Sunday, 21 June 2015

NT Road Trip 2015: Part 12

Day 13 -- Katherine

I was up early on our first [of three] full days in Katherine and went north for 50 kms or so to the Fergusson River to check out a spot that had great birding last year. There is a small creek running to the east between the old highway [the new highway is about 100 metres to the west] and the railway line.

Parked on the old Stuart Highway
A small number of waterholes stay "wet" until very late in the dry [September/October] thus providing an important water source for small birds, especially honeyeaters and finches, especially Gouldian Finches. There was a bit more water compared to August last year but not much more. The wet stopped earlier than usual in 2015.


No Gouldian Finches this time but lots of photogenic birds.

Great Bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis
Double-barred Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii
Masked Finch Poephila personata
Long-tailed Finch Poephila acuticauda
Red-winged Parrot female Aprosmictus erythropterus
Red-winged Parrot female male 
On the way back to Katherine I had an encounter with some Red-tailed Black-cockatoos. More next blog.
Red-tailed Black-cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii

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