Brookfield and Morgan

No, its not a firm of lawyers, but two conservation parks in the Riverland north east of Adelaide. As I had a free day yesterday, I decided to go and try and photograph the Owlet-nightjar again. On the way was a lovely sunrise looking across the Barossa Valley. This time I fared worse than last time. There was no sign of it anywhere, despite searching for two hours. The only birds were a couple of Galahs that looked like they were laughing at me. There were a lot of nests around, including one that looked like it had almost fallen out of the tree, but the birds kept building it up. As I headed back to the car I heard a group of Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters squabbling in a tree. This one posed for a couple of photos. I love the Mallee habitat. It needs fire to promote regeneration and there is always a mix of dead and regenerating trees. This dead one strikes a beautiful silhouette against the blue sky. This is a typical Mallee tree, with multiple trunks coming from the same bole, which would have been burnt in the past. A little further on I spotted a couple of small birds flitting around. A quick twist of the Audubon Squeaker and this Willie Wagtail came almost too close to focus on. This shot has not been cropped. He was followed by the original birds I had seen. A Yellow-rumped Thornbill (also known as butter bum (butt)) and a Chestnut-rumped Thornbill. The thornbills are the ultimate LBJs! Nearby was a young male Splendid Fairywren. This chap will be totally blue in a couple of months time. I also wanted to see what impact the water flow in the Murray had had in Morgan Conservation Park. This shot shows a bend in the river taken from the Blanchetown to Morgan road. I have used this park to practice my four-wheel driving as it is usually a dust bowl. How it had changed!! Firstly a shot on the back road to Cadell, then the entry to the park. Hmmm don't think my trusty Subaru forester will make it down there. Lastly, a couple of Dragonflies, doing what dragonflies do!!