Cape York:
Savanna Woodland

Recorded in the remote savanna woodlands of Cape York Peninsula, this album captures the sounds of birds and wildlife waking to a new day. These dry tropical woodlands dominate much of this part of Australia and are characterized by a grassy understory along with an abundance of terrestrial termite mounds. A wide variety of finches, honeyeaters and parrots (including the endangered Golden-shouldered Parrot) thrive in this habitat and in the early mornings especially, the woodland is alive with bird activity.

05:21 – 12:00: As the light brightens the bird activity intensifies – Blue-faced Honeyeaters, Yellow Honeyeaters, Little Friarbirds and Rainbow Lorikeets call from the crowns of the eucalyptus trees. The ubiquitous Bar-shouldered and Peaceful Doves coo rhythmically and toward the end of the track a Pheasant Coucal hoots in the distance. Both Black-backed & Pied Butcherbirds sing to proclaim their territory while Rainbow Bee-eaters fly overhead, hawking for insects. If you listen closely you can occasionally hear the deep grunting coughs of Agile Wallabies.

12:01 – 19:24: The fluty yodelling of a family of Black-backed Butcherbirds fills the morning air, along with the calls of Little Friarbird, Spangled Drongo, Grey-crowned Babbler, White-throated Gerygone, Rainbow Lorikeet, Magpie Lark, Peaceful & Bar-shouldered Doves and many other bird species.

19:25 – 66:32: This part of the album was recorded in savanna woodland adjacent to a dry creekbed, a few kilometres from the recording location of the preceding audio. Lining this creek was a narrow band of lush vegetation and on the sandy creek bed itself a few small puddles of water remained. These natural corridors are used by many species as shady havens in the hot landscape and important water sources, especially in the dry season. In this track both Brown & Yellow Honeyeaters sing from the trees along the creek while many of the woodland birds can be heard from the drier habitat either side of the creek. From 54:48 a male Golden-shouldered Parrot sings for about a minute from a high perch in a eucalyptus tree.