Top End 2013 - Edith Falls to Kakadu

September 11th

An early start.

Again.

Derek and I set out for one of the creeks on the way into the campground, which we sussed out yesterday. We arrived and set up, but nothing much showed except some Longtails. At least they were of eastern race, Poephila acuticauda hecki, known as the Heck's Longtail. It's distinguished from it's Kimberley cousin by having a lipstick-red bill instead of yellow.

I'd like to just mention something at this point - I continue to be amazed by how well small sites like these are known to twitchers from all over the place. Even now, when I mention to people "Oh, I saw (this or that) at Edith Falls" the usual response is "Oh, the creekbed on the way in?".

Our target for the morning was Hooded Parrot, which Case saw here a few weeks back. We continued waiting, Northern Rosellas, Budgies, Cockatiels, Galahs, Little Corellas - basically every hookbill except the one we wanted! 21 Gouldians also flew over, but sadly didn't land to drink.

An annoyingly obscured Northern Rosella at the creekbed near Edith Falls 

In frustration, we wandered off in opposite directions down the creek. I followed it along a longer body of water, noting nothing more interesting than a Collared Sparrowhawk. After fifteen minutes I walked back, to find Derek still missing... I continued walking in the direction he had gone, but no sign. I called, but he didnt answer. I was beginning to get a bit worried, when I heard some cockatiels land in a tree nearby and begin making aggressive noises. I half turned, just in time to see a long-tailed, blue parrot fly over my head and land in a tree twenty meters away.

The male Hooded parrot - a Northern Territory endemic

The male Hooded Parrot sat there for a few minutes, unfortunately keeping his head on the other side of a twig, before flying off downcreek towards where we had been sitting.

I followed him back to our folding chairs. A few minutes later, Derek appeared - apparently we'd passed each other on opposite sides of the creek and not even noticed each other. It was getting warm and very fly-y, so despite Derek not having seen the bird, we headed back to camp.

We travelled to Kakadu along the Arnhem Highway. We stopped quickly at the Bowali visitors centre, where I failed to find the red-eyed race of the Partridge Pigeon, which can often be seen around the centre.

We set up camp at the caravan park near Jabiru, and after the usual hot, sweaty, half-hour of tent-pitching, we settled into the pool for a while.

When it was cooler, I went for a walk and managed to get some photos of my second lifer for the day - Dusky Honeyeater. I thought I had seen one at Edith Falls, but I couldn't be sure so I didn't tick it then.

Dusky Honeyeater

After calling Ashwin Rudder for a check in and some Kakadu advice, we set a basic itinerary for the next two days. Tomorrow we are checking out the visitors centre for Partridge Pigeon, and then continuing to Nourlangie for a crack at Banded Fruit-dove... Hopefully our luck holds!!!!!!!!!!! 

12th September

Today we slept in!

Unnnnnnntil about 6.30. So much for that. We're all so used to waking up early that we were awake naturally by six, and stopped bothering to pretend otherwise by half past.

We stopped at the visitors centre on the way to Nourlangie Rock, to try for Partridge Pigeon. A supposedly easy species - or at least, not a difficult one.

As is always the way with the not-supposed-to-be-difficult-species, no luck. One easy to moderate species missed already - I was very worried about our chances of finding the much more difficult Banded Fruit Dove at Nourlangie.

Despite my eagerness to hurry there, we took a wrong turn and ended up at a billabong, so we went for a look. Stunning birdlife, and the place itself was beautiful - turns out what you see in magazines and on TV actually exists! But by this stage in the trip, nothing new in terms of bird species.

Wandering Whistling-ducks

We arrived at Nourlangie and began the walk. Although we spent several hours in the area, not one Banded Fruit-dove showed.

Walking along the track just below the lookout, I heard a sound like someone raking leaves from the forest on the left. Glancing over, the sweat trickling in my eyes (it was already over 30 degrees), I saw a small seating area half obscured by trees - the sound was too big to be reptilian, so I passed it off as a mammal, perhaps a human cleaning up around the seating.

