And now... a Grey Fantail

A few shots of an unusual visitor to my workplace, this little Grey Fantail, just like his little mate the Superb Fairy-wren from the other day, was feeding around my car as I was about to leave work. Obligingly it allowed me to get quite close and snap a few photos off!



Superb Fairy-wren

Just a couple of photos of a male Superb Fairy-wren which was feeding near my car as I was leaving work today.
Cute little things they are!!

Who's a pretty boy then...!

Often taken for granted due to their status of being the most urbanised... of the Fairy-wrens! Superb Fairy-wrens are stunning little creatures!!!

Hate to be a mouse..... with these three around!

A few photos from a last hurrah of Owling before the nights get too cold down here in South Australia! Had a great night as the birds came out to play and we didn't have any trouble finding the usual culprits! Barn Owls especially at the moment are in big numbers...probably due to the large numbers of mice we have around here at the moment!
I love Owls such graceful, beautiful birds!

Our most common bird of the night in these parts..the Barn Owl! there's been an influx of these around SA's lower north at the moment!

One of my favourite birds the Boobook Owl! I love nothing better than to be sitting around a campfire listening to the lovely call from these little Owls!

This bird the Tawny Frogmouth is unbelievably trusting at night and often wont move off their branch unless you touch them!

Tits & Hobbies.....

Friday the 13th didn't live up to it's unlucky reputation for me today! In fact I found it to be quite lucky on the birding front! The following set of shots show two of my favourite local birds which I often try to photograph.
 Occasionally the planets align and the birds cooperate... this is especially unusual when it comes to Crested Shrike-tits! A bird that is never easy to photograph due to its love of shady places, today 3 birds were happily feeding out in the open at the winery where I work. I heard them calling grabbed my camera and below is the results...

Crested Shrike-tit

 Also this morning the male of the pair of Hobbies which often frequent a large gum out the front of my house in Freeling, was feeding on a freshly killed Starling on his favourite feeding perch. So managed a few shots of him to as I was leaving to go to work!

Australian Hobby feasting on a Starling... early in the morning!

When I got home the same male Hobby was perched right at the top of the same tree just keeping an eye on his local patch and soaking up some warm afternoon sunshine!

Same male Hobby later in the afternoon...

Australian Hobby, Part 4

Happened to spot the male of the local pair of hobbies sitting in his favorite tree devouring a small bird, as I pulled into my driveway today! By the time I ran in and got the camera he had finished and was just resting in the sunshine. When I walked up to the tree he flew, and I thought I had blown it...but he just looped around me a couple of times for fun and then perched even lower down on an exposed branch! Perfect! just right for a couple of photos!

Australian Hobby (male) just after finishing a meal of a small unidentified bird!

This is the male of the local pair he's quite confiding and will allow me to walk right underneath him, the female dosen't let me get as close as this...50m from the tree and she's off!

Another bird of the night!

Took my eldest son to school this morning and he showed me a spot where he had seen an Owl a few days ago when his mum had picked him up and parked in the churchyard beside the school. As I expected from his description, it was a Boobook Owl.. a species I only occassionally see in this area! What made this pretty cool is the fact it's roosting in a churchyard! Just seems like the appropriate place to find one!

Boobook Owl

Stop annoying me....it's time to go back to sleep!!

Wagga Wagga Birding

 Been around a month now since my last blog so thought I better add a few of the birding highlights found during the Christmas break near Wagga Wagga in NSW. I didn't manage to get out as much as I would have liked and had planned to go to an area near Griffith to try and get Turquoise Parrots which are supposedly pretty reliable in that area! Unfortunately time beat me and I never got up there! But did manage to check a few of the closer spots which had a small chance of having a Turquoise or two in them! never found one but did get onto some other great woodland birds from the area! below are some of the highlights!

Leaden Flycatcher in full song! Murraguldrie Flora Reserve, NSW



Speckled Warbler - The Rock, NSW



Crested Shrike-tits - The Rock, NSW



Western Gerygone - Kyeamba TSR, NSW



Eastern Yellow Robin - Murraguldrie Flora Reserve, NSW



Noisy Friarbird - Murraguldrie Flora Reserve, NSW



Restless Flycatcher - Kyeamba TSR, NSW



Superb Fairy-wren - Murraguldrie Flora Reserve, NSW