News from Mount Isa: December 2025

Rex Whitehead | Guest Contributor

While not specifically a report on what's happening in Mount Isa, this is from a recent trip I took further south.

A couple of months ago, I heard of sightings of Blue-winged Parrots on the outfall of Lake Bindegolly, which is to the east of Thargominda.

As the Blue-winged Parrot is basically a southern species, I thought “I'm not going to get them any closer to here”. So, after not much deliberation, I set off on a solo trip (which was just on 3,000 km return), to see what I could find.

After three days of searching, without any luck on the Blue-wings, but with plenty of luck on Bourke's Parrots, I was nearly ready to call it quits.

Bourke’s Parrot. Photo by Rex Whitehead.

But on the eleventh hour so to speak, and on my last cruise along the camping track, two Blue-wings flew across in front of me. I didn't get very good images due to branches etc, but they will do me anyway.

Blue-winged Parrot and those tree branches. Photo by Rex Whitehead.

I travelled back to Isa via a different route. Along the way I saw many Emus with chicks, which was pleasing to see.

Papa Emu and chicks. Photo by Rex Whitehead.

Then just north of Cuttaburra Crossing, on the Bedourie-Birdsville road, there were huge flocks of Flock Bronzewings.

Part of a huge flock of Flock Bronzewings on and beside the Bedourie-Birdsville road. Photo by Rex Whitehead.

The Flock Bronzewing is an attractively marked species. Photo by Rex Whitehead.

One chap I met estimated there to be about 7,000 in the flocks. I wasn't going to dispute that number, as there were a lot of birds. Not all could be captured on film….

The Flock Bronzewings decided “the grass was green on the other side of the fence”. Photo by Rex Whitehead.

Just out of Isa, I came across a very obliging Wedge-tailed Eagle feeding on a road kill. He must have been very hungry to let me get so close.

Wedge-tailed Eagle with kangaroo ‘lunch’. Photo by Rex Whitehead.

Around Mount Isa itself, the migratory wader numbers are well down from previous years. I put this down to the amount of surface water, further south, from the huge deluge earlier in the year. With Lake Eyre nearly filled, and many other huge freshwater lakes full, the waders have plenty of choices. How they know this is a mystery we would all like to know.

When the local Bloodwood trees were full of blossom, the Varied and Rainbow Lorikeets, along with many Honeyeaters, took advantage of this bonanza. One Honeyeater species that I hadn't seen here for quite some time was a single Banded Honeyeater.