Wrapping up 2016

And so 2016, my first conscious period as a budding bird photographer comes to an end with firm anticipation to carry on into 2017.

What have I learned?

That there are lots of wonderful birds within a very short radius of "home". Each quite unique and beautiful in their own way; a myriad of voices; an array of colour that I had never been aware of; clever and effective camouflage that demands patience and awareness and a sense of pleasure when a "new" bird is spotted, photographed and identified. And then, you see the same species again in a different habitat or from a different perspective and the "discovery" begins anew.

Here are a final couple taken late one afternoon in the yard of some friends ... let the close of the day represent the close of one period (2016) anticipating the beginning of the next (2017).

A pair of figbirds

A posing wonga pigeon

2016 - more meanderings

And so I had begun to settle into the idea of "just meandering" with my camera ... that might be taking a drive for a walk, going for a walk for a walk, being unsociable on family outings and going off on my own for a walk for photo opportunities ... but nearly always enjoying and appreciating the solitude and peacefulness of "being" in a habitat, being part of something much grander and richer for its nature.

These next five were taken over at Lismore Lake - actually a real place but at the time (and sadly, mostly) quite dry but clearly still moist and with rich pickings for those prepared to browse around! The irony is there are signs up proclaiming the rich biodiversity but the artificial lake is no longer allowed to be "fed" from the very nearby Richmond River - rules! Never mind, like nature, it finds a way and you will see at times the richer and different habitat it provides when it is full after rain.

Jabiru (black-necked stork) and Australian white ibis

Breeding plummage of the royal spoonbills

Channel-billed cuckoo

Female fig bird

White-breasted woodswallow

 Driving home one afternoon I decided to go a different way through the backroads just to see what i might see. Earlier trips on backroads seemed to be rewarded with birds of prey ... and so it turned out this time ...

A hovering, menacing black-shouldered kite

And stopping by a stream near home, again, just to see what there might be to see ... this time the running water was not even enough to blind the call of a flock of silver-eyes and certainly did nothing to detract from the sound of their movement in the foliage ... nonetheless, the campouflage is impressive!

Silvereye

Another favourite short walk with often rich pickings at different times of day has turned out to be Victoria Park reserve. Here the occupants of the canopy high above are often the source of tell-tale debris falling, and very often the small and flighty tease among the lower foliage.

Wompoo fruit dove feasting on Banglow Palm fruit

Lewin's honeyeater always photogenic

Pale yellow robin

Then is a wonderful drive long the south side of the Richmond River from Wardell right to the river mouth (south wall). Wonderful walks among the mangroves and the sand dunes of coastal heath to reach the open stretches of sandy beach.

Grey fantail on the nest

Rainbow bee-eater basking on a wire

Rainbow bee-eater pair on a branch

The mournful call of the currawong

 And then on another little lane (Corks Lane) there were these gems ... just to show they are more common than I imagined ...

Male red-backed fairy wren

That spangled drongo (well ... different one).

And finally for now, back home in the front garden is the ubiquitous laughing kookaburra looking resplendent in the early morning sunshine ...

2016 - dam good spot

Rocky Creek Dam is a great place for family picnics and nature walks; it follows there are good opportunities for bird sightings (and often other wildlife too). Let's stay focused on birds for now.

First the wonderful hues and helmet of a wading bird in the swamp at the base of the dam wall.

Purple swamphen

 Then a couple of more common characters grazing and resting around the grounds.

Australian magpie

Black rooster resting!

Then some more exotic and uniquely Australian finds each richly camouflaged among the branches and leaves ... watch with your ears and listen with your eyes ... surprising what you feel!

Eastern rosella

Pair of wompoo fruit-doves

Very Australian name ... spangled drongo!

Laughing kookaburra

 And near the end their was the unmistakable sound of a baby squawking ... listen ... track the source ... watch ... there it is among the leaves ... wait and focus ... there I hear move movement and watch for the silence ... here's dad with some tucker ... worth the patience 😀

Blue-faced honeyeaters feeding

 And speaking of unmistakable squawking ... this one was easier to track down and see despite being way up at the top of the canopy ..

Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Nature just keeps delighting!

2016 - new sightings on the road

This afternoon I had decided to head off for a drive west and then south before heading home on what had been a beautiful clear, still day. I had hopes of finding a few birds out on such a lovely afternoon ... gladly, those hopes were exceeded as I noticed a number of first sightings for me 😊.

These first three were above and in some paddocks to the west.

Nankeen kestrel

 Now ... here is a good example of the random nature of a retrospective blog ... as I was typing "Nankeen" in the above caption I was reminded of my own non-understanding of what that word meant. Not at the time of this photo, but several years later when I happened on a nankeen night heron in a park pond in the middle of the day in Melbourne! It was then I investigated what the word meant: the dominant colour of the feathers ... described thus in wikipedia (where else would you look!) "is a kind of pale yellowish cloth originally made in Nanjing, China from a yellow variety of cotton, but subsequently manufactured from ordinary cotton that is then dyed."  In Birds in Backyards the colour words used for the nankeen kestrel are rufous and pale buff; for nankeen night heron are cinnamon and white buff and rufous ... make of that what you will 😉.

Bar-shouldered dove atop the fence post

Black kite in burnt cane paddock

Next, I headed south and east just because that's where the road headed to take me home eventually.

Black-shouldered kite

Pied butcherbird perched on high

Noisy miner savouring nectar

Rainbow bee-eater

So ... now even more birds to be on the look out for 😊. Colours & camouflage galore!

2016 - birds seem everywhere

Regular in our yard is the ever-photogenic kookaburra. Often heard laughing in their riot (or flock) from a distance, it is a treat to be able to observe and photograph one in our own habitat. Here is one on our old clothesline and in close up.

Laughing kookaburra in backyard

Laughing kookaburra up close

Back by the sea are some peaceful pelicans seeking supper ...

Pelicans cruising

And basking in the sun up on a branch in the park is a crested pigeon ...

Crested pigeon

A magpie among the pecans ...

A magpie with a stare

Along the river bank is a little corella resting in a tree ...

Little corella

Even birds crumbing at a picnic ...

Noisy miner being noisy over a crumb

Willy wagtail enjoying figs

And so you see, lots of birds where ever we see.

2019 - a taste of the future

Earlier I ruminated about how I might present my bird blog. It has largely been chronological because it best suits accessing the archive of my photos. However, every now and again, I recall an instance or event or occasion that is out of chronological sequence. It may have been prompted by something I saw, something I read, something I heard ... who knows - at times I may recognise, or not ... but this morning I did and it seems entirely reasonable to just "blog" about it ... so here I am.

We (my wife and I) are currently enjoying a relaxing and peaceful break in one of the many units overlooking the Broadwater on the northern end of the Gold Coast. This morning I was reading a book (trying to finish it) and something I read reminded me of something totally unrelated I did on Friday evening as a "test". The unit has a huge TV. I have a back-up hard drive for my photos. I decided to plug it in and see how some of them looked on the "big screen". Great! They happened to be some photos taken in 2019. We enjoyed flicking through some. My morning reading reminded me of one instance in particular and these are two examples of them ...

1st April (and this is NOT an April Fools story!) and before I head inside after arriving home from work, I walk back up the driveway to check for any mail. Half way up I sense movement in the tree above and notice something fly off down the back being harassed by our local noisy miners. Almost simultaneously I notice the magnificent specimen below seek refuge in the other direction in a tree in the front yard ... I cannot believe my luck and speculate out loud (to myself 😕) "please, please, please stay there til I can fetch my camera from inside" ... fortunately when I get back out the noisy miners are still harassing out back somewhere and when I get out front I am able to breathe a sigh of relief ... fantastic!

Grey goshawk (white morph)

Taking full advantage of the relatively willing subject, I ventured from the western to the eastern side of its perch and was unexpectedly rewarded with a glimpse of nature in full view (and perhaps the real reason the partner of the pair had distracted the other invaders in an opposite direction) ...

Goshawk with dinner scraps

Life is good when day fades with such natural delight. Why do we insist on wanting to destroy habitat?

OK, back to finish the book now that memory has been cleared ...