BIRDSVILLE TRACK AND MORE

I have just returned from a great trip with Peter Waanders. We started at Mt Isa and finished in Adelaide. I saw 161 birds. We saw a few animals (surprisingly few kangaroos, some euros and wallabies, dingoes and a spectacular display of half a million Little Red Flying Foxes leaving their caves at sunset in Mt Isa) and a few reptiles (one snake, several lizards). There were seven participants and two leaders on the trip. For me, the bird of the trip was the Thick-billed Grasswren race cowarie, a new race for me. Everyone's choice would be individual of course, but my bird of the day was as follows: Friday: Carpentarian Grasswren, excellent views; Saturday: Latham's Snipe at Lake Moondarah; Sunday: Letter-winged Kites, several at Belle Vista Floodplain; Monday: Grey Falcon in flight, not a perfect view, but a beautiful bird; Tuesday: Thick-billed Grasswren race cowarie, a new race for me; Wednesday: Eyrean Grasswren, several excellent if fleeting views; Thursday: Black-breasted Buzzard; Friday: Hooded Robin, sitting cooperatively on top of a tree at Jarvis Hill in Hawker.

Peter called the tour 'Grey Falcon and Letter-winged Kite tour' and so naturally, we saw both these birds. Here's the tower the falcons were roosting in.

Without a camera, here's the best digiscope of a Grey Falcon I could manage (or, more accurately, Peter could manage on my behalf with my phone!):

Here's the best I could do with three Letter-winged Kites roosting in a tree (see them? top right)

And here's a pellet from a Letter-winged Kite that was pulled apart to reveal a beautiful, tiny foot!

A great trip, great birds, great company, great country.