Alice Springs to Pine Creek
The bus left Alice Springs at 5.30pm. It wasn’t as cold as the other bus had been (coming from Adelaide to Alice), but I still needed a sweatshirt. It gets dark around 6pm so no further birds were seen before nightfall.
The first meal-break stop was at Tennant Creek at midnight for 1.5 hours. There were police waiting at the BP for each bus and checking inside – I don’t know if this is a standard check here or if they were looking for someone. There seemed to be a lot of random people loitering in the shadows around the BP. Everyone off the bus waited inside the BP. I bought a coffee for AU$6. The coffee was good, but the toilets were disgusting.
The next break was half an hour at a roadhouse at Daly Waters at 5.55am, just on dawn. Another coffee, also $6. This was the first place I saw any birds today. There were lots of Black Kites circling above the roadhouse, and Torresian Crows and Magpie-Larks on the ground. As I re-boarded the bus I could hear lorikeets waking up in the tree above the bus. I saw three of them fly but they were in silhouette – I knew they had to be Red-collared Lorikeets but I didn’t count them because I wanted to see them properly.
What I could count were the Apostlebirds which came bounding across the forecourt, right in front of the bus! Their name comes from their supposed habit of always being in groups of twelve. These ones obviously hadn’t read their bible because there were at least twenty of them, fanning out across the petrol station.
Most of this bus ride was through wooded grasslands, and unlike the previous bus ride which was largely bird-free, on this one I was seeing birds constantly. Unfortunately they were mostly clouds of little ones, which from a moving bus I didn’t have a hope of identifying. Apart for birds, an interesting feature of this ride was the apparent trend of dressing termite mounds in clothes. There were also unusual numbers of burned-out and wrecked cars along the sides of the highway.
Somewhere south of Katherine, which is a town not a person, the bus made a pick-up at Mataranka Homestead. I had dozed off, and when I opened my eyes the road was lined with palms and pandanus forest, which was really unexpected. Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoos of the northern race
fitzroyi were flying overhead. The bus pulled up at the homestead, peacocks strutting around, and I thought “this looks like somewhere I might see lots of birds!”
Just afterwards at the actual “town” of Mataranka there was a Dollarbird on a powerline, which was the first one I’ve seen in Australia (I’ve seen lots in southeast Asia). I was already on my phone finding out how much rooms at Mataranka Homestead cost (about AU$90) – I might stop back there on my way from Darwin to Queensland, because it would make a handy break-point in a really long bus ride.
There was a break of 1.5 hours at Katherine at 9.45am. Mostly where the buses stop in the towns there are very few birds and they are usually just kites and crows and things like that. Katherine was
full of birds!
Above the BP there was a swirling mass of Black Kites, the usual bird of bus stops but here in huge numbers. It was blazing hot – possibly the kites weren’t circling here intentionally, they were just caught in a rising furnace of air and either escaped when high enough or burst into flame.
Next to the BP was an open area, a sort of cross between a park and waste ground, and walking along here with my binoculars I saw four species of honeyeaters in the streetside trees (Blue-faced, Rufous-throated and Banded Honeyeaters, and Little Friarbirds) as well as White-breasted Woodswallows. And then, on the planted strip running down the centre of the town’s main street, a Great Bowerbird! Just hopping around like he was out in the bush.
The only bowerbirds I’d seen before this were the Satin, Regent and (most recently) Western Bowerbirds – the Great Bowerbird is gigantic in comparison! It’s like if you’re used to seeing Grey Squirrels and then see a marmot.
Great Bowerbird and Little Friarbird (this photo was taken later at the Broome Bird Observatory – I’m using it here to try and give an idea of how big Great Bowerbirds are)
I crossed the road to the Information Centre which was surrounded by fruiting trees. There were several Great Bowerbirds coming and going, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrikes, and even more honeyeaters – Yellow-tinted and White-gaped Honeyeater were both added to the list. I could hear lorikeets but could not see them so they again escaped being counted.
