214) Farewell from Bowra

Blue-bonnet Parrots

As a dry-land parrot, these were a new species for us - quite skittish and hard to approach.

 Dirk kitted out for tramping about Bowra

Abundant Crested Pigeons - they always have a bit of a Mad Max look to them - very wild and a bit heat-crazed!

Red winged Parrot (male to right; female below)- a no-brainer on naming these guys!

  Although the property is now in conservation there is still a lot of management for feral species to be done. We saw dozens of goats which are destructive to the habitat. Though they are captured and sold at times, more wander in from around the area - they will be a long-term problem.

Lots of Nanking Kestrels - lovely to see them hovering over field looking for lunch...

There were huge flocks of Galahs in the area of the lagoon. Quite a striking color - and a nice (but somewhat grating) chatter.

 Walking the fence line, red dirt, dry trees.

This is dry-land birding!

An amazing evening flight of about 50 Major Mitchell cockatoos landed in a tree in front of our tent. It was great to see so many - we have only seen them one other time in all our travels

 Checking out Halloween ideas!


















A pair of Mulga parrots bathing in the lagoon in the heat of the late afternoon

A final peak at the Hall's Babblers. We are struck by the occurrence of social behaviors (group nests; social hierarchies with enables vs breeders; family groups) that occur in multiple species of OZ birds but not with north american birds.

As we head back to the coast we check out a mural in Cunnamulla - only 800 km to go!

Cotton bales lining the roads













As the sun sets behind us we are faced with a few hundred km of night driving - 'ware the 'roos. Scary stuff but we arrived with out incident.