After seeing the Princess Parrots the rest of our stay at
Newhaven should have been an anticlimax, but it wasn’t. The days were clear and
calm and the temp got up to a shirt-sleeve 26ºC. The volunteers were friendly
and helpful, the campground was well laid out and the stars in the clear night
sky were the stuff dreams are made of. We had been told that the birds were few
and far between but even though they didn’t exactly run all over our toes we
had no trouble building a respectable bird list. Then each evening when we lit
the campfire, Lorna bought out the wine and Janine brought out a bottle of
Scotch. It was a glorious week of good birds, good weather, good friends and
good food.
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| Relaxing around the campfire |
Even getting to Alice Springs was pleasant. QANTAS excelled
itself and on a full flight I somehow had the good fortune to have the only
empty seat right next to me. One joy of flying, for me, is to have a window
seat so I can gaze out and dream about the birds we might be flying over, the
other is to have an empty seat next to me so I can spread out. I can’t imagine
why people sit in a window seat and don’t look out. They miss so much, the
hills, the desert, the remoteness and the beauty.
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| There are birds down there, and maybe even Lassiter's lost reef |
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| Desert and the road to Santa Teresa |
Newhaven is an old grazing lease that is now owned and
managed by Australian Wildlife Conservancy and they and Birds Australia
(BirdLife) have given it a secure future as a wildlife reserve. Signs of
previous grazing still show but the native bushes and grasses are coming back
and this year everything is in flower or seed and looking
beautiful.
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| The "desert" in full health |
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| Mistletoe |
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| View over the campgrounds and out to the east |
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| So many places to explore ... maybe this is where Lassiter's reef is |
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| Desert Oaks, sand dunes and Mt Liebig |
On the first two days we watched the Princess Parrots until
about 1000 then headed off to explore the property and find other birds and
places. The Dunes track was very productive and we had Banded Whiteface along
the first few km and then, when the land opened into Spinifex, Triodia scariosa (irritans), covered plains we were amongst the Fairy-wrens,
Emu-wrens, larger honeyeaters and raptors.
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| They are just so beautiful .... |
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| ... I couldn't resist just two more photos |
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| Banded Whiteface ... |
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| .... and as we normally saw them |
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| White-winged Fairy-wren |
On the side track to Lake Bennett, currently dry, we found
Orange Chat, Crimson Chat, thornbills, honeyeaters and, of course, the Zebra
Finches that flitted in and out of every bush on the property and had us
stopping often in the hope that they were something else. Black-faced
Woodswallows were sitting on top of most of the dead trees. Crested Bellbirds
could be heard calling whenever we stopped.
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| Singing Honeyeater |
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| Grey-fronted Honeyeater at the drying dam off the Dunes track |
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| Zebra Finch at the spring, Lake Bennett |
One track I would have like to spend more time on was the
Cuckoo track. There were no cuckoos but there is a lot of Mallee and as we
drove through there were small birds everywhere. At one stop we had
White-winged Fairy-wrens, Inland Thornbills, Western Gerygone, Slaty-backed
Thornbills and Grey Honeyeaters.
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| Australian Pipit |
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| Yellow-throated Miner |
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| Red-browed Pardalote. It just did not want to come out and play |
We also only had one quick visit to Potato Gorge, in the
range behind the homestead, and it would have been nice to explore that more
fully. There are so many places to go to that I am sure that you could fill two
weeks without seeing everything properly.
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| Potato Gorge |
Apart from the parrots, the bushranger Pied Butcherbirds in
the campground that tried to steal food from the table and the Brown Falcons
that perched on dead trees and stared at us, all the birds were extremely shy
for some reason. It might be
because of the number of raptors; we saw 12 species during our visit including
Black-breasted Buzzard, Spotted Harrier, Little Eagle and Nankeen Kestrel. My
total species count for the 5 days was 56 but I did miss a few such as
the Peregrine Falcon as we drove out, the Cockatiels that did a fly-over one
morning and the Southern White-faces that were found by another group of
birders. Highlights, apart from the parrots, were the pair of Grey Falcons that
circled briefly above the car; the Hobby, Brown Goshawk and Brown Falcon having
a three-way dispute over hunting rights at the campground; finding Banded
White-face and Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, at last, and finding more than one Grey
Honeyeater.
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| One of the bushranger Pied Butcherbirds |
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| Grey Falcon |
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| Grey Falcon |
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| Brown Falcon |
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| Brown Goshawk |
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| Brown Falcon being harassed by an Australian Hobby |
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| Australian Hobby |
There are plenty of signs of camel on the property and more
than once we came across large bull camels near the road. Their tracks are
everywhere and the tops have been eaten off many bushes and droppings surround
the few waterholes. Eradication programs are underway but it is going to be
hard work.
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| Bull camel, very majestic but not what we wanted to see |
The Princess Parrots seem to be looking for nesting sites so
hopefully they will stick around, but even if you don’t see them Newhaven
should be on everyone’s must visit list. Joe and the volunteers are doing a
wonderful job, the country is in good condition, the birds are plentiful and
the scenery is spectacular. Even if you don’t see the parrots Grey Honeyeaters
were not overly hard to find, the raptors were everywhere, the emu-wrens were
calling all over the place (but VERY hard to see) and there are lots of other
desirable arid-land birds like
Orange and Scarlet Chats. Do pick up a copy of the Self Guided Tour
Notes too as they have lots of information about the property as well as notes
on all the tracks.
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| The Watchers at the (Night Parrot) Pool |
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| Little Crow at the campground |
Sigh, having written all this I would go back tomorrow if I
could – well maybe I will wait until September when the nights aren’t so cold,
but go back I must. There are a whole lot of tracks to the west of Lake Bennett
that we didn’t see as well as some to the north and east of the homestead. And
then there is Potato Gorge; what a strange name. We only had a quick look but
it just calls out to be explored properly. I think there is a new race of
grasswren tucked into its farthest back corner, maybe even a new species
(smile).
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| Lake Bennett |
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| The landscape is just so vast |
A few slow night-drives would be good too. We missed the
Night Parrot at the shallow pool off the Dune track, teeheehee, but in the
dying light we did see Common Bronzewing and I am sure another half hour or so
would have given us the parrot. We did see a Spotted Nightjar on the way back
to camp and as we birded we saw the tracks of many small nocturnal mammals, and
one morning there were the tracks of a monitor lizard near the campground.
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| Budgies |
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Military Dragon
(Ctenophorus isolepsis) |
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A very brightly coloured grasshoppery thing - is actually a Blistered Pyrgomorph
(Monistria pustulifera), thanks Chris for the correct name.
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One place on the Tanami track that was recommended to us is
from the kilometre marker “Y 220” coming from Alice Springs and for the next 2
kilometres. There is Blue Mulga in flower and both Western Gerygone and Grey
Honeyeater have been seen. The reverse side of the sign, coming back, says “AS
70”. If you do stop here pull well off the road as the road trains are wide and
travel fast.
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| At "Y220" on the Tanami Track |
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| Road Train |
