Meandering through March - Land

And so we continue, this time with land sightings. Down a lane I often take on a drive home from Ballina. The long grass often seems to offer delights for the smaller birds and they in turn are willing to pose.

Female red-backed fairy wren

Male red-backed fairy wren

Hmmm ... well, I have to argue here the rail is for a jetty which is attached to the river bank (so technically I will claim "land" is OK! I did say "land or near") ... some breeding plumage is clearly visible and a touch of the maroon neck and back feathers too. In the same Robbins book I quoted in the previous post, I learned a new term for some of this type of plumage (p.75) ... for a different type of egret (snowy egret in the US) it is called "nuptial".

White-faced heron

The next three are flighty by nature, though the first one also very aggressive by virtue of a very protective nearby partner when on the nest like this. A nice repose nonetheless. The second one, while not a first sighting for me, is the first decent picture I have managed. Far more skittish than then the much more common and annoying white ibis, they can often be seen in wet fields foraging together in large flocks. Quite a deal more attractive than the white ibis. And the third photo in the sequence ... well, cattle egrets doing what cattle egrets do! At least this type of egret is clearly distinguishable to me (the smaller of the egrets, and I choose to lump all of them as "egrets" in my labels).

Masked lapwing on the nest

Straw-necked ibis

Cattle egrets

And finally, for this meander across some land (or near land), some photogenic chestnut-breasted mannikins were willing to allow me to get very close and get these wonderful shots showing off how small and light they are and how important their feet are for their agility. This was a beautiful setting to provide the clear context of the special environment they inhabit. The photos also show-off how clever modern digital camera focusing is!