Crimson Chats become a "town bird" at Alice Springs

Recently there has been an influx of birds towards Alice Springs, possibly due to the drying surrounds, or maybe they are looking for warmth as the overnight temperatures drop. One of the more unusual visitors has been the Crimson Chats. Normally these birds aren't too far away from town, but generally they do keep to the outskirts. Alice Springs residents have been reporting them all over the place, about the only area so far without a report is the Todd Mall, right in the middle of Alice Springs. They are very pretty birds, the males being much more dominated by the "crimson"that presumably gives them part of their name, but the females can look quite stunning as well. Here are a couple from one of my favourite birding spots around Alice Springs, the Poo Ponds:

Crimson Chat

Australian Spotted Crake

Black-tailed Native-hen

Little Grassbird

White-winged Fairy-wren

Fledglings, juveniles and small bird photos

There seem to be a lot of young birds around at the moment in Central Australia. On my way to and from Santa Teresa today, I stopped for a couple of birds which turned out to be Australasian Pipits. As I was sitting in the car, windows down, I could hear some high pitched squeaks, and noticed a few small birds on the roadside. They didn't seem to mind the car, and came quite close. At first I thought the small birds were grey-headed honeyeaters, then I thought they could be yellow-tinted honeyeaters, although that would be a long way from their range. Turns out, they were grey-fronted honeyeater, not birds I see a lot in Central Australia.

Grey-fronted Honeyeater

Over the past couple of days I have also seen a lot of small birds, or juveile birds on the way to Santa Teresa and around Alice Springs.

Young Crimson Chat with grub

Young Fairy Martin giving me the eye as it flew off

Australian or Clamorous Reed Warbler - should just be called Chatterbox!

Little Grassbird

A pair of Australian Spotted Crakes

I'm fairly sure this is a young Masked Woodswallow, please correct me if I am wrong

A moulting or juvenile Hooded Robin

Inland Thornbill

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!

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

Photos of Phillip Island smaller birds

The smaller bush birds of Phillip Island have personality and generally a fair bit of colour. Over the past couple of days I've captured a few photos, starting with this delightful Welcome Swallow sitting on a reed at the Silverleaves Estate:

Welcome Swallow:

on some grassy banks nearby were these White-fronted Chats:

and a Little Grassbird was catching insects at the base of the reeds:

earlier on in the morning I saw an immature Eastern Yellow Robin, just starting to get the colour on its front: