The Big Year goes North Part 2: The Oodnadatta Track

With a really good start to the first few days of our trip up north we were keen to keep the momentum going by heading down the Oodnadatta Track to see what we could find. In all our years of living in South Australia, for some reason Sue and I have never been along this famous outback track. Somehow it's never seemed very birdy to us and we tend to favour the eastern side of the Lake Eyre basin primarily because of the mammals that live that side and also the birding is better with a greater variety of species to see. Firstly though we still had one of the specialist species from the Mulga tree belt that runs across the top half of the western Lake Eyre drainage basin to look for. This would be our last opportunity for the rest of the year to try and see it.

So with that in mind as soon as we got up in the early dawn light we decided to drive back out along the road to Mintabie that had plenty of the habitat we needed to search. After a few random roadside stops we came across an area that had a few birds flipping about so we walked off the road and into the open scrub. We came across a few Thornbills that proved to be Chestnut-rumpeds and even a few Inland Thornbills but they were not the bird we were looking for. Having split up a little bit it was Andy who first got on to what we were seeking......hmmmmm, white underneath, greyish back, dark iris and black streaked forecrown.............yup that's it.... Slaty-backed Thornbill.....excellent! Two birds foraging loosely with other Thornbills  although tending to keep to themselves. We ended up getting really good looks at them with this being Andy's last Thornbill species to see in Australia and the last one for our Big Year. Mission complete.

The last of the Thornbill species for the Big Year. Slaty-backed Thornbill

We drove back in to Marla and packed up camp while enjoying a fresh brewed coffee. Once we were ready to hit the road we nudged down the start of the Oodnadatta Track. About 70km's in we stopped at gum lined Coongra Creek that seemed to have a few birds around so we got out for a bit of a stroll amongst the creekside vegetation. The first thing we noticed was a large number of Diamond Doves loafing in the shade amongst the trees.

We had a large number of dainty Diamond Doves loafing in the shade at Coongra Creek

There were other birds here too with Australian Ringnecks and the ubiquitous and ever present Zebra Finches but a streaky brownish bird skulking about in a tangle of fallen branches caught my eye. Following up it wasn't going to give itself up that easily and I struggled to get anything on it much. Eventually it flipped out the back and perched briefly enough to ID it as a Rufous Songlark  before just as quickly disappearing. This species can show something of a split personality. When breeding they make loud trilling calls during display flights through the trees yet when not breeding they skulk about in thick vegetation pretending to be some kind of cryptic "Locustella type" Warbler!! Unfortunately Sue was off doing her own thing and missed the bird so we'd have to find her another one.

Having had our fill of the birds that were available we headed back to the car, only to discover the back passenger side tyre was losing air rapidly and was almost completely flat!! So we got it off and changed it over for the spare. I plugged the tyre with a puncture repair kit then reinflated it and it seemed to be holding pressure so we popped it back up under the car where the spare had come from. With a long way to go on bad gravel roads it put a little dampener on the rest of the trip given we were now a spare down...........what could go wrong???

It was only flat on the bottom!

We drove on down the track stopping briefly in Oodnadatta itself before carrying on to Algebuckina Creek and the famous steel girder rail bridge that spans the floodplain. We set up camp on the banks of the extensive waterhole that extended downstream from the bridge itself and did a little bit of birding before preparing dinner. There were lots of birds around given the presence of the water including Australian Pelicans, Darters and Yellow-billed Spoonbills with White-breasted Woodswallows and White-backed Swallows overhead. I was hoping for one species in particular and it wasn't long before I heard it calling from a patch of isolated trees away from the waterhole. Not normally furtive the Red-browed Pardalote is usually quite easy to see but this bird was constantly being harrassed by every White-plumed Honeyeater in the area. Perhaps they compete directly for the same food sources or it might be that the Honeyeaters are just horrible bullies?? Either way it would be the next morning before I could get a reasonable photograph.

Peering over the top of the gum leaves its perched amongst the Red-browed Pardalote can be found in tree lined Watercourses throughout the north of the State

The next morning was spent wandering around and doing some general birding and we really enjoyed the activity in the vicinity of the water. I managed to get a few photos of the Red-browed Pardalote and came across a covey of eight Brown Quail which came as a big surprise! Having enjoyed the birding around the creek it was time to carry on our journey so after having breakfast and packing up we moved off further down the track.

Passing over Peake Creek we noticed the vegetation here was a bit more lush with tussocky grass and there had obviously been some rain albeit not very recent. We stopped for a small bird on the side of the road and saw some others in a grassy creek line heading back towards the main dry watercourse. As we walked down the slope I noticed a large bird emerge from the thick vegetation and stride out into an open area on the other side of the creek. Australian Bustard I yelled to the others and with that the bird walked behind an isolated bush and completely disappeared!!!! As we came out the other side of the creekline we picked it up again a bit further down the creek and as it strode away from us another bird popped in to view even further down. Both birds took to the air and flew over an adjacent dune and away from view. We were very fortunate to have seen them having missed a few birds that had been seen closer to Adelaide already this year and as it turned out the only ones we were to see on this whole trip.

