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.
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| White-cheeked honeyeater |
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| Little wattlebird |
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| 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.
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| Crested tern alone on the receding tide. |
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| Australasian gannet hunting |
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| Osprey searching |
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