Black-shouldered Kites in the Mallee

The Black-shouldered Kites have had a good breeding season by the looks of the fully-fledged and independently hunting juveniles as well as the mature adults around Ouyen.
Further afield they continued to appear, and providing a few photo opportunities.

Black-shouldered Kites

It has been a big birding start to the year

After a slow first couple of days, 2016 has started extremely well. 150 birds already and I haven't really left Melbourne and surrounds. Some huge highlights already include the Powerful Owl in the previous post, a day at Werribee with Pete Shanley, a night looking for Sooty Owls with Chris Watson, Sam and Lauren (alas we dipped on the Sooty but saw and heard some amazing wildlife), and today I headed to Serendip and the You Yangs followed by a quick return trip to Werribee. The life list has grown more in the past week than I think the whole of last year. Lewin's Honeyeater, Powerful Owl, Satin Flycatcher, and today was Purple-crowned Honeyeater. And of course, the photos just keep coming.

My bogey bird is the Swamp Harrier. I have yet to get any really decent shots, and today I fluffed another opportunity as one was sitting on a bank just beyond some barbed wire and just off the road. Even though I have seen more of the Swampies this trip than possibly for the rest of my life, getting one of the lovely close shots I've seen by others still eludes me.

I've had some great discussions about what continues to drive people to bird and/or photograph birds. I am finding more and more even though the photography is still the main focus for me, learning about bird behaviour is becoming increasingly more important. Maybe it is because if I learn more about behaviour I will take better photos. Not sure yet.

Usually I bird-watchby myself, so it has been an interesting time birding with others during these holidays. There are advantages and disadvantages of both birding alone, and birding with others. I do get a kick out of other people getting excited about seeing a bird or birds, but I also like to control where I go and when I stop to take photos/bird watch.

The following is a selection of 10 birds I have seen recently. I hope you enjoy.

Black-shouldered Kite at Werribee

Emu at Serendip

Lewin's Honeyeater at Bunyip State Park

Purple-crowned Lorikeet at Serendip

Red Wattlebird at Parkville

Superb Fairy-wrens at Serendip

Swamp Harrier at Werribee

Tawny Frogmouth at Serendip

White-winged Chough at Serendip

Yellow-faced Honeyeater at You Yangs

Black-shouldered Kite juvenile in the late afternoon sun

I have been watching some Black-shouldered Kites on my walk with my dog in the Larapinta Hills for a couple of months now. The adult pair have raised a couple of chicks who are now hunting by themselves. The parents are still hanging around, but on the whole have left their young to fend for themselves. The colour has almost disappeared from the juvenile's, those beautiful rufous bands are disappearing, replaced by the pure white of adulthood.

Here are some photos of one of the juveniles with the afternoon sun behind:

Black-shouldered Kite Juvenile

Some of the birds, animals and scenery walking the Larapinta Hills

I am very lucky to have a beautiful place to walk the dog in the mornings and evenings - the hills behind Larapinta in Alice Springs. Over the past 6 months I have seen a wide variety of colours, animals, reptiles and birds. I haven't quite made it as far as the Larapinta Trail, but I'm sure if I kept walking I would eventually run into it. Some times I take the camera with me, other times it is really nice to be able to just experience everything the area has to offer without concentrating on trying to get a great photo. I have been amazed at the variety on my door step. Here are some of the photos. I hope you enjoy.

Black-shouldered Kite

Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo

Rufous Whistler

Splendid Fairy-wren

Western MacDonnell Ranges

Spinifex Pigeon

Dingo

My companion on the walks - Elsey with Heavitree Gap hills in the background

Grey-crowned Babbler

Some photos from the past week or so of birds around the Centre

I have been a bit lax in posting so I thought I'd put a collection from the past week or so around Central Australia. There are so many birds nesting and feeding as well as lots of juveniles around the place, sometimes making it hard to identify species, or which way to look. This is not confined to smaller or larger birds, they all seem to be enjoying the abundant food, both non-bird food like grass seeds, and prey for the larger birds. The sun is baking the middle of Australia, and the reptiles are out as well, so the larger birds have a pretty good menu at the moment.

The following birds are in no particular order, but the raptors are big favourites in my family so I'll start with a few of them:

Australian Hobby

Young Black-shouldered Kite

Australasian Grebes giving me the rear view

Major Mitchell Cockatoo letting me know it was thinking what I was thinking

Young Mistletoebird demanding some food, even if it was greens!

Spinifex Pigeon pretending to be a rock

Black-shouldered Kite photos

I've managed to find a pair of Black-shouldered Kites not far out of Alice Springs. There are lots of Budgerigars around, a few other small birds as well, so there seems to be lots of food. The Kites have hung around for a couple of days so I am thinking they have a nest, and I am fairly sure it is in a clump of Mistletoe, but apart from some squeaking, can't really tell as it is well hidden if the nest is there at all. If it is the nest, it is unlike another I saw a few weeks ago that is much larger and high up in the tree. They are quite good at alerting me when they return to their "tree" with high pitched, short, sharp squeaking. Here are some photos from the pair I've seen in the last couple of days.

Black-shouldered Kite

A very young Budgerigar

Some sort of hairy caterpillar

One of my only (even if blurry) shots of a Little Button-quail