Dusky Grasswren, Red-browed Pardalote and Red-backed Kingfisher

Back in the home environment and the birding continues to be amazing.

If the Centre has Spring, then it has sprung. Birds are nesting everywhere, and with a slightly cooler than average period at the moment, they are active under the cloudy skies.

The weekend activity included a short bike ride where Moses and I found a Red-browed Pardalote frenzy. They were calling non-stop and actively building their "nests" in the side of a dirt mound. The Red-backed Kingfishers were out as well, the one in the photo with the remains of an unfortunate, unknown small reptile.

But by far the most exciting was the Dusky Grasswrens I ran into today. I had tried to find them, and, after searching the spinifex-laden, rocky gullies, finally found some. One in particular was enjoying being a model for the camera.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Dusky Grasswren

Red-browed Pardalote

Red-backed Kingfisher

Red-backed Kingfisher in the morning sun

One of my most enjoyable stopping places between Haasts Bluff and Papunya is the Frederick Blakely Memorial. I have had a few enjoyable birding experiences there, including a close-up "viewing" by a Black-breasted Buzzard, watching a pair of Red-capped Robins hopping about the road chirping away to one another, and last week I enjoyed a rare close-up experience with a Red-backed Kingfisher.

As I pulled off the road into the small memorial area, the kingfisher took off (as per usual) from a tree very close to the memorial itself. I watched as it flew not far away (not normal) and perched on an exposed branch on a nearby tree. I inched the car forward, winding down the window as I progressed, trying to reach over to the camera at the same time. It was still there. I stopped the car, turned off the engine and slowly brought the camera to my eye. It is normally at about this point in time I realise I have settings on the camera for a completely different shot, ie on the TV setting, with the lens set for a long distant shot and lots of the focal points selected. I was pleased to realise the camera was on the right settings for the shot in front of me. I clicked away. The resultant photos below are a few of the ones I chose.

Red-backed Kingfisher

Birds of Nyirripi

Nyirripi is about 450 kms north west of Alice Springs. One enjoyable part of getting to Nyirripi is the chance to drive through Newhaven Conservation Reserve. The road is dirt from the Tanami Road, totalling about 200 kms of dirt at the end of the journey, but driving through large tracts of Desert Oaks and spinifex is very enjoyable.

The Masked Woodswallows were by far the most common bird. Flocks of over 100 would periodically burst into the air, full of voice. White-fronted Honeyeaters, Pied and Black Honeyeaters also fill the air with their calls, and Crimson Chats are often heard but not often seen. Rufous Whistlers, Grey Shrike-thrush, Red-capped and Hooded Robins, as well as the occasional bird of prey including Wedge-tailed Eagle, Peregrine Falcon and Black-breasted Buzzards.

There are budgerigars around, but not in huge numbers, flocks of 40-50 would burst out of their feeding area and into the sky to whirl around and then settle again at the next feeding point. Occasionally some would come close, but interestingly these were the only parrot species I saw.

The scenery around Nyirripi is covered in lush greenery at the moment, thanks to the recent rains. Some of the claypans are still holding water which means the birds that normally hang out at the Sewage Ponds are spread out, and a few unusual sights such as Pacific Heron, Straw-necked Ibis, Grey Teals and Black-fronted Dotterels were all observed briefly at the waterside of the claypans. The following are photos from the past week around Nyirripi and some from within the borders of Newhaven. I hope you enjoy.

Red-backed Kingfisher

Australasian Pipit

Australian Bustard

Banded Whiteface

Brown Honeyeater

Budgerigars

Crested Bellbird

Crimson Chat

Grey Shrike-thrush

Rufous Whistler

Slaty-backed Thornbill

Pallid Cuckoos, Crested Bellbird, Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, Red-backed Kingfishers

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

Red-backed Kingfisher, Bearded Dragon using RAW file format

I've been reading a lot about how it is a better idea to shoot in "RAW" format and today I thought I'd give it a go and see what happened.

Lesson 1 - the memory card fills up faster!
Lesson 2 - you can actually do a lot more with photos in the post-production in this format
Lesson 3 - a crap photo is still a crap photo regardless of the format

A Red-backed Kingfisher decided to assist me with my experiment. It sat on a nearby branch while I sat in the car. After clicking away in my normal fashion, I soon experienced Lesson #1 above. I couldn't believe the 16 GB memory card had filled so quickly.

Once I'd finished, I returned home to empty the card and check out what could be done using the Canon Digital Photo Professional software. The results actually stunned me a bit.

The first photo below is the end result, the second photo is the original without any Post Production:

Red-backed Kingfisher

Although I haven't cropped them exactly the same, I was impressed how well the bird "sharpened" and how the background softened. I'm sure a few readers probably already do this with their photos and are saying "well.... der!" but I have preferred to keep my photos fairly true to what I have taken in the past.

Next is the end result of a Bearded Dragon. I really like the end result:

Bearded Dragon

The third lesson wasn't learnt today, but especially when shooting in the RAW format, it is better to be selective for each shot rather than burst 10 crappy photos at a time

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

Photos of birds, scenery and reptiles from Mt Liebig to Glen Helen

There were some enjoyable photo opportunities on the drive back from Mt Liebig to Alice Springs. Here are a few photos I took between Mt Liebig and Glen Helen.