eagles, bee-eaters and swifts

[Tim Birch <>]

Some good birding over last few days. Up to 50 White Throated Needletails over Mount Roger on the evening of March 5 - so low you could hear their wings scything through the air as they raced through clouds of insects. Yesterday in Namadgi on the Orroral Heritage trail had great views of group of 20 Bee-eaters catching butterflies in the light drizzle. 2 close sightings of Wedge Tailed eagles - first perched in tree 50 metres away was a juvenile and totally unphased by humans and later on adult sitting out the rain high up in a fire damaged tree. Completely amazed by how lush the valley was and the number of Kangaroos was staggering. Also watched a pair of galahs in the rain on a bare branch. They were clearly taking advantage of the rain to give their plumage a good soaking and would do 360 degree turns on the branch and splay out all their feathers to take advantage of the rain - very amusing to watch. Coming from Snowdonia in North Wales this part of Namadgi in the mist and rain could easily have been mistaken for the Welsh mountains !
 
Tim Birch 

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