Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Kununurra is well known as a good place to find a wide variety of finches. In fact, 10 species are regularly seen in the area. With this in mind, I set out to see what I could find and this morning I struggled to find anything. I finally found a few Crimson Finches and a couple Double-barred but the Yellow-rumped Mannikins, in fact Mannikins in general, were totally absent. I tried again this evening and had the exact same result. Not sure if I am just missing them or they aren't here at the moment. In any case, I did get a few frames of a male Crimson Finch this morning and am going to return tomorrow and see what else I can find.
Probably the most producitve part of the day was midday when I was sitting in the shade of my campsite on Lake Kununurra. Twice, I had to get the camera out as things were happening around me. The first opportunity occured when a water monitor climbed out of the lake right in front of me with a great big Yabbie in its mouth and proceeded to bash it to death on the ground and then eat it. It took a while so I was able to get the camera out and get some good photos of the meal.
A little while later, I found a pair of White-browed Robins in a bush and they could have cared less about my presence. Unfortunately, they were quite deep in the bush making them hard to photograph but Iended up with a few shots that I liked. Caravan parks and campgrounds often are great places to photograph wildlife because they are acclimated to people and allow you to get closer than you might be able to otherwise.
Progress Charts:
| Today | Observed | Photographed |
|---|---|---|
| Total Species | 48 | 2 |
| Endemic Species | 10 | 1 |
| Year to Date | Observed | Photographed |
|---|---|---|
| Total Species | 570 | 356 |
| Endemic Species | 286 | 203 |
