Babblers group birdwatching

Two new bird species have been added to the Bon Bon bird list by a group of 19 dedicated bird watchers who volunteered some time at Bon Bon to check up on the local bird life over the Easter weekend.

The "Babblers" group are based in the Port Augusta region and organise various outings each year to areas where they can enjoy bird watching. At Easter they joined up with fellow bird watchers (Birds SA) from the Adelaide area.

Conditions were quite dry and for a couple of days it was also windy, so things were not ideal for surveying birds.

Reserve managers Mike and Julia enjoyed hosting the group and also learnt to identify a few more birds as well, so an enjoyable time was had by all.

The two new birds discovered for the Bon Bon bird list are the Western white-browed Treecreeper and the Blue-winged Parrot.

Since then, Mike has seen another couple of White-browed Treecreepers and we're hoping this means there are a number of them establishing themselves on the Reserve.

One bird that generates plenty of excitement for bird watchers is the rare Chestnut-breasted Whiteface; it's believed to be the only bird endemic to South Australia. The group saw a number of small flocks of these rather elusive birds and also in an area of the reserve where they hadn't been documented previously. 

Another bird sighting that particularly pleased the group were small flocks of Bourke's Parrots coming into the homestead area before dawn to find some water.

Around 50 bird species were recorded for the weekend, and the data added to the annual spring monitoring information collected each year by our dedicated bird monitoring volunteers, Andrew Black and Bill Alcock.

Some of the birds sighted at Easter included the small and very colourful locals such as the Central Splendid Fairywren, Red-capped Robin, Western Hooded Robin and Crimson Chat; along with one of our favourites (often heard but not seen), the Chiming Wedgebill.

A number of the local raptors were also sighted, including the Wedge-tailed Eagle (always a spectacular sight), Australian Brown Falcon (who was kind enough to pose for the photographers), Australasian Nankeen Kestrel and the Australain Collared Sparrowhawk.

A number of the birdwatchers were also keen photographers and have shared some of their amazing photos for this blog post - thank you!