Notes to readers of this Blog


NOTES TO READERS OF THIS BLOG

Thank you for dropping by to check out my blog. You will see a lot of other Blogs about birds I follow down the left hand side. I strongly encourage you to check some of these out as well, they are entertaining and I love to see birds from all over the world, I hope you do too.
Cheers,
Richard

Thursday 20 February 2014

Early morning birding action at the Haasts Bluff Cattle Pens

Up early this morning and witnessed some wonderful bird action. I managed to get to the Cattle Pens about half an hour before the sun was due to rise. It was interesting listening to who starts making noise when. The Yellow-throated Miners and Sacred Kingfishers were the early risers, accompanied by some Pied Butcherbirds and Australian Magpies. Next was the Budgerigars, Cockatiels, Australian Ringnecks and Mulga Parrots. The Mulga Parrots seemed to awaken the Australian Hobby and the action commenced, still too dark to take photos. Then along cam the Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, their presence known by the calls at first and then they came in to view.They loped in over the creek bed, past the rising sun and settling on the Cattle Pens

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo with the rising sun

Sunrise through the shrub

As the sun quickly rose higher, the Budgerigars started moving around, some showing off their homes, others coming down for a drink.

Budgerigars





By this stage the flies had arrived, and the cicadas were starting to chirp. The Australian Hobby I had been watching for a couple of evenings commenced his daily terror run along the creekbed and a Whistling Kite was hurried away by the Yellow-throated Miners. A Brown Falcon called in the distance and then I noticed a Black-shouldered Kite high in a far off tree. I hoped it would come nearer and it dutifully obliged. It hovered over the grass across the creek from my position but still a little way off. then it dived and I thought it was going to catch some prey just beyond my vision, but it came up empty. It perched on the highest part of a tree almost directly opposite me, and proceeded to be questioned by the Yellow-throated Miners, not quite brave enough to take it on one at a time. A Pied Butcherbird also checked out the intruder, and seemed content to start with, before it decided the Black-shouldered Kite was no longer welcome. Below is a series of shots with the BSK and the butcherbird.

Black-shouldered Kite






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