A recent work trip to the central Queensland sandstone country provided some great opportunities for bird photography, although much was done on the road in a bit of a rush getting from one spot to another.

Arcadia Valley is between Injune and Rolleston. The brigalow scrub that once covered this area is now largely restricted to Lonesome National Park at the southern end of the valley. Vast fields of sorghum stretched off to distant sandstone escarpments as I drove south in the late afternoon light.

I’ve always loved spotting Red-winged Parrots (Aprosmictus erythropterus), and stopped to watch a small flock of these dazzling birds raiding the grain as long shadows crept across the fields.