Australia Road Trip 2024 - Part 1: Queensland

Carpentarian Grasswren

We embarked on June 22 this year on a 78-day journey with the caravan through outback Queensland, much of the Northern Territory, bits of South Australia, and southern and north-east New South Wales. Our first evening was the free camp at Bowenville near Dalby - always a favourite spot but the -3 morning temperature was a chilly start. Best birds were loads of Plum-headed Finches. 

Bowenville camp

The next night at Morven was just as cold; it wasn’t until we got to Ifracombe that the weather started warming up. A Red-backed Kingfisher at the back of the pub put on a show.

Red-backed Kingfisher

 We moved on to Winton for a couple of nights, staying at the dusty Raceway Camp. Red-browed Pardalote was about the town cemetery and Plum-headed Finches were again common. Pink-eared Duck was on the sewerage ponds. One reason for this trip was that a succession of good wet seasons accounted for an unusually green landscape with plenty of water about along with carpets of wildflowers, thick grass and vigorous vegetation in all directions. 

Pink-eared Duck & Grey Teal

Plum-headed Finch & Zebra Finch

Red-browed Pardalote

That was the case for the whole of the trip. With that came loads of parrots with large flocks of Galah, Cockatiel and Budgerigar being frequently encountered. 

Budgerigar flock

Galah flock

Our next stop was a couple of nights at the Discovery Caravan Park at Cloncurry. Chinaman’s Creek Dam was the hotspot here with the main target – Pictorella Mannikin – found easily. A pair with 4 young were about during several visits.

Pictorella Mannikin juvenile

Pictorella Mannikin adult

Spinifex Pigeon was common and the rocky hills resounded with the calls of Golden-backed Honeyeater.

Golden-backed Honeyeater

Spinifex Pigeon

Varied Lorikeet was numerous, feeding on the many luxuriously flowering eucalypts. Purple-backed Fairy-wren was approachable and a few Green Pygmy-Goose were on the dam, where a Freshwater Crocodile was seen distantly. A fly-by Grey Falcon was an unexpected sighting - but no image. 

Varied Lorikeet

Green Pygmy-Goose

 

Purple-backed Fairy-wren

Purple-necked Rock-Wallaby was easy to see on the ridge tops. Cloncurry Parrot was common in Cloncurry (and everywhere else in the region). 

Cloncurry Parrot

Purple-necked Rock-Wallaby (above and below)

Moving a little further west we camped in the now deserted town of Mary Kathleeen, once the base for Australia’s biggest uranium mine. The now closed mine was checked out for the regional endemic - Kalkadoon Grasswren. Two females and a male obliged in the early morning, allowing close approaches. I’d missed photographing this species during a trip to the area last year. 

Kalkadoon Grasswren (female)

Kalkadoon Grasswren (female, male below)

Mary Kathleen mine

Next stop was Moondarra Caravan Park outside Mt Isa – good not to have to stay in the town. Plenty of birds around the lake with Grey-fronted Honeyeater the most common species. An unusually red Wallaroo was spotted. A feral population of Indian Peafowl has lived for many years by the lake, but the debate about whether they are tickable is unresolved. 

Lake Moondarra landscape 

Grey-fronted Honeyeater

Indian Peafowl

Wallaroo

 We moved on the World War II rest area north-west of Mt Isa for an overnighter. I’d searched here unsuccessfully last year for Carpentarian Grasswren (others in our group saw it briefly). This time I had more success, though it took 8 hours of searching over 2 days. I saw one bird briefly before a second grasswren put on a superb display, perching and singing for a couple of minutes. Probably the bird of the trip. I’d not seen this species since 1982 near Borroloola in the NT, where it is now believed to be extinct. 

Carpentarian Grasswren

 Other birds about the grasswren site included Spotted Bowerbird, Little Woodswallow, Crested Bellbird and loads of Black-tailed Treecreepers. Spinifexbird was seen briefly.

Black-tailed Treecreeper

Crested Bellbird

Little Woodswallow

Spotted Bowerbird

On to the Northern Territory.

Carpentarian Grasswren site north of Mt Isa