Sunny morning in Dowe National Park

After another cloudy, drizzly winter's week it was a pleasant surprise to see sunshine on Saturday afternoon. I took a gamble and guessed Sunday would follow suit. When I arose the sunrise was the best we had seen for probably a few weeks. Not a cloud anywhere! Hooray! So, after a quick breakfast I left the household sleeping and drove the 20 kms to Dowe National Park on the edge of Lake Keepit. The road and the trails were still boggy after the wet conditions, but the park had come alive! This had been our final site on our conquering 2015 Twitchathon, and since then I have familiarized myself with a few extra species therein.

At the carpark I located a gathering of about 8 Blue Bonnets. Sadly, they remained distant and as you can see the best image I got is not that stunning. But you can see the blue 'bonnet'. This site is a regular one for them, and as far as I know, at their eastern limits.

Blue Bonnet parrot.

The National Park is about a 500m walk from the 'carpark' along an easement. Greeting me at the entrance to the park were a pair of Jacky Winters, the plainest of the local Robin species, but they make up for it in charm, song and style. They were most interested in my presence!

Jacky Winter perched directly above me.

A pair of Jacky Winters: the front one checking me out, the rear one singing strongly!

Different spot on the fence, but still serenading me.

Being early in the morning kangaroo's were everywhere. This one posed for a moment before leaving the scene.

This kangaroo species is called Euro or Wallaroo (Macropus robustus)

There were large numbers of Little Lorikeets and Noisy Friarbirds, but they annoyed me due to their noise so I didn't stop and photograph them. I did, however, get a photo of Australia's smallest bird, the Weebill. At 8cm it is still much larger then the tiny Hummingbirds but it has the title as our smallest! Thus it is not always easy to see. Can you spot it in the photo below?

Weebill, Australia's smallest bird.

In the same area were a whole variety of smaller species, the ones I enjoy as they mingle together as a mixed flock. Below are just a couple of them: the Rufous Whistler who stopped to preen in the sunshine, and a Varied Sittella, which is like a treecreeper except it is smaller and doesn't just go up the tree. It can go down, upside etc as you can see in the photos!

Male Rufous Whistler

Rufous Whistler preening in the warm sunshine.

Varied Sittella, heading upside-down!

The final bird I photographed for the morning was the Southern Whiteface. He had a surprise for me. Perhaps it is because the days are lengthening again. Or maybe because it was the first sunny warm day for quite awhile. I cannot say, but a pair were both busily carrying feathers, small sticks, fluff and the like to their nest site in an Ironbark tree. My presence seemed to be bothering them, so I quickly took some photos and left them to their important business. Hopefully I can return in a month or so and see if they have successfully raised a small family!

Southern Whiteface carrying a piece of  dry grass.

Southern Whiteface further along the branch towards its nest site.

Carrying a mixture of goodies to line the new home!