Murray Sunset National Park to Lake Cullullinane

After the excitement of Hattah Kulkyne, I set off for Murray Sunset National Park. Although this was in my original plans, I had intended to enter via the south end of the Park, but, as I drove up the highway I saw a sign and headed to the North-eastern corner instead.

I had only just entered the Park boundaries when I saw a small flock of medium sized birds fly off from what turned out to be a puddle. I decided it was worth checking out what these birds were. I was surprised and happy to see Banded Lapwings through the binos, so sat and waited in the car, in the heat, with the flies, until they started walking back towards the puddle. 5 of them, and whether it was my mind playing tricks on me or the heat of the day haze, they looked bigger than the ones I had seen in the NT previously. It was a nice tick to get started for the Park.

Murray Sunset is another potential place to see the Malleefowl. There are some really good displays showing what the nest looks like and what sort of terrain I should be looking for. Alas, no Malleefowl again, but I couldn't help but see the Bluebonnets. There were small groups everywhere which eventually turned into a larger group. They were tricky to get decent photos of so I ended up going at about 10 km/h and taking photos on the move, just to try to capture how many were in the group and the scenery I was driving past. I wouldn't recommend this as a photographing method, but the result was ok.

Bluebonnets

Banded Lapwing

I had thought I would camp here for the night, but the flies were pretty horrendous during the day, so I was figuring with another 5-6 hours of daylight, I may as well keep going and keep away from the flies.

I continued up to Mildura, stopping in at the Kings Billabong Bird Hide, not one of the most exciting birding experiences, and it was a hot 5 km walk out to the hide and back. About the most exciting thing I took photos of was a large skink/lizard at the Hide itself.

There was also a close encounter with a very large Grey Kangaroo, who watched me closely as I walked towards its family, but I had also seen then and ensured they moved on before I got too close, but he kept a watchful eye on me and continued to bound parallel with me until they were gone.

Kangaroo

There were a few birds around, here are a couple. Peaceful Dove followed by Varied Sittella.

It was back on the road again, the intention to get to Renmark if possible, but I ended up staying at Lake Cullillinane. On the way I came across a small family of emus, one of my all time favourite birds, and couldn't resist stopping on the side of the Sturt Highway to take a few shots.

Emu

Finally pulled into Lake Cullullinane for the night. It had been a big day. I was at first delighted to see the Little Corellas hanging around in largish numbers. I was soon to realise there were more than I thought and they would be here for the night to keep me company. I did enjoy this scene below, where they were acting like Cormorants on a fallen tree in the lake.

Little Corellas

Bourke’s Parrots, Mulga Parrots, Varied Sittella all together west of Alice Springs