After walking on for a few meters, I turned back. Perhaps if it was a human they could tell me if they'd seen the Fruit-doves.

I arrived, and immediately two rounded, black shapes darted off into the forest, making strange cackling calls. After a moment of surprise and confusion, the name hit me - Orange-footed Scrubfowl, a species, to be honest, I had completely forgotten existed. A lifer for me, so the disappointment of dipping on Fruit-doves dissipated a little.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl - 2 of 3 megapodes on my list!

Returning to the path, as the fowl cackled at me from the depths of the forest, I turned my bins to the rustling in the eucalypts along the track. A male Rufous Whistler hopped into view. Lowering the binoculars, I caught a slight glimpse of a second shape. 

I returned the binoculars to my face, expecting to see a female whistler. 

What popped up instead was a smallish, grey-brown honeyeater, a white gape-line extending from beneath it's beak to near it's ear.

In confusion, I snapped a couple of photos before the realisation hit me - White-lined Honeyeater. A species I hadn't even put on the possibles list, so I was pretty damn surprised! I zoomed in on the blurry photos to be sure, and when I looked up again the bird had disappeared. After a (short) victory dance, I continued the climb up the hill.

White-lined Honeyeater

Agile Wallaby staring at me from the vegetation at Nourlangie

As I searched the stunning cliff faces and rock formations for Chestnut Quilled Rock Pigeon, with no success, I decided to bugger it all and just relax in the scenery for a while. I'd left my short lens in the car, both a curse for missing some great shots, and a blessing for being one less thing to carry in the awful humidity. Some Red-tailed Black Cockatoos flew past at eye level, and a Mistletoebird fossicked in the canopy of a nearby tree - the wonders of being high up, you get to see Mistletoebirds from an angle other than directly below!.

After a second dip for the day on the Partridge Pigeon at the visitors centre, we returned to camp and spent a hot hour or two in the pool, before setting out to Cahill's Crossing, to watch the Saltwater Crocodiles feeding as the tide in the East Alligator River turned and began flowing upstream.

The reverse, up-hill tidal river is something I'd long wanted to see, ever since I read about it in Colin Thelie's book 'Brahminy'. Arriving before high tide, we were able to watch this remarkable phenomenon, as well as watch some crocodiles. Most in the water measured 1-3m, but one massive one on the far bank must have measured at least 4.5, possibly 5m. 

There was very little feeding behaviour among the crocodiles today, but lounging on the bank I did pick up Varied Triller as my third and final lifer for the day.

Why did the crocodile cross the road?

Dollarbird at Cahill's Crossing

Tonight in camp we had a presentation by the ranger on the National Park. I opted out, instead calling Simon and lying in the grass watching the stars. When Derek and Sue arrived back, I regretted the decision. Derek had heard a night bird, and after trying him on a few calls, he reacted immediately to the 'choo' call of the Owlet Nightjar. My bogey bird. I raced for my torch and spent half an hour searching the area, but the night was silent. Bloody bogeys!

Tomorrow we are taking a Yellow Water cruise, and then hopefully doing the boardwalk. There are Bush-stone Curlews wailing right now, so I don't know how much sleep I'll get tonight!

As a current-day blogger's note, guys, if there's anyone who reads these that doesn't already know about Joshua Bergmark's blog "For the love of birds", go check it out - there's a link on the left side of the main page of this blog. He's just been to the subantarctic islands and we in the Australian Young Birders Group all hate him for basically being eaten by penguins, but it's an AWESOME read!

Top End 2013 - Purnululu to Kununurra to Edith Falls

September 9th

We arose at 5am, in the Purnululu NP campground. We took our time getting up, as our morning sitting-spot was only 100m away, which made a nice change!

The morning watch, whilst interesting, was rather short. Although a pair of Pheasant Coucals mucking about in the bushes, and a new bird for me in the Northern Rosella provided interest, by six everything had gone quiet and nothing much was coming in to drink.

