Leap year along the wall

I have not been out and about as much as I would like for some time due to some lingering health issues around some inflammation that the medicos seem to be having difficulty tracking down. However, recently I decided I just needed to go for a walk along the Ballina north wall just to see how I went, and I took my camera along too.

As you will see below, some regulars were sighted along one of my favourite spots for birding, if not quite the variety sometimes spotted. It was good to get a decent walk in too 😉.

As a precaution to see how I fared on my first longer walk for a while I headed out to the end of the wall first up. On the way out I snaffled this crested tern in full glide, looking very sleek against the blue sky with some cotton wool cloud dusting the top of the frame.

Returning to the sea rescue tower you could hear the whistle of the osprey and looking up there was an adult and two young ones perched on the radio antennae arms. The adult was steadying itself from a gust of wind, and the young ones were just showing their steadiness and ruffled feathers in the wind. This augered well for some later action ...

It was good to have the camera out again and these early sightings provided a little extra spring in my step so I decided to head back along the wall to see how the legs held up. Along the way on the river side there were some willing participants posing for some individual and group photos, showing off a few different characteristics - the darter having a bit to say, and later enjoying a really good neck scratch; a pair of black cormorants showing off their bright crystal blue eyes and finely scalloped feathers as they variously swam and spent time on the boulders. I especially enjoying capturing the final one of this set where the black cormorants are almost symmetrical in their gaze from the same boulder.

This final sequence is a selection of three photos from many more taken of the same ospreys that spent a good deal of time on the lamp posts and diving into the bay as they were learning to hunt. The one shown here was the adult being successful and taking the prey back to the radio antennae arm and not sharing with the younger ones at all. It was quite the treat to see so many dives and attempts to fish their dinner - made the trek back to car a little easier with a few more stops!

The road less travelled home (June)

We decided that our trip back from Sydney would take the road less travelled rather than simply follow the freeway as normal, or head back up the NE Highway (bit cold and potentially treacheous this time of year when not used to winter travel). While mostly about taking in the magnificent coastal scenery along our route, a few opportunities were taken to enjoy the birdlife.

This meant we followed the old Pacific Highway to Newcastle on our first day, ending up at Fern Bay, not far from Port Stephens and Fingal Bay. My wife wanted to explore those areas which her family had frequented for childhood holidays. The trip was very pleasant because there was very little traffic and a reduced speed limit most of the way, so it was easy to take in the scenery so often by-passed using the freeway.

After exploring that very picturesque but rapidly developing area, next day we headed to the other side of Port Stephens and stayed a night at Tea Gardens. The afternoon of our arrival we went for a short exploratory drive and came across quite the mix of water birds sharing the spoils of the shallows as the sun begun its evening descent. Pelicans, an egret, silvergulls, little black cormorants and a white-faced heron. Each seemed to get their share!

Next morning we headed off through Mungo Brush to Buladelah. Nice coastal rainforest and heathland then farmland. We intended to take the Lakes Way to Forster via Seal Rocks and Boomerang Beach, alas a bad car accident led traffic in both directions to be turned around. Still we made Forster for the night and enjoyed sunset and sunrise over the main beach and ocean pool from our seafront room.

Next day after a brief drive around we headed north to Black Head, by-passed Taree and then into Harrington and Crowdy Head. We took the dirt road through the Crowdy Bay National Park to Dunbogan, Laurieton and North Haven to stay the night - my turn to reminisce from our childhod holidays in that location. The stay was cool, and a visit up North Brother Mountain {Dooragan} lookout next morning a highlight.

We went for a walk out the Dunbogan sea wall on the cloudy and windy afternoon we arrived and were treated to the following three sightings.  First up a Brahmini kite hovering into the strong wind.

Next, this young darter was (it turned out!) straining on a boulder, and the second photo captures the "surprise" as it examines what it had just excreted - "did I really just do that?" And they say photos never lie!

The final treat for this little excursion was a pair of sooty oystercatchers flying in for a rest and brief explore on the boulders down near the water edge. That water offers a nice backdrop to the birds on the boulder and serves to highlight the striking red/orange of their beaks and eye ring. Like the "plain" white of the cockatoo in the previous post, the "plain" black is very dressed up with that red/orange and the pink of the legs.

