A flight into the present (2020)

For a break from the chronological cataloguing theme, here is a post about the present ("jumping" forward until now - October 2020). We spent the day at Rocky Creek Dam. It is quite a few years since we have been out there and it was a pleasant surprise to see the infrastructure improvements in place, and even better that there were so few visitors given it was school holidays. This link will show you where it is on Google Maps.

I wanted to share these photos because I managed to catch good shots of some of those birds that really show off well in the (real) rainforest environment there, and also show off the splendour of both plain and complex plumage.

As we arrived and parked to unload our picnic gear and claim our sheltered table, a small flock (14) of sulphur-crested cockatoos was spotted over the eastern side of the car park. I regularly get to enjoy little corellas, but not so often these much louder and raucous close relatives. So, once settled, I wandered down across the open grassed area and managed to get quite a few shots of the groups within the flock grazing ... it was fascinating observing them pull up the grass with full root nodules, invert and devour the nodules and drop the grass shoot ... and  move on. Here is a selection to give you a sense. I also note how the "plain" white body of the cockatoo, with the tinge of yellow sometimes visible in the tail and certainly the comb atop the head provides an outstanding contrast with whatever its background/environment happens to offer - hence the beauty of the plain 😊.

The next couple were taken back along the beginning of the main path down to the dam wall. Again they highlight that plain beauty of the white, this time benefiting from the dam water in the background and also right down at ground level to show off the different ground cover this lone cockatoo was enjoying ... talk about the prime table with a view 😀. Of course the dexterity with which they stand on one leg and use the other to feed themselves should not be ignored! And, they appear to be peering none too subtly at the camera.

These next two shots I offer to highlight a different kind of "plain". Plain in the sense that the noisy miner is recognised as something of a pest and thus easily ignored (if not easily able to block out their incessant tweeting and ignore their constant harassment). However, even they have a certain beauty about their "mousy" grey plumage contrasting the yellow beak, with matching eye patch in the black feathered head. The first one is the juvenile, the pair showing one of the adults keeping watch shortly thereafter ... makes the small branch in each photo most worthwhile for context!

We were savouring our coffee and fruit after settling and before heading off for a walk around the damn and lower creek. I took a couple of bits of rubbish to the bin near our table and back down in a magnificent big old silky oak tree in flower I noticed several sulphur-crested cockatoos. Again, the contrast of that "plain" white, but this time against the gorgeous burnt orange of the silky oak flowers was striking ... and yet another example of their dexterity ... but this time at altitude on swaying branches 😀.

As we reached the end of our circuit walk. I noticed a flash of colour in the trees above the playground we were wandering through. Alighting on a branch was a wompoo fruit dove! Magnificent colours. It flitted between a few trees before settling on a branch where it felt comfortable ... well, it started cooing and did so for some time, so that was my conclusion! So the first shot below was just after it settled - I was really happy because this was the most exposed view of this beautiful richly plumed bird I had experienced. Since it was so settled I was able to move under and around it's perch so the next couple of shots captured the way the green and yellow wing feathers contrast the purple breast and bright yellow underwing plumage with the grey head dissected by the purple feather line down the centre of the grey feathered throat. Enjoy how the camouflage offers just enough contrast with the surrounding foliage. This really was one of those treats that gives you a spring in your step (which was great timing making the last climb back to the picnic table that much easier 😂).

Throughout the day the distinct chitter of pairs of eastern rosellas were heard ... alas, rarely sighted 😞. I did only manage one long range shot of this fellow atop a young bush in the newly planted car park roundabout. That was as close as I was able to get (and on full zoom)! While you may need to squint, the flash of colour is fairly clear atop the large leaves.

After our picnic lunch, the very loud, distinctive squawk of the sulphur-crested cockatoos drew me to the paddock to the south of the park. I took even more photos of these simply because, as noted earlier, it was a rare treat for me to be in the presence of these beautiful birds, and especially being able to get so close in the wild. So ... a final couple of photos and I like the symmetry of the grazing happening in the second photo.