So we set off early, around seven thirty, into the National Park for a walk around the Bungles themselves. We had chosen 'The Domes' and 'The Cathedral' to look at, because they were close and we wanted to be on our way.

After a quick stop to admire the "Elephant Rocks" (which really do look like elephants), we arrived at the walk's carpark just in time to see a big group of (primarily American) tourists setting off! Fantastic...

Happily though, being tourists, they had a guide who periodically wold stop them and talk about the various interesting things, so we overtook them fairly quickly. Whilst I am sure the guides would be fun and informative, I really prefer to notice, and subsequently look at things with my own eyes. Maybe I miss some stuff, but overall it's a more enjoyable experience.

The scenery in the Bungles is stunning, and Cathedral Gorge is breathtaking. The natural silence, coupled with the vast echoing of any small movement, provided an interesting balance. We were lucky to have the place to ourselves for half an hour or so. It was nice to sit up on the rock wall and just think quietly for a while.

 Stunning scenery in the Bungles

On the way out, we ran into the first of the (now scattered) tourist group wandering up the hill. Not to be unkind, but I was happy we left before they arrived. Places like that are best enjoyed on your own, and in those rare few spots where, if you don't move, it's completely silent, it's nice not to have  people "testing out" the echo all around you.

The non-birding stop over, we got back in the car and drove the two hours over the extremely rough track out of Purnululu NP, stopping only twice; once for a party of Spinifex Pigeons moving around a rocky hillside by the road, and once to look at a Jabiru (or Black-necked Stork, if you ABSOLUTELY must) which promptly hid behind a large brown bull which was standing in the same creekbed. We moved on quickly.

 Spinifex Pigeons

By the standards of the trip so far, it was quite a short drive from Warnum to Kununurra, where we had decided to spend a night. Although we were held up for a while, with the first and (thankfully) only flat tyre.... no, really it was more of an exploded tyre... of the trip. The campground was excellent, and we secured a place directly on the waterline of the lake. Whilst we got a great view of the sunset, after dark the bug swarms were out in force, and remained unfazed by aeroguard.

 

Exploded tyre

 

Rufous-throated Honeyeater in the Kununurra campground

 

 Lizards! :D

Having set up camp, Derek and I went for a drive to the Hoochery, A big farm with various crops, the Hoochery is situated a couple of km out of Kununurra, and has been a reliable spot in the past for finches, including the Yellow-rumped Mannikin, our main target.

Half distracted by an absolutely stunning sunset (of course I had forgotten to bring my short lens), we saw no finches of any kind - but we did get a couple of shots of Red-backed Kingfisher on the power lines, and Australian Bustard in the fields.

 

Red-backed Kingfisher 

On the drive back, we were able to view the spectacle of several thousand (if not hundred thousands) of fruit bats, spiraling in vast swarms from their daytime roosts by the lake. During the night, all the time we were sitting outside, you could glance up at any moment and be able to see four or five huge black shapes passing over.

Just before I went to bed, I noticed a sign at the corner of the campground. Wandering over, it said that swimming was at ones' own risk due to freshwater crocodiles in the lake. My swag was set up less than 5m from the water. Hmm.

September 10th

We arose to a stunning sunrise over lake Kununurra. No crocodiles ate me in my sleep, so I was in a mood to enjoy it!

We set off quickly for the Hoochery, for a last-ditch attempt at the elusive Yellow-rumped Mannikin. This was our only confirmed site, and this was attempt 3. Our hopes weren't high.

Continuing to enjoy the sunrise, we took a short detour to the Golf course, hoping perhaps for photos of White-browed Crake to start the morning. No Crakes were seen, but some Crimson and Star Finches provided interest.

We moved on to our main destination. On the way, we saw a MASSIVE flock of Magpie Geese, at least 6,000 strong - the paddock was a big one, and it was fully black and white, with more taking off and landing all the time.

