Adels Grove - Queensland Gulf Country
September to October 2013
The drive to the Gulf to capture the rare Purple Crowned
Fairy Wren in breeding plumage was not for the faint hearted. It took 5270 kilometres and three weeks to
achieve with some well planned diversions.
I was accompanied and assisted by my friends Clive Meadows and Louise
Earnshaw, both acknowledged bird experts.
Our first major encounter with the elements was a sandstorm
at Longreach which nearly blew my tent away.
Surviving that, we proceeded in 38 to 40 centigrade to Adel’s Grove just
south of the Gulf.
One hour before a sandstorm hit Longreach,
Lou with very friendly Brolga while phoning her Mum!
Target species in breeding plumage - The Purple-crowned Fairy-wren
The male Purple-crowned Fairy-wren was much more
accommodating to photograph and I managed to capture shots of him fairly
quickly in the first days study.
Female Purple-crowned Fairy-wren with nesting material
The female Purple-crowned Fairy-wren however was a different
matter and it took three days in extreme heat waiting for her to make an
appearance in her territory, explained by her carrying nesting material, she was
busy with other things!
Young Agile Wallaby
Whilst camping at Adels Grove, a young Agile Wallaby would
come past my tent every morning and evening to drink at the water tap overflow
and eat the fallen figs from the giant fig trees which provided us with so much
relief from the heat.
Arafura Fantail
The Arafura Fantail is split from the Rufus Fantail and only
occurs in this district, so I was able to add another rare bird to my
collection. Very pretty but very fast!
Emu and chicks
Emu
and chicks taken from the car, driving past, so iconic of Queensland, the dry
had been so bad that they had started to invade the high streets of country
towns in desperation for food and water
Gulf landscape
Gulf landscape is generally very dry and flat, but there
were some old outcrops of rocky moonscapes hosting some of the hardier
vegetation.
Female Wallaroo
Female Wallaroo taken on a short stay in Bladensburg National
Park near Longreach
Spinifex Pigeons
The iconic Spinifex Pigeon – Bladensburg National Park, very
dry.
