Check my birding map for specific location.
While at Port Augusta I began to rethink my plans about going east to Melbourne. Gluepot Reserve was closed, as were local campsites because of flooding and the mid range weather forecast for the east was atrocious. I had no desire to sit in a damp van again. So I decided I would go west to Western Australia and put Melbourne on hold. A lot of rethinking and planning later and I headed of to Whyalla, south west of Port Augusta. I knew it was a hotspot for grasswren and after still not seeing any, I thought it worth a try.
Whyalla was a lovely place. Big, wide roads with lots of places for recreation, it was such a pleasant place to be. My first stop was the conservation park, just north of the town and a reasonable track meant I could drive through it. I went slowly and stopped when I could hear birds or needed a cup of tea. My first stop netted me the Redthroat and the Chestnut-rumped Thornbill. Fantastic. I ended up on the north western side of the area at the main car park. Still no grasswren but I did get the Yellow-rumped Thornbill.
After some tricky manoeuvring and nervous moments (the western track was not quite as forgiving), I left the park and headed to an eBird hotspot where the grasswren had been seen regularly. Not very hopeful (you always hope to just turn up and see the desired bird but never do), I pulled off the main road and started to walk along a track by the railway line. A startled bird turned and looked at me. I couldn't think what it was - dark and dumpy and then I saw the tail. It was a Western (or Thick-billed) Grasswren. It took one look at me and scarpered back into the bush. Charming. I didn't even have time to raise my camera. Still I have now officially seen a grasswren.
My next stop was the Wyalla Wetlands, which was a lovely space that had obviously had a lot of landscaping work put into it. More suited to families than birders, I walked around the ponds anyway. To my surprise I saw Black-tailed Native Hen on a small island. I got a couple of shots before they melted into the trees. Also there were Grey and Chestnut Teal.
Last stop of the day was the Water Treatment Plant. You could drive down a track in between it and the rifle club land with threatening notices on both sides! I drove to the end and walked back. The sewage ponds were close and birds visible. There were a lot of grebes - Australian and Hoary-headed and Silver Gulls. On the other side was sand and scrub and lots of White-winged Fairywren. I don't think I will ever get fed up of photographing this bird. The male colours are just ridiculously vivid. That day I got him in all his glory (and the middle of lunch by the looks of things) but also the female perched in between grass stems and singing away.
On my way out, I saw some black and white streaks zooming about and stopped to find a dozen or so White-fronted Chat either perched on a bush or seemingly playing tag with each other.
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