Early Morning Rain

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It rained this morning, only lightly and only for twenty minutes, at four am. I went walking just before sunup in open woodland adjacent to a mangrove river catchment.
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The first thing I noticed was the Billy Goat Plums were in flower and the leaves were collecting water droplets on the bottom of the leaf.
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Billy Goat Plum Terminalia ferdinandiana
White-naped Honeyeater Melithreptus lunatus
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So of course some birds were taking advantage of the aerial water supply and rubbing themselves against the leaves as they repeatedly flew up into them.
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Yellow Oriole Oriolus flavocinctus
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I also noticed small unidentified insects hovering about the Billy Goat Plum’s flowers. I assume the Bar -breasted Honeyeater was breakfasting on these insects.
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Bar -breasted Honeyeater Ramsayornis fasciatus
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While I was stalking the Yellow Oriole I came across several birds in or around their nests.
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Broad-billed Flycatcher Myiagra ruficollis female
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Northern Fantail Rhipidura rufiventris
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Long-tailed Finch Poephila acuticauda
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I am always on the lookout for wrens and I noticed a larger-than-normal bird earning a living down among the shrubs and newly emergent Acacias and Eucalypts. I finally managed to get a decent shot of the parasitic Little Bronze-Cuckoo female eating caterpillars. Not surprising considering the amount of nests being looked after in that neck of the woods.
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Little Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx malayanus Female
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An hour after sunrise I came across a flock of Red-collared Lorikeets taking baths among the Ironwood’s Erythrophleum chlorostachys many small and wet leaves.
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Red-Collared Lorikeet Trichoglossus rubritorquis
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The Leanyer environs is still the best teacher I could have asked for regarding an education about the Australian bush.
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Like Night And day

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An afternoon walk near Leanyer, little wind,
a Fig Tree full of Red-winged Parrots and a female Common Koel.

She was very shy but ready to put up with me longer than her Parrot friends. The male Common Koel I caught at Florence Falls several weeks ago. The old adage that once you see something you start to see it everywhere seems to be true again.
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Common Koel Eudynamys scolopacea Female
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Common Koel Eudynamys scolopacea Male
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Mary River Plain Environs

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Another long hot walk around the Mary River Flood Plains. Most of the flowering has finished among the Cocky Apple and I saw no Masked Finches. The Red-backed Fairy Wrens seem to be paired up although I did see several unattached females with possible juvenile males roaming around. The paired males are getting very quiet and I think I was lucky to see them at all.
Around any standing water the story is very different
with insects and flowering plants in abundance .
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Red-backed Fairy Wren Malurus melanocephalus
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Masked Finch Poephila acuticauda
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Brush Cuckoo Cuculus variolosus juv.
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Brush Cuckoo Cuculus variolosus juv.
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Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmate
Mary River Plain Billabong
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Northern Fantail Rhipidura rufiventris
Age: approx. nine days
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Closer To Home

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In the early evening, close to Leanyer, a lot of activity amongst the Double-barred Finches was followed by some intense activity by a number of species who seemed to use the Finches as advanced warning devices.
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Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris female
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Red-winged Parrot Aprosmictus erythropterus male
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Red-backed Fairy Wren Malurus melanocephalus male
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Northern Fantail Rhipidura rufiventris Fourth Day
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Adelaide River Flood Plains

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On the Adelaide Rive Flood Plains
small water holes along mostly dried up river beds still exist,
as well as, more open swamps and wetlands. When the sun shines through a bird flying overhead it is almost possible to see an xray-picture of his wing limbs.
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Rufous Night Herron Nycticorax caledonicus
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Freshwater Crocodile Crocodylus johnstoni
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Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus
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Breeding Cycles

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I was lucky to have witnessed the mating display and bearing of gifts of several male Red-backed Fairy Wrens over the weekend. Yet, at the same time a pair of Northern Fantails are well past the dating stage and have a young family to raise.
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Red-backed Fairy Wren Malurus melanocephalus male silhouette
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Red-backed Fairy Wren Malurus melanocephalus male
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Northern Fantail Rhipidura rufiventris
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Northern Fantail Rhipidura rufiventris Chicks
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Return To Normalcy

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In Open Woodland, adjacent to a wet-season
wetland and burnt by fire eight months ago,
I ran across two flowering plants which have come through
to indicate signs of some normalcy returning to the area .
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Coral Tree Erythrina variegata var orientalis
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Lily Crinum angustifolium
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Leanyer Marsh Walk

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While walking on the Leanyer Marsh I was lucky to see the Rainbow Bee-eater take a large grasshopper and get up to some acrobatics getting the meal down. I also love seeing birds in flight because the wing displays are unfolded and magnificent, such as with the Shelduck. Finally, I was trying out my new Wren “come and see me” whistle when this Honeyeater came to chat. I might need to change a note here or there.
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Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus "Once to the right."
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Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus "Once to the left."
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Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus "Down The Hatch."
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Radjah Shelduck Tadorna radjah
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Bar-breasted Honeyeater Ramasayornis fasciatus
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River Plains

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Back to the Mary River Flood Plains for a second visit. The Northern Territory has such an excellent number of different environments to explore. All the locations rely on water and with the heat coming on it’s even more significant. I was lucky to see the male Red-backed Fairy Wren as I have seen lots of females but never a male. I was also lucky to finally see the bird I have often admired as a soloist, a Rufous Whistler, whose only really competitor is the Pied Butcherbird. A very ordinary butterfly on the outside revealed a beautiful purple interior. Finally, one of the big attractions to walking in the surroundings is constantly being surprised by what you see and sometimes are lucky enough to capture.
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Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus and
Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus juv
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Black-faced Woodswallow Artemus cinereus
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Golden-headed Cisticola Cisticola exilis
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Pacific white-necked Heron Ardea pacifica
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Purple Oak-blue Arhopala centaurus
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Red-backed Fairy-wren Malurus melanocephalus male
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Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris male
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Tools Of The Trade

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Getting around and managing in the bush
requires trusting your judgement and organising
your tools to match the task at hand.
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Getting There Tools
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Getting Back Tools
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Honeyeaters From Afar

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Two Honeyeaters I did get a chance to see recently, but unfortunately from afar. They were both skittish and not easy to follow.
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Rufous-throated Honeyeater Conopophilia rufogularis
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Dusky Honeyeater Myzomela obscura
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Florence Falls

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It was hot, nary a breeze, humid and very quiet birdwise. We spent a great deal of time soaking in the cold river above the falls. We were lucky to see a few old friends and amazed with the amount of flowering going on and a genuine lack of honey eaters. I even saw a Five Banded Italian Bee working one of the early morning flowers. Where did they come from?
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Aidia cochinchinensis
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Buchanania arborescens
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Carallia brachiate
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Common Koel Eudynamys scolopacea
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Croton arnhemicus
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Ixora klanderana
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Leaden Flycatcher Myiagra rubecula
eating a
Painted Grasshawk Neurothemis stigmatizans stigmatizans
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Painted Grasshawk Neurothemis stigmatizans stigmatizans
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Olive Python Liasis olivaceus
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Short-eared Rock-wallaby Petrogale brachyotis & Joey
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Psychotria nesophilia
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Rapanea benthamiana
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Spotted Grasshawk Neurothemis oligoneura
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Terminalia pterocarya New Leaves
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