What a trip! Four top birding spots in one day, traveling with some exceptionally experienced birding celebrities, what more can you ask for? Well, one could argue that it would be nice with some birds to look at, and as the observant reader will notice it is often a bad sign when a birding blog post starts with 2 insects pictures :-)
The Nikon started snapping before the trip had really started. In the back streets of Newtown I managed to stalk the butterfly in the first picture - these guys are very shy creatures and seems to know when they are being observed. Though 750mm full frame equivalent (FFE) takes a bit off the required early morning sneaking skills.
Amazingly and brutally honest: The grasshopper in picture two was probably the highlight of Windsor Downs :-D We gave it a good go though, using at least an hour wandering around in a dry and very warm forest seeing only a few wrens and a White-throated Treecreeper - I need to see the Red-browed soon!
Bushell's Lagoon, however, never disappoints! Even during the very warm part of an Australian summer day the waterbirds will be out and on this particular day at Bushell's even a few nice surprises: The Cuckoo below for one :-)
A bit of walking through high grass brought us out on some wonderful(?) mud flats where a good crowd of waders had found refuge. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (below) and Black-fronted Dotterel. No sight of the Grey Plover, but who cares ...? ;-)
This year seems to be the "year of the turtles", I have seen turtles in every waterhole I have visited since I came back to Australia after Christmas and New Year in Denmark. The little fellow below had dragged itself into a nice warm sunny spot taking full advantage of the scorching sun.
We decide to retreat back to Windsor for some shade, a look at some real estate pricing (I really love that) and a bit of lunching - all in combo with a deliberation on how to solve the the lack-of-birds problem. I have never been to Bushell's Lagoon without seeing a Black-shouldered kite and this day was no different .. At some point I will have to get the Letter-winged Kite .. soon!..?
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