Birds on the road from Yuendumu to Nyirripi

Yesterday I went for a drive to check out the road to Nyirripi as I will be heading there in the near future. I was a little surprised by the lack of birds fluttering about along the road as has been the case all year. It is certainly drying out in Central Australia, Alice Springs hasn't had a drop of rain for 140 days.

About half way along the road I finally spotted some bird activity and stopped. Masked Woodswallows were busily feeding on orange flowers, accompanied by some Singing Honeyeaters and a couple of Grey-headed Honeyeaters. The Masked Woodswallows were quite comical, heading from one bush to the next in waves, and at one stage there were about a dozen on one skinny bush with flowers all the way up, the bush swayed as they clung on.

Masked Woodswallows

At another point along the road I spotted a Brown Falcon sitting high above the shrubs in a dead tree. I pulled over before I was at the tree to try to keep the dust down. 

Brown Falcon

As I got out, I was surprised by the amount of chatter happening in the undergrowth right beneath the falcon. I played a bit of hide and seek with a Mistletoebird, but again this species proved how inquisitive they can be by staying around the trees immediately surrounding me for the majority of the time I was there.

 Mistletoebird

I could hear the Rufous Whistler deep in the scrub, but thought my chances of seeing it and getting a photo were limited. I was pretty happy when it popped out into a tree not far from where I was standing and just in case it thought I would miss it, whistled heartily.

Rufous Whistler

The road itself was ok with a few rough spots both sandy and rocky, but generally quite ok to drive. Without any road signs, occasionally I wondered if I was on the right road, but there was the occasional car coming the other way so I felt fairly confident it was the right road. 

Along the road there were a few other birds, every now and then Zebra Finches would burst from the ground next to the road to sit in a tree away from the dust, Rainbow Bee-eaters would flutter about 20 metres off the road, busily catching insects. Crimson Chats would saunter in front of the car before diving off into the ground cover as the car past. And Willie Wagtails are constant along the road, busily catching insects and then zipping off into a nearby tree, tail wagging as it perched. There were very few birds of prey in the air, in fact the Brown Falcon above was only one of two I saw on the road. A Nankeen Kestrel fluttered in the air near Nyirripi, but much quieter birding in general. The drive was enjoyable though.

Enjoy your Bird-watching!