A Big Country! Part 2

We spent an unexpected rest day at Mitchell when it rained quite heavily over-night and also the next morning. We just couldn't see how we could keep everything dry while we were packing. I spent a very frustrating morning watching little birds that I did not know and couldn't ID fluttering by the tent annex while it was just too wet to get out my bird books and definitely too wet to get out my camera! The only birds that stayed around in the afternoon were these Superb Fairy-Wrens (Malurus cyaneus). I frequently saw these birds when I lived in NSW but had no photos of them. These ones fluttered around in the longer grass next to the mown areas of the park but- like all wrens - didn't sit still for longer than a few seconds. The male is the lovely bright blue color and the female the brown color.Now, just a few words to those more knowledgeable birders who may be expecting all the wonderful rarities from out in this part of the country! All the birds out here were new to me so they were all exciting! I photographed the more common ones just as happily as I did the rarer ones.
Although it is a very big county out this way it was surprising how we kept meeting people who knew people that we knew! The managers at the park at Mitchell were New Zealanders and the lady had grown up in the same little town (Kaitaia) where we lived when we were younger. Then later in the day another lady came walking by and she said that she knows both Duncan at Ben Cruachan and also Gouldiae and goes out on their birding outings. She said if I looked hard enough I would see her in some of their photos!

Part 3 coming soon! - the wildflowers blooming in the Quilpie area.

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