A(nother) country drive (August 2020)

I have often driven to Coraki via Gundurimba and one of the roads I often noticed takes a right just past South Gundurimba Hall. Another is further along Coraki Road with the curious name Flood Reserve Road. Since I had been doing some random winter drives in the good weather (2020) I thought I might have a look down each of these ... consulting Google Maps (what else!!) the night before heading off led to some excited anticipation because it showed the road at the Hall (McMahons Road) joined up with Flood Reserve Road as it meandered along beside Pelican Creek, both passing through farmland. Seemed like some promising country for birds 😁.

As it turned out, Google maps was a tad misleading (who would have thought that was even possible 😜?!). McMahons Road was a pleasant country lane but not too far along was fenced off as a private road. However, Flood Reserve Road, did not disappoint and led me through a wonderful morning and on to an even better afternoon.

First gem I spotted was this egret grazing in the long grass on an island in a paddock dam, It looks regal in both: "just" the grass in the first, but also with the cow also grazing in the background for contrast and co-existence in the second. Crouching in the long grass too as that neck concertinas down!

Well along the Flood Reserve Road you cross Pelican Creek several times and have the opportunity to park and wander along several billabongs (really, they are wider stretches of the Creek). Here are some shots of some of the tiny finches and wrens that were flitting merrily among the reed and grass heads and resting on branches in bushes. The first a young red-browed finch; the second & third more mature ones with the red bills and red brows becoming more pronounced, but still adolescent. The fourth photo of the set is a female fairy wren. Each photo offers a useful context to appreciate the small size of these birds and the third one especially shows off the "finery" of the breast feathers.

This next one, while over-exposed sadly, still offers a nice image of the still waters beside the steep bank with the white-headed pigeon drinking providing a wonderful mirrored reflection. A nice reminder of a peaceful wander beside the Creek ... here I would like to return in another season to see what other treasures might be present 😊.

While heading into Coraki for some lunch, I noticed a Lagoon Road heading west. Worth a look with a name like that - so I did after lunch, just because I was there and I could. There were indeed some nice ponds and small wetland areas but not too much birdlife this day. I did however manage two good sightings as you see labelled below which certainly made the exploration worthwhile.

The yellow eye of the female and purple/crimson/blue hue of the crown feathers are striking features in the first photo. The transparency afforded by the sunshine backlighting the second image is a treat allowing identifcation of this bird of prey soaring on the thermals.

Black-necked stork

Whistling kite

On the return journey - well the way home really, since the "return" began when I left home 😉 - I ended up deciding to drive by Lismore Lake. While it is some time since there has been a good body of water in it, there remains plenty of long reeds/weeds and it is still a lovely walk along the bank between the Lake and the river on the eastern side. This afternoon was a real treat and capped a really good day with some fantastic images ... they are presented in the order they were sighted rather than necessarily grouped together in species as I tend to do in these posts.

Each labelled bird below has been featured in earlier posts, but some of these are much clearer images. I rate the ones here of the rainbow bee-eater my best (of this bird) so far. The light was just about prefect and the setting in the pine tree really complimented the most gorgeous colours of these birds. The long tail "streamers" indicate the male. The white-breasted wood swallows need little said about how they make a simple palette look so wonderful and soft and their posing this day showed off that magificence in groups, pairs and as singles - really special. The photos included of the scarlet honeyeater are as clear as I have been able to capture so far, if not quite as beautiful as the contrasting ones I captured in the jacaranda in Bellingen - they still look magnificent in this riverside winter bush setting. Hell, even the humble figbirds (by comparison) look really good!

Enjoy my fantastic end to a great day 😁!

White-breasted woodswallows

Rainbow bee-eater

Rainbow bee-eater

A pair of white-breasted woodswallows

And then there were four (almost syncronous)

Proudly perched loner

A female figbird

A pair of scarlet honeyeaters in the open

A single white-breasted woodswallow not so exposed

A "shy" lone scarlet honeyeater

A male figbird (the red eye patch).

To South Ballina via Pimlico (August 2020)

Generally a productive journey for bird photos, but always for the scenery and serentiy of the south side of the Richmond River. Usually I would drive to Wardell through Alstonville and Meerschumvale, but this day I went via Pimlico, and Wardell. Lovely clear blue sky with the very occasional puff of cloud and rather unusually, very still with little wind.

This first photo was on fallow Pimlico fields and captures the grandeur of the large white-necked heron. Not quite showing off the subtle richness of the wing feathers as the light was not quite right, but happy to get close enough for the upright pose as they tend to be very skittish in the open.

