Photos of some Waterbirds from Northern Territory

The following is a number of photos from various places on a recent trip to Darwin.

Australasian Darter (Yellow Waters, Kakadu and Longreach Waterhole near Elliott)

Australian Pelican (Yellow Waters, Kakadu)

Australian White Ibis (Holmes Jungle CR, Darwin)

Great Crested Grebe (Longreach Waterhole near Elliott)

Little Black Cormorant (Longreach Waterhole near Elliott)

Magpie Goose (Yellow Waters, Kakadu)

Pied Cormorants (Longreach Waterhole)

Straw-necked Ibis (Longreach Waterhole near Elliott)

The Big Budgie Hunt with Moses

Early this morning my youngest son, Moses, and I, headed out of the house before 5 am and headed down south along the Stuart Highway. The aim was to try to see the budgies I had seen a few weeks earlier, but this time with Moses.
The day started with a sensational sunrise:

The budgies were coming in dribs and drabs, but the first real surprise of the day was the Straw-necked Ibis:

followed soon after by a mystery bird Moses had seen. It turned out to be a female Black-tailed Native Hen:

Finally the Budgerigars started coming in larger and larger numbers. I was getting excited because I really thought Moses was going to get to see the same experience as I had had, our purpose for getting up so early. They were behaving very similarly, flying around in larger and larger groups, being harried by birds of prey, the water was about the same level, and then.... nothing happened. We aren't sure if they were drinking somewhere else, but even though we stayed there for 3 1/2 hours, the budgies didn't come down to drink. Here are some of the photos I took of them flying around and grouping on tree tops:

The birds of prey kept coming and going, flying through the budgies, scaring them out of the trees, and being recognised by the "spotters" who sent out the call as the BoP swooped in. Here are some photos of Brown Falcon, Little Eagle and Whistling Kites:

Camping with the boys at Redbank Waterhole, Owen Springs Station

Last weekend I took my two boys to Redbank Waterhole on Owen springs Station. It is a gentle drive south of Alice Springs about 70 kms down the Stuart Highway, and then 6 or so kms across some rough and ready tracks.
As we pulled into the camping area, we were a little dismayed to find quite a few groups already there, but we managed to get a nice spot for ourselves, across the "river" from the majority of the other campers. We started unpacking the car as the sun was setting, and had a lot of laughter at dad's effort to put up the tent with the wrong tent poles etc. but at least we had a space that was covered for the boys to sleep in.
The evening was spent by the fire, eating the egg and bacon pie and toasting marshmallows by the fire. Eventually the boys settled down and we all slept until the pre-dawn hours.
We were disappointed that the budgerigars didn't arrive in the numbers we were hoping for. The rain over the previous week had dispersed them, but there was still lots of birdlife.
The highlights are shown below, and although we only stayed for a few hours and returned home by lunch, the boys seemed to really enjoy themselves and were keen to go camping again soon. Couldn't ask for much more than that as a dad.

A pair of Little Eagles did a dance for us

Australian Hobby

Whistling Kite

Great Egret

Straw-necked Ibis

Zebra Finches in tree hollow

Enjoy your Bird-watching!

Waterbirds from the Top End

The water birds of the Top End is a very broad classification for a Post, but it was the only one I could think of. We saw birds in every location, including Crocodylus Park, Kakadu and in the Darwin suburbs. Here is a selection of photos:

Australasian Darter:

Australasian Grebe

Comb-crested Jacana

Glossy Ibis

Green Pygmy Geese

Little Black Cormorant

Plumed Whistling Ducks

Straw-necked Ibis

Happy Birding!