Barrier Highway

We headed out on the Barrier Highway at dusk and spent the night at Cockburn on the New South Wales / South Australia border, then on to Yunta for a breakfast stop and Hawker for lunch. Plenty of raptors along the way - kites, kestrels, eagles - though getting good images of them was a challenge. The wedgies in particular would move off if we breached their personal space.

The Miners we almost dismissed as familiar noisy miners, however a closer look revealed that they were their western cousins. Other variations on familiar birds were the SA race of the ringneck, and the white-backed magpie.

We reached Hawker on the 20th August. Four days earlier they recorded their hottest August day on record, and it was still rather warm - especially as just two days before we had been wearing long johns, beanies and gloves in Nyngan. House Sparrows in their hundreds occupied every niche at the rest area.

Bird List:

Wedge-tailed Eagle (pictured above)

Australian Magpie

Black Kite

Major Mitchell Cockatoo

Galah

Little Corella

Willie Wagtail

Square-tailed Kite

Emu

Yellow-throated Miner

Australian Kestrel

White-winged Chough

South Australian Ringneck Parrot

White-backed Magpie

Black-faced Woodswallow

House Sparrow