Jackwin 777: Three Greys Trip

Fifteen keen birders drove 8,500 km in 16 days chasing the 3 Greys -- Grasswren, Honeyeater and Falcon. Recent heavy rain in south-west Queensland meant the Diamantina at Birdsville was flooded so we did our trip in reverse to the intended plan. Melbourne, Port Augusta, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Lawn Hill, Mount Isa, Winton, Larks Quarry, Bedourie, Birdsville, Lyndhurst, Peterborough, Nowingie Track and home.

Grey Honeyeater
With the help of Mark Carter in Alice Springs we scoured various sites for the Grey Honeyeater without success.

Grey Falcon
On the early morning run from Bladensburg NP to Larks Quarry (south of Winton) most of the party saw a pair of Grey Falcons on the roadside, in a tree, flying over the top of them, landing in a tree above them ..... Not Owen, Ethan and me. I had to kick a stone. So 0/2.

Grey Grasswren
On our way down the Birdsville Track we stopped at a known site spending a couple of hours in the later afternoon with fleeting, tantalising sightings for a few of us but nothing definitive. We camped at the spot overnight. Two vehicles were a few hundred metres away and the others in one spot. Most of us went on a nightime drive looking for reptiles etc whilst four of us stayed at camp (5 actually. Phil had retired early with a very sore ankle). Owen and Matt decided to go spotlighting for geckos and went off moving slowly through the lignum undergrowth. Brad and I stayed at the camp supervising the computer downloading from Brad's full camera card to an external hard disc and lounging in our chairs. Suddenly the shout came, "We have spotlighted a Grey Grasswren. Quick!" They were only 100 metres away. As Brad and I took off Brad grabbed his camera and we both ran full pelt. I followed Brad because I was wearing thongs and had no torch! Just as we got there it flew but Owen took off after it and it went into a lignum bush nearby and we got fantastic views for just a short time until it took off again. Brad White got several excellent images. Here is one.

Grey Grasswren Amytornis barbatus
Birdsville Track

Of course, having no torch meant it was hard to see anything, especially the way back to camp. Camp? It was night. You couldn't see the camp at all. I hadn't considered the fact I would have to get back! So, looked heavenward, worked out where south was and walked west eventually hitting the road then heading one way (the correct way as it turned out) back to the camp. Once there I turned the rear spotlight towards the area of interest and the others trooped in over the next 10-15 minutes. We were all very excited.

Some may question the ethics of spotlighting for Grey Grasswrens but it has to be emphasised that Owen and Matt were looking for reptiles/mammals/spiders and Grey Grasswren had not even crossed their minds. Once seen, the bird was left alone. The close encounter with humans would have lasted 3-4 minutes. Two very reassuring things which meant we had not caused them any lasting harm were that Phil could here them calling close to our camp at daybreak the next morning and they were seen very well about two weeks later at the same site.

As for other grasswrens, we saw Thick-billed Grasswren [Coober Pedy], Dusky Grasswren [Simpson's Gap], Dusky Grasswren [Barrow Creek], Dusky Grasswren [Tennant Creek], Carpentarian Grasswren [McNamara's Road], Kalkadoon Grasswren [Pamela Street, Mount Isa], Rusty Grasswren [Lark Quarry], Grey Grasswren [Birdsville Track], Eyrean Grasswren [Birdsville Track] and Striated Grasswren [Hattah].

As for the trip, the group total was about 270 species.

Here are some images.

Chestnut-breasted Whiteface Aphelocephala pectoralis
Stuart Highway north of Marla