Istarted off the morning back at the Timber Creek Airstrip to see if I could get any more images of the Yellow-rumped Mannikins or possibly a Gouldian Finch which is also often seen there. Ifound a large flock of finches, mostly juvenile mannikins (either Yellow-rumped or the more common Chestnut-breasted, identification is extremely difficult), but very few adults. Ifound one adult Chestnut-breasted and one adult Yellow-rumped and none of them were very cooperative. I also did spot an adult Gouldian Finch of the Black-faced variety but he was even more skittish than the other finches.
Ultimately, I setlled for photographing a flock of Varied Sittellas that were foraging on a nearby tree. The Varied Sittella is an aptly named bird that consists of five different races around the country and their plumages varies quite a bit. Having only photographed one race, I was quite pleased to see and photograph a different race this morning.
After departing Timber Creek, I headed on to the Victoria River Bridge area but kept on going to Campbell Springs since it was fairly early in the day. This small spring is supposedly a great drinking hole for finches including Yellow-rumped Mannikins and Gouldian Finches, especially late in the dry season. I am here fairly early in the dry season and we even had some late rains so the birds aren't quite as concentrated as I had hoped because there is still a fair amount of water about. Fortunately though, Campbell Springs was a hit. I had a flock of Gouldians including two adults and one young bird slowly gaining adult plumage. These adults were accompanied by at least eight young birds as well. The birds came in to drink at least once but Iwas not in a position to get any photos. However, Iplan to return tomorrow to see if I can do any better.
As the day progressed, Iheaded back to the Victoria River Bridge to see if I could find a Purple-crowned Fairywren. This spot has the reputation as being the easiest place to see these birds and I can confirm that they are indeed fairly easy to find. I saw birds both at the bridge as well as at the river access point. Iwas quite surprised to discover that every bird I could find at the river access point was banded. I guess a study is going on since the birds are color banded as well as metal banded. This typically indicates a behavioural study where observers are trying to study the movements of individual birds and how they react with each other.
I must admit, I was a bit disappointed that all of the birds I could find at the more easily accessed site were banded. I don't mind photographing a banded bird, in some cases like the Orange-bellied Parrot it is virtually required since most of the population is banded. However, if I have the chance, I would much prefer to photograph an unbanded bird, simply for aesthetic reasons. That being said, if Isee a bird in the wild, particularly a migratory bird, I will often take a quick image to see if I could read the band and report it to the appropriate researcher. In my day to day photography though, I would rather photograph a wild bird without a band. Beacuse of this, I spent hte rest of the evening wandering through the tall grass near the bridge and found a pair that was not banded and somewhat cooperative. I was able to get images of the male (above), but not the female. Hopefully Ican get some more tomorrow.
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