Under orders, I've been scanning the Stuart Highway north of Alice Springs for sightings and potential locations. Late this afternoon, I drove up to Newcastle Waters, then on to Newcastle Creek, past a station with a huge waterhole and finally ended at Dunmarra, before returning home.
The excitement of the afternoon probably came closer to Dunmurra than anywhere else. Dollarbird! My first ever. Sitting calmly in a tree beside the road. Alas it wouldn't turn around for me to see its colourful tummy, but I was pretty excited to find it at all:
The next surprise came while I was photographing chooks (aka Double-barred Finches. I had made it to Dunmurra and there was a little pool of water at the end of the car park, in a paddock. While standing there, camera to the eye, I "felt" that something large had taken off just from somewhere in the paddock. I turned to see this magnificent, almost dinosaur like-bird flying off into the cloud-backed distance. Alas, these were the best photos I could get, but really like the silhouette effect:
I did feel a little bit sad that I hadn't managed quicker and better photos, but I was glad I spent time watching the Double-barred Finches, taking photos which are shown below:
For more photos from this blog of Jabiru and/or Double-barred Finches, click the links below:
The excitement of the afternoon probably came closer to Dunmurra than anywhere else. Dollarbird! My first ever. Sitting calmly in a tree beside the road. Alas it wouldn't turn around for me to see its colourful tummy, but I was pretty excited to find it at all:
The next surprise came while I was photographing chooks (aka Double-barred Finches. I had made it to Dunmurra and there was a little pool of water at the end of the car park, in a paddock. While standing there, camera to the eye, I "felt" that something large had taken off just from somewhere in the paddock. I turned to see this magnificent, almost dinosaur like-bird flying off into the cloud-backed distance. Alas, these were the best photos I could get, but really like the silhouette effect:
I did feel a little bit sad that I hadn't managed quicker and better photos, but I was glad I spent time watching the Double-barred Finches, taking photos which are shown below:
Some great photos. I like the stork up against that dramatic sky and yes, Jabiru is a better name than 'stork' Love the finches and congrats on the dollarbird. I'm surprised they're where you are, so had to check it all out on google maps.
ReplyDeleteBest looking chooks I've ever seen!
ReplyDelete