27 – 29 June 2016
Oh what a beautiful hot shower!
The first one for a week. Merluna Station is a 169 000 ha cattle station. It is
largely undeveloped, and there is only one road in and out. The owners have
turned the workers quarters into accommodation and opened up an area for
camping. We were able to select a shady spot with access to power.
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| We found a shady spot close to the camp kitchen. |
We completed the necessary
housekeeping tasks – cleaning, washing, and sorting gear – and ended up quite
exhausted. We almost had the place to ourselves, with only one other family
camped over the other side of the shed to us.
Mick had talked to owner Michelle
about birdwatching spots and she gave us permission to visit the lagoon. We
drove down there in the morning and spent a while at this lovely spot. Mick was
hoping for the Trumpet manucode, but was out of luck.
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| There was also a chance of Spotted Whistling-ducks at the lagoon but they weren't seen either. |
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| There were lots of Brown-backed Honeyeaters present. |
After lunch we opted for a swim
in the on-site pool and watched the crowds arrive. Not really crowded compared
to some places, and with plenty of room for everyone to have their own space,
there were at least 7 other vehicles, most travelling in groups and many with
children.
We headed out for a walk later in
the afternoon when it was a little cooler. There are three marked walks that
take you along the now dry, creek. We found Numbers 3 and 2 and enjoyed a
pleasant stroll through the bush.
There are a couple of dams at the bottom of the camping area that are good for birding. I went down with the camera a couple of mornings and saw Kingfishers, Cuckoos, Honeyeaters and Finches. The fences were popular with Rainbow Bee-eaters and White-breasted Woodswallows. White-winged Trillers, Bar-shouldered Doves and Red-winged Parrots were also encountered. My main target was Palm Cockatoo and I heard one call on the first morning we were there. I wasn't able to see and photograph one until our next visit after Weipa. Mick.
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| Water lilies in the dam. |
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| Lots of Cuckoos around, this is a Little Bronze-Cuckoo. |
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| Agile Wallaby near the dam. |
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| Red-browed Finch race temporalis. |
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| Rufous-throated Honeyeater. Many young ones around but no adults. |
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| I was keen to see my first Trumpet Manucode but Spangled Drongos gave me lots of false alarms. |
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| Male White-winged Triller. |
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| Female White-winged Triller. |
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| White-breasted Woodswallows all in a row. |
On Tuesday morning Mick went out early for another walk and spent some time down by the dam, at the bottom of
the camping paddock. We also took a walk up to the airstrip in the hope of
seeing the Bustards that are sometimes there, but not this time.
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| The mornings were mostly foggy and cool but days were quite hot. |
Lunch and another swim were in
order as the day heated up. Merluna is a nice spot for a few days to rest and
rejuvenate. The facilities are good and the owners and staff friendly. There
are some trees in the campground for shade, and a shed with power available.
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| A flock of Galahs feeds in the paddock nearby. A pink iris shows this one is a female. |
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| The late afternoon light on a feeding Rainbow Bee-eater. |
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| A pair of Sacred Kingfishers were never far away. |
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| White-breasted Woodswallow. |
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| Yellow Orioles are quite common. |
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| White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike in a fig tree. |
We set off for Weipa on Wednesday
morning. It’s about 100km from the turn back onto the main road and took us
about 1 ½ hours. The road was in fairly good condition but the dust
necessitated slowing right down for oncoming traffic, and stopping completely
for road trains.
Weipa
29 June – 3 July 2016
We arrived in Weipa in time for
lunch. The caravan park was busy, with most sites already taken, and we were
glad we had booked a few days before. The small (and only) shopping centre in
Weipa, is a short walk from the caravan park so we visited each day to pick up
supplies. There is a butcher, bakery, café, chemist, bottle shop and
supermarket. We also discovered the community op-shop. This little shop had the best range of books I have seen for a long time, and priced at just 50c each, I stocked up.
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| Weipa is a remote mining town and port. The orange ore is bauxite, used to make aluminum. |
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| Filling their holds with bauxite. |
The café at the caravan park is
open for breakfast and dinner, so we dined out for our wedding anniversary, It
was just a short stroll from our site, with drinks in hand, for a nice
take-away meal, at the tables adjacent to the beach.
