Eyre Creek Channels

Pied Honeyeater

Pink-eared Duck (by Alwyn)

We drove to Eyre Creek, where the dry season crossing was covered with water and a detour advised. We paused to take a swim in the crisply cold water and to watch the fairy martins flying in and out of their mud nests, then turned back a few kms to one of the channels where a larger flat area was available for camping. In the next swale a billabong was filled with water so we had the best of both worlds.

A square-tailed kite was nesting, and honeyeaters were feeding on the emu bushes. A promising sunset ended up not delivering the colours I'd hoped for, so I opted for an early night and and early rise. On packing up in the morning we drove over to the billabong, where we found water birds, raptors and/or bush birds occupying every ecological niche. It was great to see pink-eared ducks in such numbers, and to find two different species of dotterel. The sight of a tern surprised those of us who had always associated them with the beach.

The detour around Eyre Creek had us driving alongside the water for much of the way, with several stops as we saw birds in the trees, or glimpsed action on the water's surface.

Bird list:

Pink-eared Duck
Pied Honeyeater
Chirruping Wedgebill
Cinnamon Quail Thrush
Crimson Chat
Orange Chat
Crested Pigeon
Diamond Dove
Budgerigar
Zebra Finch
Pacific Heron
Great Egret
Masked Woodswallow
Horsefield's Bronze Cuckoo
Galah
Little Corella
Hardhead
Grey Teal
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Square-tailed Kite
Red-Kneed Dotterel
Black-fronted Dotterel
Little Black Cormorant
Caspian Tern
Australian Pipit
White-plumed Honeyeater
Fairy Martin
Willie Wagtail
Magpie Lark
Australian Kestrel
Australasian Magpie