This week a team conducted the 6-monthly bird survey at Witchelina Nature Reserve.  Given the significant rainfall both on Witchelina and across the north we thought we might find some interesting birds and this proved correct!  
 
On Termination Dam we found 30 or so Painted Finches Emblema pictum – a bird common in the north of Australia and occasionally seen further south, including the Flinders Ranges, but not previously recorded on Witchelina.  It may be these birds have been pushed south following significant breeding further north after the summer rains.  
 
This was a very exciting find for the survey team (Philippa Horton, Marg Evans, Jennifer Hiscock, Peter Christy and Rotational Manager Phil Cole), and for Nature Foundation.  In total nearly 90 bird species were recorded during the survey on the property; many more than for previous surveys conducted during drier times. Photo courtesy of Phil Cole.