Earlier this week I was driving out to Mt Liebig for work. I noticed a few flashes out of the corner of my eye – parrots, longish tails, was that a splash of red or pink? Princess Parrots? My mind raced as I slowed the car and grabbed the camera. I hadn’t been travelling too fast as I had just come through some rough road. I had a fair idea where the birds had flown and gave the large shrub a wide birth, trying not to disturb them, and, control my building expectations. As I neared I heard the unmistakable call of the Mulga Parrot. My Princess Parrot hopes faded quickly and I could see 7 Mulga Parrots, 4 males and 3 females/juveniles. Oh well, if I couldn’t see Princess Parrots, then Mulga Parrots were certainly a lovely second place for spectacular colour. I crept closer and closer to the bush and eventually managed to get a few photos without the sticks in the way. I started to head back toward the car and heard another distinctive parrot sound – Bourke’s Parrots, and sure enough two flew up from the ground and perched in a nearby tree. The angle for photos wasn’t great so I tried to circle them keeping the sun behind me. I could see the most magnificent blue and pink as well as that weird white blob around their eyes. I shouldn’t have been too surprised as I had seen the Bourke’s parrot in the same area 6 or 7 weeks ago, but that was much earlier in the day. As I circled, my fear of them taking flight came true, but not before another one joined them in flight. 3 of them now. They didn’t fly too far and I continued my circling, even if it was much further than I originally anticipated. Again they didn’t allow me to get too close before alighting once more, but a fourth joined them. This was getting exciting. Despite a fair bit of searching, I couldn’t see any more and again headed back towards the car. As I neared the road, I heard an oddly familiar but not often heard bird call coming from the small copse on the other side of the road. I continued across the road and crept closer, to discover a small group of about 8 Varied Sittellas jumping and hopping around the trunks. I was starting to miss my old, far superior lens, as I constantly focussed and missed the Sittellas. I kept trying for a bit longer when I heard the unmistakable sound of the Bourke’s Parrots again. First 2, then 8 more flew into the copse, and then another 20. I couldn’t believe I was seeing them at this time of day, and in such numbers. I’ve only seen 6 at the most before this experience. A few fed on the ground not far from me, and another couple perched in the morning sun on exposed branches. The others were flying at the back of the trees, fluttering down to feed on the ground beyond my vision. Finally I had my photo opportunity, one close by on the ground had continued to feed despite my presence only 10 metres away, while the two perched in the tree remained as well. I clicked off a lot of photos, determined to at least get one decent photo of a Bourke’s Parrot despite my substandard lens.  Eventually the ground dweller and the perchees disappeared towards the others at the back of the trees. I returned to the car absolutely thrilled to have enjoyed the experience, all from a mistaken identity.

Bourke's Parrots

A Divine Wedge-tailed Eagle, a Sparrowhawk that almost came in the car and other bird photos from Papunya NT

In the heat of the Australian Outback, with the sun behind, I looked up and saw this vision. I think you could forgive me thinking this was some sort of Divine Angel of Goddess coming to spirit me away. For some reason, the more I look at this photo, the more religious-symbolic it appears.

The bird in the photo above, a Wedge-tailed Eagle, was one of a pair that decided to scare the congregated ducks on the ponds of the water treatment ponds of Papunya, a remote community about 250 kms WNW of Alice Springs. I thought the ducks had become a little bit neurotic but then looked behind me and saw the WTEs. One of them came closer than the other, and I haven't witnessed them swooping ducks before even though I have heard lots of people say this happens. Up close, they really are amazing birds, and even "tucked" they still look huge. The pair dipped on the ducks, and headed off to hunt further afield. The following is a series of photos as it turned and swooped, with the final photo showing a very lucky Grey Teal in the background as the WTE was checking me out, not its normal food..

My second Bird of Prey experience comes with no photos, but a story. I was watching the Zebra Finches fly from behind the car, over the fence and down to the water in the Ponds. They would then fly back in numbers and head for the trees behind the car once more. On the third occasion of this event, as they were returning, I spotted what I thought was a pigeon to start with, but then soon realised it was a bird of prey. It was coming fast, and swooped down low over the ponds, rose sharply to avoid the fence, still chasing the Zebra Finches and then chose a finch to target. The Zebra Finch sped over the fence, flew close to the ground between the fence and the car and then flew safely into some thickly branched part of the tree behind the car. The Sparrowhawk had almost caught the finch as it went over the fence, then followed the finch down low and came directly over the front door of the car towards the tree behind. I could have almost reached out and grabbed it as it flew past it was that close. Not that I would have been anywhere near quick enough. It failed in its attempt to catch the finch and after realising too late it couldn't go into the branches, it seemed to flutter about above me then flew off to a nearby tree to lick its wounds, still hungry. I'm not sure who got the biggest shock, but I certainly had a much more enjoyable experience. For once the camera wasn't at the ready, but it was special to watch the events unfold for a change.

The rest are photos of birds and some of the countryside around the Papunya area:

Australian Ringneck

Pied Butcherbird

Varied Sittella

Zebra Finch

The beautiful colours of the road and the hills