Lismore Lake delights

While the water remains, dropping by fairly regularly just might throw up some interesting opportunities. January is HOT & HUMID here so while the water remains, it also provides a lot of glare, heat and reflection while wandering around. Despite the human discomfort, any water is good water for birdlife and offers a point of attraction. This late January visit proved absolutely worthwhile as one sequence in particular will attest, but it was not the only reason. The birds seldom disappoint 😉.

We begin with a couple of "big" birds ... neither especially common sightings, but each a real treat with their casual predatory and attentive gaits as they stalk through the reeds and weeds. Both also have very deceptive iridescent plumage when captured in the right light!

White-necked heron

Black-necked stork (jabiru).

Not to be outdone along the varied shrubbery and trees of the eastern shore between the lake and the river are the "small" birds. One well camouflaged, the others far more happy soaking up the energy of the sun in the open. These were sighted and captured during my walk stalking the stalking jabiru ... kind of offers a glimpse of why birdwatchers might be cheekily referred to as "twitchers" 😁!

Brown honeyeater

Mum& young white-breasted woodswallows

Just some mum time

And my stalk of the stalker turned out to be very well worth it! Right place, right time 😏 to capture the successful stalk ... here are a few photos from the sequence to give you a flavour) - no pun intended)! The dexterity was fascinating to watch ... and the satisfaction after the final swallow quite evident I reckon - and not just mine 😀!

Ahhh (yummm??) ... worth the effort!

This post started with the larger white-necked version, but this one is the equally striking white-faced heron going about it's hunt in the shallows.

Back to those white-breasted woodswallows and here we see the ubiquitous squark of the young ... though I could use my imagination and say they were signing their tunes in the midday breeze, but they were waiting for mum or dad to return with their lunch!

Here are a couple of fairy martins perched high after their acrobatics in the air. There was s small flock in this tree, so it was good to be able to get a decent view of several as these are not as common around here (in my experience) as welcome swallows. 

Another rare treat in my viewings was next on the way out of this wonderful walk. I spotted this comb-crested jacana skitting across the lilypads, clearly demonstrating there are distinct advantages very large toes!

And finally a few hardheads (ducks) with their distinctive whitish band on the end of their beak, sharing a mud bank with a foraging black-fronted dotterel. 

May the waters remain for an extended period 😊

After completing this and doing a quick view of the post, I was struck by the length of the keyword list that has accumulated along this journey so far. A very quick tally indicates photos included so far of 126 different types. I am very pleased to have been able to share these with you and also marvel at the variety we have (because this is no where near a full accounting) from predominantly local sites. May the pleasure continue.