Day 298: October 25th – Ayers Rock

Slightly overcast, low 80s, breezy

         What a great surprise when we awoke this morning to a beautiful spring day.  After yesterday’s oppressive heat and the forecast for today divided between more heat or rain, we got the best we could imagine and hope for. 

        When we first got out and about, before breakfast, Sharon and I took a walk around the property of the resort where we were staying.  We were first greeted by a fine rabbit which had come out for a breakfast of his own.  As it turned out, there were a number of these little hares hopping in and out of the shrubs, nibbling on the shoots of grass.  Given the sparse vegetation in the surrounding desert, the lawns of the resort must seem like a 5-star restaurant to these little guys.

        My first bird of the morning was a repeat performer from yesterday, the Yellow honeyeater.

       If there is a cast of hundreds of birds around the resort, the honeyeaters and the Yellow-throated miners surely make up more than 80 % of the avian stars.

       I did manage to find a Spiny-cheeked honeyeater which had been skulking in the shrubs but had made a quick foray out onto the lawn to pick off some tender morsel.  I hadn’t seen one before today, and I did not see another while here at Ayers Rock.

       After breakfast, we ventured out to the rock itself and had an incredibly informative morning with our guide LeRoy, a white native of this area of the outback.  He is close with the aborigines and has extensive knowledge of their history and customs.  He has a wealth of knowledge about every aspect of the “center” of Australia – the flora and fauna, the culture, the geology, and all other areas.   We certainly had a wonderful time learning the real story behind Ayers Rock.  But that’s a story for a different blog.  

 

       As we toured the rock area with LeRoy, we had the great fortune to pick up a few new birds.  At first sight, I thought we had another Australian magpie, but in fact, it turned out to be a Pied butcherbird.  We followed the bird and ended up having a number of good sightings of this bird of the outback.

       As we drove into a parking lot with the bus to see another angle of the rock, we saw a pair of strange looking birds we both took to be some sort of pigeon.  Turns out, we were not far off the mark.  The birds were a pair of Crested pigeons.  I got within 30 yards or so and stopped, not wanting to scare the birds off.  As it turned out, they came within 4 feet of Sharon and me and could have cared less how close we were.  Great opportunities for some nice shots.

       Tomorrow, we are in Cairns and will head out to the Great Barrier Reef.  Not sure, but we could pick up some nice new shore birds and pelagics.  Check us out to see how we fare.