Glen Helen to Haasts Bluff Road - Banded Lapwing juvenile and others

The stretch of road between Glen Helen and Haasts luff to the west of Alice Springs has often been a good bird-watching spot for me. I normally see Bourke's Parrots during the day, as well as normally finding Australian Ringnecks and Mulga Parrots. This trip was no different.
An additional find has been Banded Lapwings along a particular area about 1 km in length, and this trip there was a small family group, one of which was a juvenile, slowly sauntering across the road. I don't normally drive very fast through this part anyway, and I was going quite slow, and the juvenile walked up the side of the road and unlije the adults didn't fly off. I wound down the window and took the chance to get some photos much closer than is usually the case. Normally the adults are under a tree off the road a bit, so it was nice to get shots u close.
There were also a lot of other young birds in the same area of different species. The Centre has had a true Spring with lots of rains and lots of new birds.

Banded Lapwing juvenile

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill juvenile

Cockatiel

Red-capped Robin juvenile

Rufous Whistler

Southern Whiteface

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

A few bird photos from around Lajamanu

Not much to write here, other than there is water in Hooker Creek, the local creek at Lajamanu, which means there are lots of birds around. Here is a sample from the last couple of days.

Red-winged Parrot

Brown Honeyeater

Australian Ringneck

Grey-fronted Honeyeater

Diamond Dove

Red-tailed Black Cockatoos

White-breasted Woodswallow

Black-chinned Honeyeater

Grey Shrike-thrush

Rufous Whistler

Terrick Terrick National Park

Driving into Terrick Terrick is a complete contrast to the surrounding area. From farming plains to trees, scrub and rocky outcrops. It is little wonder the birds choose to come and mingle with one another. Gone are the Little and Long-billed Corellas, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, replaced by Robins and Treecreepers and Thornbills. Not for the first time I found myself in bird-wonderland by myself. Everyone else must still be enjoying family and friends during the holidays, rather than visiting National Parks. I did actually see a couple of other cars, but generally had the place to myself.

Arriving at a new location is always both exciting and frustrating. Tuning your ears to the new sounds of the bush, remembering old calls once easily identified, straining to hear the "odd call out", eyes darting from treetops to ground cover. Terrick Terrick has all of the above. On the drive in towards the picnic area, I stopped upon hearing a burst of bird call activity. Red-rumped Parrots and Yellow-rumped Thornbills everywhere, just in a small pocket of woodland. I continued up the track and sat in the car in the carpark, listening, waiting to decide if here was ok. Sounds started coming from everywhere. Mainly Brown Treecreepers, but also Rufous Whistlers, Red-capped and Hooded Robins, Yellow Thornbills, Restless Flycatchers and Southern Whiteface.

Walking through Terrick Terrick is so much easier than lots of bird-watching spots I have been to. Under the tall trees is mostly open with a few fallen logs and small grass patches. The birds can be quite friendly, or sometimes extremely annoying as they chirp away high in the canopy without ever coming down. The picnic area was a good place to start, but eventually I drove through the middle of the Park until I exited on the far north western edge.

It was a fun few hours spent, and the completed list numbered 24, maybe not as many as I had hoped but there were some nice species in that lot. Some of them made taking photos pretty easy, others a little harder. ere are some of the better photos:

Sacred Kingfisher

Hooded Robin

Jacky Winter

Restless Flycatcher

Rufous Whistler

Southern Whiteface

Yellow Thornbill

A Wedgie on the stare, Chats, Brown Falcon and a gorgeous Central-netted Dragon

There is a young Wedge-tailed Eagle hanging around Papunya at the moment. It gave me a couple of parallel flybys then swung out and headed straight for me. With the reduction of distance due to the camera lens, even though it was still a fair distance away, I did find myself moving backwards. This was one of a few birds around today, but tomorrow may be quieter as a large dust and wind storm has blown through late today. Hopefully the weather will be a bit cooler as the temperature gauge in the car for outside read 50 degrees Celsius before the storm hit. The car was in the sun and out of the wind, but that is still just a bit warmer than I would prefer, and I'm sure the wildlife would agree.

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Brown Falcon

Crimson Chat

Orange Chat

Rufous Whistler

Central-netted Dragon

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