Birding Central Australia #87 - Red-necked Avocet

Red-necked Avocet Recurvirostra novaehollandiae

Looking at the Wikipedia entry for our bird for this week reveals that the Red-necked Avocet graced a thirteen cent stamp back in 1966. This is an interesting claim to fame, but perhaps more for the fact that a thirteen cent stamp ever existed, than for the subject. Regardless, our avocet is a remarkable wader. That preposterous-looking bill is equipped with pressure-sensitive receptors that detect the slightest resistance as the avocet scythes it back and forth through the surface of the water. The bill will close in a fraction of a second on any small invertebrates picked up by the receptors, and in this fashion the avocet gleans its sustenance. This is an Alice Springs resident and can almost always be found employing its distinctive feeding technique at the sewage ponds and on saline water-bodies in remote areas. Once heard, its comical ‘toot-toot’ call is not easily forgotten.

It’s been a massive week in The Centre with two teams of birders heading out to Jupiter Well (just across the WA border, beyond Kintore), and reporting great sightings of Princess Parrots in flocks as large as 28 birds – dispersal from the recent residency at Newhaven Sanctuary perhaps?

Not content with this coup, the same groups witnessed the super-rare Grey Falcon hunting at the sewage ponds in Alice Springs and have the photographs to back up the claim – exciting times indeed.

The other big report this week is the always rare Painted Honeyeater being seen out to the east of town, and it is this report that I will be out trying to confirm this week. Grab your binoculars and send me an email to let me know what you find this weekend!

Happy birding!

Birding Central Australia #86 - Tree Martin

Fairy Martin Petrochelidon ariel (top) and Tree Martin P. nigricans (bottom)

These two birds giving you their best “over-the-shoulder-smoulder”, are two of the trickier species to separate while birding around Alice Springs. On top is the dainty Fairy Martin, and below, the closely related and slightly larger Tree Martin. In this picture the difference between the two is perhaps obvious, but when they are whizzing past at high speed it may be tricky to pick the glossy blue crown of the Tree Martin from the rufous crown of the Fairy Martin.

If you have ever noticed beautiful bottle-shaped mud nests below the eaves of your house or on the occasional road-side culvert, then you have seen the work of the Fairy Martin. As the name suggest, the Tree Martin usually makes its nest in a tree, although it is also known to reuse the abandoned nest of other species, including Welcome Swallows and Fairy Martins. Around Alice Springs, both species of martins are commonly encountered; Fairy Martins often where a road passes over a culvert or bridge, and Tree Martins most often, along tree-lined river beds.

It’s been all go in Alice Springs, and reports of Grey Falcons continue to arrive from west of town near Standley Chasm and also to the south-west at Kata-Tjuta. A Grey-fronted Honeyeater has been reported from out in the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges near Corroboree Rock.

I’ve been out in the Great Sandy Desert this week and can vouch that many of the nomadic honeyeater species are present up there in WA in phenomenal numbers, with Black, Pied, and White-fronted Honeyeaters among the most common birds seen over three days.

Crimson Chats are now being reported much more regularly along the road in every direction from town and Orange Chats are still regular at the sewage ponds.

Happy Birding!

Birding Central Australia #85 - Welcome Swallow

Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena

This week the swallows and martins have been putting on a great show. Tree Martins, Fairy Martins, and White-backed Swallows have all been in good numbers at Ilparpa Swamp and many other places with open water, as they skim across the surface to drink. The star of the show was this Welcome Swallow at the sewage ponds on the weekend. These birds are usually zipping around so quickly that it can be difficult to get a good look at them. But the camera shutter operating at 1/2500th of a second is sufficient to freeze the bird in mid-air for closer inspection, and reveal the arresting markings of this aerobatic champion.

There has been a swag of big reports this week by visiting birders. The first came from Alma and Dolf, who found a few groups of Orange Chats giving some great views in the loose soil between pond EP7 and the Blatherskite Park fence. Following this there was a report of Striated Grasswrens showing well on Curtin Springs in the late afternoon.

Lastly, a Grey Falcon has been reported several times over the last few weeks, and all the reports are from the vicinity of the James Orr Overpass on the Stuart Highway just north of town. The bird has been seen perched in this area in the afternoons and flying toward the east around sunset. Well worth chasing up if you happen to be north of town in the late afternoon.

Happy birding!

Birding Central Australia #84 - Spinifex Pigeon

Spinifex Pigeon Geophaps plumifera

It’s been a freezing week to be out birding. One of the most stunning pigeons anywhere in the world, this Spinifex Pigeon was braced against the cold wind with fluffed-up feathers and a quiet spot in the sun. These birds are still seen in good numbers around the rim walk at Kings Canyon, and most rocky hilltops around Alice where there is abundant spinifex growth.

The Princess Parrot sightings at Newhaven Sanctuary have now dwindled away and the birds appear to have left the area. Where they have gone is anyone’s guess, but we have been treated to groups of over one hundred birds at times so one thing is for certain – they’re out there somewhere, so keep your eyes peeled when you’re out and about.  On the way back from Newhaven I had plenty of Dusky Grasswrens and Spinifex Pigeons in the Siddeley Range by the side of the road. Crimson Chats and Banded Whiteface were very common throughout the area, and there were a few small flocks of Ground Cuckoo-shrikes as well. The highlight for Newhaven visitors this week was a pair of Grey Falcons seen over the southern portion of the sanctuary.

Back in Alice, a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo has been seen hanging about with a flock of Major Mitchell’s Cockatoos along Bullen Road. This big white cockie is not a species that naturally occurs in The Red Centre, and this bird had a metal leg band, so has somebody lost a pet?

Farther afield, three Bustards have been seen in north-west Victoria this week, which is the first time that species has been seen in that part of the country in many years. More evidence I suppose of the continuing fine conditions inland.

Happy birding!