Spotted Harrier - photos

I should have known the day was going to be dominated by birds of prey on the way home yesterday as the local Australian Hobby gave me a fly-by that was almost too close as I was putting some things into the car to bring home from out bush. I eventually got going and hadn't driven more than 10 kms when this Spotted Harrier finally allowed some photos I feel happy about.

Spotted Harrier

 

Pied Honeyeaters at Papunya - finally some decent photos

I returned to the road to the airstrip at Papunya early this morning to see if I could find the Pied Honeyeaters again. As I slowed the car to a stop, I knew by the constant peeping that they at least were still in the same area. After about an hour of taking shots from 50 metres or so, I was beginning to despair I wasn't going to get any decent photos. I followed my ears to one tree that seemed to be constantly visited by some of the Pied Honeyeaters and stood underneath a bare mulga tree, hoping I would blend in with the surroundings by staying fairly still. Eventually a particular one flew off from the top of the canopy and then returned. It did this on several occasions. I managed to get some flight shots (see below) but not the really nice close-up photos I was hoping for. I'd almost given up when the same bird came down to a tree nearby. I cautioned myself to raise the camera slowly and take my time. I am pretty pleased with the results. Hope you enjoy.

Pied Honeyeater

Ground Cuckoo-shrikes on the Tanami Road

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:

Ground Cuckoo-shrike

Masked Lapwing, Red-necked Avocet, Whistling Kite in flight Orange Chat. Little Grassbird and Black-winged Stilts

Took these photos recently. The Masked Lapwing has been referred to by some as the 24 hour bird, hear it all through the day and night and it looks vicious with those weapons on the wings:

Masked Lapwing in flight

Red-necked Avocet in flight

Whistling Kite in flight

Orange Chat

Little Grassbird

 

Black-winged Stilt immature

Black-winged Stilt - two beaks, 4 legs, 3 wings, 1 eye!

Simpsons Gap birds - Hooded Robin, Western Bowerbird, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

A quick trip to Simpsons Gap produced another wonderful close-up experience, this time with a Hooded Robin just near the grid at the start of the Simpsons Gap reserve.

I stopped on my way out, seeing the bird sitting on top of a roadside tree and he hadn't moved by the time I let the 4 cars behind me go past and got out of th car. He flew onto a pole nearby and as I approached he flew off, but I soon realised it wasn't my presence that caused the move, merely some tucker on the other side of the road. He then flew back to the same tree and the nearby pole, seemingly oblivious to the person standing nearby with a camera:

Hooded Robin

Prior to the Hooded Robin experience, I was in the car park nearest the Gap and had these close-ups with the Western Bowerbird and the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Western Bowerbird

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Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Little Grassbird, Major Mitchell Cockatoos and Whistling Kites

I find the Little Grassbird one of the more challenging birds to photograph. I often hear them peeping away in the bushes by the water's edge, and see them flying from one bush to another, but rarely get a chance to see them on top of the bush. On this occasion, one decided to sit up high enough to get a few decent shots:

Little Grassbird

There were also a number of Major Mitchell Cockatoos in trees I normally associate with a Peregrine Falcon so I was hoping to see some action when I could hear these guys, lucky for them the falcon was no where to be seen:

Major Mitchell Cockatoos

 

Whistling Kites