Who's a pretty bird?

When Melbourne went into lockdown 2.0 I was in NSW so I just kept travelling - heading outback cos lord it gets cold in those central and northern highlands. I was getting up in the morning to find the camper trailer water tap frozen.

My last major stop was at Mutawintji National Park near Broken Hill. It's a small gem of a semi-arid park with good walks and scenery and this year some of the best birdlife around. I was there last year when it was in the grip of the drought and it was deathly quiet.
That said, big water bird numbers have been smashed - that's Herons, Egrets, Darters, Great Cormorants. Some estimate the drop is potentially 80% - because we've trashed the Murray-Darling basin riverine ecosystems.

Here's a few of our remarkable parrot family from Mutawintji.

1. Cockatiel couple (m left, f right). 2. Budgies courting. 3. Mulga Parrot

All birds are pretty but some are prettier than others. “Mulga” Parrot being one of them. It’s unfathomable to me how birds have got their particular colours in their feathers and I don’t really want to know someone’s answer either. Keep on traveling Ern!

Are feral goats in Mutawintji, still a problem?

Mick.