Letter-winged Kite, Birdsville Track & Flinders Ranges

Letter-winged Kite roost at sunrise

Following our visit to Diamantina National Park, we (myself, Bernie O'Keefe and Scott Baker) headed west towards Boulia, turning south at Springvale Station towards Coorabulka Station. Having had some excellent encounters with Grey Falcon, we were looking forward to another raptor treat. A gathering of Letter-winged Kites had been reported recently (I believe Jannette Manins first found them) at Whitewood Creek, between Coorabulka and the Kennedy Developmental Road.

Letter-winged Kites

Letter-winged Kites

Letter-winged Kite

We had no trouble finding the kites in the early afternoon upon arrival (4/7). A total of 16-17 birds, including a couple of immatures, circled high in the air, evidently riding wind currents; the behaviour seemed unusual for this species, especially at that time of day. They soon landed in stunted coolibah trees lining the gully, which was surrounded by sparse Mitchell grass and gibber plains. We found widely scattered nests along about 1.5km of the gully that clearly had been used in recent times.

Letter-winged Kite nest

Letter-winged Kite site

Plenty of Little Crows were about here.

Little Crow

It's good news indeed that Letter-winged Kites are again being seen in this region. They were regular in that part of the world but had been largely absent over the past couple of decades. The species generally is in steep decline, most likely due to the predation of nesting adults and chicks by feral cats.  We camped at the site and that evening spotlighted 40km to the north and south along the road. We were delighted to find a Kowari, notwithstanding the sole poor image I managed.

Kowari

We found a Gibberbird on the road at night. The following morning, after farewelling the kites at their roost, we continued south, finding another Gibberbird before connecting with the Diamantina Developmental Road.

Gibberbird

Gibberbird at night

We stopped at a few spots along the way, connecting with Cinnamon Quail-thrush, Purple-backed Fairywren,  Australian Pratincole and a nice roadside Wedge-tailed Eagle (among others) before arriving in Birdsville.

Australian Pratincole

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Cinnamon Quail-Thrush

Purple-backed Fairywren

In the late afternoon we checked out a sand dune where Eyrean Grasswrens had recently been seen 17.5km east of Birdsville. We found the birds and managed a couple of mediocre images as they kept to the interior of canegrass tussocks.

Eyrean Grasswren

Grasswren dune near Birdsville

After overnighting at the Birdsville Hotel, we continued south 91km along the Birdsville Track to lignum and saltbush flats that have emerged as a hotspot for Grey Grasswren (Bernie O'Keefe, one of our group, discovered this spot a few years ago.) Unfortunately the weather conditions had changed dramatically overnight from warm and still to cold and windy. That took care of the flies that had been plaguing us, but grasswrens are difficult in these conditions and two of us managed just brief views of a single bird. A pair of Orange Chats showed nicely here.

Orange Chat male

Orange Chat female

We tried unsuccessfully to drive into Pandiburra Bore and almost got bogged in the process as heavy rain had fallen in the area recently. Various old homestead ruins along the Birdsville Track are worth a look. We found a Bynoe's Gecko near one of the old homesteads. Bynoe's  Gecko and Eastern Tree Dtella were found earlier in Diamantina National Park.

Getting out a sticky situation - Pandiburra Bore track

Homestead ruins

Bynoe's Gecko

Eastern Tree Dtella

We spent the next evening at the Mungarannie Hotel. Continuing south along the Birdsville Track the next day we picked up other goodies including Stubble Quail,  White-backed Swallow and a flock of Blue-winged Parrots.

Stubble Quail

Blue-winged Parrots

Blue-winged Parrot

White-backed Swallow

A sole Ostrich along the track is evidently well-known - not tickable but wild. We saw more Eyrean Grasswrens on a dune 140km south of Mungarannie. After overnighting at the Lyndhurst Hotel we failed to connect with Thick-billed Grasswrens at a nearby site the next morning.

Ostrich

We moved on to the Flinders Ranges, where our run of bad luck with grasswrens continued. We couldn't find Short-tailed Grasswren at Stokes Hill; I suspect that wind combined with the absence of calling mid-winter was responsible for the lack of grasswrens. We also had limited to time to look for the birds, all of which had been seen previously by the three of us. As usual, the Flinders Ranges did not disappoint aesthetically.

Flinders Ranges from Stokes Hill

We had more joy at Brachina Gorge where Yellow-footed Rock-Wallaby showed nicely, along with Grey-fronted Honeyeater, while Euro was abundant throughout the area.

Yellow-footed Rock-Wallaby

Grey-fronted Honeyeater

Euro