Whyalla and Surrounds

Visited: spring

Recommendation: I like Whyalla enormously and there are some lovely places to explore. Start within the town at the lakes and then widen your circle to include the coast line and conservation parks.

 While at Port Augusta I began to rethink my plans about going east to Melbourne. Gluepot Reserve was closed, as were local campsites because of flooding and the mid range weather forecast for the east was atrocious. I had no desire to sit in a damp van again. So I decided I would go west to Western Australia and put Melbourne on hold. A lot of rethinking and planning later and I headed of to Whyalla, south west of Port Augusta. I knew it was a hotspot for grasswren and after still not seeing any, I thought it worth a try.

Whyalla was a lovely place. Big, wide roads with lots of places for recreation, it was such a pleasant place to be. My first stop was the conservation park, just north of the town and a reasonable track meant I could drive through it. I went slowly and stopped when I could hear birds or needed a cup of tea. My first stop netted me the Redthroat and the Chestnut-rumped Thornbill. Fantastic. I ended up on the north western side of the area at the main car park. Still no grasswren but I did get the Yellow-rumped Thornbill.

After some tricky manoeuvring and nervous moments (the western track was not quite as forgiving), I left the park and headed to an eBird hotspot where the grasswren had been seen regularly. Not very hopeful (you always hope to just turn up and see the desired bird but never do), I pulled off the main road and started to walk along a track by the railway line. A startled bird turned and looked at me. I couldn't think what it was - dark and dumpy and then I saw the tail. It was a Western (or Thick-billed) Grasswren. It took one look at me and scarpered back into the bush. Charming. I didn't even have time to raise my camera. Still I have now officially seen a grasswren. 

My next stop was the Whyalla Wetlands, which was a lovely space that had obviously had a lot of landscaping work put into it. More suited to families than birders, I walked around the ponds anyway. To my surprise I saw Black-tailed Native Hen on a small island. I got a couple of shots before they melted into the trees. Also there were Grey and Chestnut Teal. 

White-winged Fairywren (Malurus leucopterus)