March 11: Gavin Bieber on the first of his irregular Outback Australia tours, Southwestern Australia and Northern Queensland
The first of what will be a series of irregular WINGS outback Australia tours wrapped up to critical acclaim. We began the three week journey with a fine week around the Southwest corner of the country where we located regional endemics like the...
...incandescent Red-winged Fairy-Wren... (Image:Peter Taylor)
...striking White-breasted Robin... (Image: Peter Taylor)
...and highly localized Western Bristlebird, here a juvenile. (Image: Peter Taylor)
We also were delighted by more widespread species such as...
...this handsome Elegant Parrot... (Image: Bob Pease)
...the skulking Southern Scrub-Robin... (Image: Bob Pease)
...and the undeniably cute Australian Owlet-Nightjar (Image: Bob Pease).
We then moved on to the red heart of the country amid the timeless McDonnell Ranges around Alice Springs. We found the summer heat to be intense, but not too dissimilar to that of America’s desert Southwest. Although conditions were dry, heavy rains a few months prior to our visit had brought in a wealth of irruptive species like this...
...handsome Crimson Chat... (Image: David Fisher)
...and the resident birds like...
...Painted Finch... (Image: Gavin Bieber)
...
...and Spinifexbird were still in good and vocal form. (Image Ann Urlanda)
Posted: March 11, 2019