Alice Springs

We arrived at the Alice Springs Desert Park shortly after 8 a.m. thank goodness as the temperature was a pleasant 28 C (82 F).  This is a 54 hectare park with 3 km of walking trails. Our first stop was at the home of the Red Kangaroos.  Up to now we have only seen the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, which is smaller.  The males were quite active, with younger males challenging the older male for dominance.  This looked serious enough to harm a human but was only playful behaviour.  Nonetheless, we kept our distance.

Our next stop was at the dingo enclosure.  There are about 200,000 dingoes in the desert; 20% are believed to be domestic dog hybrids.  Dingoes live and hunt in packs over a range of 25 - 67 km (15 - 40 miles).  Dingoes do not bark - they howl.  During the heat of the day they take refuge in caves and hollow logs .  While we were watching a couple arrived who used to work at the park.  The dingoes immediately ran over to greet them probably expecting food.

In the Amphitheatre, with the MacDonnell Range as a back drop, we saw a Flying Bird Show showcasing natural bird behaviours.  We saw several impressive large birds and surprisingly a small heron. The buzzard opened an emu egg for food by dropping rocks onto it, an instinctive behaviour.

Wedge tailed eagle

The huge wedge tailed eagle has a wing span of 2.3 m (7.5 ft). It is Australia's largest bird of prey, They soar up to 2000 m (1.25 miles) and their binocular vision allows them to spot their prey below - rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies, snakes, lizards, possums, foxes and sheep.

Whistling Kite

The Tawny Frogmouth is called the "stick bird".  It hides from predators by remaining still and resembling an upright stick.



A barn owl silently swooped over the crowd.

We have to admit that we ran out of steam by 11:30 when the temperature reached 38 C (100.4 F). We watched a film in the air conditioned cinema showing the evolution of the desert then returned to our hotel for rehydration.