Bits and Pieces from the Southern Eyre Peninsular

White-browed babbler

My last day in Port Lincoln so it seems like a good time to tidy up a few loose ends which may have not appeared elsewhere in this blog, starting with white-browed babbler which I saw at Tulka just a few kilometers south of Port Lincoln. Restless mistle thrush sized birds, there were three of them hoping around at speed quite oblivious to my presence.

Black-shouldered kites were quite common in and around Port Lincoln, I even saw one just 100m or so down the road from the football pitches. It turns out that these are not the same species as the European bird, but they are obviously closely related. There is a second species in Australia called letter-winged kite which I have not so far been able to find, though in truth I've never yet been in the heart of it's range.

Chestnut teal are on just about every patch of open water, from the sea to the smallest pond.

Nankeen kestrel.

I can't get enough of these Cape Barren geese, just wonderful birds. I even recorded them distantly on Boston Island from Port Lincoln when I saw a flock of 175 fly over the island and land.

This is the only musk duck which I have seen at close range, all of the others were distant views on the sea or Tod River Reservoir. This bird has no lobe under its bill, so presumably is a young male or a female.

Tree martin

Superb fairy-wrens are by far the commonest fairy-wrens in this area in my experience. They're cracking birds but never stop moving and are a pain to photograph.

The Sleaford bay sand dunes are probably the largest I have seen and are notable due to their complete lack of vegetation.

Black swans.

Brush bronzewing. Common bronzewing occurs quite commonly in the town, but Greyhound road to the south of the town is the only place I saw brush bronzewing.

Red-necked avocet.

Rock parrot

Spiny-cheeked honeyeater.

Southern scrub-robin has a very restricted range in Australia but they seem pretty common around Port Lincoln.