Winter around Ballina - part one

 One of the good things about writing, well blogging in this particular instance, is that it is fluid ... not pre-determined. It can lead where you are taken which does not always need to be where you intended ... rather like a good "trip" rather than a holiday (destination) ... if you need or want to stay or follow-up something more (or less) then having the flexibility to do so is a luxury 😀. So it is with this third post of my 2017 winter trilogy ...

I woke up this morning to a rainy wet day after some quite heavy and rain and wind strong winds overnight. Only showery now, but it always looks so fresh during and after the dampness of the rain. I thought of the last photo on the second post of this trilogy - a full Lismore Lake. This volume of rain, alas, will not have the same impact there. It did get me thinking about what I wrote above though as I gazed out across our wet backyard ... and this being the third post of the trilogy does not need to be. If it was, it would be a very long post (25 photos) and, well, I decided the final post of the trilogy can be delivered in two parts ... really just because it can. At this point you can tell I am well into my leave state of mind 👏!

So here we go: third post of the trilogy - part one (just because we can create our own reality some of the time!).

Despite my rambling above THIS is entirely serendipitous - the initial set of photos for this post happens to be a set of three! The third of the three you may recall as being the final one from my 2017 Exhibition way back near the beginning of this blog. What I decided to do here was attempt to convey a sense of how that photo evolved ... how I happened to be in the right place at the right time and was patient enough to wait and watch might happen ... something quite magical and a rare treat to find so many photogenic small birds still simultaneously 😊. What I call here a family of superb fair wrens.

First there were two ...

Then there were three ...

Then the family of four superb fairy wrens!

The next three (bird) photos offer some examples of birds enjoying basking in the sun ... to soak up the energy to replenish after hunting (the little pied cormorant by swimming and diving, the swallow by incredibly acrobatic flying chasing insects we cannot even see most of the time, and the royal spoonbills in treetops rather than wading & hoovering in the shallows). Who doesn't like to find a nice sunny spot out of the wind ... as I write this post, the sky is clearing and clouds clearing so my little nook has become my winter sun trap ... here is a photo to show you (ah, yes, more of that letting the writing take me where it does 😔).

Little pied cormorant

Welcome swallow

Royal spoonbills

And now to some of those stealthy wading hunters. The first one waiting patiently for its prey, the second two demonstrating the success of their prowess and patience! Whenever you see these wading, it is really worth taking the time to watch ... see them stand, stalk, poise, strike and then savour their catch! (The reality of the stalk is MUCH longer than the sequence of word just written can do justice 😉).

White-faced heron waiting and stalking

Egret savouring a successful hunt

And another success!

This brown honeyeater  is captured in an unusally clear photo for me - while they have the most beautiful singing voice among the mangroves, you can see they are much more easily heard than seen! Their camouflage is very effective.

Brown honeyeater

And what would a walk along the Ballina wall be (north or south wall) without finding a cold-blooded reptile basking on a warm rock enjoying the view. Very clear why they are called water dragons! Certainly no bird, but if you have seen them launch (from a branch, roof, rock, wall to name a few I have witnessed) they are not averse to flying through the air when they see a target or want to escape. This one did not launch!

And to finish part one of Winter around Ballina, what has become my "staple" expectation for a walk along Ballina wall - the sacred kingfisher. Just beautiful, if not possessing a palette quite as exuberant as the azure kingfisher, it is one that offers its own iridescence and variability depending on light perspective. Like all small birds, nervous but constantly on the lookout to launch across the water from it perch (winter sun-drenched rocks in these photos) when movement takes it eye. Like the suggestion for making time to watch the heron and egret hunt, so it holds for these ... seeing the speed and brilliant flash of aquamarines as they cleave the water is definately worth the wait.

Sacred kingfisher on the lookout

Sacred kingfisher looking out!