Australia: The Red Centre

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2026/06/30: MacDonnell Range, NT

Walked around the bottom of the gorge in the morning and evening, taking the warmer afternoon off to process photos and do other chores. Had three notable species: (1) I briefly saw our target mammal, Black-footed Wallaby, twice. (2) We had wonderful experiences with one of our most wanted birds, Spinifex Pigeon, seeing them several times at point blank range, and hearing their very soft voices. Eileen was ultimately able to coax one to feed out of her hand! (3) We saw a family of Purple-backed Fairywrens very well. Though an LH3 with a broad distribution, we did not take for granted seeing an adult male in perfect plumage. [Outside the breeding season, some adult male fairywrens molt into muted plumage, so family groups may not contain any brightly colored birds.] [LH3 is my shorthand for likelihood = 3, using the rating scale from the “Pocket Guide to Birds of Australia”, where 0 = hopeless and 4 = easy.]

2026/07/01: MacDonnell Range, NT

We tried several roadside spots that looked good for Spinifexbird, and heard two at one site, but could not see them. Walked into Serpentine Gorge, where we had four species of honeyeaters while standing in one place — including, at last, Gray-headed. Camping at Ellery Creek Big Hole, where we saw a pair of Western Bowerbirds. Recorded bats.

2026/07/02: Ellery Creek Big Hole, MacDonnell Range, NT

Spent much of the morning analyzing last night’s bat recordings. The results were outstanding: four species, three of them lifers! The Red Centre only has 13 spp of microbats, greatly simplifying identification. We enjoyed the striking water hole, framed by orange quartzite cliffs, with patches of black desert varnish. Growing on the cliffs were elegant cycads and dark cypresses. Most of the day was spent in Alice Springs catching up on town chores and tackling a backlog of tasks requiring a cell signal.

2026/07/03: Alice Springs, NT

Birded all morning in mulga at Alice Springs Desert Park. By far the highlight was a large flock of fairywrens we were able to study at close range for the better part of an hour. The group contained three adult males in full breeding plumage: two Splendid and one Purple-backed! The former would get my vote for the most beautiful songbird in Australia. At Olive Pink Botanic Garden, we finally got totally satisfying views of Black-footed Rock Walkaby, and observed three Western Bowerbirds interacting at a bower.

2026/07/04: Uluru, NT

It took most of the day to drive from Alice Springs to Uluru in a frigid rain. It finally let up as we arrived and we spent a couple hours searching for Sandhill Grasswren before heading to the Uluru sunset viewing area. Of course, there was no sunset and Eileen took a few photos in uninspiring light.

2026/07/05: Uluru, NT

We wore therms today to tolerate the cold, windy, densely overcast weather. Mutitjulu Waterhole was stunning and the drive around Uluru was fascinating. While often claimed to be the world’s largest rock, that’s actually in Western Australia. A better statement would be that it is the world’s highest volume discrete rock exposure with uniform composition, though that doesn’t have the same ring. We spent several more hours seeking the grasswren but did not get a good look.

2026/07/06: Kata Tjuta, NT

The weather was again depressing this morning and we took our time getting started. This was very fortunate because shortly before we left camp, I heard a cacatuid [member of the cockatoo family] flying over, and saw it landing on a dune crest. When I got binos on it, I could not believe what I was seeing: an extravagant, flaming salmon-colored crest! We have desperately wanted to see Pink Cockatoos since arriving in the Red Centre, and we were able to walk right up to what turned out to be a flock of 16 of them — what a fabulous experience!

We spent the day in Kata Tjuta, 50km west of Uluru, where we encountered the nomadic White-fronted Honeyeater, a lifer, and a bird we could easily have missed. The dense overcast partially broke in the afternoon, so we finally had at least a slight chance to see a sunset. We chose to make our stand at Kata Tjuṯa instead of Uluru, as this rock formation has a more interesting shape and is much less frequently photographed. A tiny break in the clouds allowed the sun to illuminate the formation for less than two minutes (timed). Exquisite! Drove home slowly in the dark, but encountered no Spinifex Hopping Mice.

2026/07/07: Watarrka NP

We drove all morning to reach the trailhead for the Kings Canyon Creek Walk. After lunch, we headed into a lovely wet canyon with pretty Red River Gum trees. We scrutinized rocky spinifex slopes here for Dusky Grasswren, and did hear one song and got a very brief views, barely good enough for me to count, but not good enough for Eileen. As some compensation, we got fine views of Little Woodswallow, a lifer for Eileen, and Little Grassbird, new for both of us. I thought the latter was a Spinifexbird, as we followed it around for over ten minutes, watching it crawl through the terrain like a mouse — but it had faint streaks on the breast and distinct streaking on the back, alas.

2026/07/08: Transit

Stayed in the campground from hell last night, hoping for one last chance at Dusky Grasswren. Unfortunately, it rained all night and most of the morning, making the area a mudpit. Drove nearly the whole day, planning to reach Alice Springs, but camped a couple of hours short, at a very birdy rest stop, where we added Horsefield’s Bronze-Cuckoo to the trip list and scored two lifers: Pallid Cuckoo and Western Gerygone.

2026/07/09: Kunoth Bore, NW of Alice Springs, NT

Had great views of the calling Pallid Cuckoo before we were even dressed, setting up the scope inside the camper and aiming it out the side entry door! Stopped at Cannonball Monument to scan the stony ground for Banded Whiteface; no luck, so this went on our Missed List [birds for which our remaining route is out of range or provides minimal hope]. We had to stop on the way back through Alice Springs for shopping. We reached our destination, the Kunoth Bore area, around 2 pm, and had a late lunch. I had called Hamilton Downs Station to ask permission to bird and camp on their land, which they graciously granted.

Driving slowly, with windows down, I heard an unfamiliar song, which turned out to be Southern Whiteface, an adorable small songbird! There was a lot of bird activity along the road to the Youth Camp. We have seen no adequate published directions to the bore [a water hole], but found it with some good detective work and some luck. The hoped-for Bourke’s Parrots did not materialize at dusk, but we were thrilled to see the striking, monotypic Pink-eared Duck!

2026/07/10-11: Transit North

Spent essentially all of both days driving north towards the Top End, covering just over 1000 km. Between moving 8 degrees closer to the equator, and losing 1500 feet of elevation, we’ve gone from it being nice during the day and very cold at night, to hot during the day, and a bit warm at night. About the only sightings of note were a Black-breasted Kite right over our heads in the first campsite, and Banded Honeyeater in the second; both bush camps were delightful.

2026/07/12: Central Arnhem Road

The campsite was quite birdy this morning, with the highlight being the delightful, nuthatch-like Varied Sitella. Birded for several hours in Open Eucalypt Savanna, trying for the very range-restricted Northern Shrike-tit. Though no luck with that, we had one lifer and three additional trip birds, bringing our total to 300. Had a low oil level warning light come on, and it took some time to resolve, but we finally made it to camp ten minutes before sunset.

2026/07/13: Katherine Gorge, Nitmiluk NP

Had a day off today because our planned kayak trip was canceled, due to high water levels from recent floods allowing Saltwater Crocodiles access to the gorge. Our one target bird, Northern Rosella, was seen before we were even fully dressed. Saw a family of Blue-winged Kookaburras from less than five meters away. Laundry and preparing the blog were the main activities.

We’ve now been on the road 10 weeks, having driven about 14,000 km. The bird list is at 304 spp; Eileen has 65 lifers and I have 60. The mammal list is 58 spp; Eileen has 43 lifers and I have 46.