Miles To The Wild

VIDEO

Nice footage of Bowerbird dancing and calling for a mate.

Other Birds Of Nallan Station

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Tara

Here’s a few other birds we saw at Nallan Station that I managed to get photos of. Other species are always possible, here’s a bird list for the Cue area. These were all seen either near the homestead or near Judas Well.

Zebra Finch

Crested Pigeon

Black-faced Woodswallows

White-plumed Honey-eater

Common Bronzewing

White-plumed Honey-eater

Magpie-Lark

Diamond Dove

Not sure about this one

Warblers In Springtime

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Tara

If you live in the north-east of the USA you are probably thrilled to see spring! Why not take advantage of the pleasant weather to hone your birding skills and have a look at the local warblers? If you are headed to New York, it’s only a 25,000 mile round-trip award on American, United or US Airways. This video was filmed in Firehouse Woods, Monroe County, New York. There is a full list here.

Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata)

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Tara

The Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) (formerly Poephila guttata),is the most common estrildid finch of Central Australia and ranges over most of the continent, avoiding only the cool moist south and the tropical far north. It can also be found natively in Indonesia and East Timor.

Since they have such a large range, you are likely to run into them in any part of Australia. To date, I have seen them at Nallan Station, at a few road side places in Western Australia and near Kalbarri.

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ABC TV Documentary (YouTube version embedded below)

VIDEOS

Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang)

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Tara

The Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang) is a small Australian robin that reaches 13 cm in length. The male has a black head and upper parts, with a conspicuous white forehead patch, white wing stripes and white tail-edges. The male has a bright scarlet-red chest and a white belly. The female is pale brown, darker above, and has a dull reddish breast and whitish throat.

The Scarlet Robin is endemic to Australia, where it is found near the coast from southern Queensland to central South Australia, Tasmania and south west Western Australia. The species is mostly sedentary over most of its range, but some mainland populations undergo small local movements in the autumn and winter, either to more open habitats or lower elevations. The Scarlet Robin is most commonly found in eucalyptus woodland and forest from sea level to 1000 m, particularly the more open habitats with grassy and shrubby understories.

I saw them in several places – Dryandra Woodland, Stirling Range, Fitzgerald River, Kalbarri and Bruny Island. The bright red chest makes them stand out so they are easily spotted within their range.

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NSW Environment & Heritage

VIDEO

Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus)

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Tara

The Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus), is a bird species of forests and woodlands in tropical and subtropical regions,in eastern and southern Australia. The name “woodswallow” is a misnomer as they are not closely related to true swallows. Instead, they belong to the family Artamidae, which also includes butcherbirds, currawongs and the Australian Magpie.

They are commonly seen within their range in medium sized flocks of 30-50 birds. You will often see them huddled together on a tree branch such as the photo above taken at Stirling Range or in even larger “huddles”.

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VIDEO

Nice close-ups here!

Australian Owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus)

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Tara

The Australian Owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) is a nocturnal bird found in open woodland across Australia and in southern New Guinea. It is colloquially known as “Moth Owl“. It is the most common of the owlet-nightjars, and the best known of this secretive family. It is the most common nocturnal bird in Australia, and despite suffering from predation and competition by introduced species it is not considered threatened.

Close-up from Wikipedia since I only got shots in the nest.

They have a huge range – basically all over Australia so you could get lucky enough to see them on any birding trip in Australia. The best thing is to ask the lodge owners or rangers at national parks if they know of a nesting pair. I saw them at Stirling Range Retreat. You can also try searching the species name on the Surfbirds trip reports if you are targeting this species. I wasn’t targeting them but just got lucky that they were found at a place I had already planned to visit and they were a delightful bird to watch as they peered cautiously out of the nest!

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VIDEO

The Birds Of Stirling Range – Pictorial

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Tara

I’ve already blogged about the Stirling Range National Park but it got too long so I saved the bird photos for this post. Just as a reminder, here are the bird lists that have been recorded here:

Frank O’Connor

Eremaea

Birdlife (has pictures)

Since we have the long Easter weekend coming up, over the next 4 days, I will get caught up on some bird profiles and then move on to the next stop which was Two People’s Bay. So for now, just enjoy some of these beautiful birds!

Regent Parrot

Galah

Elegant Parrot

Dusky Wood Swallows (I think)

Owlet Nightjar

Honey-eater

Elegant Parrot

Singing Honey-eater

Elegant Parrot

Splendid Fairy-wren

Elegant Parrot

Australian Ringneck

Regent Parrots

Western Rosella

Elegant Parrot

Elegant Parrot

Elegant Parrot

Australian Owlet Nightjar

Splendid Fairywren (Malurus splendens)

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Tara

The Splendid Fairywren is one of 12 species of the genus Malurus, commonly known as fairywrens, found in Australia and lowland New Guinea. Within the genus it is most closely related to the Superb Fairywren. These two “Blue wrens” are closely related to the Purple-crowned Fairywren of north-western Australia.

I was very lucky to see these gorgeous little birds in several locations such as Stirling Range Retreat, Nallan Station, Yanchep National Park & Bowra Station. Their bright blue colouring and charming way of hopping around had me falling in love with them!

Splendid Fairy-wrens have a large range so it would be easy to plan a birding adventure which visits one of their habitats.

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VIDEO

This footage shows the contrast between the males and females (the brown birds with blue tails) and you can hear the twitter sound they make!

Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus)

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Tara

The Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It is the only species of Meropidae found in Australia. They are brilliantly colored birds that grow to be 19–24 cm (max 28 cm) in length, including the elongated tail feathers.

Close up from Wikipedia.

Rainbow bee-eaters are a common species and can be found during the summer in forested areas in most of southern Australia excluding Tasmania. They migrate north during the winter into northern Australia, New Guinea, and some of the southern islands of Indonesia. They may be found in open woodlands, beaches, dunes, cliffs, mangroves, woodlands and they often visits parks and private gardens. The first two photos above were taken at the watering hole near the Dryandra Village. They were quite entertaining as they whizzed down for a drink at the speed of light! Dryandra Woodlands is an easy 2 hour drive from Perth.

Known to the Noongar as “birranga”, the bee-eater’s beauty and character set it apart from other birds and it is the traditional totem of an important family group in the eastern Wheatbelt..

An Aboriginal Dreaming story tells how birds came into being when a rainbow shattered and its colourful shards fell to earth, and the basis for such a tale can be appreciated in the rainbow bee-eater’s startling yet muted oranges, gauzy greens, powder-puff blues and soft yellows.

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