Birding again

I can't believe its been 4 months since my last post.  A combination of ill health, too busy at work and at home, (and the Aussie Rules Football season!) has kept me away from the camera and the binoculars.

I did make a quick trip up to Brookfield Conservation Park the other weekend though. Just inside the gate, and the first bird I see is a stunning male red-capped Robin.  He was very confiding, and was not bothered that I sat only a few metres from his song perch.  Not so confiding were any of the multitude of lustily singing Rufous Songlarks. They wouldn't let me within 20 metres before flying away.

A little further along the track I stopped for an immature Hooded Robin, and what I think is a juvenile Rufous Whistler |(happy to be corrected).

Just as unconfiding was a Pallid Cuckoo, about 50 metres was his limit! (so this is a highly cropped image)

It was to be a very short visit, so I only had time for the Bluebush Track.  As usual there were plenty of White-winged Fairywrens about, and I got close to a small party of females. It wasn't long before the male popped up, but he never gave me a unobstructed shot.

As I was about to leave I noticed this Southern Whiteface popping in and out of a Saltbush with insects in it's beak, a sure sign that spring is on it's way.

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.

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!!

The mighty Murray

Yesterday I had a day off,and we decided to head to the Riverland and take a look at the River Murray. This is the longest river in Australia, and starts its journey way up in Queensland, flowing through New South Wales and Victoria before it gets to the Southern Ocean near Goolwa in South Australia. With a succession of floods and cyclones, the Murray is now in flood in SA too. First stop was Brookfield Conservation Park, where I had been tipped off about a very photogenic Owlet-Nightjar. (Thanks Chris) Armed with directions, I soon found the tree, and as I approached, whoosh!! the bird flew out, did a 180 degree turn and disappeared over the next bush. I searched for an hour or so, but never found it again!! I did manage a couple of shots of Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Chestnut-crowned Babblers, and a Mallee Ringneck. At Blanchetown we got our first view of the river. I have never seen the river as full as this. Next was Banrock Station, a winery and wetland nature reserve. The visitor centre has a lovely restaurant, and also a wine tasting area. The view shows the extent of the flooding as usually the water is way off in the distance (if you can see any at all!). The loop trail and bird hides are under a metre (3 feet) of water at the moment, but there is a short walk down to the waters edge where they have erected a couple of temporary viewing platforms. There are plenty of black Swans on the water. I spotted this White-winged Chough in a tree, and was surprised when he didn't fly off, only to find his partner sitting on a nest on the next branch. I recently had the opportunity to hold one of these impressive nests. They are about 600mm (2 feet) across and weigh about 2Kg (4.5 lb). Further along I found a group of Rainbow Bee-eaters and finally a young Black-faced Cuckooshrike.