Little Birds South of Alice Springs

I managed to have the opportunity to head south of Alice Springs recently. I drove a "road" (really just a fairly upmarket track) for about 7 kms and was stunned by the amount and variety of birdlife available for viewing and photographing.

Pied and Black Honeyeaters as well as Crimson Chats seem to be everywhere around Central Australia at the moment, as well as the Woodswallows. I was also hoping to see a few other species though, and was delighted to find Cinnamon Quail-thrushes in numbers, as well as Southern Whiteface, both Red-capped and Hooded Robins, Chestnut-rumped Thornbills, and a highlight was catching up with Bourke's Parrots.

If you are thinking about heading to the Centre, any time in the next few months will be a wonderful time as the explosion of bird numbers is set to continue.

Cinnamon Quail-thrush

Southern Whiteface

Bourke's Parrot

Crimson Chats

Hooded Robin

Red-capped Robin

Photos of Little Birds around Alice Springs

Sometimes the little birds are the easiest to hear, but the hardest to find. Here is a selection of recent shots not far from Alice Springs:

Inland Thornbill

Rufous Whistler

Southern Whiteface

Weebill

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Red-capped Robin

White-winged Fairy-wren

Crimson Chat

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

The smaller birds - Zebra Finch juveniles, Red-capped Robin and Inland Thornbill

You know a bird is small when a Fairy-wren looks large in comparison. The wind chill factor in Central Australia makes it hard to get motivated to even go looking, but I found a nice thickly treed area the other day.

In total, there were four juvenile Zebra Finches in the group. They huddled up eventually, but it started with a couple on different branches, until ultimately all 4 sat on the same branch.

The Red-capped Robin in the photos below was one of a few I saw. I was trying to be patient and wait until it landed on a lower branch with some yellow wildflowers in the background but it decided the perches I had identified weren't good for spying food, so I dipped on the wanted photo, but still managed a few shots.

Red-capped Robin

The Inland Thornbill in the photo below was one of a pair that was flitting around and chattering amongst the trees. I was intrigued by the up-turned tail, like a Fairy-wren. I hadn't really noticed this before, and the sounds the thornbills were making was unusual, making me wonder if they weren't perhaps using mating calls. Unfortunately I've misplaced my sound recording machine as it would have been handy to record the calls being made by both birds. I didn't see any indication of a nest, but they could have been building one further into the scrub.

Inland Thornbill

There were a number of other small birds in the area I didn't manage decent shots of - Splendid Fairy-wren, Mistletoebird, Western Gerygone as well as Yellow-rumped Thonbills. I did have a very inquisitive young Thornbill, I think it was an Inland variety but couldn't be 100%. It came to within 1 metre of me on a branch, and checked me out for probably 5 seconds, before moving about the bush and then off to another one from the back of the bush. There were a couple of striking parts to this - firstly, how close it came to me, and secondly, it was tiny. Pizzey and Knight state the Inland Thornbill's size ranges from 9.5 - 11.5 cms. I doubt this one was the 9.5 cms, more like 7, so I am wondering if it perhaps wasn't a juvenile Slaty-backed Thornbill which is supposed to be 9.5 cms only. They are supposed to mix with the Inland Thornbills, so perhaps this was what it was, but without a photo I'll never know. such is life in the birding world.

Redthroats, Splendid Fairy-wrens, Red-capped Robins and Yellow-rumped Thornbills

Yesterday morning was quite chilly and it took the birds about 30 minutes after the sunrise to start warming up. The Horsfields Bronze-cuckoo and Pallid Cuckoo were in full voice, and the Australian Ringneck and Mulga Parrots could be heard in the valleys. But it was a family of Redthroats that made the morning. I had seen them at a distance in a particular area, and left them alone for a little while, but returned before I jumped back in the car.

At first I could see the male, scampering around the bushes, lots of twigs in the way for any decent photos. Then I saw some of the juveniles in the same spot, who then hopped around into the sun to warm up. I got as close as I could without disturbing them, the sun at my back. Having seen these birds only a few times, I wanted to sit and watch for a little while. The younger ones didn't seem too fussed by my presence and continued to preen themselves on a low, exposed branch. Eventually the male adult returned with some food, then zoomed off. It think the adult female was sitting further in the bush, but keeping an eye out for me and anything else that could potentially pose a threat.

Redthroats

A Splendid Fairy-wren male hopped into the tree above me, and I took the first shot, then after a little flit here and there, flew down to the ground not far in front of me and started ferreting for food.

Splendid Fairy-wren

A female Red-capped Robin provided a little entertainment as it too perched, flew down for something then perched again although in a different spot. The male kept its distance. A little later, the female decided the Pallid cuckoo really shouldn't be so close to their home.

The Yellow-rumped Thornbills were quite numerous and quite noisy. Eventually they too came close enough for a photo

Yellow-rumped Thornbill