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

Thornbills - do you know your Central Australian species?

Central Australian Thornbills

You are out in the scrub. You can sense movement and then you hear a chirp, or a twitter and wonder what it is. Mixed in among the Splendid Fairy-wrens, Western Gerygones and Southern Whiteface, you see another small bird. It is probably a Thornbill but which one?
The above photo is a group of 5 Thornbills that can be seen around Central Australia. They are numbered 1 to 5. Before you keep reading, open the photo and see if you can identify each one. to help you, in no particular order, here are the names of the five:

• Inland Thaornbill
• Slaty-backed Thornbill
• Chestnut-rumped Thornbill
• Yellow-rumped Thornbill 
• Buff-rumped Thornbill

In my next post on this blog, if you are keen to know how well you identified each one, I'll give the answers.

Identifying Thornbills can be difficult. Some of them are easier than others because of their colour, markings and voice, while others are difficult as they look similar to other Thornbills. The Yellow-rumped Thornbills seem to be easiest for me at the moment as they have a very different look and noise, but when you see a bird under the shadows of the foliage of a bush or among the branches above head height with the sun overhead, it can be quite tricky. Eventually though, when you have the time, they do start to be more inquisitive and then once they realise you aren't coming to catch them or hurt them, they can be quite friendly.

Currently the weather is starting to warm up in Central Australia, and as the insects become more active, so too will the Thornbills. An easy access location for these birds is Simpsons Gap, about 15 kms from Alice Springs. I have seen all 5 of the birds in the photo above at this location. Cassia Hill walk and the car park down at the Gap itself seem to have been the most reliable in the past.

If I really haven't got a good photo, I also try really hard to isolate the calls I've heard in my head, and then check on my Pizzey and Knight iPad App of the ones I suspect was the variety. I also use others to help with identification if I'm still unsure and have a good enough photo.

Good luck with the ID above, and enjoy your birding.