A big Aussie Year..or not, Elefromoz

[michael-ibk]

Beautiful pictures. Weebill is a nice name. Have a great roadtrip!

[shazdwn]

Enjoy your trip El - you have plenty of stunning country in WA to enjoy at least.  

[elefromoz]

Thanks everyone, we had a nice road trip, its always great to get out into the countryside, in this instance through farmland, Canola crop country to the Mulga (arid) country. Our trip started with a stop at a German Bakery and nearby Park

 

64. Au. Wood Duck, and babies. Bindoon 3/8/20  Unfortunately the Ravens had their beady eyes on the littl'uns and I don't think this mother has either the defences or the sense to offer much protection. 

 

65. Nankeen Kestrel, Mullewa, 3/8/20. Very common throughout the trip, every few kilometers

 

66. Spotted Harrier (lifer) Mullewa 3/8/20.   Well how silly I am, it was getting late and we pulled over to see what I thought was a Wedgetail Eagle. Its whole flight pattern should have been a clue to its "Harrier" ID, but I missed that totally, rushed off a few photos and headed off again. Only later when looking at the pics did I realise my mistake. Simon J Nevill, in his book "Birds of Western Australia", describes it as our most beautiful Raptor. And I gave it all of 5 minutes  

 

 

 

67. Red Capped Robin,  4/8/20 Mullewa area 

Female amongst the Wildflowers

 

Imm

 

A dazzling Male who manages to look pretty sitting on a barbed wire fence

 

68. Crested Pigeon

 

69. Emu, this one alive, 

[elefromoz]

70. Redthroat (lifer)

 

71. Brown Falcon

 

72. Grey Butcherbird

 

73. Pied Butcherbird, 4/8/20,  Wooleen Station, middle of nowhere.(next batch all from Wooleen) 

 

74. White Plumed Honeyeater, noisy flocks everywhere

 

 

 

75. Tree Martin.  Could have spent hours, and gone nuts at the same time, trying to capture these speedy, agile little fellas.

 

 

and then we drove home in the evening to find one asleep on the road to the house, wasn't moving for anyone til it suited him, then it flew off just as I was sure it was injured.

[elefromoz]

76. Rufous Whistler.   5/8/20 Wooleen Station

 

77. Southern Whiteface,  what's surprising out here is "what the heck do these little Birds eat", you barely see a bug, flying or not.

 

78. White winged Fairy Wren, female, hence no "white wing". Again,  living out on the dry,  harsh Samphire flats. The Male is very handsome and on my "to get" list still.

 

79. Zebra Finch

 

80. Chiming Wedgebill. Another Bird that nearly drove us nuts, for days we could hear the 4 note call building to its crescendo, so close but we could never see the owner of the voice, this one very bad photo was all  I managed for hours of skulking through the Mulga.

 

81. Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater

 

82. Chestnut Rumped Thornbill

 

a very rare 3 legged one

[Soukous]

good to see you've been out & about having fun. Very envious. 

[elefromoz]

83. Western Bowerbird, Wooleen Station. 

 

showing his crest

 

 

and his Bower.  It was built just behind the cottage, under a scrappy tree, very easily missed, it looked like a pile of rubbish really, Actually it was a pile of rubbish, he had collected all types of broken glass, plastics, bits of white stuff as an enticing entry to the Bower beyond. The path in was a thick pile of matted twigs, and the bower itself a perfect curved avenue of gold. Who could resist that.

 

[Galana]

Too much! Hard to pick out the specials.

Shame about the Harrier. I think there is a nice cuteness with the woodduck and the Red-apped Robin has to be special along with the Crested Pigeon.

Butcherbirds get  a star for brutal beaks. Mean looking!

All in all a decent trip.

[elefromoz]

84. Yellow Throated Miner 6/8/20

 

85. Black faced Woodswallow

 

86. Black breasted Buzzard, they nest in the Rivergums along the Murchison

 

 

I did wonder at one stage as they slowly circled overhead if they were checking if I was "carrion" ??

