Bird Tracks around the out back town amounst the Opel Mines.
Australia, Day Seven.
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| Little Crow (Corvus bennetti) sat on top of the monument. |
Deb and I headed out south of the town to the Hutchinson Monument area where we were hoping to find the uncommon
Chestnut-breasted Whiteface (Aphelocephala pectoralis), on the way down we picked up
Little Crow (Corvus bennetti),
Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca),
Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides) and after we parked and started to walk around the site we picked up
Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) x30+,
Singing Honeyeater (Gavicalis virescens) x6,
Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) x15, a single
Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) which will be called Budies from now on and a band of 20+
White-winged Fairywrens (Malurus leucopterus) including a stunning male which unfortunately stayed distant.
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Purple-backed Fairywren (Malurus assimilis) female.
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| Purple-backed Fairywren (Malurus assimilis) female. |
We circled around to some more distant break away (areas of collapsed banks), on the way we had another group of
Fairywrens but this time they were
Purple-backed (Malurus assimilis) along with
Australasian Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) and then we came across a group of three of the target
Chestnut-breasted Whitefaces which performed nicely for us but kept their distance.
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| Chestnut-breasted Whiteface (Aphelocephala pectoralis). |
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| Chestnut-breasted Whiteface (Aphelocephala pectoralis). |
We watched these very smart birds before walking back towards the vehicle adding a Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) before heading to another spot a little further back up the road where we again walked around a similar looking area finding lots more Budgies x70+, Zebra Finches x 20, Little Crow x2, Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus ) x3, White-plumed Honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata) x2, Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) x2, White-winged Triller (Lalage tricolor) x1, Brown Songlark (Cincloramphus cruralis) x2 and Black-faced Woodswallow (Artamus cinereus) x6.
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| Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). |
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| Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). |
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| Singing Honeyeater (Gavicalis virescens). |
We returned to Coober Pedy for a coffee and then went for a drive and walk along the out flow from the sewage works where we added several new species including adult and immature
Spotted Harriers (Circus assimilis) which we watched pass food in mid air.
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| Little Crow (Corvus bennetti). |
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| Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus). |
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| Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca). |
Closer to the water we found
Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) x2,
Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides) x2,
Crested Pigeon x2,
Little Grassbird (Poodytes gramineus) x6,
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena) x2,
Black-fronted Dotterel (Elseyornis melanops) x5 and at least 3
Australian Spotted Crake (Porzana fluminea).
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Spotted Harrier (Circus assimilis) immature.
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| Spotted Harrier (Circus assimilis) immature. |
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| Black Kite (Milvus migrans). |
We went up to a small seating area and raised view point seeing
Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles),
Tree Martin (Petrochelidon nigricans) and behind us a
Straw-necked Ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis) or Bin Chicken as Deb calls them.
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| Gibber Chat (Ashbyia lovensis). |
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| Gibber Chat (Ashbyia lovensis). |
Even when we had found the bird it was difficult to keep on the the stony habitat where it just disappeared even though it was bright yellow on the breast and always stayed distant.
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| Black-faced Woodswallow (Artamus cinereus). |
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| White-plumed Honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata). |
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| Australian Spotted Crake (Porzana fluminea). |
In this area we also had views of
Rufous Fieldwren (Calamanthus campestris) x3, more
Budgies x15,
Galah's (Eolophus roseicapilla) and my first
Red Kangaroo (Osphranter rufus). |
| Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea). |
Our last stop was back at the sewage works stream where we say all the same species but also added Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea) x2 and Grey Teal (Anas gracilis) x5.
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