Top Birds & Everyfing

Massed Coots at Never Never Land

An idealic scene in Western Victoria... trees, dry grass and a small waterhole.

Never Never land is featured in my childhood memories of J. M Barrie’s works as the dwelling place of Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys... and a half magical bird called the Neverbird... which I don’t as yet have a “tick” in my Moleskin.

It’s also the name of a remote area of the Outback in Barcroft Boake’s poem “Where the Dead Men Lie”.

The Never Never... the outback north of Meekatharra. Mt Augustus is on the horizon. It is the world's biggest rock... two and a half times bigger than Uluru.

Out on the wastes of the Never Never -
That's where the dead men lie!
There where the heat-waves dance forever -
That's where the dead men lie!

Somewhat morbid but moving on...

Never Never also features in “We of the Never Never” which is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn about the author’s experiences at Elsey Station in the Northern Territory near Mataranka... a little out of the area in question...

Henry Lawson, who has to be Australia’s best poet... wrote about never-never in his poem “The Never-Never Land”

It lies beyond the farming belt,
Wide wastes of scrub and plain,
A blazing desert in the drought,
A lake-land after rain;
To the skyline sweeps the waving grass,
Or whirls the scorching sand-
A phantom land, a mystic realm!
The Never-Never Land.

The flooding rains experienced in Western Victoria in January 2011 at the end of a decade long drought I suspect filled what would have been a very dry and fairly insignificant lakebed where Never Never Road joins the Western Highway at Gerang Gerung west of Horsham in the Wimmera. While Western Victoria is not quite “beyond the farming belt” during the drought it would’ve been thought so by an overflying Neverbird.

Australasian Grebe... always seems to turn up whenever a few drops of rain get together to form a waterhole of some sort.

Driving past there during the last few days (December 2011) this small lake still has water in it albeit getting lower. The drying is evidenced by the hard mud edges to what is now a pond of only about 200 metres long and around 50 metres wide. What made me pull up in a hurry was the honking number of birds concentrated on this pokey little waterhole considering it was such a relatively wee, half pint, teeny-weeny area with little or no reed beds or other apparently supporting habitat.

I counted 270 Eurasian Coot, 170 Grey Teal, 22 Hardhead, 18 Australasian Grebe and 7 Black-winged Stilt... which is oodles of Coots.

The same waterhole... under the magnifying glass is massed with Coots, Grey Teal, Hardhead, Grebes and Black-winged Stilt.

One of the pleasures of observing nature are the multitudes of apparent enigmas in the surprising behaviours and distribution of wildlife. I can only assume that what looked like a fairly ordinary ephemeral waterhole was brimming with prey... and for me... my usual state of discombobulation!

 

December Birds In “Red Dog” Country.

 

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!

Waterbirds At Gluepot

Mallee at Gluepot Reserve at Picnic Dam. abundant growth after good rainfall seasons has benefited the whole reserve.

 After a month in Italy... lakes, quaint villages, mountains, Duomo’s (cathedrals), Sacra Monte (Sacred Mountain) heavenly risottos pizza and seafood... yummy... good as it was, what I needed more than anything was to sit under a gum tree, breathe the fresh scent of the bush and see the southern stars by night. So, after a visit to the grandkids and a quick mow of the lawns it was off to Gluepot. The last time I went to Gluepot was August 2009 when it was still in drought. And has it changed since then.

 

Mallee re-generating after the 2006 fires. A good spot for Rainbow Bee-eaters who can sit on the high dead branches watching for prey.

If you haven’t been to Gluepot then you need a good talking-to. Gluepot is just one part of a huge band of conservation mallee reserves that stretches from NSW around AWC Scotia, across the border into South Australia that includes Dangalii Conservation Park, Calperum Station, Taylorville Station to mention a few. It’s a must see!

Central Bearded Dragon on the road into Gluepot

Now if you are thinking that it’s too hot to go to Gluepot in November and December, then think again. The weather right up to Christmas does get hot, but between the hot days there are always fantastic days when the cooler air blown up from the southern ocean cools South Australia... and the days are longer too. It must be a secret because I was the only person camping on the reserve... how peaceful after the madding crowds of Milano.

A Rainbow Bee-eater taking advantage of the uninterupted view from the high perches available in the burnt areas from the 2006 fires.

Driving in from the Morgan Road what was most noticeable were the large number of Woodswallows. They were in good numbers throughout the whole reserve. They were flying overhead in large groups, feeding on the ground and congregating in large groups in trees.  It seemed to start with that they were all Masked Woodswallows and were probably the most abundant, but there were still lots of White-browed and a few White-breasted.

A few of the seventy mostly juvenile Black-tailed Native Hen foraging around a flooded area at the Old Gluepot Dam.

To start with I headed west to the Old Gluepot Dams. Even though the dams on the reserve have been bulldozed the rains have filled the remaining hollows into ponds of varying sizes. At the Old Gluepot Dam there was a large number of mostly juvenile Black-tailed Native Hens, along with Grey Teal, Pacific Black Duck, Australasian Grebes, Pink-eared Duck, a solitary Hardhead and a Coot. A White-necked and a White-faced Heron were also in attendance. Kangaroo Dam had Grey Teal, Pacific Black Duck, Australasian Grebes, a few Black-tailed Native Hens and a Hardhead on its much smaller pond area.

Pink-eared Duck and a Coot... unusual visitors to Gluepot. At the Old Glue Dam.

By the end of the first day the winds had died away and the night was still and quiet. The next morning dawned clear, cool and not a breath of wind... I needed my jacket. I had camped at the Babbler camp site just east of the Visitors Centre. The sun was just appearing through the trees as I began the South Babbler walk. It was so utterly tranquil and lots of birds. The track starts in Casuarina, crosses a low sand dune and into mallee. Hooded and Red-capped Robins, Bell birds calling, Mulga and Ring-necked Parrots, Grey Currawong and a gorgeous male Splendid Fairy-wren.

A Masked Woodswallow, one of the many woodswallows seen all over Gluepot and surrounding areas. (Species corrected to Masked Woodswallow - thanks Helga)

Back to the camp... infused the air with the aroma of cooking bacon that I’d got from the Adelaide Central Market before I left, some free range eggs... gallus gallus and then the North Babbler Walk.

Brown-headed Honey-eater at the South Babbler Walk.

Broke camp after and Emu parade to see what I’d left lying around and headed for home via Picnic Dam, Kangaroo Dam and Old Gluepot Dam.

The absolutely fabulous Splendid Fairy-wren at South Babbler.

The White-breasted Heron was at Kangaroo Dam and the ducks, minus the Pink-eared were still at the Old Gluepot Dam.

Adult White-browed Woodswallow.

Well... after sitting under a gum tree, breathing the scents of the bush and gazing at the myriads of stars, not to mention a good selection of birds and particularly water birds my visit to Gluepot restored my inner being and helped overcome the jet-lag. But it still left me pondering why and how water birds would come to Gluepot when in reality there was not much water there. Black-tailed Native Hens numbers seem to have exploded everywhere you look. I even saw a couple down at my local beach a Seacliff foraging around a permanent spring that flows out of the base of the cliff. The puzzle continues...

A White-necked Heron at Kangaroo Dam at Gluepot. Another uncommon visitor.

 The full species list and comments can be seen on http://www.eremaea.com/Lists.aspx?List=102950 and http://www.eremaea.com/Lists.aspx?List=103078