265) A Dash to Chiltern, VIC

Swift Parrot

On my Easter Break (which is university 'common week' here) we took a dash to Chiltern VIC. It is the largest remaining remnant of the Box-Ironbark forest in Victoria and one of the top birding sites in the state. It had just started to flower the week before we got there and we were wonderfully excited to see the Swift Parrots had arrived on the mainland after flying from clear down in Tasmania, where they spend their breeding season!

Scarlet Robin (M)

Nancy was completely attuned to the robins - she could pick them out in the trees even while Dirk was driving 100kph on the highway! The dirt road system within Chiltern provides good leisurely access to most of the area and we had fine opportunities to see these guys more than a few times.

Scarlet Robin (F)

Also in attendance were the female Scarlet Robins. Not as bold and brassy but much more accommodating of photographs.

Little Lorikeet

The blossoms also attracted whole flights of Little Lorikeets. We normally only hear them as they pass by at just under super-sonic speeds but here they settled down to gnosh on flowers WAY up in the canopy....

Yellow-footed Antechinus

The Yellow-footed Antechinus is a locally common marsupial (in)famous for its mating habits. The male becomes so frenzied that its immune system shuts down and males die before one year old. Not a good long-term survival strategy...

But they are wickedly cute and this one seemed quite happy to watch us from his brick pile in broad daylight.

Whistling Kite

Koala

Cruising one of the local ponds






















It is fun to occasionally be reminded where we are - this ain't Kansas Toto!

Red-capped Robin (F)

Red-capped Robins were also out and about and the female entertained us for some time while she was finding bugs on the ground and flying up to a low branch. She was quite happy to pose.

Red-capped Robin (M)

The male Red-capped was keeping an eye out - either for his girl or maybe just for bugs...

Speckled Warbler

Closely related to scrubwrens, these birds are "warblers" in name only (unrelated to Old World warblers) but are nevertheless a real treat to find. We have not seen them in NSW but they seem to like the habitat here in VIC. There were easy to find in Bartley's block - an old homestead now part of the park.

Superb Fairywren

It's a confusing time of year - flowers blooming, really dry, not quite winter and not breeding season - he just can make up his mind what outfit to wear!

We are already plotting our return after a bit more rain - some of the habitat here is very attractive to a few species we have not yet seen. And hey - a six hour drive is no-big-deal for a weekend in OZ!

264) Last Year's Return to Darwin

Buff-sided Robin

While maybe not the most comfortable time to go to the Northern Territory (high temperatures and humidity like a wet blanket. Walk across the room and wring out your shirt), you go when you can.  Especially when there are so many birds you've never seen that you can be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.  Finches and Fairy-wrens, honeyeaters and parrots...wow, so many birds, so little time, and such *big* distances between them!  We decided to go for it, and planned on less camping and more staying in accommodation with air-con and showers.  We had a good time and saw lots of fabulous birds. One of the places we *did* camp was the known camping area where the Buff-sided Robins hang out.  Sure enough, we heard their call early in the morning, and wow, there they were.  We love all the beautiful robins, and these guys did not disappoint us.

Bar-Breasted Honeyeater

A lovely little honeyeater, though a very inconspicuous one.  We saw only a very few of these camouflaged well as they fed in the eucalypts.

Nancy chasing tides in the mangroves

We spent time - a LOT of time in an area of mangroves looking for a special White-breasted Whistler (never saw one). But the mangroves are fun as you can only go at low tide and the tides varies 4 meters! We were on the flats one afternoon watching it race across the mudflats - it was really hauling and the thought of fighting through 15' high mangroves in rapidly rising water is enough to give you nightmares! We high-tailed it out of there.

Northern Fantail

Whereas Grey Fantails occur through much of Australia, Northern Fantails, well, are only in Northern Australia.  The little light-colored streaks in this bird's breastband are diagnostic.

baby Comb-Crested Jacana

Where's Mom?  Look carefully at those toes--if you can first imagine you have a beak, can you then imagine having toes that are almost as long as your head, neck, and beak combined and not stumbling over them while walking on lily-pads on top of the water?!

