Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Brookfield Conservation Park

This weekend I took a trip to Brookfield Conservation Park in the Murray Mallee with Chris Steeles

At our first stop we saw a female Mistletoebird, and then heard the soft call of Southern Scrub-robin. It didn't take long to track it down. As we got back to the car a large herd of feral goats crossed in front of us.



Next stop was the Bluebush Trail, where some Ground Cuckoo-shrikes had been seen the previous week,  Unknown to me, my camera had been knocked onto the manual setting, so the next lot of photos were all horribly overexposed.  I have managed to resurrect some using Photoshop, but most are beyond hope.  We did not find the Cuckoo-shrikes, but did see some lovely birds like Redthroat and Mulga Parrot,  There were plenty of Kangaroos there as well.



Luckily I spotted the problem with my camera, and carried on shooting this stunning Red-capped Robin .

On the Mallee Trail it was very quiet, but I managed a few shots of this flighty Yellow-plumed
Honeyeater,  Much more co-operative was this large Orb Spider.


Lastly, after dropping Chris at home, I waited to see his local pair of Australian Hobbies.

I was disappointed at losing so many photos, so went back the next day to try again.  On the way into the park I had a close encounter with Crested Bellbird, and then with this Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, normally a nocturnal animal.


Back on the Bluebush Trail, more Red-capped Robins, including the less colourful female, and on the way out an obliging pair of Hooded Robins.



3 comments:

  1. So many beautiful birds! When we were in Akaroola recently, I bagged some mistletoe birds and hooded robins as well as a lot of others. It is so exciting to see birds that are so different to our home birds.

    So glad you noticed the glitch with your camera.

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  2. I had to come back because your birds were so lovely, especially the red-cap robins on the bluebush. I snapped some Hooded Robins in Arkaroola recently.

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  3. Some wonderful captures here Tony ... especially that gorgeous red capped robin.

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