And the bush has friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him, In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, And at night the wonderous glory of the everlasting stars.

Banjo Paterson (1889)

Monday, April 11, 2011

Cue Birding

Unfortunately my Canon XH A1 is still broken after the birding trip to Cue. A shame as it broke on the first day, so I have nothing to show of that trip. Especially upsetting is the fact a Banded Whiteface, a new bird for me, came so close I could almost touch it, but alas no video!

Banded Whiteface
I did enjoy all the 83 species of birds we got, as the country around Cue has had the first good rains in about ten years and a lot of birds were moving about. Most of the salt lakes and salt pans still had lots of water in them (including the associated millions of flies and mosquitoes!). We dipped on Grey Honeyeater and Gilbert's Whistler, two difficult target birds to get in that region, but we did see a wonderful flock of over 45 Major Mitchell Cockatoos. A fantastic sight, as the beautiful salmon-pink and white cockatoos whirled  over the red sand dunes. I also now know of some good camping spots up that way and areas to visit.

I'm looking forward to another trip to the Cue area, but as it's about an 7 hour journey north of Perth, you really need an extra long weekend to enjoy it. Right now I'm getting ready for another journey northwards, this time back to the Camballin area in the south Kimberleys, for a big two week fauna survey.

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