The Miaree Pool west of Karratha. A hundred or so Plumed Whistling Ducks rest of the banks.
The last time I was in the Pilbara was this July, 2011 when "Red Dog" had its premier in Karratha. Because this was a short visit I just kept to my usual haunts... the coastal strip at Nickol Bay east of the township of Karratha and the Miaree Pool on the Maitland River west of Karratha. No doubt the Red Dog had been there looking for his mate...
A mixed bunch of waders arriving at their high tide resting site at Nickol Bay, Karratha.
December is generally not regarded as the most pleasant time to visit the Pilbara, especially if you are hotness adverse or bush fly adverse, but so far this year it has been surprisingly cool and according to the Old Mate only a half a million bush flies to the acre.
A Pheasant Coucal foraging among esturine mangroves.
For bird watchers this year has been a great time to be along the northern coast of Australia (and everywhere else) because of the abnormally high rainfall over the last year or so. For instance, the BOM website gives the average rainfall to December for Karratha as 273 mm (10 inches... so it’s arid) and the total for the year up to December in 2010 as 55 mm... parched! So far this year (2011) a total of 765 mm has been recorded, almost three time the average and fifteen times the 2010 total. As I write the first cyclone of the 2011/2012 season (Cyclone Alenga) is dispersing north west of Australia without touching land... always gets everyone’s attention in the Top End.
A very relaxed Magpie Lark...
2011 has been an exceptionally wet year across the length and breadth of Australia. South western WA was last on the list and finally got it’s rains by midwinter. So for the first time in I would imagine, many many years the whole of the Australian continent was green. Right across the normally arid areas of central and northern Australia high rainfall has turned the desert verdant. Some parts of central Australia instead of being its usual dust bowl looked like a cow paddock. In the Pilbara there are still many pools of water lying in the creeks and rivers where most of them would normally be bone dry.
While there are not so many as there was earlier in the year the Sturt Desert Pea is still in flower. This one looks like the head of the "Red Devil", not a "Red Dog".
At this time of the year the migrating waders are well established in their southern hemisphere summer habitat. Across the several thousand kilometers of coastline along the top of Australia there is an almost boundless expanse of mud and sand flats exposed by the high tidal movement... up to 10 metres in places. Most of this area is remote and difficult to access. It is almost impossible to get a handle on just how many birds are potentially out there but at least here in Karratha it is not too difficult to get a taste... and a hunger to explore further.
White-plumed Honeyeaters were very active around the Miaree Pool. These northern birds seem to have a large dark eye and a pale bill.
Nickol Bay boat ramp is a great coastal location to visit for both a richness of species and abundance of birds and is only a few minutes from the centre of town. It has a bustling interface with the wide expanses of tidal mud and sand flats out to sea, the mangroves that fringe the coast in many places, the estuaries of mangroves, samphire and open mudflats; and the grasslands, shrubs and rocky outcrops immediately behind the coast.
Singing Honeyeaters are common along the coastal fringe.
The Miaree Pool is under the North Western Coastal Highway a short drive west of Karratha. It is one of the many places where the Maitland River flows down over rocky outcrops into a series of wide and deep pools. The banks are fringed with tall eucalypts, reeds and shrubs. Triodia spinifex grasslands and sparse acacia bushes cover the surrounding undulating hills.
Whistling Kites, Black Kites and Wedge-tailed Eagles are frequently seen at the Miaree Pool area.
The Pilbara, while's its probably not on the "hot spot" bird watching map is a really interesting destination for bird watchers looking for something a little bit different and who enjoy exploring areas that are off the beaten track. Who knows... you might see a red dog!
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