Loja Wildlife, Granada Province, Spain.: North West of South Australia.

Monday 27 June 2022

North West of South Australia.

An unexpected find.

Australia, Day Twelve.

Dawn from my Ice covered Swag.

We again broke came and again Deb and Ian were scrupulous in making sure that there was absolutely no trace of us having had another great nights sleep in our swags, say that it was cold and we did have to wait until the ice had melted and dried before we could pack the kit away.

Sandhill Grasswren (Amytornis striatus oweni).

Last night we had thought that the area had looked good but in the end it was very quiet exept for some sizable flockes of Budgie's (Melopsittacus undulatus), Grey-fronted Honeyeater (Ptilotula plumula), a couple of Torresian Crows (Corvus orru) which came in to see what we had left behind and the omni-present Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) which always come to check whats happening.

Sandhill Grasswren (Amytornis striatus oweni).

We loaded up all the kit and drove back towards the main track when a small bird flicked across in front of us and called which turned out to be the bird we had searched for all day yesterday and thought we had missed the Sandhill Grasswren (Amytornis striatus oweni).

Sandhill Grasswren (Amytornis striatus oweni).

This was a very special find as it is a species that is in an area of North West South Australia which is extreamly difficult to get permission to access, so I felt very privilaged to be granted to be watching this stunning bird.

Purple-backed Fairywren (Malurus assimilis).

After we pinned the bird down to a couple of bushes we realized that there was a pair and they showed very well for us, later in the day we found a second pair, Deb will submit both these records as they were form a new area for the species.

Sandhill Grasswren (Amytornis striatus oweni) one bird from the second pair we found.

We spent the rest of the day heading North checking a few road side spots finding Inland Thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis), Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides), Yellow-throated Miner (Manorina flavigula), Southern Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis), Black-faced Woodswallow (Artamus cinereus), Purple-backed Fairywren (Malurus assimilis), Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis), Diamond Dove (Geopelia cuneata), many more Budgie's and Australian Ringneck (Barnardius zonarius).

Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis).

Australian Ringneck (Barnardius zonarius).

Near one of the towns we stopped at we checked the S**t Ponds / sewage laggons and quickly boosted the list with Grey Teal (Anas gracilis), Australasian (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae) and Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus), Tree Martin (Petrochelidon nigricans) and Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata).

Australasian Grebes (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae).

Grey Teal (Anas gracilis).

Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus).

Our final stop of the day was along a dirt track which followed a creek, in some large trees we had views of a calling Red-browed Pardalote (Pardalotus rubricatus), Grey-headed Honeyeater (Ptilotula keartlandi), Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius), Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) and Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) which were not common at all in this area.