Tassie V - Franklin on the Huon

Unfortunately I have a bit of a blank spot between leaving the east coast and getting to Hobart - only a small one as most of the time was travel. There was a glitch with the SD card I had in teh camera and it just shut the camera down 😕. Main thing I know I missed was our time in the Hobart Botanic Gardens and quite a few young birds that were in the grounds. Thankfully, I finally figured out it was an error/fault with the card, so a new one reassured me the camersa was still working fine😓.

So, the day we arrived at our next B&B in Franklin was another picture perfect one. Even while getting settled the sparrows had attracted my attention.

The Huon was showing its best side this afternoon and so it was "necessary" to go for a walk along the banks to see what I could see! First up, to confirm the "pretty as a picture" bit ... looking south.

And just to confirm that, looking north from where I began my river bank meander, I spotted this crow perched on the remains of a big old log near the bank. Shows off the scene, along with the photo above, I was enjoying very nicely 😀.

I shall simply label each photo with the bird type & brief comment. Great setting, so really good to see such a variety of bird life making the most of this pristine environment.

Common starlings gathering food for their young.

Pacific black duck cruising.

Australian wood duck pair also cruising.

Little pied cormorant drying off.

Two eurasian coots keeping close check.

I break the pattern here to show this set of three capturing a silvereye as it moved among the foliage maintaining a good camoflage. Each photo captures just enough of a glimpse with the final one showing the acrobatic skills and the greatest exposure of its self in the set.

Chestnut teal cruising & showing off that iridesence.

Another one, just resting from paddling!

Australian wood duck - shiny green wing tip not often visible

A dandy mallard showing off his finery in the afternoon!

Three eurasian coots in formation.

Because they are so cute, and very young, a special set here for an expansive family of Australian wood ducks here. First with mum carefully overseeing their grazing; then a couple focusing on the ducklings keeping to their tight huddle; finally just reassuring you that mum was not far away at all!

Nearing the end of my return leg I spotted these masked lapwings - a plovers corner! Might have thoght these young ones were not needing such close parental guarding, but apparently not quite yet 😁 - at least they were quiet!

Tosha Falls (Apr)

A visit to Tosha Falls just outside Alstonville sounds like an attractive outing ... and it is a very pleasant walk back up Maguires Creek to get the following view of the Falls ...

But of course, this is not a travel blog 😀, rather it is about what you might see along the way during the travels, far less than any destination. And it is a LOT better to have a heading for the post that sounds more attractive. In order to reach the Falls as you trek along Maguires Creek, you essentially follow the fence line of the Alstonville Sewage Treatment Works ... and THAT attracts the birds along with the protective vegetation along the creek banks. You just hope the wind is not from the east or north!

So here are some bird finds from this walk on this fine April day ...

First up is a willy wagtail being relatively still on a fallen branch. The characteristic white eyebrow and white breast are featured. Black and white features in so many intersting ways among our birds! The contexts here, and for the pair of red-browed finches in the second photo, offer a sense of scale for the small size of these characters!

Next is a pair of photos showing the variety and volume of waterbirds taking advantage of two barrages that float in the main sewage ponds - one straight, one curved. Pacific black ducks, Australian wood ducks, coots and dusky moorhens all soaking up the sun and sharing the space peacefully.

Among the young wattles beside the creek I heard, and eventually saw due to the movement, this silvereye. Their effective camouflage is on show as is the very distinctive silver eye ring for which it is named. Again, the context demonstrates how their size complements their camouflage very effectively, let alone their speed of activity 😕.

A day in Casino (Jan 2021)

Covid has restricted most of us in so many unexpected ways. Those restrictions have seen 2021 be a far less productive period than I had anticipated as my retirement began in earnest. Far from complaining, I am indeed grateful that Covid remains largely absent from our region, and not affecting my loved ones (at least directly and excluding the impact of myriad lockdowns).

