Where to look? Up, down, left, right. Birds flying everywhere. Tiny birds, flocks of birds, birds of prey circling. Just when should you stop?
The above thoughts are typical in central Australia at the moment. Every time we think it is starting to become too dry, we receive another sprinkle from the sky above to freshen everything back up again, and from a "quieter" day the day before, suddenly the birds spring back into action with a deafening roar.
Recently I stopped at an old haunt, wondering if the surrounds were really as active as they sounded from the road. It was. An unbelievable variety and number of birds. Yes, there were extremely little birds, Thornbills, Fairy-wrens, and Southern Whiteface, yes there were mid-sized birds - Budgerigars, Cockatiels, Honeyeaters, Woodswallows, and larger birds - Pallid Cuckoos, birds of prey, Galahs and Red-tailed Cockatoos. I could see why some of the birds were around - the seeding grasses, but I think the rest of the birds were just being sociable, apart from the Pallid Cuckoos - they were just being plain noisy, young ones constantly begging. Throughout the cacophony of incessant noise came a peep from one of the alarmists. Every single bird went quiet within moments from the alarm call. I frantically searched above the trees and the skies, looking for the cause of the alarm. Normally when the danger was gone, the twittering in the trees start up again within a minute. The silence this time grew longer and longer. I looked at my watch. Two minutes, three minutes and then four. Something was definitely around scaring the voice out of all the other birds. Finally, after more than 4 minutes, one of the White-plumed Honeyeaters sang out, and soon the chorus began in earnest from everywhere. A frustration of birding is sometimes you don't find out what was the cause. This was one occasion.
Below are some shots from the area on this occasion.
Pallid Cuckoo
Red-backed Kingfisher
Crested Bellbird
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