To the soundtrack of bird-scarers going off and the honks of the geese, we moved on.

After half an hours' driving around the crop paddocks, we were getting a bit bored. Derek saw 20 or so finches fly into a patch of Sorghum, and as we drew up and got out, bird-scarer went off nearby.

Suddenly, the sorghum heads came to life. An enormous flock of tiny birds lifted from the crop, and wheeled like starlings in the sky for a few seconds while I frantically snapped photos in the hope of identifying them. We were both awed by the sheer numbers, at least 2000 and more like 2500 birds, as they settled back into the grasses, but Derek quickly pointed out that they were likely to be all Chestnut-breasted Mannikins, and if we were lucky there might be a couple, ten or fifteen, Yellow-rumps among them.

 Mannikin flock at the Hoochery in Kununurra. These photos show less than 1/4 of the flock

I pressed the review button on my camera. The shot opened, showing a full screen of pale yellowish and grey shapes, and among them, the darker colour of Chestnuts. We raced into the field, and spent half an hour absorbed in photographing the birds as they fed, only mildly concerned by our presence. The flock was 3/4 or so Yellow Rumps, with a large but not overwhelming number of chestnuts. It only takes one bird to tick a lifer - if only you could tick a lifer for each individual!!

Flushed with success, we left the flock. Australian Bustards were in the same spot as last night, and we headed for home exultant.

Australian Bustard

Sacred Kingfisher on the way out of Kununurra

We packed up and hit the road for the last really big drive. I fell asleep quickly, and didn't wake up until we hit Timber Creek - so I missed a fair bit of the journey (and no doubt the Grey Falcon pair that were probably hunting by the roadside and giving awesome views).

We arrived in the late afternoon at our next stop. Edith Falls campground, or Lelyin as it's called, is an absolutely beautiful spot. Green grass! And plenty of birds just within the camp, including Northern Rosellas.

 Cockatiel, seen at a brief stop in a dry creekbed going into Edith falls

 White-throated Honeyeater

We followed signs to a massive, lake - like, swimming hole, in a beautiful gorge. The water was warm in patches, indicating springs, and full of small, zebra-striped fish. The swim was enjoyable and refreshing, and only later we found out there are freshwater crocs in there! Not that they're anything to worry about, but it's nice to know before going and splashing around!

That night we were treated to a short slideshow presentation by the local ranger, an unexpected pleasure. He showed us some of the cultural significance and wildlife of the region. Leichhardt's Grasshopper, Gouldian Finch, and the bird we had come for, Hooded Parrot, were all featured.

Bush Stone Curlews called during the night, but it was the bloody fruit bats noisily squabbling in the tree above me that kept me awake!

 Bush-stone Curlews

Top End 2013 - Halls Creek to Purnululu

Apologies, to anyone who reads these posts, for the long delay - I have been away and busy in general for some time. I will try and get these out of the way quickly so I can get up to date on my twitching reports!!!

In other news, Simon is having problems with posting, he hasn't abandoned us. Bear with him, he'll fix it :)

-J

September 6th and 7th

Well, I am combining these two diary entries because nothing much of interest, to be honest, has happened.

Yesterday we spent a lot of time out in the field, hoping to find waterholes at which we might wait early tomorrow morning for the elusive painted finches. We had no luck, although we did find Palm Springs, which is very nice (and I saw Archerfish!).

 A dragonfly and an Archerfish from Palm Springs

Yesterday afternoon Case arrived, and pretty much immediately he and Derek set off again in the search. I stayed in camp, enjoying the reasonably cool (34 degree) weather while it lasted.

Today was basically a much-needed rest day for me. I was able to sleep until 7.22am, and I was able to take my time with breakfast and getting up. Luxury!

Derek and Case left very early, as per the usual. I hung around in camp all day, moving from shade patch to shade patch, reading my book and adding no new birds.

