Birding Banka Banka, NT

Via this blog I continue to enjoy re-living the recent family road trip through the NT and Kimberley! This post relates to the stop-over at Banka Banka Station on the Stuart Highway, Northern Territory. This old cattle station also serves as a basic but friendly camping ground. There is the opportunity for walking a nature trail to nearby Cudjenbra Waterhole 2-3km north either via a small ridge or along the arid plains.

Views from the small ridge just west of the campground on the Stuart Highway

Cudjenbra Waterhole, Banka Banka Station

There is a creek crossing on the plains walk to the waterhole. This provided excellent habitat for honeyeaters, trillers, finch, dove (everything really!)

Pied honeyeater - crappy photo but a great sighting for me!

Grey-headed honeyeater - common I know but another lifer for me!
Below - Brown honeyeater 

The honeyeaters were all seen in the creek habitat pictured above. Also shot here were the trillers, dove and zebra finch just visible below.

White-winged triller (male eclipse)
Below - Peaceful dove, zebra finch

I also remember the morning's walk for twice being freaked by airborne surprises.

Firstly while alone about a kilometre from the campground in pre-sunrise gloom I was approached by a single black kite. This was followed by about 10 kites circling around me 5-10 metres up. The whole scene was in total silence and with the shock and tricky light I was totally unable to take any shots that could capture the moment!

Black kite #1 

The second experience was while on the ridge. Unaware of anything approaching I suddenly heard a strange wind rapidly approaching from behind. Heard for just a second before it was atop me the noise was the rush of 100 tiny wings from a flock of budgies again only 3-4 metres above and around me! My first budgie experience in the outback!

A small part of the buderigar flock now circling more distantly.

Pied butcherbird calling from this tree on the highest point of the ridge (you can see him at the left of the tree). He let me get quite close but wouldn't move that annoying twig out of the way! 

Pied butcherbird

It's a pretty short Eremaea list but all in all, quite a memorable 16 hours (arrived at 5pm, out at 9am!). Thank-you Banka Banka.

Bird On!

Tell me about the Peregrine, Uncle Pete!

You haven't heard Uncle Pete tell his peregrine falcon story?

Well......it was like this......!

We had all gone to the Gold Coast with the original intention of running in the 2008 Gold Coast Marathon. Injury had interfered with my training and I had pulled out of the race weeks earlier but we still went for the holiday.

On the day of the big race we were watching some of the leading runners from our 24th floor apartment.

7:02:58 AM, 6th July 2008

“KEER-KEER-KEER!”

What was that? It sounded really close! Sure enough perched on a ledge was this impressive bird. My first thought was that it was distressed and there were legs and feathers sticking out where there shouldn’t be. Was it hurt?

7:03:03 AM

“KEER-KEER-KEER!”

Looking straight at me now I realised that the call was full of ferocity and venom. This bird was perfectly healthy and in fact had just killed (or was still killing?) its prey.

“Wow! What did you do?”

Well....it was like this...I changed lenses of course.

7:03:39 AM

Anyway then a pied butcherbird arrived on the scene behaving in a distressed manner and shortly the peregrine falcon took off with it’s kill heading inland from the coast. The butcherbird flew after in an uncertain, half hearted sort of way.

7:04:13 AM

More about the pictures:

• In the second one you can see one of the Marathon runners competing!
• I have only just noticed the peregrine's blood-smeared bill in the zoomed in picture!
• The bereaved butcherbird cuts a forlorn figure on the ledge above. It cannot change a thing!

Someone in San Jose California has uploaded photos to Flickr of a much love metropolitan peregrine family. They have photos of Mum doing a mid air transfer of dinner to one of the kids:

See the midair transfer by clicking here.