Nullarbor Trip Part Two ~ Letter-winged Kite Twitch

 

Monday morning began without rain or the need to drive west in the dark. We had gotten our Bluebonnet. I took my time, coffeeing at my laptop in Troopi’s downstairs.
 

                                   

Alice Springs birding guru, Mark Carter, had suggested looking for Nullabor Quail-thrush by the airstrip just behind the camping area at the roadhouse. Mark had also given us excellent gen on the Naretha. The Quail-thrush would be a lifer for James, so he walked back to have a look. In less than an hour he had returned and was beaming. He showed me his camera and he had seen and photographed the Quail-thrush! It is well known as a difficult bird of which to get a photo. I did not get one when Lynn and I saw our lifer in 2016. So I walked back with James to have a look. He refound it for me and I even got some photos as it ran across the runway. Sweet.
     

We packed up and left the roadhouse. Troopi’s engine light issue had reared its ugly orange head and this was worrying me somewhat. This issue continued to play-up on and off throughout the rest of the trip. I am taking it into the repair shop later this week. Crossed fingers, we will see.

We made a short detour over to The Head of the Bight and paid a small admission fee to walk down to the viewing areas and look at the whales. There were at least a dozen Southern Right Whales out there. A parent and calf came in close and I took some photos. It is a stunningly beautiful view. It is definitely worth stopping and having a look.

We drove on and stayed in Wudinna again. Then we headed over to Telowie Gorge for James to tick Grey-fronted Honeyeater, and both of us saw our lifer Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby. It is a lovely area in that gorge. After these successes, we went over to Port Germein and stayed at the very cool little caravan park there. In the morning, James saw his lifer Black Falcon right over the town. There were three of the birds, and I followed them in Troopi through the neighborhood streets until James got some great views and photos. 

In the meantime, a Letter-winged Kite had shown up in Rupanyup, Victoria. Yes, there was another LWK in VIC! I was fortunate enough to see the one in April of last year. It had only stayed around for three days. This would be an incredible opportunity for James to add a very special lifer and a cool sighting for me as well. We changed our route and rather than stopping by Adelaide to get James a Barbary Dove (they could wait), we drove to Keith, SA. We did stop on the way to have a quick look at some Silo Art. Keith would put us about two and a half hours from Rupanyup. We spent the night there and in the morning left at first light for the twitch.
       

We arrived in a dense fog. Ugh. After a lovely clear drive over, the kite area was foggy as London in an old film. Our friend, Gary Gale had just arrived as well and the three of us began looking. I decided to ring my friend, Jenn Stephens, who had seen the raptor the day before. She told me that we were searching further east than she had been, and suggested we go back toward town. We did and the fog was lifting.

As we started down Rupanyup-Burrum Road, I glimpsed what looked like a kite shape amongst the foliage at the top of a tall gum. I stopped and said, “I saw something.” Gary stopped behind us and watched us get out. James and I walked to get an angle where we could see more clearly into the leaves and yes, it was the Letter-winged Kite! I think James said, “That’s it!” And it certainly was.

The day before, Black-shouldered Kites had harassed the bird, causing it to fly several times. Our friend, Jenn got some beautiful photos. But no BSK were around bothering it and it just perched there, occasionally shutting one eye or the other as it appeared to be nodding off. Of course we hoped to see that gorgeous under-wing “letter” and we waited to see if anything happened. We stood around for about three hours while it perched there comfortably. We finally just left it as we had found it. It was a glorious ending for Team Troopi’s trip. After taking a Lifer Selfie for James and Gary under the "kite tree," we drove on back to Lara.
        

I am in the Tiny House and yes indeed, I will be continuing to work toward finally getting the book, The Year, out and available to the public. As I have promised, it will only be a couple more weeks or so. I really think y'all are going to like it.

I write, therefore I am.

Love. Peace. Birds.

Nullarbor Trip Part One ~ Naretha Joy

         

The Nullarbor. The outback. Those very wide-open spaces are not intimidating for me. I find them comforting. The vastness enfolds my soul like an embrace. As a former agoraphobic this really should amaze me, except that I now consider it normal. I am now this person. I am grateful for that with all my heart.
 

That said, I cannot stay out there forever, sleeping in the back of Troopi and living on sandwiches and meusli bars. I need to get “home” every so often and I am sitting here now. I will be continuing to work toward finally getting the book, The Year, out and available to the public. It will only be a couple more weeks or so. You have my word. So I won’t be doing any more traveling for at least a little while.

It is Sunday here now and I will begin to write the first part of the blog of the trip when James Cornelious and I went out to the Nullarbor. Bill Oneil called us, “Team Troopi” and I reckon that fits.

We left on a Wednesday and drove from Lara to Murray Bridge, SA, to Wudinna, SA, and arrived 1800 kilometres later at the Nullarbor Roadhouse midday Friday. We secured lodging and bolted for the Koonalda Track 97 kilometres further west. We were going to be looking for Naretha Bluebonnet. It is the stunningly gorgeous relative of the Eastern Bluebonnet. We started down that track with high hopes, but despite searching until dark, we did not find any Narethas. It is so beautiful out there. We drove back to the roadhouse, grateful for Troopi’s new spotties illuminating the road in front of us. Travelling back and forth, we would be grateful for them daily.
 

Sunset on our first day at the Koonalda Track

We were out there the next morning before first light. We spent the entire day going slowly up and down that wet and muddy fourteen kilometre track. We saw some sweet birds, including Ground Cuckoo-shrikes and a pair of Stubble Quail wandering around the edge of the track. We saw several Mulga Parrots that made our hearts jump. They are beautiful, but they were not our Narethas.

We had showers on and off that created some of the most beautifully intense rainbows I have ever seen. It was stunningly beautiful out there. But our hopes for the bird were beginning to sag. We drove out and around the old Koonalda Homestead with its scores of abandoned, rusting, rotting vehicles. I am not sure how or why they ended up there, but it is an interesting sight. As darkness approached, we headed back east to the roadhouse, again grateful for the spotties lighting our way.
         

  

The next morning we headed west again through the intermittent rain. We arrived at the track at first light and began birding. Truly our hopes were pretty low. At this point we had put about fifteen hours into this finite area. James had gotten two lifers in the Redthroat and the Ground Cuckoo-shrike, but the main target for us both had not even been glimpsed. About twenty past ten, we were driving back south down the track into one one of the first wooded areas as I saw two birds fly out of the trees. They looked light coloured and the right size. They flew to the right and behind some other trees. I quickly drove Troopi around the curve in the track to see where they went. I told James what I had seen and as we turned to the right, he said, “They landed in the top of that saltbush.” I stopped and we both put our bins on them and James said the magical, wonderful words we had longed for, “That’s them!” And they just perched there for us. We stared and took pictures. I know I choked up a little. A light rain was falling, but the sun shone on them. They are one of the most beautiful parrots I have ever seen. It was so worth it. That moment, that second in time when we realised that we were finally, after eighteen hours of searching, looking at our bird. The joy echoes through me yet again as I write this one week later. Lifer high is a time-release gift that keeps on giving.

 

 

 

The view in front of the roadhouse as I ate my chips and gravy treat for lunch. 

In the midst of Lifer High, we drove back to the roadhouse where we had lunch. My first lifer pie treat was chips and gravy. We had done it. We had beheld the Naretha Bluebonnet. Yay, Team Troopi! The adventure continued, more to come in Part Two. 

I write therefore I am. 

Love. Peace. Birds.