Nine Grasswren tour report 17 July – 28 July 2016
Summary and checklist of 2016 Nine Grasswren Tour
Dates of tour: 17 July –28 July 2016
Leaders: Peter Waanders (assisted by Helga Kieskamp & Mark Carter)
next tour: 8 July 2017 go to our tour program page tour brochure
Dusky Grasswren, 28 July 2016, Alice Springs © H Kieskamp
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Nine Grasswren tour report 17 July – 28 July 2016
Tour overview
The 2016 ‘Nine Grasswren tour’ started in Adelaide (SA) and finished in Alice Springs (NT). After visiting Birdlife
Australia’s Gluepot Reserve (Black-eared Miner) we explored the bluebush plains around Whyalla (Western
Grasswren, Splendid (turquoise) Fairy-wren) and travelled through the scenic Flinders Ranges (Short-tailed
Grasswren) up to the Birdsville track where we had both Chestnut-breasted and Banded Whiteface as well as the
elusive Grey Falcon and Eyrean Grasswren. Unfortunately the Grey Grasswren site was inaccessible due to
flooding but we had great views of Gibberbird and Inland Dotterel. Through the heart of outback Queensland we
arrived in Mount Isa after ticking off Red-browed Pardalote, Australian Bustard and Black-breasted Buzzard while
flocks of Budgerigars were wheeling through the sky. We had great views of both Carpentarian and Kalkadoon
Grasswren as well as Spinifex Pigeons, Varied Lorikeets, Spinifexbird and mixed flocks of woodswallows coming in
to drink. From Mt Isa we travelled west over the vast Barkly Tablelands, where Flock Bronzewings entertained us
with their antics in the sky while we also found overwintering flocks of Horsfield’s Bushlarks. Finishing around
Alice Springs we found Dusy Grasswren, Grey-headed Honeyeater and Spinifexbird while the highlight of the many
additional birds seen by those people that took the 3-day extension were Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, Painted
Finch and Bourke’s Parrot.
The weather was good throughout, with calm, sunny days and maximum temperatures in the 14-30 0C range,
some frosty mornings, and no rain. A grand total of 192 bird species were recorded. The full bird list follows at the
end of this document. Other sightings of interest included Freshwater Crocodile, Dingo, 3 spp of Kangaroo,
Yellow-footed-, Purple-flanked and Black-footed Rock-wallaby.
Itinerary
20 July: Adelaide – Birdlife Australia’s Gluepot Reserve - Peterborough.
21 July: Whyalla Conservation Park and surrounds – Hawker.
22 July: Flinders Ranges – Leigh Creek area – Lyndhurst.
23 July: Mt Lyndhurst Station – Marree – Birdsville track to Mungerannie roadhouse.
25 July: Birdsville track from Mungerannie to Birdsville.
26 July: Birdsville – Mt Isa, birding en-route.
28 July: all day around Mt Isa.
28 July: all day around Mt Isa.
29 July: Mt Isa to Barkly Homestead, birding en-route and north of Barkly HS.
30 July: Barkly HS –Tennant Creek –Alice Springs.
31 July: all day around Alice Springs.
A number of participants then joined the Red Centre Adventure, available as a stand-alone tour or an extension.
Nine Grasswren tour report 17 July – 28 July 2016
Australian Bustard, Chestnut-breasted Whiteface, Black Honeyeater (l: m, r: f), Kalkadoon Grasswren, Spinifex Pigeon.
Photos © H KIeskamp.
