This morning was one of those near perfect, invigorating mornings. The weather was cool enough that the sun felt good as it warmed you in a crystal clear sky. The wind may have been a bit brisk, but other than that it was gorgeous and quite a relief after the heat we had a few days back. I set out this morning in search of the Mallee Emuwren, one of my top targets for this area. These birds are tiny little things with long whispy tails that look like they are Emu feathers, hence the name, I think. Anyway, they are very secretive birds and this species in particular is limited to a very small range and not exactly common.
I set off to explore along the Nowingi Track where they are supposed to be reliably seen. Despite walking for a couple of kilomters along the track, I didn't find any emuwrens. However, the morning was still a bit of a success as I found and photographed one of my other target birds, a family of Chestnut Quail-Thrushes. I also was able to get some images of Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters which made it a doubly successful morning, despite the lack of emuwrens.
After a relaxing and productive morning working and reading around my campsite, I headed back out this evening to try the nature trail right at the entrance to the park. I had also receieved several recent reports of emuwren sightings on this track. Within the first 50 meters or so I got a glimpse of a small bird in the spinifex and after another moment of waiting I got my first good view of a female Mallee Emuwren. Iwas able to set up my camera and spend a bit watching a pair of birds hop around the spinifex bushes and surrounding vegetation. I even was able to get good photos of both the male and female, in fact better photos than I have of the much more common Southern Emurwren. Along with the emuwrens,I also saw White-fronted Honeyeaters though they wouldn't cooperate for a photo. The rest of the walk didn't turn up anything new but was a nice walk with several informative signs. Tomorrow Iam headed back out to try and get some more of the local specialties.
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