Queen's Birthday

Last Monday was a state holiday: queen's birthday.  It isn't Queen Elizabeth's birthday in England.  It isn't Queen Victoria's birthday, for whom the state is named.  But it was a fine day for taking a holiday.  So we did.

A couple from work invited us to go with them to the Grampians National Park.  Jonathan's school was canceled on Friday, as well (because it was a fine day for using up the school's floating free day).  We left on Friday around noon and drove three hours west to the town of Hall's Gap, in the national park.

As we drove, Tim looked up requirements for Jonathan's cub scouting.  Why not cross some off while we were out in nature anyway?  One requirement, for the naturalist ... something ... was to take a week and go birdwatching.  That is, to record all the birds you see in the wild for a whole week. 

The Grampians was a perfect place to get started. 

We saw the following birds in the wild.

1.  Emu.

There were groups of emu wandering around the grassy fields, pecking in the grass.  What is a group of emu called?  A flock?  A herd?

2.  Sulphur-crested cockatoos.

These large white birds are very social, and squawk at each other in big groups.  At the visitor's center, we learned that June and July make up the season of the cockatoo, one of six seasons of the year of the indigenous people.  In June and July, the cockatoos gather in dozens and even hundreds.  We will forever feel very sad when we see these birds isolated in small homes as pets. 

3.  Crimson rosella.  Our photo is poor -- it's that red parrot in the center of the picture.  Look it up yourself on google.  

 

A pair of these birds were eating seeds outside the visitors center.  Another pair were digging in the dirt in grounds of the fenced off (and closed for winter) swimming pool.

4.  Kookaburra.

These birds make very loud calls that are used as sound effects in jungle movies.  It's true.  Ask google to play you a kookaburra call.  You will think it is a monkey.  They seem to call out most frequently at dawn, like an alarm clock, although this guy was hanging out in the center of Hall's Gap on a rainy afternoon. 

5.  Gang-gang cockatoo.

This guy was eating seeds just off the path as we started our first hike on Saturday.  The male has the bright, tufted red head, and the female is all gray.  The male didn't seem to care that we were standing just a few feet away taking his picture.  But his wife (the birds mate for life) decided to fly off, and they both went.  Gang-gangs are becoming more rare, so we were lucky to see this guy.

6.  Scarlet robin.

I don't have a picture of this bird, but it was the first Australian robin we've seen.  The robins here are much smaller and brighter than robins in the US.  The bird we saw was very bright red with a dark black head.

7.  Australian magpie.

We see these everywhere, but I have come to love them.  They have a beautiful song, and around 6:30 in the morning, several of the birds were singing in chorus.  Ask google what they sound like.

8.  Other birds: Red wattle bird, purple swamp hen, black swan, crested pigeon, superb fairy wren -- both the striking blue male and the little brown female, New Holland honey eater, currawong. 

All this in the wild.  I will miss the birds of Australia.  There are so many with interesting colors and calls.  It will be sad to go back to the browns and grays.

We did other things besides watch birds.  

We climbed Mount Zero.

And at an apple near the top.

We drove through the northern part, unable to stop.  Wildfires ripped through this part of the park last summer, in January, and most of the roads and hikes are closed until the forest is able to recover, and park staff have been able to determine safety of burned out trees.  But five months later, the eucalypts are beginning to recover -- by growing new leaves sideways out of their burned trunks.  Since we couldn't stop, I took the following picture out the car window.  Behind the trees is a famous waterfall -- closed.  But you can see the new growth after the burning.

After that, we hiked in the rain.

To spectacular lookouts.

When the fog cleared a bit, you could see that the view was probably impressive.

 We explored the Venus Baths.

The next day, we climbed through the Grand Canyon.  Of the Grampians.

To Bridal Veil Falls. Of the Grampians.

Through Silent Street.

To a lookout called the Pinnacle.

But alas, our camera battery died up at the top, and we had no charger.  My work friends took pictures for us from then on, but I haven't claimed them yet.  I will post more when I get them.

Until then, two final pictures for you to enjoy.

A warning sign for the hike.  Watch out for falling off cliffs, slipping on rocks, or people holding your hand.

And a very poor picture of a kangaroo near the motel playground.  A group of kangaroos is a mob, and there were many mobs of kangaroos in Halls Gap, including one that enjoyed the grass in front of our motel.  We had a very lovely time watching the bouncing wildlife over the weekend.

The Grampians was one of our favorite places we have been so far!  Highly recommended, if you ever make it to this side of the world, even in winter.  Or, as the indigenous people would say, in cockatoo season.