Nine Grasswren tour list of birds seen 17-28 July 2016
Emu Malleefowl Brown Quail Stubble Quail Plumed Wistling-duck Wandering Whistling Duck Freckled Duck Musk Duck Black Swan Australian Shelduck Australian Wood Duck Pink-eared Duck Australasian Shoveler Grey Teal Chestnut Teal Pacific Black Duck Hardhead Australasian Grebe Hoary-headed Grebe Great Crested Grebe Rock Dove Spotted Dove Common Bronzewing Flock Bronzewing Spinifex Pigeon Crested Pigeon Diamond Dove Peaceful Dove Tawny Frogmouth Spotted Nightjar Australian Owlet-nightjar Australasian Darter Little Pied Cormorant Great Cormorant Little Black Cormorant Pied Cormorant Australian Pelican Great Egret Intermediate Egret Cattle Egret White-necked Heron White-faced Heron Little Egret Nankeen Night-Heron Glossy Ibis Australian White Ibis Straw-necked Ibis Royal Spoonbill Yellow-billed Spoonbill Black-shouldered Kite Letter-winged Kite Whistling Kite Black Kite
Black-breasted Buzzard Brown Goshawk Collared Sparrowhawk Spotted Harrier Swamp Harrier Wedge-tailed Eagle Little Eagle Nankeen Kestrel Brown Falcon Australian Hobby Grey Falcon Black Falcon Peregrine Falcon Brolga Purple Swamphen Baillon's Crake Australian Spotted Crake Spotless Crake Buff-banded Rail Black-tailed Native-hen Dusky Moorhen Eurasian Coot Australian Bustard Black-winged Stilt Red-necked Avocet Banded Stilt Red-capped Plover Inland Dotterel Black-fronted Dotterel Red-kneed Dotterel Oriental Plover Banded Lapwing Masked Lapwing Common Sandpiper Wood Sandpiper Common Greenshank Ruddy Turnstone Red-necked Stint Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Ruff Little Button-quail Australian Pratincole Crested Tern Gull-billed Tern Caspian Tern Whiskered Tern White-winged Black Tern Silver Gull Galah Major Mitchell's Cockatoo Long-billed Corella Little Corella Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Cockatiel Rainbow Lorikeet Varied Lorikeet Musk Lorikeet Purple-crowned Lorikeet Regent Parrot Eastern Rosella Crimson Rosella (Adelaide, Yellow) Aust. Ringneck (Pt Lin-coln, Mallee, Cloncurry) Blue Bonnet (yellow-vented, pale) Red-rumped Parrot Mulga Parrot Budgerigar Bourke's Parrot Blue-winged Parrot Elegant Parrot Scarlet-chested Parrot Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo Black-eared Cuckoo Pallid Cuckoo Fan-tailed Cuckoo Southern Boobook Eastern Barn Owl Laughing Kookaburra Red-backed Kingfisher Sacred Kingfisher Rainbow Bee-eater Western Bowerbird White-browed Treecreeper Brown Treecreeper Superb Fairy-wren Splendid Fairy-wren White-winged Fairy-wren Variegated Fairy-wren Rufous-crowned Emu-wren Striated Grasswren Short-tailed Grasswren Carpentarian Grasswren Thick-billed Grasswren Western Grasswren Dusky Grasswren Kalkadoon Grasswren Eyrean Grasswren Grey Grasswren White-browed Scrubwren Shy Heathwren Rufous Fieldwren Redthroat Weebill Western Gerygone
Nine Grasswren tour list of birds seen 17-28 July 2016
Yellow-rumped Thornbill Slaty-backed Thornbill Chestnut-rumped Thornbill Slender-billed Thornbill Buff-rumped Thornbill Inland Thornbill Southern Whiteface Chestnut-breasted Whiteface Banded Whiteface Spotted Pardalote Red-browed Pardalote Striated Pardalote Pied Honeyeater Singing Honeyeater Grey-headed Honeyeater Grey-fronted Honeyeater White-eared Honeyeater Yellow-plumed Honeyeater White-plumed Honeyeater White-fronted Honeyeater Blue-faced Honeyeater Little Friarbird Noisy Miner Yellow-throated Miner Black-eared Miner Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Red Wattlebird Little Wattlebird Striped Honeyeater Crimson Chat Orange Chat White-fronted Chat Gibberbird Yellow Chat Black Honeyeater Brown Honeyeater Black-chinned Honeyeater New Holland Honeyeater Brown-headed Honeyeater White-browed Babbler Chestnut-crowned Babbler Cinnamon Quail-thrush Chestnut Quail-thrush Chiming Wedgebill Chirruping Wedgebill Varied Sittella Ground Cuckoo-shrike Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike White-winged Triller Crested Shrike-tit Gilbert's Whistler Red-lored Whistler Rufous Whistler
Golden Whistler Grey Shrike-thrush Crested Bellbird White-breasted Woodsw. Masked Woodswallow White-browed Woodswallow Black-faced Woodswallow Little Woodswallow Dusky Woodswallow Grey Butcherbird Pied Butcherbird Australian Magpie Grey Currawong Grey Fantail Willie Wagtail Australian Raven Little Raven Little Crow Torresian Crow Restless Flycatcher Magpie-lark White-winged Chough Apostlebird Jacky Winter Red-capped Robin Hooded Robin Southern Scrub-robin Horsfield's Bushlark Eurasian Skylark Australian Reed-Warbler Little Grassbird Rufous Songlark Brown Songlark Spinifexbird Silvereye White-backed Swallow Welcome Swallow Fairy Martin Tree Martin Common Blackbird Common Starling Mistletoebird Zebra Finch Painted Finch Red-browed Finch Pictorella Mannikin House Sparrow Australasian Pipit European Goldfinch
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next Nine Grasswren tour: July/Aug
2017
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