The weather is warming up, birds are nesting and maybe rains are coming

In the past few days I have noticed the reptiles have started to re-appear after the colder winter months. The Bearded Dragon (above and below) is one of the more obvious species as they have been appearing on the top of posts, tops of trees and on the roads.

Another species I have seen a few times now is the Centralian Blue-tongue. This can be very colourful even though the one below isn't showing all the colours and it was taken late in the afternoon.

The birds seem to be actively building nests which makes me wonder if we are perhaps not getting rain in the Centre soon. Some, like the Black-shouldered Kite have made sure they are ready by hatching chicks early. You can just see the heads in the third photo of the chicks in the nest.

The smaller birds are the ones who are most actively building nests. The Thornbills below were actively foraging for nesting material, and there are lots of nests in trees and shrubs around Alice Springs and even more out of town.

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Inland Thornbill