This morning started out cool and a bit overcast which meant that there were no birds coming in to drink at the puddle that I had planned to set up on this morning. Due the lack of birds, the lack of light, and the lack of energy on my part, I decided to head back to camp and take it easy for a while before I packed up and moved on. By midday I was on the road and headed towards Keep River National Park just across the border into the Northern Territory. However, I decided to take a bit of a detour down to the northern shore of Lake Argyle.
I had originally planned to visit this area in an attempt to see a Yellow Chat but since I had seen a pair of chats in Broome, I didn't have a pressing need to visit the lake. However, I still had a day built in for the area in my plan and figured I would give it a shot. Boy am I glad I did. There are birds everywhere! On the way in Ifinally found some finches including a single adult Gouldian Finch, possibly one of the world's most exotic looking and beautifl birds. I hopefully will get some photos in the next week or so.
By the time I made it to the shore, it was just after noon and there were a bunch of birds around. Several species of duck, ibis, wader, egret, and even a few raptors kept me entertained while I waited for better light to start photographing. Eventually, I got the camera out when a Masked Finch landed about two meters away and started foraging right next to me. Ever so slowly, I got set up and even got a few photos which I was quite happy with. After that, I started photographing some of the songbirds that were in the trees near where I was parked. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary but some new species and subspecies that I hadn't photographed before.
There are a number of birds found across the tropical part of Australia that are currently identified as subspecies of a species found across a larger part of the country. Several of these subspecies are likely to be split off to form seperate species in the next taxanomic revision. Because of this, I have made an effort to try and see and photograph them. Today I was able to photograph a Paperbark Flycatcher, the tropical subspecies of the Restless Flycatcher, as well as the Golden-backed Honeyeater, the tropical subspecies of the Black-chinned Honeyeater. I know that the Golden-backed Honeyeater was once described as a good species but has not been lumped in with teh Black-chinned and I don't think it will be split off again, at least not right away. In any case, I hadn't photographed it or the Black-chinned so I was quite pleased to get some shots of this beautiful honeyeater.
Tonight is much cooler and Imust admit I am looking forward to a much better nights sleep. The last few nights have been so hot that sleeping has been a bit difficult. I am going to try and photograph around the lake shore for a bit in the morning and then head to Keep River National Park. I will try and get some photos of the Gouldian enroute. Iwill be posting tomorrow from the Northern Territory, my last state to explore!
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