Beauty On the Doorstep

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The Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus
is not known for its musical song
other than a sharp click
as another insect bites the dust.
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They are known for their beautiful colours and displays.
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As they keep the skies free of anything that takes a chance when they are around.
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The Yellow Oriole Oriolus flavocinctus has been feeding on Fern-leaved Grevillea Grevillea pteridifolia.
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And then wiping its beak on the branch of nearby gum tree.
Its melodic call is unmistakeable and one of the
beautiful bird songs in the bush near Darwin.
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Small. Delicate & Or Colourful

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The weather has been quite foggy in the morning. These smallish birds seem to seek the sun and Pandanus Trees to warm up in the morning giving me a chance to capture their image before they return to their elusive selves.
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Crimson Finch Neochmia phaeton
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Long-tailed Finch Poephila acuticauda
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Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Lonchura castaneothorax
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Double-barred Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii
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Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris
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Red-backed Fairy-wren Malurus melanocephalus
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Local Beauties

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A Juvenile Blue-faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis
sipping on Eucalyptus greeniana nectar.
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Same tree, an adult Blue-faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis
keeping a watchful eye on its offspring.
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The food source is a Eucalyptus greeniana in full bloom.
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UDP Falls Tree Hoppers

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Little Friarbird Philemon citreogularis in WoolyButt Eucalyptus miniata eating some type of scale insects.FF
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Little Woodswallow Artemus minor hawking every morning.
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Red-winged Parrot Aprosmictus erythropterus in Kapok Bush Cochlospermum fraseri.
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They not only eat the flowers. but tear open the seed pods and eat the seeds.
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UDP Falls Eucalypts

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Broad-leaved carbeen Eucalyptus confertiflora
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Darwin Stingybark Eucalyptus tetrodonta
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WoollyButt Eucalyptus miniata
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UDP Falls

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UDP Falls is at the southern end of Arnhem Land.
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Still heaps of water and unseasonably hot. Must be the effects of El Nino. There are many swimmable pools atop the escarpment.
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Lost In The Tall Grass

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Still heaps of tall grass behind Buffalo Creek. Walking was very time consuming as I had to backtrack several times or just use dead reckoning, glad I took plenty of water. I remember seeing lots of hawking insectivores in the open fields between the woodland and the paperbarks last year but it must happen later because it was very quite this morning.
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Leaden Flycatcher Myiagra rubecula
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On the way there, near one of the run-off paperbark avenues, quite a few birds and some butterflies were busy having breakfast and didn’t seem to mind me stumbling over the grass tuffs.
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Brown HoneyEater Lichmera indistincta
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Crimson Finch Neochmia phaeton
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Orange Ringlet Hypocysta antirius
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Still one or two Woolybutts in bloom and it looks like the Darwin Stingy Barks are budding up.
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Caught In The Act

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Erythrina vespertillio flower
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A Juvenile White-gaped Honeyeater Lichenostomus unicolour
is caught in the act of collecting the nectar from a
Erythrina vespertillio flower.
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I have often wondered how these birds know they have already visited a flower, especially when they are fueled by such high blood sugar from the sweet nectar.
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Litchfield Flora

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Red-flowering Kurrajong Brachychiton paradoxum
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Woollybutt Eucalyptus miniata
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Xanthostemon paradoxus
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A Morning Walk At Florence Falls

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We walked in the forest below Florence Falls. It was humid and still. Along the way a Shining Flycatcher Myiagra alecto kept us amused for 20 minutes while it danced up and down the branches catching its breakfast.
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It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.
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Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.
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We also annoyed a Great Bowerbird Chlamydera nuchalis by attempting to take it’s picture inside it’s nest. It was not very considerate and I only managed a very quick glimpse.
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A Black-backed Butcherbird Cracticus mentalis was very eager to have its picture taken. Butcherbirds are insect eaters for the most part, but will also feed on small lizards and other meat. They get their name from their habit of impaling captured prey on a thorn, tree fork, or crevice. This "larder" is used to support the victim while it is being eaten, to store prey for later consumption, or to attract mates.
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Climbing down to the forest below the falls we saw a Short-eared Rock-wallaby Petrogale brachyotis. It is usually a nocturnal animal, sheltering in caves and deep crevices during the day, but occasionally can be found sun-basking in the early morning. Like most macropods, it feeds on grasses, herbs and seeds and is generally a solitary animal, though groups occur in some areas.
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