Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis)

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Tara

The Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) is an Australasian robin of coastal and sub-coastal eastern Australia.

They are readily seen in a wide range of habitats: heaths, mallee, acacia scrub, woodlands and sclerophyll forests, but is most often found in damper places or near water within a large range across Eastern Australia. The rainforest canopy walkway at O’Reilly’s is a great place to find them close enough to photograph.

LEARN MORE ABOUT EASTERN YELLOW ROBINS

Sunshine Coast Council

VIDEOS

What a beautiful song!

And they like to stay clean too!

Ankarafantsika – Coquereli Circuit

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Tara

Since this is such an amazing place to go birding, I will be looking at each circuit offered in detail. Let’s start with the Coquereli Circuit which is the best intro to Ankarafantsika NP.

COQUERELI CIRCUIT

Duration : 2 – 3hours
Distance : 2 – 3 km

Guide Fees:
Ar 15,000 for 1 to 5 persons/day
Ar 21,000 for more than 7 persons / day

Beginning of the trail

A Giant Coua led the way, maybe he was worried we would get lost?

Blue Vangas in a nest

And our friendly Giant Coua still leads the way!

Some bird is hiding in there!

Greater Vasa Parrot

Not sure, he’s hidden, anyone know what this is?

Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher

Blue Vanga

Rufous Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher

Broad-billed Rollers

Madagascar Magpie-Robin male and female

A different Giant Coua to help us find the way out

Another Lesser Vasa Parrot

Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang)

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Tara

The Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang) is a small Australian robin that reaches 13 cm in length. The male has a black head and upper parts, with a conspicuous white forehead patch, white wing stripes and white tail-edges. The male has a bright scarlet-red chest and a white belly. The female is pale brown, darker above, and has a dull reddish breast and whitish throat.

The Scarlet Robin is endemic to Australia, where it is found near the coast from southern Queensland to central South Australia, Tasmania and south west Western Australia. The species is mostly sedentary over most of its range, but some mainland populations undergo small local movements in the autumn and winter, either to more open habitats or lower elevations. The Scarlet Robin is most commonly found in eucalyptus woodland and forest from sea level to 1000 m, particularly the more open habitats with grassy and shrubby understories.

I saw them in several places – Dryandra Woodland, Stirling Range, Fitzgerald River, Kalbarri and Bruny Island. The bright red chest makes them stand out so they are easily spotted within their range.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SCARLET ROBINS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

NSW Environment & Heritage

Birds in Backyards

VIDEO

Dryandra Woodland, Western Australia

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Tara

Dryandra Woodland offers amazing birding only a couple hours drive from Perth! Use your miles to get here and then hire a car so you can explore this beautiful park on your own.

Although you could visit Dryandra Woodland as a day trip from Perth, I highly recommend staying a night or two here so you can visit all the water holes and birding areas. You can stay either in the park or in Narrogin, about a half hour’s drive from Dryandra.

The Lion’s Dryandra Village has the advantage of being right inside the park so no commuting and you can easily do the night tour at Barna Mia. You do need to be completely self-sufficient and bring your own food and bed linens.

Otherwise you can stay in the closest town of Narrogin where there are several options such as Bella’s Country Place (where we stayed-my review), Albert Facey Motel & Narrogin Motel.

The official park website has a brochure you can download. I have marked some prime birding location in yellow on the screenshot below. The Old Mill Dam was the best place, I personally saw several Western Rosellas, Australian Ringnecks, Rainbow Bee-eaters and more (see bird list links below).

Dryandra birding spots

The bird list is very impressive and Frank O’Connor’s website has some great location details complete with co-ordinates for your GPS. Eremaea also has a bird list for Dryandra Woodland.

Here are some photos I took at Dryandra Woodlands.

Australian Ringneck

Common Bronzewing

Scarlet Robin wants a bath

Some New Holland Honey-eaters join in.

TBD

Western Rosellas wait for the chance to drink. I was really happy to see them after I saw a video that they were disappearing.

Although this Ringneck didn’t approach too close to the Rosellas, they still flew off when he was joined by others. It’s clear the Ringneck is the dominating species.