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| A Forest Kingfisher on the TV aerial of the cafe. |
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| Black-necked Stork fishing in the early morning. |
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| Young Black Kite on a mangrove tree near the beach. |
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| Black-backed Butcher birds can be seen around the park. |
While in Weipa we visited a
number of spots where birds are likely to be found. We drove the dirt tracks
around Lakes Patricia and McLeod
, down to the fishing spot at the Mission River as well as
out to Uningan Reserve. This reserve is mentioned in a number of guides, but we
were told that the walking tracks had not been well looked after. A number of
turn-offs lead to locked gates – presumably Rio Tinto land, but we didn’t see
the promised tracks or picnic area.
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| Sarus Crane at the disappointing Uningan Reserve. |
The best birding was when we were able to
watch the frigate birds flying over us at the public jetty, on their way to
roost. It is not possible to see then up close as the roosting site is on Rio
Tinto land. Mick was happy to get some record shots over a couple of days.
It was wonderful to watch wave after wave of Frigatebirds come in to roost at sunset. Unfortunately the light was very challenging for in flight photography where very high shutter speeds are essential. I must confess that I am just crap at in flight shooting anyway and have an incredibly low keeper rate so that didn't help either.
The main target species for Weipa were Great Frigatebird, tick, and Spotted Whistling-duck. Despite several trips to likely spots no Spotted Whistling-ducks were seen. Bummer! Mick.
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| A Black Kite playing the flute. Lake Patricia. |
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| White-bellied Sea Eagle wondering if I'm too big to eat. Lake Patricia. |
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| Lesser Frigatebird. |
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| Sunset in front of the caravan park. |
We were fortunate to be able to
get a campsite booking at Eliot Falls in the Jardine River National Park for later
in the week, so we decided to head back to Merluna for a couple of nights,
before heading north again.
Merluna Station
3 – 5 June 2016
Back to Merluna and the peace and
quiet after busy Weipa. There was only one other couple when we arrived, and
surprisingly some showery rain. This is very unusual for this part of the
country at this time of year. Very late in the afternoon, we heard the
distinctive call of the palm cockatoo. Mick set off with the camera, ever
hopeful, and he was finally rewarded with some good shots.
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| The magnificent Palm Cockatoo. |
We enjoyed two very relaxing
nights before setting off again – headed further north.
Moreton Telegraph Station
5 – 7 July 2016
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| Wompoo Fruit-pigeon. The fig tree next to our camp was visited by a variety of great birds. |
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| At last, I found a Trumpet Manucode! |
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| These are very active birds and they really tested me and my camera gear. |
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| A juvenile Yellow Oriole. |
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| Yellow Oriole adult. |
We set up camp near an enormous fig tree that was fruiting profusely. What a great tree to be camped next to! Most of the day it was host to squadrons of noisy Figbirds and these were joined on and off by a variety of other visitors, frugivorous and otherwise. In the fig I saw White-bellied and Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes, Yellow Orioles, Trumpet Manucodes, Great Bowerbirds, Yellow and Graceful Honeyeaters, Wompoo Fruit-pigeon, Large-billed Gerygones (nesting) and a Collared Sparrowhawk. Brush Turkeys and a pair of Orange-footed Scrubfowl foraged under the tree especially early morning and late afternoon. I have probably forgotten some but you get the idea.
The thrill of seeing my first Trumpet Manucode was slightly tempered when I heard its calls. A bit like the croak of a tree frog and nothing resembling a trumpet at all! Mick.
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| Male Australasian Figbird. |
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| Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Race yorki. |
We decided to kill time at
Moreton Telegraph Station until we could go into Eliot Falls (in the Jardine
National Park). Moreton Station offers various levels of accommodation, but not
the fuel or take-away meals available at roadhouses. It was a good place to
stay with lots of green grass and a walk along the creek and by the lagoon. We
were fortunate in arriving early we were able to pick our own powered site. It
just happened to be right by a tree that was a prime spot for the avid birdwatcher.
It was here also that we ran into our former neighbours from Merluna, and met
some new folks. All in all a nice couple of nights.
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