From here we headed further north via Port Macquarie and a drive through Limeburners Creek National Park to Crescent Head and on to South West Rocks for our final night before heading home. Both final days were simply fantastic weather and we were treated along the way to many whale sightings at stunning coastal locations. Have to include these two shots for some substantiation of the claims - SW Rocks beach lookig to Trial Bay and a pod of whales heading north from the Smokey Cape Lighthouse.

Set out below are some photos from around various locations near SW Rocks - the birds in each are identified under the photos. This is a location we are returning to for a more extensive stay and explore in early August - here's hoping the weather is still as spectacular!

Pacific black duck

Pelicans (and chestnut teal butts)

Chestnut teals foraging

Chestnut teals resting on the bank

Young black-winged stilt foraging

Black-winged stilt pair in disagreement

Same pair foraging after resolution

The ubiquitous white ibis

Young pied butcherbird

Pair of crested pigeons seeking seed

Pied butcherbird in full voice

The day before winter

Way back in 2015 when I was first starting to use my new FZ200 I was fortunate enough to get a couple of good photos of a sacred kingfisher on the ocean side of the Ballina north wall. You can review them here. This was before I even had an interest in photographing birds and was much more intersted in just trying out the camera.

Any reader with even a passing interest in this blog will know Shaws Bay and the Ballina north wall is one of my favourite walks and sites for checking birds. This post is another from that location. However, the reason for the recollection is since those first photos of the sacred kingfisher, I have longed to see another on the ocean side. Until yesterday my longing had been forlorn. 

So my first study in this final post for autumn 2023 is a sacred kingfisher near the end of the wall on the ocean side, perched on a rusting iron ring allowing me to exercise a limited artistic eye taking advantage of the mand-made elements among the boulders. Clearly not the first bird to perch on the iron ring, but together with the shadow and rust stains on the cement block a nice context is provided. For me, it was worth the wait 😀.

Heading back along the river side of the wall was another familiar siight - a darter drying out on a boulder in the full sun. This next study tries to capture (as is often the case) both the flexibility and elegance of these dangerously sleek pointed creatures as they stretch their necks to preen their backs ... we can only hope when we get an itch!!

A trip along the wall without a willy wagtail trying to get your attention would be a walk without hope for our environment. This one was more than content to allow me close.

Next was a white-faced heron stalking the draining channels and sand flats on the final ebb of the tide in the bay.

My decision to take this walk in the middle of a gorgeous late autumn day was rewarded again as I continued along the river. On the bay side I was privileged to photograph different sacred kingfishers and the white-faced heron downing morsels from their patient vigilance and successful hunts.

The first two photos here show the tiny size of these very efficient hunters. This was on a rock on the sandy side of the bay. The distance and the boulders show the relative size of the kingfisher; the first photo was after it swooped the hapless prawn on the sand flat and just as it alighted back on the boulder. The second photo shows the hatch open as the prawn heads down to be savoured! Despite the distance, it is a treat to have captured nature in action like this.

Next was the same white-faced heron from earlier downing a small fry it had just caught in the shallows. Different type of patient stalking, but equally efficient!

I have included this next sacred kingfisher sequence in an effort to convey the way they scan their environment from their perch, notice something, fly off & swoop and head to a nearby perch to savour their successful hunt.

First photo is the bird looking across the draining sand banks; second photo is the head swivelled to the left as it scans. Like the photos at the beginning of this post, you again might notice the power of the poo to indicate where some patience may be rewarded! As I was refocusing it flew off to the RIGHT and perched on the rock in the final two photos. When it settled for the third photo it had swooped on a crab and was in the process of devouring it. The final photo I couldn't resist including as it seems to have noticed me and turned to ask if I had noticed just how clever it was while showing off that beautiful plummage... well, that I most certainly had 😁!

On the final part of the return journey to the car two more treats awaited. 

The first of these was a pair of sacred kingfishers on the wall side fo the bay perched on some dead branches. The treat here was their proximity and the light being almost overhead affording an excellent showing of their iridescent plummage. Sometimes the day just keeps on giving!

Finally, and just when you thought the day could not get better, this superb fairy wren came out to play 😃. So wonderful when these delicate birds decide it is OK to share their space with you. You can only admire them. Here you can see the blue of the young male starting to emerge. If the posing on top of the fence post does not convince you how tiny they are, the one on the wire most certainly will! 

And so autumn ends on a high for this happy bird photographer. 

All I need now is for NSW to win a State of Origin game to close it out!