Kit & Herman Year 2

[Kitsafari]

367/WA44 : Australian Ringneck, Victoria Dam

 

A common bird in the southwestern Australia but we saw them only in the Victoria Dam vicinity, and even then only 2-3 of them. there are 4 sub-species with two of them in WA. the semitorquatus has a red patch just above the bill on the forehead, which was what we saw high up on a tree. But nearby I also saw another without the red patch, which would be the zonarious sub-species. I'm not sure if both sub-species can be found in the same area. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

368/WA45 : Red-capped Parrot, Victoria Dam

 

This is endemic to West Australia and the male bird is a stunning parrot with a bright red crown and lime green cheeks. They were flying around in flocks but the problem was as soon as we sighted them, they would fly off, leaving us watching their tails in the air. I've only one salvageable EBC, which shows little of its stunning colours, but thick-skinned that I've become, here it is!

 

[Kitsafari]

369/WA46: Rainbow Lorikeet, Herdman Lake

 

The lorikeets look almost like the coconut lorikeet we see in Singapore, but the location puts them apart. The rainbow lorikeet is a noisy bird with distribution ranging from Bali in the west to New Caledonia in the east. It looks like the red-collared lorikeet, which has just been established as a new species on its own. The difference is a light greenish/yellowish patch on the back of its neck. this is a pugnacious parrot, described so as they will challenge and displace the larger Australian ringnecks from nests they take a liking to. 

 

[TonyQ]

Wow, what a wonderful selection from Australia.

Beautiful birds, beautifully photographed.

[Kitsafari]

370/WA47 : Western Rosella, Victoria Dam

 

One of the prettier parrots we had seen, the western rosella is the smallest of the rosella families in Australia and is endemic to WA. All rosellas have a bell-like note in their calls, which unfortunately our untrained ears didn't hear but probably had alerted Peter to their presence. This is a female as the male has a redder head. 

 

[Kitsafari]

Thanks so much @TonyQ . Australia really has a lot of variety of bright colourful birds. We only got a small percentage and I would really love to go to the northern territories to catch the pittas and gouldian finch as soon as I can. 

 

371/WA48 : Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, on the road back to Fremantle

 

We had been hoping to see the black cockatoos in WA, especially the Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo which is endemic in the area. But we failed to see any shadow of them. While driving back towards Fremantle, I mentioned I wanted to get a shot of the Australian Little Crow as they were on the roads, but each time we stopped they would fly off. Peter kept a lookout and all of a sudden came to a stop on the small highway. he said he saw a flock of black cockatoos flying across the road. we all got off, and luckily for us, the cockatoos were perched on a leafy tree just by the road. they took flight again further down the road, so we packed into the car, made a three-point turn and turned into a side road, for the Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoos were kind enough to have flown into a side road. We were buzzing with excitement. 

While this species is not endemic to WA, the stunning species itself is declining due to loss of habitat and competition for nesting from bees and the more aggressive rainbow lorikeets. 

 

[pedro maia]

Lovelly birds but that Red-tailed Black Cockatoo is stunning!

[Peter Connan]

Beautiful birds! Beautiful photos!

[xelas]

Amazing colors, and excellent photos. 

[michael-ibk]

Love the Pardolates, immensely cool birds. All great stuff, but your second photo of the Rainbow Lorikeet is just marvellous Kit!

[lmSA84]

What a great collection! I’ve got to get myself to Oz one day

[Kitsafari]

thank you @pedro maia, @Peter Connan @michael-ibk @xelas @lmSA84.

 

372/WA49: White-breasted Robin, Victoria Dam

 

The small white-breasted robin is endemic in WA and likes dense vegetated or a lush understorey. This particular bird was fairly accommodating, having hopped onto the road just after we walked by. My camera however refused to cooperate, leaving me pretty frustrated. Thank goodness for spouses who come in useful - always. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

373/WA 50 : Western Yellow Robin, Flint Street Forest

 

The cute western yellow robin was one of our favourite birds in western Australia, because it was cute and it posed a long time for us in good light too! The species likes open woodland, which was what the Flint Street forest was  - plenty of tall trees but spaced far apart with low sparse bushes in between. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

374/ WA51 : Spotted Scrubwen, Victoria Dam

 

the Spotted Scrubwren was renamed from a white-browed scrubwren. It is a small but fierce bird which will not hesitate to defend its territory. It is usually found foraging in the foliage of trees and sometimes comes down to the lower strata of smaller trees. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

375/WA52: Silvereye, Victoria Dam/Freemantle park

 

Very common in southwest Australia. 

 

[Kitsafari]

376/WA53 :  Varied Sittela, Victoria Dam

 

A gregarious bird that moves around in a family of 4-6 birds with two breeding adults, and 2-4 helpers who are either adults or from the last season. It was a flighty bird but a stunning male. males and females have a black cap but only the male has a white eye patch. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

377/ WA54 : Pied Stilt, Herdsman Lake

 

The pied or white-headed stilt used to be known as the black-winged stilt but was split just recently with the International Ornithologists Union recognising it as a separate species Himantopus leucocephalus. A quick glance will not reveal the difference but on closer look, the pied stilt has a black trip that extends from the neck onto its back.

There were numerous pied stilts at Herdsman Lake.  

The pied stilt is resident in southern Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Australia ad New Zealand, Papua New Guinea. Non-breeding populations are also found in Sri Lanka to East Timor. The species caused quite a stir in Singapore in recent weeks with the first ever sighting of a pied stilt and notably, breeding here as well. Around the same time, the rarely seen black-winged stilts were also seen breeding at the same area. 

 

3 non-breeding adults on the left while the extreme right is in breeding plumage

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

378/WA55 : Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Herdsman Lake

 

very well distributed in western Australia. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

379/ WA56 : Grey Shrike-thrush, Flint Street Forest

 

A large thrush-like bird, the grey shrike-thrush is one of the master songbirds in western Australia. I can't recall if we heard its song, but I totally missed seeing the  bird in the wooded areas of the Flint Street. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

380/ WA57 : Western Spinebill, Victoria Dam

 

This is endemic to WA and relies heavily on flowering plants and trees, so its range is confined to the wetter areas. 

 

[Galana]

Great stuff coming through. Some of the names are just so different from what we believe Aussies can stretch to. A couple of your shots were multi specie so I hope you are covering them later.

[Kitsafari]

@Galana thank you - I also hope I'm covering all the species too! can't waste a single one....

 

 

381/WA58 : Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Herdsman Lake

 

There are only two species of spoonbills in Australia. In Western Australia, the Royal spoonbill is up north while the yellow-billed spoonbill is down southwest. Spoonbills are related to the ibis but evolution have flattened out their bills and they have become tactile feeders. the yellow-billed spoonbill is somewhat a loner feeder. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

382/WA59 : Welcome Swallow,  Fremantle Marina

 

Commonly found throughout WA, although numbers shrink towards the desert/arid areas. the shot was taken in pretty bad light and i cropped it to have a better look. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

383/WA60 : Black Swan, Herdsman Lake

 

Black swans were introduced to other countries years ago but it is a Western Australian icon found mainly on fresh water bodies although they do make do with brackish or saline waters. 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Dave Williams]

We used to get a regular visit from a couple of Black Swans at our local reserve but they must have been recaptured! Not seen one for a long while now.