The next two photos show the sacred kingfisher on a power line rather than a rock or tree branch. Also around Pimlico on the roadside offering a clear view of the river bank. The light this late morning shows a much richer and darker blue in the plummage than I generally see in the Shaws Bay birds and was almost thinking it might have been a forest kingfisher. The headbands of feathers are the giveaway. The iridesence and luminence of the plummage is really shown off in this light and stands out even against the blue sky background. Nice poses checking me out and then just back to scanning the river and bank - far more interesting😊.

This photo of a young nankeen kestrel I decided to include to show off that these are not big birds. Here the features of the arm of the power pole provide an excellent context to guage the size. A commanding position to "prey"!

The remainder of this post were taken along the South Ballina drive. A few excellent poses and settings for a laughing kookaburra and one of a pelican offering a sense of the stillness of the day and part of the panorama that the kookaburra was enjoying along the river. Our wonderful clear bluie skies are to be cherished ... they seldom offer anything other than a wondeful canvas!

The next three show a small part of a much larger flock of little corellas enjoying a riverside garden environment. The first photo shows an unusally co-operative and quiet group enjoying a bird bath. The second and thrid photo show a disrupter arriving (a much mroe common sight with these characters!) I love the way the vertical landing is captured, but even more the beautiful pastel yellow tinge of their underwings.

Here I have included a rare photo for me of a quail. I think it may be a brown quail but the glimpse is not all that clear and I am going more by the shape for the "quail". The rock the other side of the tree offers a sense of how easily they can camouflage in plain sight - thank goodness for movement!

The remaining photos of this post were taken at  various points at the south wall car park area right at the eastern end of the drive. A fantastic shot of a willy wagtail in full song; the next three taking short rests on a branch are as labelled, and further examples of beautiful bush song birds.

White-cheeked honeyeater

Little  wattlebird

Rainbow bee-eater

Finishing the set are some "water" birds, perhaps sea birds is an even finer description. Each is labelled and the first two taken during a brief clouding over that happened while I was walking out to the end of the wall and back. Nature offers some unexpected (to me) contrasts to be alert to.

Crested tern alone on the receding tide.

Australasian gannet hunting

Osprey searching

Late Broadwater afternoon (Jul 2020)

Ending July with another gorgeous clear sunny day encouraged me to head again to Broadwater National Park in expectation. The late afternoon sun, as it turned out, provided some wonderful context. While the birds will not be new to you (or me), they remain fascinating because of the way they are noticed and "seen" differently as their environment constantly changes (or sometimes just seems as magnificent as last time!).

This time the two pied oystercatchers in close proximity looking down on the beach from the lookout..

Here the iridescent browns and greys of the bar-shouldered dove are highlighted as the shadows encroach the roadside. A treat when they are not so skittish to observe in such good light.

And, right on cue (late afternoon sortee for both of us!), I managed a glimpse of a white-bellied sea eagle heading south scouting the waves as I was wandering north behind the sand dunes. As I noted above, same clear blue sky, same gliding position of the bird ... still mesmerising!

While it was getting quite late, I dedcided to head down the Hind Dune track to the south a little way ... just in case 😊. It was worth it.

First this lovely pair of crested pigeons perched in a dead tree. The shadows accentuate a beautiful contrast to the starkness of the dead wood and the wonderful clear blue sky to the south west. No doubt the effect would have been more beautiful had I ventured off-track into the bush to the west of the birds - but my chances of doing so without disturbing them I decided to be minimal (and I prefer to remain on the track and do my bit to preserve the pristine park; just enjoy what I can by what is provided).

Next, to the east of the track this time, was a little wattlebird camouflaged well in a banksia. Fortunatley for the photographer they make a lot of distinctive noise and move confidently from tree and bush very often. Both sound and vision allow them to be located ... just not so often they emerge from heavy cover & remain still for good poses like this one (thank you).

Finally, reflecting the most prolific of the birds on this short late afternoon walk, is a study of the white-cheeked honeyeater. These birds are really active and relatively curious; they are certainly not at all worried about finding a perch in the open on dead branches from which to project their songs and seek insects. Here the "study" offers a variety of profiles supporting the name of the bird, their willingness to be seen (aided by the few yellow wing feathers) and in the final photo you can see the success of one of the hunts in the bill - remember a click on a photo brings up a slide show with a much larger version of the image. 

Another of our beautiful songbirds!