So most of my ventures have been very local - yard local. There have been occasional forays as you will see, but the year has been used to "catch up" my backlog of blog posts so I can begin "simply" adding a post for each experience moving forward.

I begin with a few shots from a venture to Casino wetlands in January. Some from the journey there, some at the wetlands and finally some on the return journey.

A dollarbird on a wire

An osprey tending the nest

A common myna

A pair of common mynas

And now for the period at the wetlands.

I was not stealthy enough approaching on the very dry and dusty gravel road to avoid disturbing a wading white-necked heron; fortunately I managed to snap this photo as it ascended in flight (fright?). Looking very majestic with the wing span, long legs trailing and the long white neck in "navigation" position.

Next, a couple of resting black swans taking a break from foraging and preening for a little while. They appear to have two bemused eurasian coots in the foreground wondering just what they are seeing 😕.

Here I managed to photgraph some kind of grass bird near the top of a strand of long grass. I confess to not being able to identify this one, but I really like the way the scene demonstrates how light and small the bird is clutching the stem near the long grass head.

The next two photos were taken at the car park back at the start of the road in the picnic area. A wee walk was required so my meanderings above and below were interrupted for a short while.

A pair of spotted turtle doves disappearing into the grass

A figbird in the gum tree - slim pickings!

The next two photos offer two very interesting perspectives of the same wetland. The first one, looking north, shows a wading black-necked stork (jabiru). What struck me reviewing this photo was the lack of evidence of a body of water (despite the telltale very verdant location of wading) and sadly, the evidence in the distance of the ever-encroaching built environment of suburbia. Long may it remain in the distance!

This second shot, looking south (ironically towards town) and in the opposite direction to the one above. Clearly there is a good body of water (what a difference the wider view afforded by our own wonderful lens (the eye) can make to perspective. Here the only hint of a built environment the photo offers is the fence at the edge of the water interupting the natural beauty of the scene. The synchronicity of the pair of black swans gliding across the water is quite stunning.

And finally, calling in to see the grandkids on the way home I caught this house sparrow making it's point very loudly for anyone who cared to listen. The final photo below is a brown honeyeater making the most of the nectar in purple flowers of a bush by the front gate. 

December (2019) delights

Closing out another wonderfully fulfilling year of photgraphing birds. What a joy it is!

Not too much commentary here, I'll let the images do the talking for themselves and just be sure to identify the birds (but not every one where there may be a sequence. Remember, if you click on a photo you will open a slide show of just the pictures and you can view them full screen by default.

Thanks for joining me on my journey 👏

Pelican in glide flight

A pelican flock keeping an eye on the silver gulls!

A dusky moorhen

A eurasian coot

The next three photos were a treat to be able to get so close to the royal spoonbill, The breeding plummage (as head-dress) is in full view, as are teh red and yellow eye "make-up". The wonderful bill indentations also. I share two standing perspectives and one feeding action.

I had to include these two from my review simply because they offer a sense of the beautiful environment (this is the glades behind Byron at ByronResort). They both "have wings" too ... there is a bee hovering over the flower in the first one; the second one has a blue dragon fly hovering over one of the buds - your challenge to find it !).

The majesty of an egret!

Quite the weapon at the end of those sharp eyes!

Always on the lookout ...

Laughing kookaburra peeking ...

Watching intently.

Back to the most common of them all. A fine series of portraits here, again amply demonstrating the sublime palette of the rainbow lorikeet. We are so fortunate to have such gorgeous settings in our yard.

A humble squeaker (noisy miner) competing for nectar.

Little wattlebird in the same competition!

One final set of portraits of birds enjoying our front garden birdbath. This time the noisy friarbird. A single one that emboldened another to try it out too!

And a final image of a feather left behind ... a metaphor for the year that was 2019, now "left behind" but holding so many memories to build on in 2020. I look forward to you sharing my Bird Photo Gallery as it continues to be curated.