 4am wake up. We were away by 4.30, and we arrived in Wyndham by 5am for our first mornings count!

We all met by the Big Crocodile - a large and friendly looking concrete beast, which I wouldn't be hugely surprised to find out is Wyndhams biggest tourist attraction...

We were split into groups, There were four 'teams', led by Mike, Catherine, Sarah and Nina. I was in Sarah's team, which was the group dedicated to the just-out-of-town waterholes.

We arrived at the first waterhole at 5.20am. Gouldians are mainly morning-drinkers, so being there early is important. Sarah showed us the hole (a barely-damp seep among a stand of pandanus), and told us that this was the one waterhole where we were allowed to count birds in the trees - usually they only count them if they come to the ground, but when you can't see the ground, the trees have to do.

 

Sunrise at our first waterhole

Peter Phippen and I were left there for the morning, and the rest carried on over the hill. As we set up, we could see the birdlife around the water. Over a hundred Double-barred Finches, lots of Crimson Finches, Brown Honeyeaters, White-gaped Honeyeaters, Longtails, Maskeds, etc. etc.

We began our count when the first Gouldians arrived. Throughout our 5.30-8.00am survey we counted eight total, including three youngsters. All the adults were male, and all red heads except for one black head.

Soon after we arrived, we realised counting at this hole wasn't going to be providing much info to the researchers that day. A female Brown Goshawk flew in and lurked in the dense bushes, and a Brown Falcon was sneaking about. 

 

Brown Goshawk

 

Just as we were thinking how useless it was with the raptors there, an Australian Hobby flew into view. The finches in the trees became really nervous, and a couple of seconds later the Hobby stooped and banked at great speed straight into the bushes.

However, the hobby didnt count on there already being two other, larger, raptors already in wait - and all the birds involved got a bit of a surprise! The finches vanished in an instant. The Goshawk flapped clumsily out of the bushes looking very startled, the Hobby shot off back where it came from, and the Falcon ran off over the ground before flapping away.

It took half an hour for the finches to return, and when they did their numbers were somewhat smaller. The only other birds of interest during the morning was a small flock of Varied Sittella passing through the burnt woodland behind us.

We returned home for breakfast at the Parry's Creek restaurant. By then it was around 9.30am, and David Holmes, Cheryl Mares and I sat around and chatted for two hours before splitting up for sleep, photography, and in my case, the general direction if the pool. It was already over 28 degrees, (the edge of my true comfort zone). Thank god for shady pools.

After a long swim, we gathered in the front carpark so that Mike Fidler could lead us out to some fairly close by aboriginal rock art.

Our arrival at the area was as interesting as the art itself from my point of view. Mike's car got bogged, and once we'd all huffed and puffed to push it backwards out, he rolled it straight into another, bigger hole!

 

 De-bogging the car

 

 

Begin another half hour or so of pushing, spinning tyres and sand clouds before the car was free and we could wander around.

I actually saw no birds except double bar finches in the gorge. But I didn't mind, because the gorge was spectacular. Beautiful rocky cliffs on all sides, and the rock art was quite interesting too, although I'm not one for that type of thing really.

Even though I saw nothing, others saw White Quilled Rock Pigeon, and Mike Jarvis saw a Kimberley Honeyeater - a species I must try to get before leaving Parry's.

It was getting on in the afternoon by then, and quite hot, so I basically jumped straight out of the car and back into the pool when we got back. During the evening when it had cooled a bit further, I took a walk around the next-door waterhole,and though I saw plenty of Magpie Geese, White-gaped Honeyeaters, Brown Honeyeaters and even a single roosting fruit bat, no Kimberley Honeyeater or Lemon bellied Flycatcher.

Tonight all the 'camping counters' had dinner together, a barbecue in the camp kitchen, which was very nice.

 

3rd September

Day three of the count!

The by now usual 4am start was beginning to become a bit tiresome (pun intended). However, arise in the dark we did, and we got to the crocodile without incident.

I was placed in Nina's group, and since there are four groups and four mornings I suspect I might be getting a day in each.

I was stationed with Steve and Neil outside the Wyndham Preschool, a one minute walk from the big croc. As we arrived, I thought to myself 'well, no gouldians today'. It certainly didn't look like the place for it, being right in town and next to (what in wyndham passes for) a busy road. 

 

They turned on the sprinklers at least, which attracted all the local honeyeaters. White-throated, Rufous-throated, Brown, Yellow-tinted - all becoming commonplace now! On the power lines above us I was entertained by the antics of very large numbers of White-breasted and Black-faced Woodswallows, and after they had mostly departed (having warmed up for the day), an equally large flock of Fairy Martins.