Back from our walk, enjoying a cuppa and some cake the call of the king parrot (this short YouTube video allows you to hear it for yourself, as well as some excellent vision - thanks Fritids Tur) behind where we were sitting caught our attention. Looking around and up, the striking colours of the male plumage stood out in the fresh spring foliage and mottled branches on which it was supported. "King" is a worthy descriptor for this majestic parrot ... the first photo of the next trio offers a sense of that initial sighting, the next two much closer portraits with the third one capturing the beak open mid-call.

ENJOY THESE ... savour the setting.

I cannot resist including this shot. The light of a magnificent day is captured in the contrasting verdant tree views and the clear blue of the sky (how lucky we are to have such clarity!) painted with the white clouds. What a place for a picnic ... no wonder there are such wonderful birds here! 

Not quite as clear as I had hoped but quite a rare treat (for me) to see a grey butcherbird. Checking my book to confirm this sighting was one of those moments when some features that have always seemed "unclear" or "not obvious" suddenly were to me ... the more common (to me) pied butcherbird I think I have photographed has a full black head and no white patch near the eye ... so I may need to review my archive and relabel some of my shots 😊; no doubt with this one as a grey butcherbird though!

And ... to finish up ... back to a "plain" juvenile noisy miner waiting ... this one shows off the chest and breast plumage nicely while still being able to clearly see the yellow beak and eye patch. The natural setting certainly complements these birds - much better than the built environment I am more accustomed to seeing them populate.

So good to share the beauty nature has to offer while celebrating a very special 60th birthday ... and all you need to know is that it was not mine 😋).

Diamonds at Dyraaba

So to round out my review of the 2018 bird photos here is a real treat from a visit to Dyraaba to visit family who were living on a smallholding in that location at that time. It was a hot day, and it was quite dry as it had been for most of the year. I was taken on a stroll to the lower portions of the land overlooking a billabong on the neighboring property and also an almost dry waterhole/small dam on the smallholding along the front fenceline. So began the photo opportunities, though offering little in the way of what lay ahead in terms of the ability to get up close and personal with two local attractions - one entirely new to me, the other one that had been elusive to capture other than at considerable distance.

So, we begin with a favourite ... an indication of the range of locales where these are present. While this photo shows how they blend in, it also allows a glimpse of how they stand out and you can imagine (from the still photo) how you "notice" the flash of colour from their movement as the best source of locating them. Gorgeous bird.

Rainbow bee-eater

In a recent post I offered a series of "portraits" of a laughing kookaburra. I was tempted to do something similar here given the range of close-ups I was privileged to execute. However, that would sanitise the way this unexpected feast of colour and slendour unfolded - and it is that "journey" I would like to try and convey in this post. You be the judge, but in any case ENJOY the magnificence of nature's palette on show that day.

Sitting on the front verandah gazing across the property down the entry drive to the main road, my eyes wander left to a fork in the large eucalypt and I notice a bird atop a nest. It has the distinctive small rounded head of a dove. Zooming in, I notice it is not one that I have seen before. Cool!

 

Common bronzewing

A little later, there was another one out the other side of the house, perched on a branch that gave lie to the "common" part of the name. As see you see below, the wings offer far more colour than first seems to be the case, and even challenges the "bronze" part of the name. However, like a lot of doves and pigeons, the iridescent colours are a feature when you get the right lighting. I left the verandah and headed out the back to get a slightly different perspective (second photo) and was rewarded with a spot of sunshine partially highlighting the iridescence.

While I was busy taking a series of shots from which the two above were selected, my attention on the common bronzewing was complete. This can be detrimental to your observation powers because it is necessary to narrow your field of vision to the exclusion of what else may be going on around you - the bigger picture as we say 😉. My attention was drawn to the voice of my grandkids calling me to "look, look above you!" To my delight I saw a king parrot, then two more ... a family group scattered through the poinsiana tree that shaded the rabbit hutch where I was positioned for the common bronzewing photos. 

