After the long drive yesterday, I was worn out so decided to sleep in this morning. Whilte 7:00 isn't all that late, I didn't get my camera out and just spent a nice relaxing morning sitting in the shade with a nice breeze and reading. This was the first time in quite a long while that I wasn't out with the camera shortly after dawn and was a nice break from the standard routine. By afternoon though, I was ready for a bit more exploring.
Having decided not to venture into the Simpson Desert at this time of year, I at least wanted to go see the first, and largest sand dune, known as Big Red.This also would provide an opportunity to try and spot another species of grasswren, the Eyrean Grasswren. About 1:00, I headed out to see if I could find the grasswren on one of the dunes just short of Big Red. This particular grasswren prefers the dune grasses found on large sand dunes and is found only in the Simpson and Strzlecki Deserts. If Imissed the bird here, I would have another chance next week but I know birds had been seen here recently so thought I would give it a try. Once again, within about 20 minutes of searching I found a single bird that quickly flew away but provided decent views allowing me to confirm the ID. Since it was midday, Ihadn't bothered to carry the camera as the light was just too harsh. Since it had been easy to find the bird Idecided I would go explore Big Red for a bir and then return to try and photograph the Eyrean during good light in the late afternoon.
Big Red was my first taste of true desert and it was quite an amazing taste. I had never been in a desert before and climbing to the top of Big Red provided great views of the Simpson Desert, or atleast the valley between me and the next dune. The Simpson has hundreds of dunes and as far as I know, they are all oriented in a North-South direction. I had hoped to spend a few days exploring the desert but October is a bit late in the year and the temperatures were getting quite hot. I decided to postpone the expedition until June or July of next year when I can approach the Simpson from the west and maybe do the crossing on my way back to the east coast before flying home.
Anyway that is a long way off and I have a whole lot of distance to cover before I get to thinking of that. After exploring the dune Ireturned to the previous spot where I was hoping to photograph the Eyrean Grasswren. After nearly two hours of wandering along the dune I was unable to relocate the bird. Ifound numerous family groups of White-winged Fairy-wrens but no grasswrens. Finally, a bit disappointed I headed back to camp to prepare for my trip down the famous Birdsville Track which will start tomorrow morning.
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