I am on a break at present, so I thought it would be nice during the school holidays to take my son for a walk in the ever lovely Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. I wanted to visit again to photograph and I thought it would a lovely way to spend a morning. I was not wrong, as the weather was glorious and the wildlife was out and about. I did not plan to finish one of the walks, just follow the trail to a point where we felt we had gone far enough, then turnaround. It can be frustrating for a non-photographer to walk with somebody who always wants to stop to take photographs but my son was very patient. We saw so much birdlife, although it was not always easy to capture birds moving fast through shrubs and trees. I hope you enjoy the photos.
As our route out was the same as the return route we passed through the territory of some birds twice. One such bird was a Yellow-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa). I cannot be completely certain these were the same birds both times but I saw the same species of bird in roughly the same area we walked through in both directions. The first time we walked through the area the birds, about three, were flying between two short trees, one of the birds is pictured below.. When we returned through that area the birds were still in the trees but one was on the ground foraging for food, as seen in the photograph at the top of the post.
The Yellow-rumped Thornbill when we saw it at the start of the walk
In the same area we saw the thornbills there was also a Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys). This bird was the most mottled on the belly I have seen a Wille Wagtail. It would often perch on the top branches of the small trees to call out.
The Willie Wagtail showing its mottled underbelly
Further on there was a group of four Silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) in some shrubs.
A Silvereye in s flowering shrub
Most of the trail was alive with Grey Fantails (Rhipidura albiscapa). They generally stayed in the lower branches of the trees, constantly calling. Sometimes there would be a pair of them.
We saw a single Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) deep in a glade of trees. It was flitting between the trees but perched long enough in a sunny position to take this photograph. This is not a true robin but is more closely related to pardalotes, fairy-wrens and honeyeaters.
We heard the unmistakeable calls of a whistler, which turned out to be a Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris). Despite easily hearing the bird, it was far more challenging to actually see it. The bird finally appeared on an open branch but it was looking up and away from me. It did not stray far from a corner of the track as we saw it when we passed back the same way.
Another one of those birds that was content to stay within the shadows cast by the tree-tops was a White-naped Honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus). It may have not been after nectar at the time I photographed it since it was on the inside of the tree, more interested in branch forks than flowers, possibly searching for insects.
A White-naped Honeyeater
Another honeyeater not appearing very interested in flowers was the New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae). The one we saw was happy to stay on the inside branches of the tree.
A New Holland Honeyeater on the inner branches of a tree
We saw a lone Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), most likely a female, in the branches of a mid-size tree. Unfortunately the photograph has a green tinge as I had to shoot though some light foliage that the camera blurred out to focus on the bird. She did not stay around long, but flew off.
The female Satin Bowerbird photographed through light foliage giving the greenish tinge to the image
It was the day of the honeyeaters with a Yellow-faced Honeyeater (Lichenostomus chrysops) also making an appearance on the inner branches of a tree.
As to be expedited there were a number of Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) around the walking trail, although only at the lower levels.
We also saw a Yellow-winged Grasshopper or locust ((Gastrimargus musicus)), as it can swarm when the conditions are right. We also saw a nymph that may be the same species. Both of them appeared to be missing their rear right leg. The yellow wing is only visible when it is in flight.
A Yellow-winged Grasshopper, with its rear right leg missing
A nymph, possibly of the same species, also missing its rear right leg