Near Finniss and Eagle View, South Australia.

Back to the Marshes near Finniss monitoring the Southern Emu-wrens.

Australia, Day Eighty Five.

Ebird List for Finniss area.

Sun rise at the survey site.

Deb and I were up before 05:00 so that we were on site and at the start point before 06:00, the water level was up a little from the first time and this made going quite difficult at times, there was quite a bit of mist over the lake where we saw several Australian Pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus), Black Swans (Cygnus atratus), Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides), Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa) and Grey Teal (Anas gracilis).

Australian Pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus) in the mist.

Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans).

For most of the early part of the walk the sky was full of Australasian Darters (Anhinga novaehollandiae), Little Pied (Microcarbo melanoleucos), Great (Phalacrocorax carbo), Little Black (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) and Pied Cormorants (Phalacrocorax varius) as they left their roost site at a nearby lake.

Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae).

Golden-headed Cisticola (Cisticola exilis).

As we carried out the survey we recorded over 60 of the target Southern Emuwrens (Stipiturus malachurus) which is over double the counts of 2022, numbers are thought to have increased drastically due to the flooding of the area and its surroundings after large falls of rain in 2022.

Southern Emuwren (Stipiturus malachurus).

Southern Emuwren (Stipiturus malachurus).

Other species seen included a single Brown Quail (Synoicus ypsilophorus) new for the trip, Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx basalis), Lewin's Rail (Lewinia pectoralis), Australasian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus), Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes), Caspian (Hydroprogne caspia) and Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida), Australian (Threskiornis molucca) and Straw-necked Ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis), Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia), Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans), Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus), Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus), Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus), Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea), Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), Elegant Parrot (Neophema elegans), Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans), Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus), Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata), New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis), Grey Shrikethrush (Colluricincla harmonica), Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen), Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa), Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), Little Raven (Corvus mellori), Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis), Golden-headed Cisticola (Cisticola exilis), Australian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus australis), Little Grassbird (Poodytes gramineus), Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena), Tree Martin (Petrochelidon nigricans), Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula), Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum), Red-browed Firetail (Neochmia temporalis), House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) and European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris).

Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus).

Blue-spotted Hawker (Adversaeschna brevistyla).

Blue-spotted Hawker (Adversaeschna brevistyla).

Red-browed Firetail (Neochmia temporalis).

We also saw and heard Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus), Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus), Red Fox (Zorro / Vulpus vulpus), Eastern Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes dumerilii), Common Brown (Heteronympha merope), Small White (Pieris rapae), Monarch (Danaus plexippus), Blue-spotted Hawker (Adversaeschna brevistyla) and what I think is a Red form of Red and Blue Damsel (Xanthagrion erythroneurum).

Southern Emuwren (Stipiturus malachurus).

Southern Emuwren (Stipiturus malachurus).

Red and Blue Damsel (Xanthagrion erythroneurum) ????????

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We moved on after taking all our kit off and went to the Cafe in Finniss for some lunch, it was very busy so we decided to sit outside as it was much quieter, we only managed to add one new species for the day, a White-plumed Honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata).

Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae).

Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae).

Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus).

We returned to the Farm and picked up Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor), Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae), Crescent Honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus), Little Wattlebird (Anthochaera chrysoptera), Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides), Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) and Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris).