BOWRA SANCTUARY - Part 2

All up during our five day stay at Bowra we saw nearly 80 species of birds, the most conspicuous being the smaller bush birds. Some were easier to photograph than others, but my main aim when birding is to observe and enjoy the experience as a whole and if I get a decent image that's a bonus. 

Jacky Winter

Rufous Songlark

Zebra Finch

I still like to add new birds to my life list though, and did when I found a small group of Hall's Babblers in the thick Mulga scrub about 8 km from the Homestead, pishing one inquisitive bird in for a good look at it's identifying features. It didn't hang around for a photo though and was quickly flying and bouncing off with rest of the mob.    

Diamond Dove

Splendid Fairy-wren - female

A bird I failed to find even after some diligent searching around a known area for them was the Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, a cryptically patterned ground bird that obviously blends in well with it's preferred habitat.

Stony Ridge - spot the Quail-thrush!

While walking along looking for the elusive Quail-thrush I nearly bumped into the massive web of this  large spider. The females can measure up to 45mm in body length and the male a puny 6mm. 

 Orb Weaver

The image below along with the Brolgas in my previous post is a favourite, primarily because I very rarely snaffle three or more birds in one frame unless it's a distant flock of waders or such.  

Hooded Robins - 2 males and a female

Red-capped Robin

Bowra is renowned for its birds of prey and we saw seven varieties there. The bird list has 19 raptor species including Grey Falcon (seen on our previous visit) and Black Falcon, one that still eludes me and my official bogey bird.    

Brown Falcon

Black-shouldered Kite

  

Black-breasted Buzzard

Black-breasted Buzzard

Bowra Sanctuary is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, an organization that owns 23 sanctuaries across Australia and well worth supporting. 

See here for more info: http://www.australianwildlife.org/Bowra.aspx

Bourke's Parrot

Cheers & Happy Birding

BOWRA SANCTUARY - Part 1

Our next port of call was Bowra Sanctuary in western Queensland, a former cattle property just west of Cunnamulla and a place that no self respecting birder should ever miss!

We enjoyed our stay of five days there and although the pickings weren't quite as rich when we visited four years ago, it still lived up to its reputation as an outstanding birding destination.

Black-winged Stilt

There was plenty of water around from the rain events that had affected much of eastern Australia in the previous months, which was great for the wildlife, plants and the landscape as a whole.     

Black-fronted Dotterel

Black-fronted Dotterel pair mating 

With much activity around the homestead area, we didn't have to go far to see some of the action with these Native-hens strutting along within view of our campsite.

Black-tailed Native-hens

Spotted Bowerbird bower

Western Grey Kangaroos

Wild horse

The 14,000 hectare property has many kilometers of tracks to explore so packing a picnic lunch and finding a spot beside the water to watch the varied bird life was a favourite activity. 

Sawpits Creek lagoon

White-faced Heron

White-necked Heron

Brolgas

Even though we were well in to winter with night time temps in the minus, the days were sunny and warm and some of the plant life obviously found this conducive to flowering. 

Cheers & Happy Birding