A first recorded sighting for me, this White-winged Triller perched at the top of a bare branch long enough for me to photograph it:

White-winged Trillers are migrants to southern parts of Australia, arriving in spring.

I spotted the bird while camping at Lake Lyell, a lovely spot near Lithgow west of Sydney. The bird had perched very high up and quite far away, so my camera zoom was working at its max. The next shot is fuzzy, but does give a good idea of the grey-white colour of the bird’s back:

Common name: White-winged Triller
Scientific name: Lalage tricolor (suerii)
Approximate length: 16-19cm
Date spotted: 3 December 2023 (summer)
Location: Lake Lyell, New South Wales, Australia: 33°31’14.2″S 150°04’37.9″E

Interestingly, at first I thought the bird might be a Grey-crowned Babbler, because at the time when I saw it, there was also a very intriguing cackling sound. You can hear a Grey-crowned Babbler on Graeme Chapman’s site. I wasn’t sure, because I thought I’d also seen some birds of softer grey colours, flying lower down in the forest. And in fact, I’ve never identified a Babbler, and I’ve heard the same intriguing call several times in the past, at the same time as seeing birds of the more stark black and white colouring of the White-winged Triller. So, maybe the Triller and the Babbler hang out together a lot!

Next step: Photograph a Babbler, along with a sound track of that eerily beautiful call.