Star Finches

I am not exactly a hardcore birder; my Australia list is only just over 300 and doesn't include many rarities. The places birds really like to hang out, like sewer treatment plants, are somewhat incompatible with our broader mandate of pretty scenery, biological diversity, interesting geology, and the occasional item of cultural importance. My approach has been to research what might be observed in the parks and areas we plan to visit, and then hope for the best. There were a few special birds I did want to see on this trip, however, and Star Finches were one of them. True to form, they were easily found by trolling the relatively unscenic but very productive farm roads north of Kununurra, and entirely absent from the lovely national parks we visited. In the picture, along with the Star Finches, are some Double Barred Finches (known as Owl Finches in the aviary trade over here). We saw many other finch species on the road-side, including Yellow-Rumped Mannikin and Chestnut Breasted Mannikin.




This was mostly a driving day, as we made the long trek back to Katherine.




We stopped at Victoria River again on the way back for lunch. A fresh barra burger for me, a burger with the lot for Darrin. We did make a last attempt to find a Lilac-Crowned Fairy Wren, but all we spotted was a big croc on the opposite bank of the river.




After we made it to Katherine, there was a smidgen of daylight left, so we ran down to the thermal springs and had a soak. The little man-made waterfall there made nice bubbles and the water was a lovely 90 degrees.