Spinifexbird, Brown Falcon, Eurasian Coot, Hooded Robin, Little Crow, Mistletoebird, Spotted Harrier photos

An enjoyable drive out to Papunya. Started the day early and found some Spinifexbird with a friend, then on to a variety of birds along the way. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Mistletoebird and a lot of Greys - Grey Honeyeater, Grey-fronted Honeyeater and Grey-headed Honeyeater

Spent the morning with Mark at a few of his favourite spots, and despite dipping on a few species, did manage to find a few of the ones we had targetted. One which wasn't a specific target was a Mistletoebird that was far too busy getting its daily intake of Mistletoe berries to worry about me:

Mistletoebird

Grey Honeyeater

Grey-fronted Honeyeater

Grey-headed Honeyeater

also saw a few other birds

Variegated Fairy-wren

Black-faced Woodswallow

Red-capped Robin

Western Gerygone

thanks Mark for a very enjoyable morning

Bird, animal and scenery photos from west of Alice Springs

I've been travelling west of Alice Springs for work and have managed a few shots along the way.

Wedge-tailed Eagle - Papunya

Brown Falcon - Haasts Bluff

Cockatiel - Haasts Bluff

Dragonfly - Haasts Bluff

Mulga Parrots Tanami Rd

Sand Goanna - Papunya Rd

Glen Helen from 2 Mile

Mt Sonder from 2 Mile

Brown Falcons - Papunya Rd

Budgerigar and Zebra Finch - Papunya

Horse bath - Papunya

Red-capped Robin - Ochre Pits

Mistletoebird - Papunya

Red-backed Kingfisher with breakfast, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Mistletoebird and a strange couple

I took these photos this morning at Haasts Bluff of a Red-backed Kingfisher eating a large green insect.

Red-backed Kingfisher

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

Mistletoebird

Unfortunately this photo isn't very good quality as it was almost dark when I took the shot. I had seen two Common Bronzewings fly in to a large watercourse, and followed one of them to the opposite bank from where I was sitting. I put the camera up to my eye and noticed a second bird sitting above the Bronzewing. I am fairly sure it is a Spotted Harrier, but the light wasn't good enough for a decent ID

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