Derek and Case arrived back around 2pm, having had no luck. We considered leaving early, but eventually decided to just leave it, and head for the Bungles tomorrow as originally planned. Our helicopter ride is tomorrow!

Currently there is a local music festival going on at the town oval, which we can hear from where we are, several blocks away, very clearly. It's been going on since 3pm, and for memory it was supposed to finish at 10pm... Well, it's 11.07. Still going. I hope they shut up soon! Although I guess I can sleep in the car.

September 8th

Today we arose late(ish), at six thirty. Not having a waterhole to be at by first light does wonders for sleep!

We took our time over breakfast, and by nine thirty we were beginning to pack.

Field checks complete, we said a final goodbye to Case and Ingrid. They're heading east now, down the Fitzroy Crossing, and we were heading northwest back into the Bungle-bungles.

We hit the road, and we reached Warnum by 10.30. We headed for the small 'Slingair' building - time for the scenery highlight of the trip! A 45 minute ride in a no-doors helicopter over the Bungles!

Having booked in and paid up, our young (I say young - older than me, thankfully) pilot Matthew led us to the chopper. On first appearances, a small craft, electric blue, and to be honest, not particularly stable looking. Matt removed the rear doors (which, I noted, came off pretty easily) and we clambered in as he did the checks.

Takeoff in a helicopter is totally different to in an aeroplane. You bump around on the ground for a short while, then you rapidly ascend and tilt forwards, zipping off at the merest touch of the steering column. 

The flight was absolutely fantastic. The scenery was amazing, the rock formations breathtaking, and Matthew very knowledgeable on the geological and cultural history of the ground below us. Whilst this is a birding blog, and we saw no birds from the helicopter, I can wholly recommend that if you can afford it (its not cheap), booking a flight is definitely worth the effort. Instead of waxing lyrical, I'll let photos do the talking!

Elated, we returned to the travel. We took the turnoff into the Purnululu National Park, and spent the next two hours or so bumping around on the heavily corrugated road in. Whilst we stopped briefly a few times, we saw nothing of interest on the drive in terms of birdlife.

There was plenty to look at though, the scenery (while not a spectacular as when seen aerially), is very interesting. One thing I did notice, is that the spinifex here only seems to grow to about 80cm across and 40cm high at most, with the majority being abut 20-30cm across and 10-20cm high. Very different to the massive clumps that grow near Alice Springs, and I suppose therefore they are less capable of supporting the bird and animal life which you find near Alice, such as Emu-wrens, Spinifexbird, and various small mammals such as Kultarr and Hopping-mice.

A quick stop at the visitors centre saw us adding Double barred and Long-tailed Finches to the day list, and the lady in there directed us to the campground we are currently in, as it has a small source of water, she said.

After arriving and setting up, Sue found this small source of water in the form of a man made rock puddle, and nearby a leaking outdoor shower. There was little activity at the pond, but the shower drip was attracting Double-bars and Brown Honeyeaters, so we sat down to wait.

 

Pied Butcherbird

No more than five minutes into our wait, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a small, point-ended shape moving on the ground about 20m away. "Quail!" I announced, and stalked off, camera poised. 

It wasn't the Button-quail I was hoping for, but a large covey of Brown Quail emerged from the grass next to the little path I was on, and although I moved with much stealth, I needn't have bothered - they weren't fussed with me at all, and came within 150cm, passing by, heading for the water. Once they had disappeared into the grass, I hurried back to the drip and settled myself laying on my stomach with my camera at the ready.

These quail (there were about 14 of them) must come in to drink regularly, as they followed a distinct trackway. I hadn't noticed the track as I lay down, and I was practically lying across it. Unconcerned, the first two quail walked straight past me, almost brushing against my lens hood. The rest were more nervous, and took a detour to avoid me. 

The uncharacteristically brave quail spent about ten minutes drinking around the leaking shower, within easy photography range. Some people moving around the campground eventually scared them off, but we remained entertained by the BHEs and DBFs, as well as Peaceful Doves, Magpie Larks and a few of the prehistoric-looking Pheasant Coucal.

