After an uneventful morning at Barren Grounds where I one again failed to get a better Bristlebird photo, I got on the road. I headed into the Australian Capital Territory, or ACT, and the city of Canberra. I didn't really spend any time in the actual city but will in the next few days. The city is an amazingly well planned city with an astonishing amount of parkland. At the heart of the city is a large manmade lakeooo that provides a lovely backdrop for Parlimant House and the other government buildings. I made my way through and then out into the bush to the west of the city and into Namadgi National Park. Ididn't know a lot about the park but knew it held some good birds.
This evening, once I was in bed I was treated to a surprise. I was laying in bed and was just about ot go to sleep when I heard a Tawny Frogmouth calling right outside. I quickly spotted the bird sitting on a perfect perch at eye level but by the time I got the camera and flash set up, he had left. Since I was out of bed and had everything set up I decided to do some spotlighting. Imanaged to relocate the frogmouth and get a few images though they aren't as nice as the ones on the first perch would have been. I almost managed to finally see a Southern Boobook, a rather common owl that Ihave heard on many occasions but had yet to actually see so hadn't added it to my list. My favorite bird of the night though was an Australian Owlet-Nightjar. These are rather cute and funny looking and had been one bird I really wanted to see. However, I didn't get any photos.of this one. The best photos of the night though were probably of a possum, which I believe is a Common Ringtail but haven't dug out my mammal guide yet.
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