Drove out to Papunya today via the Tanami Road. I stopped at an area where someone had told me they had seen a Grey Falcon in a tree over a period of years. I noted that there was a fair bit of nest building that had taken place since I was last there, but no sign of any Grey Falcons. Will continue to check on this site each time I pass. I ventured further up the road a bit and 3 birds flew from my right across the road and landed on my left on some scrubby-covered ground. I stopped the car and grabbed the camera, wondering if I was just chasing a group of Magpie Larks, although they had a different flight pattern to the M-Ls.
I have seen Ground Cuckoo-shrikes previously, but never really managed decent photos. Once I looked through the camera and realised my hunch was correct, I snapped off around ten photos, but from a decent distance and realised later the wire fence in between was beautifully in focus, the birds a lovely grey, white and black blur in the background. There was a bush between me and the birds so I crouched and hurried up behind the bush. In the meantime, they had fluttered a further 20 metres away from me. Below is a sample of what I managed to capture:
I have seen Ground Cuckoo-shrikes previously, but never really managed decent photos. Once I looked through the camera and realised my hunch was correct, I snapped off around ten photos, but from a decent distance and realised later the wire fence in between was beautifully in focus, the birds a lovely grey, white and black blur in the background. There was a bush between me and the birds so I crouched and hurried up behind the bush. In the meantime, they had fluttered a further 20 metres away from me. Below is a sample of what I managed to capture:
Ground Cuckoo-shrike
Great record Rich! Another special memory!
ReplyDeleteFor me the memory will be my own visualisation of you crouching and hurrying up to the bush!
Hey, see you Friday!!
Hi Richard, Re the elusive Grey Falcon, I'm pretty sure I've seen one (four times actually over a year or two) around the Rainbow Valley turnoff. Last time was last week when I think it flew (in a straight line)across the Stuart Highway over the car as I was driving home. Was gone before I could stop the car. If you're down that way, its always worth looking out for. Cheers Jan
ReplyDeleteHi Jan, thanks for the Grey Falcon tip, could be a family trip to Rainbow Valley this weekend :-)
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