Some say these rock formations know as the Kata Tjutja, which means "many heads" are more impressive than Uluru. I don't know about that but they are pretty cool. Although this rock formation is only sixteen miles from Uluru, its make up is very different. It is a conglomerate of sedimentary rock consisting of cobbles and boulders of mainly granite and basalt held fast by a matrix of sandstone. The highest dome is seventeen hundred ninety-one feet above the desert floor.
Place names are so strange. This formation is also know as the Olgas for the highest peak, Mount Olga. When I heard that they were called the Olgas I thought maybe because they looked a little like the towers on the Kremlin. I know that's a stretch but I couldn't think of why these rocks in the middle of the outback should be called the Olgas. But that actually makes more sense than the true reason. They were named in 1872 for the daughter of Tsar Nicholas I, Grand Duchess Olga of Russia. The man who named the peak in her honor had been named a baron by the Tsar and this was his way of repaying the honor. But nowadays hardy anyone calls them the Olgas, just folks like me that can't pronounce Kata Tjutja.
The long drive back to Alice Spring was uneventful except for the dozen or so Truck Trains that passed us going the other way. Miriam drove some of the way and I was able to play a little guitar and blog. As we made up our way up the Stuart Highway, we passed the same roadkill kangaroo that the eagle was eating on the way down to Uluru and he was still there on the way back.
After I started driving we started a game of Botichelli. She chose Bob Marley and I began to quiz her until I got some yes or no questions and I was able to establish that this person was dead, was not an American, was male, and was not known for playing rock music. There were a few more clues that I uncovered and to me it sure seemed like the person was Freddie Mercury. But it can't be because she said he wasn't famous for rock music. But I have played this game enough with Mim to know that her judgment on these kind of questions can be, ah.. questionable. So I said that I thought I knew who it is but he's definitely famous for rock. She said well ask me a question. So I asked "Were you the lead singer for Queen"? And she said "no, I'm not Rami Malek" and to which I replied "well I hope that's true because he's not dead" And she shot back "he is too, he died of AIDS" and I played along "you sure?" and she's like "yeah they just made a movie about him" and I played along "a movie about Rami Malek"?, she said and with confidence "yeah they did" and I said "oh because he just put out a movie recently where he played the lead singer of Queen" and we both fell apart laughing on this long lonesome road in the middle of nowhere.
Now for some birding!
We got up before sunrise and drove out to the Alice Springs Desert Park. Mim went for a run while I birded around the outskirts of the park. The birding was pretty good as right away I saw our first finch of the trip, a large flock of Zebra Finches.
Then I heard a really sweet three syllable whistling hoot and I left the finches to track it down. I found the area it was coming from but it sounded like it was inside the park and they were not open yet. As I was about to give up something caught my eye. I raised my binos and right there, not twenty yards away was a Peaceful Dove giving that call. I couldn't believe it was so close.
I heard some loud grating calls from back toward where I had left the van. I didn't really want to walk back but that call had to be some kind of parrot. I didn't want to miss a chance to see a parrot so I did an about face and hurried back to the van. Right next to the van in a really small tree were about five Australian Ringnecks! I would see many throughout the day, but I was very pleased to see these in such beautiful morning light.
The first section we walked through was the woodlands. In each section they have walk-through aviaries with native birds from that habitat. I took the following four pictures in that aviary.
Outside the aviary I heard a really interesting song. I have to say that it's so cool to hear so many songs that are new to my ears. This one was a loud and liquid gurgling song and just sounded like the coolest thing I'd ever heard. It turned out to be a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater. I'd been seeing these here and there but it seemed to me that there was something different about the song. So I looked it up and it turns out that sometimes they sing in what is known as "antiphonally". That is where one bird will start up a song and in the middle of the song he'll stop abruptly and without missing a beat another bird will take up the song where he left off and finish it. That's totally what this bird was doing. And I got this picture of him in the act. Amazing!
I saw a bird moving around in a small tree. When I found it, it was coming out of a nest. It must have been feeding chicks. I followed it with my binoculars and saw that it was a White-browed Babbler. The name is really fitting for this one.
I walked a little farther down the path and I was almost out of the woodland section and entering the sandlands section, where I saw something moving through the underbrush, walking on the ground like a quail. I almost dropped by binoculars where I saw that it was a Spinifex Pigeon. This was in the top ten of the birds I most wanted to see in Australia. It was pretty shy so I couldn't get very good pictures but if you look close you can see it's really a beauty. Check out that plume on the top of his head!
Mim had left a little while ago because they were having a birds of prey demonstration and she wanted to see it. I couldn't leave these birds so kept on birding. After seeing the Singing Honeyeater I entered the Sandlands Aviary. It was pretty cool but I wanted to be with the wild birds so I didn't stay for long.
I walked into the Sandlands section and met up with Mim. She was super excited because she was seeing all these wonderful birds. She told that she found a Splendid Fairywren and another fairywren that turned out to be a Varigated Fairywren. Now she has a bird on me and she's letting me have it.
I met a birder named Bob in the Sandlands section. He was a really nice guy and knew a lot about the distribution of birds in Australia. He was telling me that they are in the middle of a drought and that since the Desert Park irrigates, it pulls in a lot of birds from the surrounding desert, especially since they had had so many fires already this year.
He gave me a few good tips on where to find certain birds. He was there to photograph the Splendid Fairywren and as we were talking one hopped up on a bush and started belting out his song. Very nice!
It was getting pretty hot by now and Mim and I decided to go to the park's coffee shop and get an iced coffee. Oh did it hit the spot. What a great day of birding at a great place.
That's a great shot of the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Bosque! Shows the spiny cheeks well! Sounds like another Splendid day!
ReplyDeleteThe Spinifex dove was a great find and the photo is kind of cool. How many lifers are you up to and which are your top ten thus far?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you a d Miriam are having a great time and the snippet of the photo quizz was hilarious. Can just see the two of you going bacyand forth.
ReplyDeleteImpressed on you putting the link into the blog! Nice pics!
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