 Peaceful Dove (above) and female Pheasant Coucal

We trotted back to camp. I was feeling extremely good, as I have always had a love for quail species, but I've never been able to get close. And this certainly was close! I'm looking forward to trying again tomorrow.

After dinner, we all traipsed out of the campground on a short and futile spotlighting search for Owlet and Spotted Nightjars. The bush was silent, and nothing responded to the playback at all. I'm running out of nights now! This is not good!

Top End 2013 - Wyndham #2

4th September

For the first time, this morning I failed to hear Derek's alarm go off, so I was awoken by him shaking my swag at eleven past four.

The tiredness really hit me this morning. I even napped in the car on the way to the count. I was in Catherine's team today - if I'm on Mike's team tomorrow, my hunch about a team a day will be confirmed.

Catherine (Different Catherine :P) and I were stationed at a place which on the sheet was simply labeled 'soggy'. Or 'soggy 2' in my case, and 'soggy 1' in Catherine's. Catherine 1, Ian and some others continued on.

A fairly uneventful mornings counting followed. Just three Gouldians, two juveniles and a very dull black head female, but plenty of masks, Longtails, Zebras, Double-bars, and loads of honeyeaters, including a single Black Chinned HE. A pair of Star Finches and A male Mistletoebird made appearances.

 Black-chinned & White-throated Honeyeaters, Double-barred Finches

 Mistletoebird

 Star Finches (female top, male below)

All this activity was despite a pair of Brown Goshawks building a nest in a tree within 10m of the water!

We were last back to the crocodile today. Derek and Sue had already left to go prepare for our visit to El Questro Station, so I got a lift back with Case, stopping briefly at the cemetery to observe the hundreds of Star Finches which make their home in the front hedges there.

As soon as I arrived back in camp, we set off again. We wanted to get to EQ early, as some areas are shut off at 10-12am/pm for exclusive use by the rich and famous who stay there.

The holey sign welcoming us to El Questro

We went first to Zebbedee Springs. I didn't bring my swimmers, so I didn't get in, but the springs are extremely beautiful and I had lots of fun messing around with (mostly unsuccessful due to acute tripod deficiency) long exposures on the waterfalls.

Some Zebbedee Springs shots

We drove into the station tourist centre for lunch, and then headed on to 'the jetty'. A very scenic view of the river was had, and as we were running out of time, we made only one other stop, Pigeon Hole Lookout. The view from there is spectacular, and I can only imagine what it must be like at sunrise and sunset.

Torresian Crow at lunch

 The view from the jetty

 Part of the view from Pigeon Hole Lookout

On the way out, Derek slammed on the brakes for some finches flying across the road. The finches had disappeared by the time we were out of the car, but looking up, I was very excited to see a soaring Black-breasted Buzzard, a lifer and a species I'd been wanting to see for a very long time.

Black-breasted Buzzard

We stopped for a short time back at Parrys, before heading up to 'the Bastion' for the BBQ dinner, traditional on the last evening of the official count. It was great fun, and with a view over Wyndham port we were able to watch the sun go down in a blaze of pink and orange.

 BBQ at the Bastion

 Sunset over Wyndham Port

After dinner, Gary Fitt announced the winners of the 'twitchathon' event, where we counted the birds we'd seen since arriving at Parrys. I came fourth, rather disappointingly, at 81. Catherine beat me at 92, Mike Jarvis (trust the professionals) second on 104, and Mike Fidler emerging on top with a great 106. Gary Fitt only got 88 though, so I feel a little better!

On the drive home in the dark, we followed Case. Mistake. Case overshot two turns, the turn into Parrys by almost 500 meters, calling into question just how much he'd had, and initiating much ribbing from Derek and Sue.

Tomorrow is our last day of counting, I'm hoping to be at the hospital as it seems a hotspot for Northern Rosella, but I doubt I will be. I asked Sarah and she said she'd see what she can do, but they've already got it planned out.