 

87, White Browed Babbler (lifer)

 

88. Grey Shrikethrush

 

89. Australian Pipit

 

90. Australian Bustard, we searched for 3 days for the Bustard, not a sign. As we departed past the Station airstrip, "stop" I yell, not one but two just standing there roadside. By the time we'd stopped the car, pulled out the camera etc etc, they'd clocked us and were airborne 

[elefromoz]

oops, the grey shrike thrush has snuck in again at the end.

 

 

[elefromoz]

@Soukous, yep its good to be able to get out into our big state. Hopefully things will improve and you'll get some more freedom soon. Although that doesn't seem to be stopping 'all youse over there" getting good numbers

@Galana, thanks it was a good few days, the Butcherbirds are fearsome if you're a small Bird, not called "butcher" for nothing. 

 

I've posted the "Wedgie" before,  #40, bit of an ebc for our biggest Bird of Prey. I did mention the 'live' Emu before too #69. There are also dead ones, roadkill, which create a real problem for the Wedgetail Eagle. As they feed on carrion, they often end up Roadkill themselves, their big wingspan just doesn't allow them to get enough lift when a semi trailer is bearing down at 120 kmh. 

 

So you have to help out when you can

 

 

 

Always carry a purpose built pair of gloves, dead Emus are heavy,

[Soukous]

3 minutes ago, elefromoz said:

Always carry a purpose built pair of gloves, dead Emus are heavy,

 

Yup, I always wear gloves when disposing of dead bodies 

[shazdwn]

3 legged thornbill 😂😂😂

[PeterHG]

Beautiful collection of additions and photos!

[Zim Girl]

What a great trip you had and lovely set of new additions!

[TonyQ]

It looks like an excellent trip with some great sightings and lovely photos 

[Peter Connan]

So what is unique about "dead Emu gloves"?

 

Nice collection! 

[elefromoz]

16 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

So what is unique about "dead Emu gloves"?

 

 

Nah, nothing really, they'd do just as well with a dead Ostrich or dead Hyena. Just handy to have a pair for grotty, smelly, unusual tasks.

[Kitsafari]

awesome job on the dead emu!!

that robin is a beauty. 

we can't wait till we get out of tiny island to go somewhere close... like WA!

 

 

 

[elefromoz]

1 hour ago, Kitsafari said:

we can't wait till we get out of tiny island to go somewhere close... like WA!

 

@Kitsafari, sorry but not a chance at the moment. Not only are we (residents) not allowed out of Aus, there's no guarantee we'll be allowed back in again if we do leave. 

[Kitsafari]

4 hours ago, elefromoz said:

 

@Kitsafari, sorry but not a chance at the moment. Not only are we (residents) not allowed out of Aus, there's no guarantee we'll be allowed back in again if we do leave. 

 

i  know. my husband's nephew flew back from south america to melbourne and had to be quarantined there. he then stayed with a friend in Tasmania and couldnt return to his home in Perth because WA never opened its borders to the other states. that was like 3 or 4 months ago, and he's still stuck in Tasmania.

 

[michael-ibk]

Great trip and birds - especially love the Robin, fantastic little bird!

[elefromoz]

We've had a little burst of Spring here and there so thought Id head to the beach for a look-see. I was really enjoying watching the Birds until some Fisherman decided he'd cast a line right in front of me and chase off all the Birds, such odd behaviour.

91. Pied Cormorant, Woodman Point 27/8/20

 

92. Caspian Tern

 

93. Grey Plover, a couple of stragglers that stayed South after last Summer

 

[elefromoz]

A few "common as" to push the numbers along

94. Eurasian Coot, Libra Lake, 27/8/20

 

95. Australian Raven, doing what they do best...

 

too harsh criticism I guess, its our rubbish after all. Looking handsome amongst the Wildflowers

 

96. Spotted Dove, Attadale. 31/8/20. According to my literature, introduced 120yrs ago and flourishing

 

 

97. Magpie Lark

[elefromoz]

We took a little road trip a few hours south. Some heavy rains lately had filled the wetlands in the paddocks again

98. Australasian Darter, Port Geographe, 7/9/20

 

99. Straw Necked Ibis, by the hundreds, Vasse

 

they do have beautiful colours when the sunlight catches them. The nests are pretty hectic.

 

100. Whistling Kite, patrolling the wetland, the Ibis didn't seem too bothered by their presence