Pine Creek is just an hour north of Katherine. The bus stops at the Lazy Lizard which is the caravan park where I was staying. It is directly across the road from the Water Gardens, where the Hooded Parrots can be seen. Also across the road is the town’s other accommodation, the Railway Resort, which is a hotel rather than a caravan park but the rooms at both are about the same price.
I was actually intending to stay at the Railway Resort because when I’d checked the room rates some time earlier it was AU$95 and cheaper than the Lazy Lizard. But when I went to book later, the cheapest room was now $100 and (more importantly) the booking system on their website didn’t seem to work. I went to the Lazy Lizard’s website and found their rooms were now $95, so that’s where I ended up staying. I feel like the Railway Resort would have been a better choice in hindsight, if I’d been able to book it, but never mind.
It was still a few hours before their official check-in time when the bus arrived but the room was ready anyway, which was nice. I don’t think they have many people staying in the rooms because most are arriving in campervans.
The reception is also a shop (I think the only one in the town, because the town is barely a few streets across), and next to it is a tavern. I think this, the Railway Resort, and a cafe or two are probably the only places to eat in town. I ate once at the tavern, having lunch there just after I arrived, and it was good. I had buffalo sausages and mashed potatoes which cost AU$28. I haven’t had Water Buffalo before – a new one for the list of animals I’ve eaten. The rest of the time I just bought noodles or microwave meals from the shop.
I would be at Pine Creek for two nights, which in effect gave me a half-day (when I arrived) and two full days (my onward bus wasn’t until 6.25pm). The primary reasons for an animal-watcher being there are to see Hooded Parrots at the Water Gardens (across the road), Gouldian Finches at the sewage ponds (about 3km from town), and Ghost Bats (at night, just on the edge of town). You don’t need two and a half days to do this but I’m not in any hurry to get anywhere. Also the Gouldian Finches are not reliable, so extra time doesn’t hurt.
After sorting out my gear and checking where things were in the caravan park, and then having lunch at the tavern, I crossed the road to the Water Gardens. I had seen the name in trip reports of course, but never seen any photos. I’d imagined it was a green and shady formal garden. Instead it is basically a stretch of grass with three or four ponds down the middle, and dry-country trees and palms dotted around them. It’s certainly not unpleasant, but you couldn’t really sit there and relax while watching birds without being burned to a cinder by the sun.
The first bird I saw here was a White-bellied Sea Eagle soaring overhead which was a surprise - Pine Creek is a long way from the sea! Bar-shouldered Doves were very common, and were new for the trip-list (which was also surprising really), and finally some Red-collared Lorikeets made a visual appearance for me so I could say I had “actually” seen them.
Bar-shouldered Dove
Despite being extremely hot, there were plenty of birds in the trees here, much like at Katherine. Peaceful Doves, Figbirds, White-throated Honeyeaters and Dusky Myzomelas were all new for the trip, and there were also Grey-crowned Babblers, White-winged Trillers and Brown Honeyeaters, as well as several of the birds I saw earlier in the morning at Katherine like the Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Little Friarbirds.
Dusky Myzomela
The main bird to see here though, was the Hooded Parrot. I had circled the Water Gardens’ paths a few times, and I was wondering if they just weren’t here in the middle of the day, maybe they only visit in the morning or evening to drink. Then they were suddenly there right in front of me on the grass. There were only four birds, and none of them were males but I’d take that for now. They were very quiet, walking quickly and sampling seeds from grass stems as they went. Really nice birds.
After a rest from the heat in the welcome air-conditioning of my room, I went back out for my second objective of the day. Ghost Bats are the largest “micro-bat” in Australia – so big that they feed on vertebrates rather than moths. They are endangered nowadays but there is a colony right here at Pine Creek, only about ten or fifteen minutes walk from the Water Gardens in an old mine shaft called Kohinoor Adit.