Zitting Cisticola

We like the name "Zitting Cisticola" so were happy to see these cute little guys hanging out in the grasses.  Such a tidy little bird with a clean white bib and pink legs.  In Australia, being tidy is a virtue.  Dirk and Nancy have been told they are not up to Australian tidy standards.  But there are tidy towns that proudly display the signs indicating they have won the highly coveted awards--good on ya! (Really--we do mean that, it's nice to see proud towns!  There are ones not so much.....).

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Female)

The Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos are one of the most magnificent Australian birds.  The essence of northern Australia is distilled in hearing the far-carrying calls of Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoos, and seeing flocks of these birds fly overhead with their majestic, slow rhythmic wingbeats.

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

These cute little flycatchers befuddled us the first time we went to the Northern Territory, but this time we were prepared and knew to expect them.  They're more closely related to Jacky Winters and those mysterious Yellow-Legged Flycatchers than the more broadly distributed fantail and 'monarch' flycatchers.

Grey-Crowned Babbler

Our favourite babblers--yay!  But these ones are a different race (race rubeculus) than their cousins to the south; apparently we could call them Red-breasted Babblers, but whatever name you choose they still yah-ahoo! to each other just like our good old friends.

Hooded Parrot

Gorgeous parrots that are closely related to the beautiful Golden-Shouldered Parrots of Cape York (and the now-extinct Paradise Parrot).  Both of these parrots have tiny localised distributions and specialised habits--like nesting in termite mound cavities.  They both also feed on the ground. Incongruously, the most common place people see these parrots is perched on telephone wires in the tiny outback town of Pine Creek.

Yellow-tinted Honeyeater

Another northern honeyeater, these guys are blossom-nomads, always in search of the next flowering tree, so you never know where you'll find them.

Rufous Whistler (immature)

While Rufous and Golden Whistler males have definitively beautiful markings, we're always perplexed when we see female and immature Rufous and Golden Whistlers.  There aren't too many other non-descript Australian birds outside of thornbills and songlarks etc.  Golden whistler females and immatures are much plainer--brownish with just a little lemon yellow undertail coverts.

Pheasant Coucal

The call of these pretty but oddly clumsy birds are also reminiscent of the outback.  Pizzey describes their deep echoing 'coop-coop-coop-coop-coop-coop-coop' call as sounding like 'liquid glugging from a bottle.' We have heard them more than we've seen them, because their call is far-carrying and it is so distinctive.  And when we do see them, it's like they're stumbling over themselves as they thrashily try to hasten out of sight.

Masked Finch

Never enough Masked Finches to get tired of seeing them, instead always a delight.

Gouldian Finch

The holy grail of our finch search, we were elated to find Gouldian Finches.  We first unexpectedly spotted them at the end of a long, hot, searching day, just as the sun was going down.  We were hiking back to the car, happy with who we had seen, but still searching desperately for these little jewel-like birds.  Most of the colour had faded from the sky when we saw a row of little birds lined up on the top branch of a scraggly little tree.  Lo and behold, it was two brilliant adults and about 8 juveniles not yet showing their colours. We gazed at them as long as we could before darkness fell, then bid them goodnight and safe travels.  Happily, we saw a few more heart-stoppingly beautiful Gouldians in another locale, including this black-headed and a less common red-faced. Simply stunning!

Purple-crowned Fairy-wren (M)

Purple-crowned Fairy-wrens have very local and highly restricted habitat, and we thought we were going to dip on seeing them. Lucky for us, they also have a highly distinctive call and we just happened to catch a riff as we were despondently turning away from a place we thought we might find them. Happily, they revealed themselves and we were able to watch them bouncing around in their bush.  (Dirk walked the river bank trying to get a photo while Nancy kept watch for crocs - I think!) All the fairy-wrens are just gorgeous, these are the only ones that have that beautiful purple.  We think everything will be ok as long as there are Fairy-wrens in the World.

