MISSING, INACTION!

Whoa, you take your mind off of all things birdy and before you know it, it's been two months since a bird-related posting on this here page. Jeez! Not that I haven't been out & about...just many other things going on of late. Well, I have a couple of older trip reports to write up and some local birding news too...along with the bird schtuff I've also had a birthday, so too has my daughter, Ivy, and we've all had doses of the dreaded 'flu. Urgh!

Today marked a break from the funk of sitting at home feeling sorry for myself, so when everyone else had gone out with other things to do for the day I thought I'd make the most of it and head out for a spot of birding. I thought I'd try my luck again at Thompson Beach, given that I haven't been up there in a few months since many of the visiting waders vacated the beach. Not many people seem to head out to the northern coast during this time of year so I thought I'd brave the cold and see what was about.

What a day it turned out to be, 43 species in all...a personal record for me at this site! A couple of oddities kept me energised despite some freezing cold wind and what's considered the 'norm' in Adelaide as far as weather goes at this time of year....grey, high cloud that doesn't seem to move to allow the sun to penetrate and provide your skin with any bloody warmth, day after miserable bloody day. Arrrrggghhhh...I miss my Central Australian not-winter. Boo Hoo!

Alas, I'm not writing a weather report....

So, 'oddities' and other interesting things included close to 40 Double-banded Plover, 3 Eastern Curlew, 2 Buff-banded Rail and 1 Darter. Aside from the Plovers, these are all 'new' species for me at this site. I have seen a lone Eastern Curlew out at Port Gawler before but to see three of them quite well was a real treat. For some reason they seem a bit 'goofy' to me, no bird should have to suffer wearing a bill that ridiculous...the silly bill (as useful as it may be...) is only surpassed by their comical, grating 'honk' of a call. Still, I really find them captivating and wish I could have gotten a better shot of them but they had a 'forcefield' around them of what felt like about 100 metres or so. Each time I tried to get a better shot they flew further northward along the beach.

 The highlight of the day for me was not the Eastern Curlew though, I decided to brave the washouts and mud and drive a little further northward this time and was rewarded with crippling views of not one, but 11 Australian Spotted Crake! Anyone who has read earlier entries on this here blog would know that these have eluded me for some time...but not today! I was seeing them in almost every rank pool and claypan north of the Esplanade. Nice to get the little, spotty 'monkey' off my back!

I just happened upon a group of 3 in a small claypan with loads of slimy vegetation lining the edges of the samphire cover. They seemed unfussed by my presence and went about their business foraging in the shallow pool, often journeying out into he centre of the pool, metres from cover. After so much time spent trying to locate and photograph them earlier this year (battling the heat and mosquitoes of Greenfields Wetlands) I really felt like I'd won bird lotto today getting views of 11 birds in total. Each pool and small claypan seemed to have a resident pair who were busy "working their turf". It was truly one of those sublime birding moments.



The good vibes continued. When scoping for a distant pair of Crake, I spied a Buff-banded Rail, the first for the day, poking its elongated head and striking white eyebrow into frame. However, the joy was brief as it soon slinked across the water and took deep cover in some samphire, refusing to show itself again. Later in the afternoon I caught a glimpse of a second BBR trying to slink into cover, thinking that I hadn't spied it out of the corner of my eye. This bird was at the far southern end of Thompson Beach, behind the houses on another small claypan. It crept into some thick cover and refused to come out, even after waiting 5 minutes or so. I soon retreated back towards the car only to realise that the same crafty bird had gotten past me through the cover and was now being mobbed by some White-browed Babblers. It quickly took flight with a dogged Babbler in hot pursuit and I was unable to locate it again. Dang! What a great, gaudy-looking bird! They look like they've gone and put on all of their loudest clothes at once and to top it off, when they take flight they look like a technicolour donkey trying to win the Melbourne Cup. The strained neck, the barely adequate wings, the heavy body and drooping feet.....ahhh, splendid!

Not a bad way to spend a frigid winters' afternoon!

Wati Tjulpu

One very psychedelic Crake