If anyone if planning to attend the World Parrot Conference at Tenerife, I wouldn’t delay booking your flights. I’m already seeing availability in low fare classes disappearing for flights arriving in Tenerife on 21 or 22 Sept and departing 26 or 27 Sept. Also consider that you must book by 1 June for the early bird rates for the conference itself!
Here’s a look at Vueling’s current fares.
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If Australia were to have a beauty contest for parrots, the Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius) would be a definite contender!
The Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius), also known as the Many-colored Parrot, is endemic in arid scrublands and lightly timbered grasslands in the interior of southern Australia. In the photo just above you can see 2 brightly coloured males and one duller female.
Mulga Parrot range.
Red dot – Nallan Station, Blue dot – Bowra Station
The species ranges across the dryer interior of the Australian continent, from Western New South Wales through the northwestern tip of Victoria and across South Australia and into the dryer central regions of Western Australia west to the Wheatbelt and north to the Pilbara. The Mulga Parrot is generally encountered in pairs in arid grassland and mulga scrubland.  I have personally seen them at Nallan Station and at Bowra Station.
Breeding pair
 Live action from a webcam.
Most birders have been there. It’s early in the morning and you spot an absolutely stunning bird and you reach for your camera……………only to find the lens all fogged up!
This is a common problem in hot, humid places such as rainforests. One thing you can do to avoid this problem is to keep silica gel packets in your camera bag. It’s pretty easy to acquire them for free. They are often included in food products and bottles of medication to prevent spoilage.
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There are so many avian delights at Nallan Station, I will need to break them up into several posts. Let’s start off with my favourites – the parrots!
BOURKES PARROTS
Seen mostly by Judas Well. I have a profile on them here.
MULGA PARROTS
Also seen at Judas Well and in surrounding trees. Note the brightly coloured male vs the duller female.
AUSTRALIAN RINGNECK
Found flocking with these Mulga Parrots.
GALAHS
Seen near the shearing shed. They weren’t the least bit afraid of the workers who were using some pretty noise machinery!
See my post on Cue for more information on how to get here and Western Australia to learn how I organized this trip.
If you live in the north-east of the USA you are probably thrilled to see spring! Why not take advantage of the pleasant weather to hone your birding skills and have a look at the local warblers? If you are headed to New York, it’s only a 25,000 mile round-trip award on American, United or US Airways. This video was filmed in Firehouse Woods, Monroe County, New York. There is a full list here.
Since nothing compares to the birding at Nallan Station, I think I will cover these two smaller locations first and save the best for last! They are worth a look if you have time to spare. Both of these sites are about a half hour drive out of Cue.
X is the approximate location of Nallan Station.
Birding sites near Cue
There aren’t many details of the bird life in these areas but you can see species nearby on the Cue Bird List.
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We didn’t have much luck here. If you want to learn more about these areas, please see the Cue Tourism site.
I don’t normally blog about credit cards other than my guide on how newbies can get “into the game”. I did want to point out a deal that’s been going on that has just been given an end date.
This deal is available only to people in the USA who have good FICO scores (at least 750) and at least a small business such as Ebay seller, blog, artisan, childcare worker or whatever.
Chase’s Ink Bold & Ink Plus normally give 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points but until 1 June they are offering 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points. Here are the non-affiliate links.
One ticket on United Airlines costs 40,000 points round trip in economy. I used Seattle to Lima as an example but it applies from any North American city to any South American city. For 2 people you need 80,000 miles and $147.38 for taxes.
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So here are the steps in a very basic form to get the 2 tickets.
1. Apply for card and make minimum spend of $5000 in 3 months.
2. Get 60,000 points for card.
3. Organize your household expenses to be paid by the card using bonus categories.
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4. Make sure at least $3750 of that $5000 is in a 5x bonus category. This gets you 18,750 Ultimate Rewards points. Prepay your internet, phone, cable tv as far ahead as possible. Go to office supply stores and buy gift cards to grocery stores, department stores or whatever you need.
5. Remaining $1250 can be in any category.
6. 60,000 + 18, 750 + 1250 = 80,000 Ultimate Rewards which = 2 x tickets to South America!
This is something that comes second nature to me but if you are new to this game and have any questions please ask in the comments.
The Queen is one of those delightfully quirky small Outback lodges located in Cue. Originally there was a pub downstairs but they no longer serve alcohol. There are lots of cool knick-knacks to look at and this is the area where breakfast is served in the morning.
I think I was so overwhelmed by all the birds in the area I forgot to get photos of the rooms. The pics on the hotel’s website are pretty accurate. Carla, the very friendly owner was happy to swap fans around to make sure we were happy. The verandah is a great place to sit, relax and watch life go by. Prices are very reasonable and a continental breakfast is included. The one criticism I had was that if you are headed to Nallan for birding, you have to eat before you go, they won’t let you take the breakfast with you as a picnic. I’m just not the sort who can eat at 5am!
They have several pet birds in large aviaries downstairs.
The location is convenient to everything in Cue and there are a couple of eating places within walking distance. Laundry is available at the caravan park a couple km down the road and there is an internet place across the street which also has some tourist information.
As one might expect, a country as large as Australia has a wide variety of eco-systems and species of birds. Many of these potential bird habitats are extremely difficult to access such as the Canning Stock Route. You need to be a very experienced 4WDer to make it out there safely.
Canning Stock Route
Fortunately the Outback town of Cue gives us a much easier way to access some stunning bird species such as Mulga Parrots, Major Mitchell Cockatoos, Bourke’s Parrots, Western Bowerbirds and some that are very familiar to pet bird keepers such as Cockatiels, Budgerigars and Zebra Finches. Seeing your pet bird’s wild cousins is an amazing experience and can give you a renewed interest in conservation and learning more about the bird’s behaviour. Check out the very impressive bird list!
Cue has no airport so most people would fly into Perth and drive. The roads are in good condition but you should avoid driving between sunset and sunrise as there is a strong risk of hitting kangaroos.
Location of Cue
You also need to beware of road trains and oversized mining equipment. They are preceeded by a warning vehicle which gives you plenty of time to pull over and let them pass.
Forget about your hotels points, there are only two places to stay in town:
Queen of the Murchison (I stayed there, review coming)
Up until around 2010, most birders stayed at Nallan Station, about 13 km north of town, but they are no longer operating the station stay. Hopefully, they may open it back up again!
Cue has a “wild west” feel about it and an Outback charm all its own. The locals are very friendly and the town attracts birders interested in the wonderful Nallan Station which I will be blogging about separately. Meanwhile, here’s a few pics from Cue and surrounds!
The Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) (formerly Poephila guttata),is the most common estrildid finch of Central Australia and ranges over most of the continent, avoiding only the cool moist south and the tropical far north. It can also be found natively in Indonesia and East Timor.
Since they have such a large range, you are likely to run into them in any part of Australia. To date, I have seen them at Nallan Station, at a few road side places in Western Australia and near Kalbarri.
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ABC TV Documentary (YouTube version embedded below)