Egrets, Night Herons and a Coucal - photos of Top End Birds

Intermediate Egret

The above photo is an Intermediate Egret with its breeding plumage, fluffing itself at Yellow Waters, Kakadu. The next four photos are all of the Egrets, the Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret and Cattle Egret.

Great Egret

Intermediate Egret

Little Egret

Cattle Egret

The last of the Egrets is the Eastern Reef Egret. White then Grey Morph.

The following 2 photos are an adult and then a juvenile Nankeen Night Heron:

Nankeen Night Heron Adult

Juvenile Nankeen Night Heron

and finally a couple of Pheasant Coucals

Pheasant Coucal with frog, Australian Koel, Australian Bustard photos

On the way back to Alice Springs from Mataranka yesterday, I saw another 3 Pheasant Coucals. I think that made 10 for the Saturday and Sunday. Considering I'd only ever seen 1 bird on a few occasions previously, to see so many in quick succession was wonderful for me. The one in the photos below was just near the Todd Memorial on the Stuart Highway just south of Dunmurra. First photo is the bird with a frog, and the other 3 photos are to show the beautiful tail and wings. Alas it was overcast and rain/showers for most of the trip until below the Devils Marbles, but the rain cleared in certain spots for a few minutes and this was one.

Pheasant Coucal

Before I got to the Pheasant Coucal spot, I had stopped in at Stuart's Tree at Daly Waters for a break/coffee. As I drove back onto the road, I had my windows down. Again the drizzle had stopped. Before I got to the creek bridge, I heard the distinctive call of the Australian Koel. I had heard this on the podcast of Steve Abbott's "BirdBrain" series and was in no doubt it was the same call. After searching for a little while, I spotted one of the two birds calling high up in a dead tree.

Australian Koel

Continuing down the Stuart Highway, the clouds were beginning to get higher and the drizzle less frequent. Just before the Newcastle Creek bridge, I saw two Australian Bustards, or Bush Turkeys, about to cross the road in front of me. An adult and a juvenile, the juvenile was the more tentative, but as I had stopped for them, there was no problem crossing the road. I took some photos from inside the car, and quickly checked the camera to make sure I had the dials set correctly, then looked up, and they were gone. A chance encounter that was very brief. A bit further down the road I past another single adult that was in the ditch beside the road but I was almost level with it before it had put its head up. I have included a shot I took at the Alice Springs Desert Park recently that shows the throat shape of the Bustard I had just driven past.

Australian Bustard

 

Captive Bird from Alice Springs Desert Park

A variety of Bird Photos from the last couple of days - Mataranka and surrounds

I have been lucky enough to see and hear some beautiful birds over the past couple of days. Most of the photos are from around Mataranka, NT, others are a bit south and a bit north. Photography has been a bit of a challenge due to either the rain or the humidity fogging the lens (some conditions I am not normally faced with). Hope you enjoy.

Pheasant Coucal

Long-tailed Finch

Plumed Whistling Ducks in flight

Red-backed Fairy-wren

Black Kite

Weebill

Blue-winged kookaburra

Dollarbird

Hornet V Spider - Hornet wins

A slick hairdo for the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

An even more impressive crest for the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

White-bellied Sea-Eagle juvenile (just north of Mataranka, I'm not sure how often these are this far south in the NT)

White-gaped Honeyeater - weaving materials collection

White-throated Honeyeater

Pheasant Coucal, Australasian Figbird, Yellow Oriole and Northern Fantail

I have seen Pheasant Coucals previous to our visit to Kakadu, but rarely have I seen them behaving like a bird of prey sitting on a "high point" on low grounds. The one in the photos below was perched firstly on a stump, then behaved a little more normal and flew off into the pandanas:

Pheasant Coucal

The Australasian Figbirds were seen at most places we visited in Darwin and Kakadu. These photos were taken at East Point in Darwin.

Australasian Figbird

and the immature Australasian Figbird

The Yellow Orioles were another bird we saw at most places, and its call was strangely familiar, like the call of the Orioles at Wee Jasper in NSW. These photos were taken at the Visitor Centre in Kakadu.

Yellow Oriole

It took a little while to get a decent photo of the Northern Fantail. Finally, I managed one at Fogg Dam on the walk to the Wetlands.

And finally, my son and I saw this amazing spider web on the wetlands walk. The span must have been over 3 metres, and it looked very thick. We could see other webs nearby that would have been impressive except for this one:

Happy Birding!