Buntine and Victoria Highway Bird Photos

A quick trip from Lajamanu on the weekend. Another lovely time enjoying the birdlife on the Buntine Highway and parts of the Victoria Highway in the Northern Territory.

Australian Bustard

Black-breasted Buzzard Juvenile

Brown Quail crossing the Buntine Highway

Crimson Finch

Little Pied Cormorant

Northern Fantail

Pacific Baza

Pictorella Mannikan

Torresian Crow

Varied Lorikeet

A pair of White-bellied Sea-eagles

Bush Bird photos from drive from Alice Springs to Papunya

Rufous Whistler

Mulga Parrots - Female then Male

Torresian Crow

Southern Whiteface

Variegated Fairy-wren

Weebill

Native Gap Conservation Reserve birds

Native Gap is about 120 kms north of Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway. I like to stop here as camping overnight isn't allowed which generally means I have the whole place to myself if I leave Alice Springs early in the morning.

The Reserve has a hill boundary to the north, the Stuart Highway to the east, and can be sheltered from the wind on most days. There are a few picnic tables and a drop-dunny.

Probably one of the first birds I generally hear is the Western Bowerbird. The ring out their calls from the rocky ledges or pine trees as you drive in, or from some of the larger trees on the lower slopes. A Willie Wagtail or two normally greet you as you make your way into the parking area, and at the moment the Mistletoebirds are busy and noisy. Fairy-wrens, Thornbills and Grey Fantails seem to occupy the clump of trees beyond the toilet, and Robins, bioth Hooded and Red-capped, flit between the tree cover to the large trees in the parking area. Birds of Prey fly over-head or perch high on the hills. Honeyeaters are normally busy in the trees to the south of the parking area as well as Pigeons and Doves. A walk along the base of the hill towards the west will normally uncover a Crested Bellbird in the grasses or the lower branches of small shrubs. At the moment flocks of Budgerigars sweep by overhead, and the Crows generally make lots of noise both overhead and around the parking area.

Here are some photos from earlier this week:

Grey Shirke-thrush

Grey-headed Honeyeater

Western Bowerbird

Grey Fantail

Diamond Dove

Hooded Robin

Splendid Fairy-wren

Torresian Crow

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Mistletoebird

Happy Birding!

Ewaninga Reserve

Went out to Ewaninga Reserve with my youngest son, Moses, yesterday afternoon. He is a great companion and takes his video camera when we go specifically to bird watch. His video of a Torresian Crow flying across onto one of the rocky outcrops can be found here.

There were a few large flocks of birds, namely Masked Woodswallows and Budgerigars, but surprisingly, very few birds overall, and even though we were there for only an hour or so, neither of us heard or saw a single fairy wren at the Reserve.

A nice surprise was this Grey Butcherbird, which flew into one of the trees near the carpark:

 This dingo was fairly complacent about our presence, but we enjoyed watching it stroll around.

Masked Woodswallows were in large flocks at times, this one was trying to catch up.

Torresian Crow on one of the rocky outcrops in the late afternoon sun.

Whistling Kites and others at the Alice Springs Poo Ponds

In all there were 4 juvenile Whistling Kites playing around the ponds late this afternoon. They seemed to be scattering birds but not really doing anything more than playing around. At one point one of them landed in a flock of Corellas and the Corellas split into two, but after the landing neither the kite nor the corellas seemed too interested in the other:

Had both Little and Long-billed Corellas and obligingly they managed to be close enough together to be able to show the differences in the one photo:

The Long-billed is the third bird from the left with the stronger deep pink/red markings and the unmistakable longer beak/bill compared to the Little Corella next to it, second from the left.

I've included this one as they are quite similar around the eye

... well except for the red colouring :-)

Some of the other birds worth showing from this afternoon appear below:

Black-fronted Dotterel

Black-tailed Godwit

as above having a yawn with a Red-necked Avocet not amused

Gossy Ibis

Red-kneed Dotterel (can't understand why that name!)

Red-necked Avocet and a single Black-winged Stilt.

Haven't really noticed the blue legs on the Avocets before,

probably have trouble getting beyond the beak.

Torresian Crow