Little Desert NP - Part 1

So after leaving Mt Arapiles it was a short drive north to Little Desert NP. This is a place I have wanted to come to for years but have somehow never made it past the rock of Arapiles.

Once an ancient inland sea, now a sandy, mallee bushland - home to hundreds of different plants and animals. It's an interesting "desert" because it's average rainfall is around 480mm. Unfortunately it's deep sandy soil holds very few nutrients and doesn't hold water well so most plants don't get that much water.

Our first venture was out along a 4WD track. The soft, deep sand would have been too much for the Subi so we headed out on foot.
Thanks to Bob for pointing out the snake I had practically just stepped over! It was tiny - about 30cm long with some lovely markings. Could be a type of whip snake - I'll keep searching for an ID.

Broad-nosed Weevil

The surrounding desert was thickly covered in low lying heathlands with the occasional clump of gums. Then after a few km's of walking we hit Red Gum Swamp which was rich in bird life.

Dusky Woodswallow, Artamus cyanopterus

Varied Sittella, Daphoenositta chrysoptera

Red-capped Robin, Petroica goodenovii

Red-Capped Robin,  Petroica goodenovii

Sporting some pretty groovy spiky head feathers was a young Eastern Yellow Robin with it's parent.

Eastern Yellow Robin, Eopsaltria australis

This Robber Fly was nice enough to stay still just long enough to get this photo.

Struggling to pick my favourite Red-Capped Robin photo so I'm just going to put them all up!

There were a lot more wildflowers as well. My next purchase will have to be a wildflowers identification guide!

Golden Pennants, Glischrocaryon behrii

Little Desert is home to the endangered Mallee Fowl, Leipoa Ocellata. They are mound builders that incubate their eggs by burying them rather than sitting on them. It can take up to 6 months just to build the nest. They start by scratching a big depression in the sand (1m deep x 2m diameter), then fill it with leaf litter. After the rains they cover the leaf litter with sand and the fermentation process begins, heating the chamber. Over the coming weeks the birds will scratch away a small section of sand and probe the chamber with their beak. They then test the temperature with their tongue. Once it gets to 32.5 degrees Celcius they start laying their eggs. They control the temperature with the sun by opening and rebuilding the nest as the sand heats up.

We weren't lucky enough to see a Mallee Fowl but we did get to see one of their mounds.

After all that walking we were ready to relax at the campsite and let the birds come to us. I was able to photograph these next 6 species from the comfort of my camp chair!

Hooded Robin, Melanodryas cucullata

Adult (right) and juvenile (top left)

White-winged Triller, Lalage sueurii

  

Varied Sittella, Daphoenositta chrysoptera

Brown Treecreeper, Climacteris picumnus

Variegated Fairy-wren (male), Malurus lamberti

Variegated Fairy-wren (female), Malurus lamberti

After a rest I went on a short walk to explore the area surrounding the campground and found some more great spottings.

Galah, Cacatua roseicapilla

I came across a group of  6 Grey Currawongs having an afternoon sing-a-long.

Grey Currawong, Strepera versicolor 

And these parrots were having a good feed in the nearby wheat paddock.

Red-rumped Parrot, Psephotus haematonotus

Red-rumped Parrot (female), Psephotus haematonotus

And that brings me to the end of our first day in Little Desert NP.