The desert at sunrise, the red sand, the spinifex golden in the early morning light… it speaks to my soul. I think I was born 20,000 years too late. I’m just home from an amazing trip to the Great Victoria Desert, 800km southwest of Alice Springs, and the Red Centre of Australia.
The Great Victoria Desert
Deserts are typically described as flat and lifeless but this area, north of Warakurna in Western Australia, is bordered by the ancestral mountains of the Rawlinson Ranges and is teeming with life – if you know where to look. We visited the area with the fauna and flora experts associated with Desert Discovery and their knowledge and advice was brilliant.
Glenn, Rachel and I walked a couple of kilometres from camp to a dry creek bed where we saw several bird species.
Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis)
Pied Butcherbirds were confident around the camp despite the rare influx of people. These birds have a melodious voice which I find in complete contrast to their aggressive predation of small birds, mammals, reptiles and large insects. I find a similar contrast with the soft, snow-crystal look of its underparts compared with its large hooked bill.
Red-backed Kingfisher (Todiramphus pyrrhopygius)
Red-backed Kingfisher
Black-faced Woodswallow (Artamus cinereus)
This pair of woodswallows kept an eye on me while I was photographing the Red-backed Kingfisher. I took so many shots of the kingfisher only to find that the ones that were in focus weren’t perfect poses and the ones that were perfect poses weren’t in focus: such is bird photography, for me anyway. The second image shows a hint of the red on the kingfisher’s back.
As we walked along the red sandy track Rachel noticed some tiny tracks which eventually led to this large weevil.
Many thanks to the traditional owners of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands for allowing us to visit their beautiful country.
After leaving Desert Discovery we travelled back to Alice Springs via Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, Ormiston Gorge, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Standley Chasm and Simpson’s Gap. Hopefully amongst the many reject images I’ll have a few gems worth posting.
Happy birding, Kim
