Kookaburras, Kingfishers and Bee-eaters
THE LAUGHING KOOKABURRA
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Merry, merry king of the bush is he,
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!
Finke Desert Race 2010
Alice Springs comes alive during the cooler winter months, and the annual Finke Desert Race is one of its many attractions. It is a gruelling event, stretching some 229km from Alice Springs to Apatula Community on the Sunday, then returning to Alice on the Monday of the June long weekend. The race crosses the Finke River, believed to be the oldest river in the world. To travel this track at a cautious pace in a 4WD is challenging enough, but to race across it at breakneck speed is mindboggling. This year the number of motorcycle entrants was limited to 500. This surprised me, because I thought you’d have trouble finding 100 suicidal maniacs to enter the event, let alone 500! Seventy or so 4-wheeled entrants also entered the event. I hesitate to call them cars, as they resembled something you’d more likely see in a Mad Max movie.
Woodswallows
The Woodswallows are not particularly well known birds, even though they are widespread across Australia. They are skillful fliers, catching their insect prey on the wing. In the case of the Little Woodswallow, they are often seen soaring high above mountaintops or rocky outcrops to feed. Many times during our travels they have been companions to us, of sorts, as we have taken in the view after a strenuous climb, and notice these little birds zooming around nearby. Their clever aerobatics seem almost mocking of our clumsy, earthbound ways.
Channel-Billed Cuckoo
Nirbeeja grew up on a ginger and produce farm in Buderim, in south-eastern Queensland. It was an idyllic existence, in a beautiful part of our country before the area was over-developed. During the stormy summer months she would often hear an unusual bird call, and was informed by her father that it was made by the Storm Bird, and heralded the coming rains. She often heard the call but doesn’t recall seeing the bird.
She was therefore very excited to hear the same call here in Alice Springs, during our stormy weather last summer. She was even more excited to see the bird making the call. At last! After much consulting of our bird-books, she decided that the so-called Storm Bird was none other than the Channel-Billed Cuckoo. Interestingly, the local Aboriginal people say that when the Channel-Billed Cuckoo is seen in this area, it means big rains are coming. And they are right, for the Todd River has flowed three times this year after consistent heavy falls.
Australian Pigeons and Doves
At first glimpse, most of our native pigeons and doves are unspectacular. They are not especially colourful or large, nor do they entertain us with beautiful songs. Indeed, the songs of many of the pigeons and doves border on the mournful. There is, however, a wonderful range of native pigeons and doves spread across the country.
Wandjina – Rock Art of the Kimberley
INTRODUCTION
Visiting a Wandjina site is, without doubt, the most dramatic experience in rock art. The Wandjina is an ancient, powerful, mysterious and deeply spiritual symbol.
Waterbirds
We all know plenty of waterbirds, don’t we? Ducks, swans, seagulls………and those other ones. In fact, the term waterbird is incredibly broad and somewhat misleading; after all, every bird needs water to survive.
Aboriginal Rock Art – A Brief Introduction
Over the years, we have heard many (white) Australians comment that they love travelling to Europe because there is so much more history there. We have probably been guilty of that ourselves.
But the reality is that Australia is home to the oldest living culture in the world, and some of its rock art is so ancient it pre-dates the last ice-age, and possibly the one before that.
A long weekend in the West MacDonnells
We were excited to learn that, hot on the heals of the Anzac Day long weekend, we were to have another long weekend here in the Northern Territory. Who said this was an uncivilised place? What were we to do with three days off? The answer was obvious – we’d “go bush”.
Now, deciding what to do was the easy part, where to go not so simple. Alice Springs is the largest settlement for around 1500km in any direction, and Alice has a population of less than 30000. So you get the idea – there is plenty of bush out here.
Wildflowers of Western Australia
Western Australia is deservedly famous for its wildflowers. One of the first things you notice upon travelling through WA is the soil, if you could call it that. Most of WA is sandy and dry, and at first glance appears unlikely to support much in the way of plant life. Yet travel through the state during the springtime and you will be astounded at the range of wildlfowers on display, especially if there have been good winter rains. We wondered whether the range of flowers was in some part due to the high mineral content of the sandy ground.