A rather stately bird the Australian Bustard is the heaviest flying bird in Australia

Feeling pretty good about picking up the Bustard we carried on down the track further until we reached the turn off to Old Peake Telegraph Station. These ruins were part of the chain of telegraph stations established along the Oodnadatta Track that connected the colonies in Australia to Europe via an under sea cable from Java that made landfall in Darwin. It must have been a very harsh and isolated existence for those families living there. As we approached a gap in the Dennison Ranges just before arriving at the station we flushed a large group of Zebra Finches from the base of a rocky bluff. Peering through the windscreen at the now scattered birds I noticed a different bird perched on top of the rocks in front of us.......Painted Finch!!! This was a State tick for Sue and I and a lifer for Andy. We were hoping to bump into this species somewhere along the track but didn't have any real expectation of seeing any so there was lots of high fiveing all around.

Painted Finch at last!

Andy and I enjoying Painted Finch in the Dennison Range

It was getting near to lunch time so we moved off and continued the 2km's on to the old Station buildings and marvelled at the resilience these people must have had to live in such a desolate and isolated environment. Also the artesian springs that emerge from the base of the range were fascinating to see. Parking up we went for a walk to explore and see what other birds we could find. It was soon apparent there were a number of small flocks of Painted Finches flying about and coming in to drink and we got some amazing views of this very attractive species. A pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles soared effortlessly overhead while a Wedgebill gave an indeterminate call from a nearby creekline masking it's true identity as to which species it was? This area is where both species overlap in range and while habitat preference tends to keep them separated there are exceptions to every rule.

An incredibly attractive male Painted Finch

A female Painted Finch with much less extensive red on it

Old Peake Telegraph Station fascinating to walk around

Having enjoyed the walk around the Station we drove back out on the entrance track and stopped for lunch before continuing on further down the main road. As we were cruising along with the abandoned railway next to us we noticed someone had cleverly arranged some old railway sleepers to spell certain words. I wont give it away exactly what it said but Australian humour can be rather rude at times. We pulled in to take some pictures and not a few minutes in Sue picked up some movement on the ground on the other side of the line. She managed to get Andy and I on to it. A pair of Gibberbirds.......nice. We followed them around for a bit in an effort to try and get some pictures which we were able to do. Nice one Sue!

One of a pair of Gibberbirds along the Old Ghan railway line. We would see more later in the trip

Getting towards the bottom of the track we pulled in to Coward Springs to camp for the night. The fees were reasonably expensive but the facilities were quite good so we set up camp and cracked a few ice cold frothies to celebrate picking up some good birds for the Big Year. As it was starting to get dark a Southern Boobook emerged from its daytime roosting site to fly across the back of our camp area and perch low down just behind us.......very nice. Later after dinner we decided to drive back out on the track and try a bit of spotlighting which in the end proved completely futile with us seeing basically nothing. We also kept blowing fuses that supply the cars spotlights, so that proved to be a bit frustrating until I upgraded the size of the fuse by a few amps. After a fitful sleep woken only by the calls of Eastern Barn Owls and distant Spotted Nightjars we woke relatively early. Time to get up and explore the wetlands out the back that are fed by artesian springs. Sue wandered off first and came back to report a Pallid Cuckoo which was nice but she couldn't find the main wetland. I headed off on my own and managed to find it. A reed lined channel ending in a small pond provided great views of several Australian Spotted Crakes, Black-tailed Native-hens, Yellow billed Spoonbill and a very furtive Australian Reed Warbler.

Australian Spotted Crakes can appear where ever there is a bit of water. Even in the desert

Sue and I walking out through the wetland at the back of Coward Springs Photo by Andy Walker

I went back to get the others. We managed to get some breakfast into us before heading out again and exploring the wetland proper that extends right out the back of the main spring. Here we managed to find a pair of stately Brolgas with a young bird in attendance and walking around the edge of the wetland we had several Red-kneed Dotterels, Black-fronted Dotterels and some Pied Stilts along with a few brightly coloured Orange Chats feeding around the edge. At this point I looked up just in time to see a fast flying pigeon zoom in from out in the desert before dropping down out of sight ahead of us. As we walked towards where it had gone it was off in a flash streaking past us and flying away into the sun. Despite getting some poor photos of it there was no mistaking the shape and profile of a Flock Bronzewing. This is an incredibly rare bird this side of the Lake Eyre basin with few records. In South Australia they are normally found in the far north-east in the Simpson and Sturt Stony Deserts but are incredibly irruptive arriving in large numbers during good seasons and moving on just as quickly when conditions dry out. Just to prove it wasn't a fluke another bird flew in, only this time I managed to snag a few pictures.

Male Flock Bronzewing. Quite a surprise to see this at Coward Springs

We had done amazingly well in a relatively short space of time and had effectively cleaned up all of the species we were hoping to see on this side of the basin, including most of the specialties. Sue had amassed another seven species on this leg and me another eight including the Rufous Songlark Sue missed. So what now? We still had a few days spare out of our nine day trip so we offered Andy the opportunity to chase Grey Falcons on the Birdsville Track which would be a lifer for him. Sue and I are planning to do this in October anyway when we take two weeks to travel the length of the Birdsville Track and around to the Strzelecki Track but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush so why not? Join us for Part 3 where we share the in the adventure we had chasing "The Grey Ghost"