For a change I decided not too stray too far from the campground at Victoria River Roadhouse on the weekend. Normally it would be up early, drive off somewhere, stop at any roadside water - pools of water, creeks, dams etc. and get to the end of the day exhausted from concentrating on both driving and bird-watching. So it was nice just to enjoy the surrounds of the area with only a short 5 minute drive to and from the boat ramp.
The scenery I find just stunning. I still got up early and walked along the "old" bridge, amazed at the lack of people doing the same. The escarpment lit up with the morning sun and the Victoria River is hardly flowing, allowing for wonderful photo opportunities with the cliffs and the water reflections.
Incredibly, my first bird noise whilst I was under the bridge was the Purple-crowned Fairy-wren. Even beat the Crimson Finches which is not easy to do. There were a host of small birds flitting around. Golden-headed Cisticola (still love the name), White-throated Honeyeaters, Willie Wagtails, Weebills, as well as the other aforementioned fairy-wrens and finches. Rainbow Bee-eaters constantly swooped and then sat on branches whacking the caught insect. Great Egrets and White-faced Herons sat in the shadows on the banks of the river, while Blue-winged Kookaburras called through the bush from somewhere beyond sight.
After an hour or so, still untroubled by another human, I sauntered back to camp, moved to what I thought was a nicer area under a tree near the speargrasses and saw the Brown Quails mentioned in the previous post.
I headed down to the boatramp after the quail experience and found a few things along the road on the way in. A Nankeen Kestrel munching on a (now) dead lizard, a Rainbow Bee-eater perched beautifully on the barbed wire, Red-backed Kingfisher flying just in front of the car on the roadside, and eventually made it to the car park area at the boat ramp to be greeted by another Blue-winged Kookaburra, and the now familiar sound of the Purple-crowned Fairy-wren. I walked down to the ramp itself and glimpsed a Striated Pardalote nest. These are small holes in the dirt bank just before the ramp. As I was watching I saw one of the birds disappear into the hole. Within a minute it had come out again and flown off. I decided to sit and watch from a distance and see if this was a regular occurrence. I saw a flash of yellow black etc. zip into the hole. Camera at the ready, I was amazed to see what re-appeared:
It was a very special thing to see, along with all of the other wonderful sights. I'd recommend spending a day exploring to anyone, and it was nice to spend a bit of time chatting with a few people I met, very interesting people and some very enjoyable chats.
Here are some scenery shots followed by some more bird shots.
The scenery I find just stunning. I still got up early and walked along the "old" bridge, amazed at the lack of people doing the same. The escarpment lit up with the morning sun and the Victoria River is hardly flowing, allowing for wonderful photo opportunities with the cliffs and the water reflections.
Incredibly, my first bird noise whilst I was under the bridge was the Purple-crowned Fairy-wren. Even beat the Crimson Finches which is not easy to do. There were a host of small birds flitting around. Golden-headed Cisticola (still love the name), White-throated Honeyeaters, Willie Wagtails, Weebills, as well as the other aforementioned fairy-wrens and finches. Rainbow Bee-eaters constantly swooped and then sat on branches whacking the caught insect. Great Egrets and White-faced Herons sat in the shadows on the banks of the river, while Blue-winged Kookaburras called through the bush from somewhere beyond sight.
After an hour or so, still untroubled by another human, I sauntered back to camp, moved to what I thought was a nicer area under a tree near the speargrasses and saw the Brown Quails mentioned in the previous post.
I headed down to the boatramp after the quail experience and found a few things along the road on the way in. A Nankeen Kestrel munching on a (now) dead lizard, a Rainbow Bee-eater perched beautifully on the barbed wire, Red-backed Kingfisher flying just in front of the car on the roadside, and eventually made it to the car park area at the boat ramp to be greeted by another Blue-winged Kookaburra, and the now familiar sound of the Purple-crowned Fairy-wren. I walked down to the ramp itself and glimpsed a Striated Pardalote nest. These are small holes in the dirt bank just before the ramp. As I was watching I saw one of the birds disappear into the hole. Within a minute it had come out again and flown off. I decided to sit and watch from a distance and see if this was a regular occurrence. I saw a flash of yellow black etc. zip into the hole. Camera at the ready, I was amazed to see what re-appeared:
Striated Pardalote
It was a very special thing to see, along with all of the other wonderful sights. I'd recommend spending a day exploring to anyone, and it was nice to spend a bit of time chatting with a few people I met, very interesting people and some very enjoyable chats.
Here are some scenery shots followed by some more bird shots.
Golden-headed Cisticola
Great Egret
Nankeen Kestrel with prey
Rainbow Bee-eater
Red-backed Kingfisher
White-throated Honeyeater
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