Purple-crowned Fairy-wren (F)

The female Purple-crowned is also a treat to find. While many of the female fairywrens have muted colors, these girls maintain wonderful patterns and colored tails.

Star Finch

A beautiful little star finch to finish the day. We were thrilled to see them as they are difficult to find. They did not stick around long and I will definately be seeking them out again.   Doesn't it look like someone accidentally dipped his face in the cherry pie filling?!

262) Gluepot again

Musk Lorikeet

Gluepot Reserve in SA is becoming a favorite place. The camping is good, the birds (and birdhides) are excellent and its somewhat convenient (5 hrs) from Adelaide. So I took a few days and went back before I was due in Adelaide at the Australian conference.

White-fronted Honeyeater

One of my sought species was the White-fronted Honeyeater.While widespread in OZ they are an interior species so we don't see them near the coast. We found a few, including juveniles along a brilliant walk  and found them skittish and hard to photograph.

Black-eared/Yellow-throated Miner Hybrid (maybe....)

For some reason I took photos of what we assumed were Noisy Miners (common and pest-like). Only after returning to Sydney did we look closely and notice this photo was not quite right.

After some heated debate among the intelligentsia of the bird-world on a "bird-ID" site we now think this is a Black Eared Miner/Yellow Throated Miner hybrid. This is only significant because BEMs are endangered and  live only in this area. Part of their species decline is inter-breeding.

Variegated Fairywren (M)

It was high season for Fairy Wrens. They were active and calling and great fun to follow around.

One of the great campsites in Glue Pot. After Day one I was the only person there - its was HOT! As a note, the area is named after the consistency of the soil in the area after any significant rain. Visitors w/out true 4x4s watch the clouds!

Apostlebirds

While I was there I heard that the Apostle Birds (one of our favorite social species) were back. Not for the season but back to the area. They had not been seen for some years (?) but were again in residence. They offered much amusement at the water troughs at the birdhides.

A Common Bronzewing showing lovely colors.

Brown-headed Honeyeaters

Brown headed Honeyeaters at the hide. They were in great abundance and given the December heat (30C+) were easy to find at water.

























A Red Wattlebird showing off his namesake red wattles!

Grey Currawong

A new bird for me - the Grey (or Clinking) Currowong. These are S  and W species and so they were a good spot for me.

261) Desert Parks

and stars....Yeah!

In September, we took a trip to the Mallee District of Australia. The Mallee includes an area that is east of Adelaide (South Australia), near the Murray River, and Northwest Victoria, south of the New South Wales border.  Mallee is an aboriginal word for a group of Eucalypts that grow many stems from a basal lignotuber.  So, the Mallee is a distinctive area defined by the presence of Mallee eucalypts.  Much of the Mallee has been cleared for agriculture; it's estimated that around 25% of the Mallee in SA, and 35-40% of the Mallee in Victoria is left--and it doesn't cover a very big area.  It's very flat, and dry, and sandy there, with delicate soil crusts of mosses and lichens (like cryptogamic soil).  Its also an area that has been walloped by soil erosion caused by overgrazing by cattle grazing and lots of hungry bunnies. And lots of hungry foxes and cats (all non-native animals) have chowed on the native wildlife.  A third of the Australian mammal species that did live in the Mallee have gone extinct since European settlement.  All in all, it's a pretty hammered place, but complex and evolutionarily distinctive and well worth exploring. With GPS firmly in hand (it's notoriously easy to get lost in the mallee "scrub"!) we went there to explore because the countryside is fascinating, the birds are intriguing, and the stars are breathtaking.  Though you can't see the countryside here, this headlamp-painting photo was taken at Pink Lakes, in the Murray-Sunset National Park.

