April 25, 2005
Our third day on the river, we were still heading east. We spent the entire day floating through the Chowilla Game Reserve, mostly in South Australia, but toward the end of the day, we reached a point where the river was split right down the middle between Victoria (to the south) and South Australia (strangely, to the north).
First thing in the morning, I saw a flock of Domestic Sheep who ran in the other direction when they saw me. Superb Fairy-wren were bopping around in the bushes, while Hooded Robin and Mallee Ringneck were up higher in the trees. Australasian Darter and Red-rumped Parrot were frequently seen along the river, and Welcome Swallow continued to swoop over the river alongside the boat.
We stopped at a place called “Ron’s Fridge,” where a geocache was located. In spite of the name, I was surprised to find an actual refrigerator. Apparently there was a fellow named Ron who lived here for a while, but today, the only inhabitants we found were invertebrates: a Banded Huntsman in the fridge, and a gorgeous Red Gum Moth. While were were stopped, Kevin and Eclipse also tried their hands at some fishing from the boat, and Kevin managed to catch a Common Carp.
The other bit of excitement today was passing through Lock 6, installed to allow boats to move from one water level to another. We drove the boat in, then the lock was flooded, raising us up to the water level on the other side of the dam. In this area, we saw Australian Pelican, and several Australian Great Cormorant.
As we continued up the river passed the lock, amazingly, I thought that the scenery improved dramatically. It had been lovely up until this point, but there was something a bit wilder and even prettier once we passed the lock. The lock also marked the start of what I came to call “Emu Watch.” Emus were one of my target birds for this trip, but we hadn’t seen one yet. The ranger at the lock told us that we were entering a good stretch of river to see them, if you’re lucky. The question: would we get lucky? Well, luck is one thing, but I also needed to put in the work. So, I was busier than ever keeping a watchful eye on the riverbank. I saw loads of fantastic birds, and some Western Grey Kangaroo, but no emus. We still had time, though – we weren’t even half-way into our trip yet – so I was still optimistic that it would happen.
That night, we found yet another beautiful spot to “camp.” After darkness fell, I heard a bird that I think was an Australasian Bittern, based on the similarity to the call of our American Bitterns, and I loved the way the full moon looked over the water. That night, I also heard a Boobook owl calling throughout most of the night.
Species List
Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries), Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes), White-plumed Honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata), Splendid Fairywren (Malurus splendens), Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus), Hooded Robin (Melanodryas cucullata), Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena neoxena), Tree Martin (Petrochelidon nigricans), White-backed Swallow (Cheramoeca leucosterna), Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus haematonotus), Eastern White-backed Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen), Maned Duck (Chenonetta jubata), Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa superciliosa), Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Yellow Rosella (Platycercus elegans flaveolus), Black-fronted Dotterel (Elseyornis melanops), Mallee Ringneck (Barnardius zonarius barnardi), Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus), Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca), Little Raven (Corvus mellori), Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata), Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca), Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia), White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Black-shouldered Lapwing (Vanellus miles novaehollandiae), Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus cyanopterus), Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala), Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis nigrogularis), Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio), Banded Huntsman (Holconia sp.), Red Gum Ghost Moth (Abantiades marcidus), Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos melanoleucos), Australasian Coot (Fulica atra australis), Eel sp., Eastern Great Egret (Ardea alba modesta), Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus), Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo novaehollandiae), Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides coronoides), Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa tenebrosa), Apostlebird (Struthidea cinerea), Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis cyanotis), Gray Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa), European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides), White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos), Fairy Martin (Petrochelidon ariel), Southern Boobook (Ninox boobook), Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus), Black Roly-Poly (Sclerolaena muricata)
Let me know what you think!