Going South -- 04

Next stop was Alice Springs and a day out with Mark Carter [Birding and Wildlife] chasing Letter-winged Kites but it rained and all the dirt roads went to mush so I spent a restful day in Alice doing the mundane but essential household chores such as cleaning the car, have a shower, do the laundry and a bit of local birdwatching with coffee -- Olive Pink Botanic Gardens has a very nice cafe.

Western Bowerbird Ptilonorynchus guttatus working hard on his bower.

The bower did need some work.

Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae a rival to above!

There were sightings of Grey Honeyeaters nesting near the Desert Park so I did an early morning walk there. Did I see one?

Unknown honeyeater. What do you think?

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza uropygialis

Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum

Western Gerygone Gerygone fusca

As I had a bit of time up my sleeve, I headed south with rain for 600km to Coober Pedy and stopped beyond Glendambo [a 900+km day] for the night on my way to visit Chuckles. I got out of the car at a WikiCamp and there were a small family of Varied Sitella Daphoenositta chrysoptera pileata, "Black-capped Sitella", foraging about on the trees and stumps. They fly into the tops of trees in groups and move downwards towards the ground. I don't know how they handle the brain blood pressure being upside down a lot of the time. This leads to classic sitella images of face down, the beak out.

Magic. f8 and be there!