Birds at the Tempe – 17 May 2018

I spent a very worthwhile morning wandering around the Tempe Wetlands and surrounding areas photographing the birds.

Nutmeg Mannikan

One remarkable thing was the number of birds flying from south to north overhead. They seemed to be honeyeaters. Perhaps a mixture of Yellow Faced and White-Naped Honeyeaters.

There were certainly a lot of honeyeaters in the bush areas of the wetlands. Here are some of what I saw –

New Holland Honeyeater

Eastern Spinebill

Yellow Faced Honeyeater

White Plumed Honeyeater

White-Naped Honeyeater

In the reeds of the upper pool, I observed a small brown bird that I had not seen before. From the shape of its beak it looked like a type of finch.

Later, when I arrived home and consulted my reference books, I found it was a Nutmeg Mannikan. This is an introduced bird that is originally from Asia. It was joined by another one (perhaps juvenile?) –

Some of the other birds at the Wetlands –

Welcome Swallow

Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike

Red Browed Finch

Bulbul

Red Wattlebird

Red Wattlebird

Spotted Pardalote

Spotted Pardalote

I alter took the track behind the Golf Shooting Range through the wastelands. I was looking out for the raptor I had seen last visit – but it didn’t seem to be around. But I did see quite a few other birds –