The Ernest Giles Road.

While we were driving back from Kings Canyon along the Ernest Giles road we came across some great birds.

There are lots of beautiful birds in central Australia but as always you have to be fast to get a good pic or have your big lense on before they fly away. 

We have seen so many beautiful raptors (birds of prey) whilst driving out west.  We have never bothered or been able to stop and get a good pic.  Whilst driving along the Ernest Giles Rd we stopped to a get a few nice pics a a brown Falcon.  The Raptors often sit in dead trees by the side of the road and wait for road kills or scurrying mice etc. 

We also came across a very rare and difficult to find parrot.  The Major Mitchel Cockatoo.  These guys are hard to see and find as they are dry land nomadic birds and do not stay put for long, but instead follow the rain and the food, like seeding trees, grasses etc.

We drove into a flock of the cockatoos feeding on a desert She-Oak (Casurina).  They are amazingly striking birds with stunning white wings, pink chests and splashes of red and orange on the crest and wings.  People come on tours around Australia just to try and spot these guys.

The drive home was a good time, we saw some great birds and drove on another famous Central Australian track – The Ernest Giles Road.

 

The start of the Ernest Giles road, named after a famous explorer.  Not really that rough or exciting, but we have seen and done it.

Red, rough dirt with some sand too.

 

Major Mitchel Cockatoos, named after the explorer.

 

 

 

 

 

A brown Falcon, perching on a rock by the side of the road, a handsome fellow.

 

The Ernest Giles Road.