Regent Parrot (harassed by miner)

One of the main birds we wanted to find was the endangered Regent Parrot, beautiful birds that they are. Unlikely as it sounds, we're *sure* we saw Regent Parrots out back of the Pie Shop that is on the highway east of Waikerie.  They were in the trees overlooking the Murray River. A kind soul saw us wandering around the neighborhood next to the river searching in vain for the parrots that had flown out of sight, rolled down his car window, and said hello.  He offered to take us to where he always goes to find the parrots--but he had to go home first to drop his groceries, "just follow me." Huh?!  Was he going to lure innocent birders into a trap to rob us of our earthly possessions and put our bodies in a trunk?!  Turns out he really knew what he was talking about--his house was an island oasis of native plants that he had cultivated amongst a sea of agriculture.  He then took us to his parrot area, but alas, no parrots, only more common yellow rosellas that could be mistaken for parrots for those with an unwary eye. The parrots need Red River Gums for nesting, and mallee for foraging. So on, we went, to Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, where happily we did find parrots, including youngsters (yay!).  Regrettably, there were also nasty Noisy Miners harassing them, seen in the pic above.  Although native to Australia, Noisy Miners are actually classified as an EPBC key threatening process due to their aggressive behaviour that excludes other birds from important habitat sites.  

Yum! Those big bugs are good eatin'!

Red-capped Robin

Redthroat

We were happy to find Redthroats, lovely birds that they are. They are one of the sweet singers among the Aussie birds.  That’s how we found these birds in a little forest patch in Wyperfeld National Park—Dirk merrily followed them around as they would sing from an exposed perch.  They are uncommon birds, so it’s a thrill to spot that red throat on a little brown bird. When we last saw them in the Flinders Ranges of SA a few years ago, it was totally unexpected. This time, we went specifically to this are where there is a known population.

Shy Heathwren

Dirk would not rest until he found a Shy Heathwren.  These birds are very timid (who'd of thunk?!) and hard to find and even more difficult to photograph, so this was a grand adventure and hard-won success.  This bird was hanging out with some foraging Fairy-wrens, birds who always catch our eye because they are such "cheeky" characters.  They bop about and chitter amongst themselves and are very prone to curiosity at our "pishing" attempts (although people also look at us oddly if they come across us making smooching noises at the bushes). Dirk noticed somebody was 'different'--and lo and behold, after much to-ing and fro-ing within the bush, he emerged triumphant. This Shy Heathwren lived in Wyperfeld National Park.

White-browed Babbler

Dirk went back to the Mallee in South Australia in December prior to the Australia IS conference. He returned to the Gluepot Reserve in search of Gilbert's and Red-lored Whistlers. While there, he found Babblers--yay!!  The babblers are still one of our favourite birds here in Australia.  They just have such huge personalities. 

White-browed Babbler

Cooperatively building a communal nest, everybody chips in on the action. Dirk just stayed and watched them forever--these birds are endlessly entertaining with their antics. They don't seem to fly real high and direct.  Instead, they like to stay under cover.  These birds were flying in low to a tree, and hopping up from branch to branch to transport sticks up to the nest.  Lovingly labour-intensive.

Splendid Fairy-wren (male and two females)

Splendid Fairy-wrens, indeed!  Here's the matriarch of the flock, accompanied by who looks to be her best guy dressed in his finest blue suit, and one of her female offspring.  

Shy Heathwren

Dirk managed to track down another Shy Heathwren at Gluepot! It was another case of watching fairy-wrens and noting  a bird who tail was 'not quite at the right angle'. I bit of 'phishing' and walking and this guy popped onto a branch in front of me and sang away! Not shy at all.....

Regent Parrot

Wow, what gorgeous birds! This portrait is of a female.  How did we let these parrots get so endangered?  The world is a poorer place without them as our companions...

Gilbert's Whistler (Female)

Finally! A Gilbert's Whistler!  We've been trying to find these birds for years... they're very elusive.