A September day at Rocky Creek Dam

Always a great spot for a picnic and a walk, this afternoon was no exception. Not so much bird activity as other times, but still my review of photos allowed the selection of some wonderful portraits of 3 iconic Australian bush birds:

• Eastern rosella
• Sulphur-crested cockatoo
• Laughing kookaburra

The colour contrasts are a joy to behold. Given the diversity of colour, it is amazing the extent to which each manages camouflage - listening and watching for movement are your friends. A real treat to savour them in a pristine environment like this.

Enjoy.

Random August sightings

Like much of this year, August was more about having my camera handy whenever we were out and about - no specific outings seeking birds. Still, ample good shots of some favourites in some familiar places.

In the scrub parkside at Bangalow while enjoying the company of our visiting family from the UK this grey fantail offered a curious peek as it alighted on a dead hanging vine frond. The white highlights on the head and tail are clear from this photo.

Also present were a pair of magpie larks enjoying a dip in the creek. The first two below are wading deeper for a wash; the second photo showing one of them enjoying that dip; the third photo the scrubbed up & sparkling clean pee-wee after the dip!

And the final photo from Bangalow was this pied currawong appearing to offer a "curtsy" in gratidue for being noticed balancing on the back of the park bench. The powerful beak and cautious yellow eyes a feature as always.

The remainder of this post are photos from around Shaws Bay and Shelly Beach foreshore.

First three are welcome further sightings of a couple of sacred kingfishers. The early afternoon sun provides very good views of the striking plumage. A common perch on rocks providing a view across the low-tide waters for any hint of movement to be swooped on.

The next several photos are individually labelled and were taken at various points along the wall.

Figbird among the dead branches

Young pied butcherbird about to devour a crab

Masked lapwing strutting along the beach

A darter drying out in the sun

Slightly different angle

 

Little pied cormorant dried out and ready to dive again

The next four photos are a selection of subperb fairy wrens enjoying the sun and offering some nice peeks, as they often do, to highlight their small stature ... "brown" they may be, but delicately beautiful and fragile for sure!

Next up is a pair of crows smooching in a pandanus palm. The second photo was one of them that loitered a little longer for a single portrait. The front on view of the beak from the underside is a little scary, especially with those white eyes having me in clear sight!

And finally a pale-yellow robin standing upright on a tree root showing off its prize black beetle from a successful hunt. Time watching well spent.

Meandering in July

Slim pickings in July, but a few encounters to share featuring mainly water birds & waders,

First up is a series of three photos showing a little pied cormorant getting into a relaxed position to soak up the sun and dry out after spending some time swimming and diving.

This next series of three highlights a pair of pied oystercatchers reposing on some rocks, turned into the wind tucking their beaks along their back and standing on one leg. The red eyes are (as always) a strong feature. The individual poses are zoomed in on each bird of the pair.

Even the much maligned noisy miner can look exquisite in the right light and surroundings. This photo shows off the range of colour in the plumage and the black and yellow highlights looking across the yellow beak. The light weight of the bird is demonstrated by the way the milk thistle remains upright as the miner clings vertically on the stem. Sometimes so much can be noticed with time to enjoy the environment.

Here is a nice shot of two pairs of Australian wood ducks enjoying the shaded grass under a tree ... not a care in the world for a while at least ... 

Next up are two common "black" birds. First, the magpie enjoying the view across the river on some debris branches wedged ashore after the earlier floods - that beak looking powerful; second, one of those willy wagtails perched on a steel gate post with the ever-present cheeky gaze at the camera.

Finally, on a drive through some sodden cane fields north of Woodburn I managed to photograph this trio of water bird waders near a canal, culminating with two of them sharing the same lens, offering a neat contrast. A feature of these birds here is the similar shape of the bodies, though each clearly different in bulk; also the similar longs legs enabling the wading through waters and marsh of considerable depth.

 

Beach & Bush 3 (June)

This third and final June post focuses on a walk out the north wall at Ballina (that's the "beach" part) and finally a visit to my brother's Meerschuam Vale farmlet (that the "bush" part). No new sightings this time, but some wonderful ones and very willing poseurs and excellent portraits ...

I begin with a pied butcherbird peeking around a trunk. While in shadow, the light offers a splendid profile for that hook on the beak.

Next is the beautiful, sleek and graceful Australasian gannet in full glide. A future aim is get one in full dive - now that is a sight to behold.

The great egret (extra long neck relative ot the body) is a regular stalker of these reed beds during lower tides and is being none too stealthy parting the reeds on this hunt.

The next two photos feature a couple of common smaller birds on this walk. First is the brown honeyeater - nearly always "spotted" by following the melodious tunes of its call. Second the effervescent willywagtail, this time perched on the guide wire just having a curious peek out the corner of its eye.

Next up are some more wading birds on the forage. First, the white ibis poking about under the reeds in the mud. Then two photos highlighting a pair of white-faced herons with breeding plummage. Each offers the pair in unusual positions as they explore the crevices around boulders near the water edge.

Next offering is a series of portraits from some friendly and gorgeous superb fairy wrens. As always with these special birds the environment offers a wonderful sense of just how tiny they are. This day, they allowed me special close access, so the grip on their various perches shows their toes in full action too. Such a series of images are a special treat for me 😊

The sacred kingfisher has been elusive on recent walks so it was encouraging to see this one in full sunshine showing off that wonderful blue plummage as it surveys the kingdom from the throne!

Here is another follow-up of one of the young masked lapwings just to show you even more definition as it continues to forage successfully.

I decided during my review to include this shot of the cloud formations on this afternoon - it struck me as a really good example of the type of day it just might be really great to have that ability to fly & soar above our wonderful world 😋.

And now for three photo portraits of the common (love their soft "cooing") and under-rated spotted turtle dove. Their palette is simple and complex in both colour and pattern - subtle, sharp and yet soft. The enigma that is birds. You be your own judge though.

Next two photos are of the ubiquitous magpie lark with the well known "pee-wee" call we are all so familiar with. Always willing to approach, so often photogenic. Those eyes are eerily glasslike at times, but clearly very sharp.

Now for the "bush" part, a special treat sighting this pair of tawny frogmouths roosting up in a fork of an old avocado tree. Several alternate views offered, some with eyes more open than others, and especially notice those John Howard (or Robert Menzies if you prefer) eyebrows most prominent in first and last photos 😠

And finally a grey fantail reposing on a fine shady branch between sweeps seeking flying insects and twittering in flight (real twittering!!).