Kununurra and Mitchell Falls WA

Am currently on my annual 2 week Top End birding trip and enjoyed visiting some excellent spots in Darwin before travelling to Katherine.

A walk along the Katherine River produced some nice birds making the most of sprinklers in the hot afternoon.

 

 

 

 

I met up with Phil and Trish who were leading a group across the Top End. They were passing through Katherine with their guests and I joined them for the last few days of their tour to Kununurra. It was much more economical to do it this way and with Phil’s knowledge of the area the chances of finding my target species greatly increased.

We enjoyed great views of Purple-crowned Fairy-wren at Victoria River feeding in the grass along with large flocks of Pictorella Mannikin.

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

                                                                 Female Purple-crowned Fairy-wren

 

 

 

Feral Scrub Bull

Freshwater Croc

Pictorella Mannikin

 Masked, Double-barred, Crimson and Gouldian Finches were enjoyed in numerous locations and Australian Bustards were in high numbers.

 

Bustard flying down Victoria River at sunrise

 

 

 This Bustard was busted crossing the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Gouldian Finch

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Timber Creek we came across a large flock of Yellow-rumped Mannikin on the Victoria River feeding in the cane grass. Gouldian Finches were in good numbers and we watched them drinking from a small water hole while we ate our lunch.

 

Carving by Augustus Gregory 1853 - Australian Explorer

 

 

Feral Brumby

 

 

 

 

Timber Creek

 

 

Buff-sided Robin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Yellow-rumped Mannikin

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                     Yellow-rumped Mannikin

 

Black-chinned (golden-backed form), yellow-tinted, rufous-throated, grey-fronted and banded honeyeaters were showing well.

 

Black-chinned Honeyeater

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We journeyed across the border to Kununurra before taking a cruise on Lake Argyle where we enjoyed amazing views of Yellow Chat, White-quilled Rock-pigeon and Sandstone Shrike-thrush along with the gorgeous Short-eared rock wallaby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

                                                                       Short-eared Rock Wallaby



 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White-quilled Rock-pigeon

 

 

 

A drive out to Wyndham and Parry's Lagoon provided great views of Red-chested Button-quail and Letter-winged Kite! A surprising find for this area! Also flushed a pair of Flock Bronzewing.

 

 

 

 

3 metre croc  swam past the bird hide!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a flight to Mitchell Plateau followed by a short helicopter trip to the campground to commence a hike to find the Black Grasswren. This was my main target bird for this trip along with it being my most wanted Australian bird. My pre-birding anxiety was at an all time high and I hardly slept the night before. Amazingly it took less than an hour to find a group of 7 birds and they showed very well! Woo Hoo, to say I was stoked would be an understatement. I feel like I have achieved my aim in life now. They were even more incredible in real life than any picture can portray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me just after seeing Black Grasswren - exhausted and deliriously happy!

 

While watching these stunning little balls of personality a Kimberley Honeyeater flew over head and the Kimberley form of Varigated Fairy-wren came in for a look. The female looks amazing with her pink bill.

 

Kimberley Honeyeater

 

By this time the heat had taken its toll and I was feeling very unwell. While resting at the campground a family of Partridge Pigeons – Kimberley form with yellow eye wandered past feeding.

 

Anyone planning this trip take note – it is HOT and HUMID. Drink plenty of water!! In the 6 hrs I was there I drank just over 2 litres which was nowhere near enough. My companions drank 3-4 litres.  Ensure you drink heaps! A huge thank you to my companions for taking such good care of me!

Even feeling so unwell it was definitely worth every minute to see such an amazingly beautiful bird. Nothing can top that! Thank you Phil & Trisha for a great few days!!

 

 

 

 

Birding along the river

Today was mainly spent travelling with little time to go birding. Sadly the time I did get was in the heat of the day and even then I was travelling on foot so was restricted in where I could go. However a walk along Katherine River provided a few species, although common are still lovely and pleasant to see!

Double-barred Finch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White-breasted Woodswallow

 

 

 

Red-winged Parrot

 

 

 

Black Kite

 

 

 

 

Apostlebird

Darwin Harbour and Great-billed Heron

I went out on a short cruise today which went past the mangroves in Darwin Harbour. As it was not a birding focused cruise I did not hold out much hope of seeing anything but the boat stopped a few times to look at and talk about about mangroves. I used these moments to scan the mangroves hoping to see a bird or 3 but being lunch time and also low tide I didn't get to see much.

As the boat was about to head back to the wharf  I looked up to see a Great-billed Heron majestically flying low along the water. It's silent, deep heavy slow wing beats almost skimming the waters surface. So beautiful with it's almost pre-historic appearance. Seriously I nearly  flew out the boat to get a photo! Talk about lucky!!

It was worth the money for that one bird!!

Stokes Hill Wharf

 

 Gull-billed Tern

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prawns for lunch

 

 

 

Great-billed Heron

 

 

 

 

Great-billed Heron

 

 

 

 

Brahminy Kite

 

 

Darwin Birding

 

I have a full-on 2 weeks of birding about to commence but decided after my last Top End trip that I would allow a few days for relaxing this time around. Yes, shock, gasp, I can hear you all from here.

So, for day one I decided not to hire a car as I was not planning on chasing any lifers today. Instead I thought I’d catch up with my mate Mike who runs a birding tour called Experience the Wild. He had guests booked  but there was still one seat available so I joined them for the day. My aim was to improve a few photos, get my bearings around Darwin again and generally try and relax so I can enjoy my birding time in the Top End. All of these aims were achieved, with a great time being had, friendly company and excellent birding locations. Thanks Mike!

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the highlights of the day for me was a pair of Beach Stone-curlews. I enjoyed photographing these with Bernie, a keen birder from Melbourne who was fun to go birding with - thanks Bernie, I enjoyed your enthusiasm!

 

Rose-crowned Fruit- Dove

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beach Stone-curlew

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Another photography target was the Lemon-bellied Flycatcher. Yeah yeah ok, so they are very common but for some reason I did not have a decent photo of one so while everyone else was looking for the elusive birds, there I was running around looking for a common one!! Happily they are everywhere so I did get a few snaps!

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher (Fly-Robin)

 

 

 

 

 

In the arvo we headed to Knuckey Lagoons which I love. A great birding location very close to Darwin. I always check for King Quail here but sadly no luck. But stunning with a great selection of water birds and a few waders.

 

Rainbow Bee-eater

 

Then it was off to Fogg Dam. Another must do for any serious birder. Pied Heron, Magpie Goose, Comb-crested Jacana, Green Pigmy-goose, Glossy Ibis and Brolga were all observed along with bush birds including Grey (Brown) Whistler, Mistletoebird, Broad-billed Flycatcher. Highlight for me here were the Pratincoles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mistletoebird

 

 

Broad-billed Flycatcher

 

A young Australian Pratincole