Fairy-wrens come out to play - White-winged, Variegated and Splendid

Saw all three Fairy-wrens in the one small area of bushes, and for once, they thought I was ok to hang around, especially the White-winged and the Variegated - seem to have trouble getting decent photos of these types.
It was interesting to see if I could hear the difference in their trills, but they all sound quite similar. Also, I was interested to try to gt photos of the females or young ones hanging around as well, but with all three in the same bushes, it was a little difficult to say for sure.

White-winged Fairy-wren

Variegated Fairy-wren

 

Splendid Fairy-wren

Nankeen Kestrel, White-breasted Woodswallow, Tree Martin and others

Popped down to the Poo Ponds for a quick visit to see if I could find the Freckled Ducks seen recently. They were there, but stayed a long way from the camera. Other species were quite happy to stay close even though I was there.

Nankeen Kestrel

White-breasted Woodswallow

Tree Martin

Australasian Grebe

Black-tailed Godwit

Eurasian Coot

Red-necked Avocet

Whistling Kite

A cheeky Splendid Fairy-wren, a farewell shot of two recent species and others

My time at Papunya has now finished, although I'll be travelling back through the area in a few months. The grasses should be 2 feet high by then. On the way home, I stopped a few times, although there was drizzle most of the way. I did see the following though:

Splendid Fairy-wren

(the fuzz either side is the fork of a nearby tree, but he pranced for me through the gap!)

Hooded Robin

Little Crow landing

And my farewell shot from two commonly seen and heard species at Papunya 

Pied Honeyeater and Crimson Chat

Robins up close, Cuckoo as well, Bellbirds, Honeyeaters, Frederick Blakeley Memorial continues to fire

The Frederick Blakeley Memorial on the road between Papunya and Haasts Bluff is one of the most unlikely birding spots to look at, but the variety and familiarity of the wildlife here continually amazes me. I've had a few encounters with camels, horse and cattle, as well as a dingo. Today produced a few more species of birds I hadn't seen (or noticed) before including Australasian Pipit, Varied Sittella, White-browed Babblers and experienced fly-overs by a Wedge-tailed Eagle, Black-breasted Buzzard and Whistling Kite.
However, it was the Robins - both Hooded and Red-capped that really made my day. Sometimes both these species can be very elusive, and other times they can be extremely trusting of a large person with a camera. It is a toss of the coin as to which one I wanted to put first, but as the last few weeks have been "Pied", I've gone with the Hooded Robin.

Hooded Robin

Red-capped Robin

The Pallid Cuckoo in the photos below almost followed me around. At one point I was concentrating on some Crimson Chats on the ground about 30 metres away, and then looked back towards the road and saw this lovely grey back (second photo) only 5 metres away, sitting on a small branch, facing away from me. Very trusting. The calls of the Pallid Cuckoo seem to be ringing in my ears everywhere I go around Papunya and the road to Haasts Bluff, and this one sang from the tree only 2 metres away (fourth photo). 

Pallid Cuckoo

Below are some more photos of other birds around this site:

Crested Bellbird

Pied Honeyeater

Pied Honeyeaters still around Papunya

The Pied Honeyeaters are seemingly growing in number if that is possible. They are a constant sight atop dead trees all around the Community outskirts and roads. I have found them in numerous spots, often seen with large numbers of Crimson Chats. Hooded Robins and Rufous Songlarks are also in abundance, as well as the occasional White-winged Triller. Yesterday I stumbled across some Black Honeyeaters and a White-fronted Honeyeater. Some of the shots aren't great due to the cloud cover at the moment in the area, but I hope you enjoy.

Pied Honeyeater

Female 

 

Male

Pied Honeyeater male with Hooded Robin male

Male with young behind

Lots sitting in a tree

Juvenile

Crested Bellbird

Crimson Chat

 Hooded Robin

Little Crow (may have been on the lower branches at some stage with that on its back!)

Little Crows in tree

White-fronted Honeyeater