How cranky I would have been to have missed these given my prior rather fruitless attempts to get anywhere near close! I need not have worried. While wild birds, they apparently are regular visitors helping themselves to seed and other leftovers from feeding time in the rabbit hutch 😁. So here is a small sample from the MANY photos taken in the next little while ... as you might imagine this is one of those times when you feel a real spring in your step and you just cannot quite everything positioned how you might like it for fear of scaring them off BUT still want to get as many shots as you can ... yes, a few deep breaths were needed 😞.

Male king parrot

Juvenile king parrot

Curious male

Ravenous juvenile

Keeping a close eye on me

Female king parrot

And how cool to be able to get so close that I was able to zoom in for such a portrait as this on the very handsome male. And the one after shows how the juvenile even looks quite regal perched in the poinciana.

Having settled into a wider sphere of vision as I meandered position around the rabbit hutch, the greater exposure of the common bronzewing on its perch was also noted ... I imagine it had been quietly sitting place soaking up the energy from the sun and taking in the lunatic trying to move with a small amount of stealth with a black object protruding from his head most of the time - weirdos these humans and what they think they get away with 😆.

Then back to a couple of the female who had been a little less photogenic and far more maternal in her guarding from a distance of the juvenile. A softer and more consistent light green chest and head than the more mottled juvenile. More subtle true, but with that subtlety there is clear beauty and eminence to behold.

And to end the "session" where it began with the common bronzewing ... it had moved from its natural perch to one from the built environment, the quintessential bush corrugated roof which still complements its vibrancy.

Quite the end to 2018 ... clearly plenty of impetus to continue with this most rewarding pastime.

A few Byron @ Byron gems

Our bookclub is fond of gathering at Byron @ Byron for drinks and nibbles to end a week and ocassionally partake of brunch or dinner. This link will show you where it is on Google Maps. The rear verandah of the main building overlooks the wetland forest among which sits the various accommodation pods and various boardwalks wind their way to the beach and Tallow Creek. This particular gathering happened very late November, and the decision to take my camera and go for a wander along part of the boardwalk (see picture below) was one of those times you feel very glad to have made the decision 😀. 

This short post offers a few gems showing the variety that can be on show at this location and also the way you need to be alert to more than what you "see" and pay attention to what you might hear or notice as being a little different from what you "expect" ... these birds are there, and when we see them, they are a JOY to behold in their natural palette!

White-necked heron along the way

The boardwalk along the right bank to Tallow Creek

Pacific black ducks & dusky moorhens feasting on insects

The "sapphire" gem for the day was this azure kingfisher on the left bank across the drain. After a few photos it took flight back towards the complex and the third photo below was after back tracking to where it perched upstream. A real treat that reinforced earlier sightings in other locations. Nature in all her glory!

White-cheeked honeyeater centred in the melaleuca.

Curious eastern yellow robin

Eastern yellow robin who has spotted me!

Portrait of a (laughing) kookaburra

As I have noted in a few earlier posts, we are privileged to have laughing kookaburras regularly visit our garden. The following portraits were taken in very late October and very early November (2018) in our front garden.

Three series of portraits are presented. First is the laughing kookaburra in our frangipani tree. At this time it is bare, devoid of foliage from the dormant cooler months. Looking very closely may reveal a new flush of leaves sprouting - BUT, this is not about the frangipani 😊. Very photogenic as you can see, and the position allowed some variation as I reposition my camera along the front verandah; the subject then flew across the yard to another bare perch as an interlude in preparation for portrait number 2. I concluded with another of those "special" moments when you see a direct visual connection with the bird!

Second portrait is the laughing kookaburra enjoying our birdbath. One of the interesting things to note in this second series is the "tool" (beak) being sharpened as part of the bathing and preening process. Always on the lookout ... any morsel is not to be missed! Again, I am able to conclude with a "special" moment establishing a direct visual connection with the bird!

Third and final portrait is the laughing kookaburra perched atop the support post for our front yard tap, much closer to the ground. This portrait concludes with a different kind of treat, one specially for the kookaburra and reward for its patient perusing across the morning. This portrait includes another wonderfully clear close-up. Even better is to be able to conclude with another direct visual, this time the real treat being it is complemented by demonstrating the result of using those keen eyes and the t "tool" that was sharpened up during the bath and preen 😉 ... quite the privileged mornings viewing!