Up at four again, a mere 6 hours 7 minutes from now. And then I can have a long sleep in the car to Halls Creek, for the beginning of our Painted Finch hunt!


5th September

The last day of the last STGF count!!
My hunch was wrong, but possibly because I asked Sarah to put me at the hospital last night, and I was with Nina not Mike this morning.

I didn't get to go to the hospital, home of the Northern Rosellas in town, but instead I was stationed at the oval with Dave Holmes, Sven, and another chap whose name I forget.

We stationed ourselves out around the oval at various points. For the fist half hour, not much but Magpie-larks and Straw-necked Ibis were showing, but at around ten to six, a massive flock of Fairy Martins descended and began hunting over the grass. There would have been two hundred, easily. Further excitement was added by sixty or eighty Star Finches, of which I had very distant views on the opposite side of the oval.

At around six thirty, I heard a rustling in the tree above me, and some leaves drifted down. I glanced up, and a flock of Gouldians stared down at me - 4/4 days! Yesssss!!!!!!

The Gouldians descended in nervous flocks and foraged among the wet grass. Sadly, the light was not yet on them, and my camera was playing up so I was unable to manage decent shots, but I was very happy to see them, again!

After a while they began departing. Even though they'd been on the grass not five meters from me, I was green with envy when I saw where they were going. The whole flock of thirty plus birds landed in the small bush underneath which Sven was stationed. The gouldians were no more than half a meter directly above him, too close for his lens, and then they even started drifting onto the grass in the full sun in front of him! I could see him grinning from the other side of the oval.

The gouldians departed by seven, and I amused myself for a short while taking pictures of the Ibis in the sun, before wandering over for a chat with David.
Chats with David somehow always get round to the topic of Africa, in some form or another, but this time the conversation took us through all sorts of places overseas. Very educational, as always!

At quarter to eight, Sven joined us, still grinning. He hadn't been able to manage the fantastic shots I was expecting, as the sun was facing him with the gouldians in between. Poor Sven, but at least he got to see them so close!

We were picked up, and once we'd all arrived back we posed for the last full-group photo by the crocodile. Truly the end of an era, or perhaps not! i have caught wind of rumours of a Mount Isa count in the future.... Hmmm.
While Derek went to get fuel, I walked around the hospital grounds in a last ditch, futile effort to find Northern Rosella. I'm hoping to get it where I am now, although my chances are beginning to slim.

A very dark Brown Falcon at the hospital

Not yet as slim as my chances of Yellow Rumped Mannikin though, which in turn is not as slim as the now-impossible Kimberley Honeyeater. Bugger! Guess I'll just have to come back again.

We all met in the restaurant at Parry's, for a provided breakfast and some brief presentations. Sarah mentioned some interesting points in her count summary which I find difficult to believe, such as that apparently there were more Gouldians than Longtails recorded. David had pointed out to me not ten minutes earlier he had had so many longtails he hadn't been counting them all. BUT I guess the statistics don't lie!
Also, apparently the average daily count of gouldians was 900.

Several packs of postcards were given out as prizes to a couple of people. Elizabeth Fidler for "most gouldians seen",  the fellow-whose-name-escapes-me for the somewhat dubious prize of "least gouldians seen", Strop and Ian for "longest counters", and me for "youngest ever counter". David suggested (probably) jokingly that I prepare a presentation for Finches '17 titled "how to be a pest" when I arrived back at the table.

After goodbyes, the road was hit. I was asleep almost instantly, and remained that way for the majority of the several-hour trip down to Hall's Creek, where I am now. We've been to see the China Wall, a ridge of quartz that runs like the bleached spine of a long-dead dragon over the hills in a certain area. Stunning. Sadly though, last year's waterholes are dry. That means there's little chance of Derek finding his Painted Firetails, the main reason why we're here. Still, we're trying tomorrow anyway to see what can be found.

 China Wall