I had been planning a weekend trip to Yorke Peninsula for some time and when I got a message from a mate that he was back in town for a limited time it seemed like a good excuse to spend 12 hours out and about trying to catch some interesting species. We left Gawler at 5 a.m. to get out to Telowie Gorge Conservation Park at first light...close enough, we arrived at 7:30. No sooner had we left the bitumen and we were on to our first Spotted Harrier for the year. It was great to catch a another view of these impressive raptors, one of my favorite 'bird meanies' from my birding days in Central Oz. It appeared to be a younger bird and was flying very low over a paddock full of Stubble Quail with the odd Brown Songlark calling in the distance. We were barely 2km's from the highway and in the same spot we got great views of a small gang of Elegant Parrots along with 3 Ringnecks...it was shaping up to be a great day!
Once we were in the park 'proper' the birding became even more frenzied with most birds in a frenzy of calling and skirmishing with one another. Right at the park entrance we got good views of Rufous Whistler, Golden Whistler, Grey-fronted Honeyeater, Grey Shrike-thrush, Silvereye and Peaceful Dove. Unlike Mambray Creek further north, Telowie seems as if it may be spared the heavy camper/hiking traffic of the other park.A great little gorge no less, with a very healthy looking understorey of grasses, herbage and shrubs.
Our target species for the park however was Chestnut-rumped Heathwren so we tried in earnest to get a view of this elusive species. Mike produced some notes that he had and mentioned that the terminus of the path along the gorge was the place to find them. As we headed 1.5 km's along the bottom of the gorge we were stopped dead in our tracks by crippling views of not one, but three beautiful Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies, one of which had young Joey peeking from it's pouch. A nice bonus to the great birding and beautiful surrounds. As we neared the end of trail we began to search for suitable looking cover for the CRHW's, but the understorey of shrubs seemed to open up more and more the further we walked in until reaching a series of small waterholes. It was at this point that we noticed more cover on the steep sides of the gorge. We had a poke about for a few minutes before giving up to try the areas detailed in Mike's notes. As we tramped back, talking busily, we were interrupted by a call that sounded somewhat similar to a Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, the call was longer and more 'musical' in sound and this tipped Mike off. We were close the bird but it eluded us by falling silent just as soon as we did. This continued as we made our way back down the gorge. Each time we heard the call, we stopped and stared intently only to have the little buggers do the exact same thing to us. We got a couple of glimpses of them high above the gorge trail but not good enough for a 'life tick' for mine.
So, from Telowie Gorge to Wallaroo, Bird Island and the adjacent beach on the mainland to be precise. We made it down to Bird Island Beach just after 1:00pm to find the wind blowing hard, making any chance of digiscoping out of the question. I left the kit behind but still carried the scope to scan the shore for waders. Mike told me that on the road approaching Bird Island Beach last year a small posse of Little Curlew were found amongst the stubble of what looked like a care paddock. No such luck today though. Down to the shore we went in search of Rock Parrots.
Mike was spot-on. The site he described, among the small mangroves and samphire, was chock-a-block full of Rock Parrots. I took a rough count of 40, many of them being juvenile birds, but there could have been as many as 50-60 in the small area we covered. They're a funny little parrot, they didn't seem to fly to far when we approached. Each time we flushed a few, they'd fly only far enough away to fall back into low cover - often keeping half of their body exposed to keep an eye on us. I was feeling pretty bummed about the conditions being too windy for snapping some pictures, it's not the most handy location in relation to where I currently live and it's a long way to drive back just to snap some photos of one species. Hmmmmmmm.
As the wind strengthened we cut our plans short, we explored a little more of the shoreline and turned up a few Grey Plover and Cormorants but not much else. On our way back to the trail we spied some Banded Lapwings huddled amongst the samphire on the surrounds of a tidal pool. I was unaware that they are not commonly seen down here, having seen them reliably for three summers on the APY Lands at the Murputja Airstrip. I'll have to pay more attention to these things now, given the new birding spots I'm visiting.
Our trip was coming to an end so we decided to have one last scout of the nearby paddocks for any hiding migratory shorebirds....without luck. Our last stop before getting back to town was the Wallaroo Water Treatment Works on the edge of town. There were hundreds of feral pigeons and Silver Gull, we also spotted lone Little Black Cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Pacific Gull and a single female Musk Duck. This was a highlight for me, Muskies are top little ducks!
A good day out with a few surprise birds popping up along the way. Now to plan my return trip for some Rock Parrot pictures.........
Wati Tjulpu
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