The mine is on Chinatown Road, which is a dead-end road leading south to the dump. I knew the mine entrance was about a kilometre along the road, but I wasn’t sure exactly where or what it looked like so I gave myself plenty of time in case I had to get un-lost. I also thought it would be getting dark at 6pm but it turned out to be 7pm here (being much further north than Alice Springs) so when I found the mine entrance – it is quite obvious and is surrounded by warning signs – I had ages to wait for night to fall.
There were lots of Blue-winged Kookaburras along Chinatown Road which were easily viewable in the tops of the trees (perhaps because it was the end of the day). This was my eighth life-bird for today! Apostlebird was the first lifer, at Daly Waters; at Katherine were Rufous-throated, Yellow-tinted and White-gaped Honeyeaters, and Great Bowerbird; and then at the Water Gardens were the Red-collared Lorikeets and Hooded Parrots.
Blue-winged Kookaburra, this one photographed on another day.
Apart for the Blue-winged Kookaburras, Silver-crowned Friarbirds, and a pair of Red-winged Parrots flying past, there weren’t actually many birds here so after walking up and down the road a while, seeing not much else, I ended up just standing near the mine waiting for dark which ... well, it was boring. A seat would have been nice if the town council could provide that for visiting bat-watchers. Just saying.
At dusk the mosquitoes came out which I suppose made things less boring.
Red-winged Parrot, this one also photographed on another day.
The turn from dusk to night is kind of the most awkward bit, because you’re staring intently at a hole in the hillside as your eyes get steadily less able to see anything, hoping you’re not going to miss the bats as they emerge, or that they don’t slip out sideways, or maybe don’t come out at all until it is pitch black. When they do start flying out they are fortunately big enough and white enough that you can see them pretty easily. It’s not hugely satisfying – they are basically big pale flutterings in the gloom - but it’s still a cool experience because not many people get to see Ghost Bats in the wild.
The Ghost Bats turned out to not be the only bat of the night. Walking back to town a flying fox flapped past. This surprised me. I had thought I’d heard the screeches of flying foxes earlier in the day but thought it must have been some kind of bird because what would fruit bats be doing in an arid inland town?
Back at the caravan park I tracked down where some screeches were coming from and found loads of Black Flying Foxes feasting on mangos. Later I googled them and discovered that Pine Creek is well-known for its flying fox camp which, the next morning, I saw was right beside the caravan park!
White-bellied Sea Eagle perched on the flying fox tree the next morning.
Despite being largely a travel day, the bird total was still good with 38 species recorded, and two mammals (Ghost Bat and Black Flying Fox). Also noteworthy, this was the first day where I saw any reptiles or amphibians. I’d heard little skinks moving in leaf litter elsewhere but not seen them, and had heard frogs calling (I forget where exactly) in Melbourne and Adelaide. Today I saw some skinks on Chinatown Road – I don’t know what they were, just little brown ones which would curl their tails about as a distraction – and after dark back at the caravan park there were Cane Toads hopping about.
Birds seen on the way to Pine Creek: Wedge-tailed Eagle, Whistling Kite, Black Kite, Galah, Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Sacred Kingfisher, Dollarbird, Fairy Martin, White-breasted Woodswallow, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Willy Wagtail, Magpie-Lark, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Rufous-throated Honeyeater, Yellow-tinted Honeyeater, White-gaped Honeyeater, Banded Honeyeater, Little Friarbird, Apostlebird, Great Bowerbird, Pied Butcherbird, Little Crow, Torresian Crow.
At Pine Creek (plus various of the above birds which I won’t repeat): White-bellied Sea Eagle, Bar-shouldered Dove, Peaceful Dove, Red-collared Lorikeet, Red-winged Parrot, Hooded Parrot, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike, Grey-crowned Babbler, White-winged Triller, Australian Figbird, White-throated Honeyeater, Dusky Myzomela, Brown Honeyeater, Silver-crowned Friarbird.