 

Fairy Martins

At around 6.30 I was beginning to get bored. There was little activity and none of the finch variety in front of the sprinkler, so we were chatting away (quietly). I noticed a number of leaves falling from one of trees at the far end of the schoolyard, and turned my bins on it hoping for Crimson-winged Parrots, feeding and dropping leaves.

Well, I got one hell of a shock. Apparently there was a second, unnoticed sprinkler. The leaves were Gouldians, over 100 and probably closer to 150. Mostly juveniles, but a number of black headed (both male and female) and some red headed males. Hurriedly we grabbed out clipboards and counted, but it was futile - there were too many, and far too flighty, one minute on the ground, the next in the trees, the next on the ground again. We put in our best estimates as the flock continued to come down to drink.

Sadly, the preschool fence was in the way of good photos! But I managed a few shots as they flew into the taller trees around the school and departed.

While we had been watching them, two men came round the corner with cameras and I pointed out the Gouldians to them. I later discovered they had been hanging around the shire offices around the corner, talking loudly and annoying the hell out of the counters there. Probably why the gouldians came to us, the guys at the shire struck out entirely. 

 

Later that night, reading through the young birders group-chat, Ashwin had posted a link to an eremaea report of 100+ gouldians in Wyndham, noting it was coincidental for me. Apparently the two birders with cameras had written a report. If only he connection had been stable enough for me to reply and say that I was with them when they saw them!

We retired from our count somewhat early, as the raptors had risen and made the smaller birds disappear. Contented, we waited by the croc until it was time to head back to camp.

 

A somewhat distant, but still stunning male Crimson (red)-winged Parrot, put in an appearance while we were waiting at the crocodile

We relaxed in the pool until 11.30. I went and freshened up, and left Derek and Sue snoring poolside. I'd arranged to be in one of the cars heading to Emma Gorge, part of El Questro, at midday. Ian had warned us the previous night that it was a 40-minute, rock-hopping climb into the gorge, so Derek and Sue backed out. I was worried, but still went.

We arrived at Emma Gorge, which is a bit touristy, and sat down at their very nice restaurant for lunch. Staying at Parry's meant that I was unable to afford anything on their somewhat illustrious menu, but Peter Phippen very kindly shared some of his chips and salad with me

Silver-backed Butcherbird, a race of the Grey Butcherbird which I have no doubt will sooner or later be a full species, were hanging around the area.

A few stayed behind, but most of us headed off on the walk.

The walk, which I had been sort of dreading, was actually wonderful. I do enjoy rock hopping (usually more so in temperatures under 30 degrees), and the path led us through the bottom of the gorge in the shade, where the temperature was a good 5-8 degrees cooler than outside. The walk itself was beautiful - tall, green, seeding grasses, crystal clear streams, mysterious, weed-filled ponds bursting with aquatic life, and rounded, smooth rocks - some brilliantly patterned by centuries of rain and erosion. All flanked by enormous, red-rock cliffs, the upper regions glowing in the afternoon sun.

If the walk itself was beautiful, the rock pool at the end of Emma Gorge was just something else. In a cul-de-sac of fifty-meter high cliffs, emerald clear waters fed by hot springs around the edges, and a tiny stream falling over the top of the cliff provided a constant, almost rain-like patter of falling droplets. Some areas of the pool are freezing, and some are warm as a bath depending on how close to a spring you are. The water is ridiculously clean, clear as glass, and full of small rainbow fish.

And of course, as is utterly typical, my camera was accidentally left sitting on the table back in camp.

Unfortunately, I took a bit of a tumble over some rocks trying to climb a bit too fast up to an elevated rock pool. Nancy managed to half-catch me, breaking my fall with probably would have damaged my shoulder, and I came away very lucky with a small cut on my toe and shin, and a very sore rear end. 

If you are ever in that part of the world, budgeting for a day at Emma Gorge is absolutely essential. Take your swimmers and don't forget your camera!

Arriving back at camp, I was greeted with some jealousy-provoking news. While I'd been out gorge hopping and wrecking my toe, Derek and Sue had taken a drive and seen 200+ Pictorella Mannikins, a species I was, and am, running out of time to see

And just to add insult to the insult to the injury, Derek showed me some pictures of where he had been counting that morning (a place called Chimalu), and some of the birds that came down to drink. Arriving at a photo of some small green parrots, he gestured and said "now, what are these?"

The photo showed Varied Lorikeets, on the ground, drinking at the waterhole. DAMMIT!!!!!

After a while spent chatting after dinner, I got into conversation with Mike Jarvis about birding sites around Darwin. He said he was running a tour on the 15th (the morning before I fly out), and that I was welcome to tag along -i very quickly said yes! In conversation with Ashwin later, he said he was now worried, as a morning touring with Mike could net me 30-50 species, many of which would be year ticks, and many of which i wouldn't get otherwise. Heh heh heh.