I We were intrigued to hear of con- 

 tain for the welfaie of a coach load 

 >( naturalists who insisled on climh- 

 §gy to the paintings on the range. 



Returning to the station Tor dinner 

 Me evening I mm a census check with 

 Mr I en Mullcr of the Aboriginal 

 iVelfurc Department. Constable 7 ay lot 

 of a small Hock of dark green 

 ;, decked with black. Hying past 

 the dusk. Once again the very 

 sivc Night Pal rot seems to have 

 a fleeting appearance in this 

 area. 



Although insect life was rather 

 niilcci al Rununurra. staving it 

 Rigby's caravan park on the banks 

 R the Diversion Dam was an cx- 

 .rtrience in itself, with such a vaiied 

 .-id prolific bud population. It was 

 -crc Ihal the small son of the pro- 

 prietor found a magnificent green 

 haMnid. the tirM I had seen alive, 

 hhough I had unfortunately run o\cr 

 mm on other occasions. 



Several pupae of Popiliu canapus 

 ere found at the Kimbcrlcy Research 

 >iution. piobably on the same trees as 

 ere mcniioned in Waterhousc nearly 

 luity years ago. Allhough ibfflM fCK 

 •\eial small greener areas in the dis- 

 die iMiii-tajiding place of general 

 ' Jural liistor\ interest is I'oinl Springs 

 MQfc ».s tmles to the north towards 

 ♦fccp kivvr This is indeed a 

 jscmaiing spot. Apart from the Oak 

 blue. Namtliuru unurv u.soptu and 

 ~.nre»n) hi<ohr fkOtblC l 'he Com- 

 n\n (irass Yellow), insect life was 

 Kl abundant But there was a big 

 I'nt'rviialion ol birds, including a 

 •umber of species ol cockatoo, bwyel 

 uds. pigeons, wagtail's, wrens, ti.ovkv 

 vrolgjs and finches. Here loo werv 

 nany sand goannas. two ol which I 

 nearly trod on with mutual surprise. 

 '..Ul.ing through the patch »\ lor est 

 a bit difficult as the whole STCfl IS 



a bit difficult 

 bomber, 1971 



under shallow water with much gluey 

 mud. From the cast skins seen, there 

 should be a number of other reptiles 

 apart from goannas. 



On the escarpment at Middle 

 Spring, one of the "tourist attrac- 

 tions" of Kununurra. I flushed a pan 

 of White Quilled Rock Pigeons, 

 apparently missed by Ihe feral cats 

 which have so altered the ecology of 

 the countryside. This district is noted 

 for its Corolla population, which is 

 estimated al 30,000 birds, eating tons 

 of sorghum each day. and providing 

 a hazard lor air travellers. The jet 

 service times had to he altered go 

 to miss the birds as they moved from 

 and to their roosting places. 



A sidelight on the mineral potential 

 of this area was given when a local 

 larmer lold us Ihal he had checked 6>n 

 Ihe material used on an irrigation 

 barrage and found thai it contained 

 lifly per cent, iron ore 



IMu.u t 



I'h.wmd. kiimimitn. W,A. 



351 



