Brown Falcon, Willie Wagtail and Sand Goanna in the Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park

Alas I went to Kata Tjuta on a "too hot" day so the Valley of the Winds Walk was closed beyond the first lookout after 11 am, alas I was there in late afternoon. However, there was a chance to catch up with an old friend, the Brown Falcon (well of course I'm sure it is the same one as last year, it was brown, and sitting in a tree! :-) )ok so it was a different one, but similar location, and was a stunning model:

A mate of mine used to have a saying "Get that into ya!" (normally handing over an alcoholic drink) and if you refused he gave a look like the Falcon's in the photo below

It was a hot afternoon in the Centre and Yulara was no different. This Willie Wagtail decided to join me under one of the shade structures:

We were also joined under the shade structure by this sand goanna, who, unperturbed by neither me or the wagtail, proceeded to cover his midrift with sand only 6 or so metres from me:

More birds from Yulara - White-winged Fairy-wren and close-up of Black-faced Woodswallow

Back down to Yulara this week and I love birds who decide to come in and check you out. A family of White-winged Fairy-wrens were twittering and flittering a fair way from me to start with but eventually the male came to within 10 or so metres and after watching him for a while finally remembered to use the camera:

I walked a little further down the track and was watching a couple of Black-faced Woodswallows feeding on one of the few yellow flowers still blooming when a Singing Honeyeater decided it wanted the same flower:

I watched the Singing Honeyeater chase after one of the woodswallows and then the second woodswallow flew straight at me and sat on a branch in the tree virtually beside me. To get the full view of this very friendly bird, right-click over the top of the image and open in a new window. It really was a very special feeling knowing that the bird, and that beak, was only a bit further than arms length away. It stayed nearby for 3-4 minutes, not fussed about me at all:

More Crimson Chats and a Bronzewing Calling Card at Yulara

Note to self, walking along a road will probably produce more bird-watching opportunities than driving along the same strip. I returned to the road down to the power station today and was on foot.I'd driven down the same road 2 days ago and although I saw a number of birds, Crimson Chats weren't among them. Well, they were there today and probably there two days ago as well. The birds have been visible but quite often at a distance where photographs, even with the new lens, just wasn't what I had hoped so I put the extender on today and was quite pleased to be able to get some half decent shots. But before the Chats, I was walking along  path and a Common Bronzewing was strolling along in front of me. I thought it would fly off, and it seemed as though it was going to, but then came back into the middle of the path and left a calling card! I was waiting for the rangers to come along and ask me if I had a plastic bag for that! (as per dog owners). I hadn't put the converter on when I took this shot.

So onto the Crimson Chats. I had the whole family around me. There must have been some pretty tasty insects in the air as they were all flying up vertically, catching an insect, then dropping down, gliding to a perch or a safe haven on the ground. This female was quite some distance away but the converter helped bring it closer:

The male was even further away:

But the juvenile came in nice and close:

Crimson Chats, Pied Honeyeater, Black Honeyeater at Yulara

There is a walk between the Coach viewing area and the Voyages hotels at Yulara that is well worth the effort for any birdwatchers. I have done this walk before and seen Crimson Chats and was delighted to find them again:

Adult

Juveniles

The flora around this place is quite lush and there are lots of wildflowers blooming as well as the grasses seeding. It makes for some more difficult bird-watching if the birds are on the ground, but also makes it more enjoyable because with the flowers and the grasses come the birds.

On the same walk I also saw a Pied Honeyeater. I suspect there were lots of them because of the chatter but this was the only one I saw here:

Yesterday I was on the road to Connellan Airport at Yulara and was delighted to find a Black Honeyeater

The Black Honeyeater is quite a bit smaller than the Pied Honeyeater, and has that black strip on its chest. I also saw White-fronted Honeyeaters for the first time for me, but the light was poor and the photos are not up to my own expectations, although still good enough to identify. Oh well, what the heck, here is my poor attempt at photographing the White-fronted Honeyeater

I've seen a number of other birds around Yulara. Each birding experience here seems to have one thing in common - it starts and ends with Zebra Finches, there are just so many around:

Zebra Finch Frenzy near Yulara - photos and video

I've headed south to Yulara today and stopped off about 20 kms before getting to town. I was first alerted something might be happening by a Black Kite soaring above. But when I pulled up, the Black Kite was forgotten as 100s of Zebra Finches were going nuts near the water tank. It has rained a lot here today and the finches were getting into the pebbles and mud underneath, much like the Fairy Martins yesterday. They were also drinking from the puddle nearby.

The first video is of the Zebra Finches in the bushes nearby to where the above photos were taken. The Zebs continually "flocked off" as they were threatened by some unknown thing nearby. They flew from the roadside into these bushes. This is just one of a few bushes they flew off to:

The second video is of the Zebs on the ground, feeding on something in the mud and stones:

Acrobatic White-plumed Honeyeaters

Walking around the sandhills at Yulara, Uluru in the background, lots of flowering plants and trees, surprisingly it was only the usual suspects of the bird world who made themselves known. White-backed Swallows collected twigs and leaves for their nest, Willie Wagtails fluttered and twittered away, Yellow-throated Miners continually fed on the flowering grevilleas, and the White-plumed Honeyeaters put on a wonderful display of acrobatics:

A walk around Yulara

After a few delays at work, we eventually headed down for our docker River trip, and stayed the night at Yulara. while everyone else headed off to watch the sunset over the Rock, I went for a bird-watch around the local streets near the Camel Farm, War Memorial and Coach Camping. It was pretty and quiet. A small red-capped robin was my first serious sighting once I'd cleared the yellow-throated miners and singing honeyeaters around the hotel. I could see something flitting around the base of one of the larger shrubs/trees and waited in the shadows. He must have seen me and came to check me out:

  

then his older brother turned up

Next was a spiny-cheeked honeyeater sitting in the late afternoon sun

and then a common bronzewing sat on the path I was following

some of the flowers were just stunning:

the yellow-throated miner thought so too:

    

and then I happened along a little stretch of path, running parallel with the main road, where the birdlife sprang up all around me. The first was a crimson chat family. I saw the male briefly and the camera wasn't quick enough, but the young one hopped around on the road near me and then a more mature bird flew over as well:

next were some black-faced birds - both the woodswallows and cuckoo-shrikes:

there were also zebra finches flitting around and then I had an enjoyable time watching a brown falcon pretend it was a pipit or some similarly behaved bird, and then like a cat, stalking through the grass, jumping on clumps of grass, it was really amazing to see. Pictures won't do it justice but I'll put them here anyway:

  

  

    

 All in all. after a slow start, it was a well-spent hour and a half.