Mistletoebird and a lot of Greys - Grey Honeyeater, Grey-fronted Honeyeater and Grey-headed Honeyeater

Spent the morning with Mark at a few of his favourite spots, and despite dipping on a few species, did manage to find a few of the ones we had targetted. One which wasn't a specific target was a Mistletoebird that was far too busy getting its daily intake of Mistletoe berries to worry about me:

Mistletoebird

Grey Honeyeater

Grey-fronted Honeyeater

Grey-headed Honeyeater

also saw a few other birds

Variegated Fairy-wren

Black-faced Woodswallow

Red-capped Robin

Western Gerygone

thanks Mark for a very enjoyable morning

Western Gerygone juvenile and adult photos

After a little bit of identification checking with fellow birders, the following images show the juvenile and adult Western Gerygone.

Western Gerygone Juvenile

 

 

 

Western Gerygone Adult

Little birds around town and a Cockatiel in the backyard!

Had a wonderful experience with an Inland Thornbill. Enough words, here are the photos:

Almost as inquisitive were the Western Gerygone and the young Red-capped Robin:

and for the first time I have been able to manage a photo, a Cockatiel sitting atop one of the neighbours trees.

There is a video of this bird on my son Moses' blog. Click the link below to see the video.

Cockatiel Video

To see more photos from this blog of the birds above, click the associated links below:

Inland Thornbill

Western Gerygone

Red-capped Robin

Cockatiel

Birds around and near the Alice Springs Desert Park

The sun finally broke through yesterday, if only in patches, and went bird-watching with my youngest son, Moses, near the Alice Springs Desert Park. The first animal we saw was a dingo before we had even left the car park to go to the picnic area:

We saw a few birds to start with in the picnic area of the Desert Park and then wandered up the track towards Mt Gillen from John Flynn's grave, just west of the Desert Park. The birds really only started to come in numbers just as we were heading back to the car (can happen sometimes which can be a bit frustrating). Below is a selection of some of the birds we saw. Moses had a few lifers so I'll start with them:

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

Inland Thornbill

Mulga Parrot

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Splendid Fairy-wren

Western Gerygone

Mistletoebird Magic at Simpsons Gap

A visit out to Simpsons Gap was made special by a Mistletoebird who sat on a branch about eye level and preened itself as I crept closer and closer, in full view, and am happy to say it was still there after I'd moved on:

I saw a few other birds while I was there, lots of the smaller varieties including Yellow-rumped Thornbills and I think the second photo is a juvenile, although they are a fair bit different so I'm not sure, but was definitely "part of the family" as it hopped and flew around two adult birds:

Also saw some Crested Pigeons, 

Rufous Whistlers 

and Western Gerygone:

All in all, a very pleasant few hours and the Mistletoebird was a dream to photograph.