Tassie VI - a walk around Franklin

Didn't take long but you never know what you might see & there are plenty of attractions to stretch the time out when you want! But my focus here is on the birds ...

First up this day, before the clouds came in and the wind came up, those common starlings were hard at work keeping food up to the very hungry chicks. A constant relay between parents from dawn to dusk was observable. The first two photos below show two alternate perches often used prior to ducking into the respective nests. Both show clearly what is in store for those lucky chicks!

Next, as the morning cloud began to move over, another common sight for this trip has been the common blackbird. I have commented previously on the more orange tinge to the beak and eyes than those I have photgraphed on the mainland. Clearly evident again here. While both these first two birds are a pest, they still offer quite the sight and even mores so when the setting complements.

What's a walk around where there are noisy plovers when you are unlucky not to see a nest or a young one. Here it was a very young one on those awkward over-sized legs suporting the fur-ball body ... but they learn quickly (and grow quickly).

Ah, at last. The European goldfinch. They had teased me in earlier parts of our trip but had not been co-operative enough to allow me decent shots. I was rewarded here, on this windy and cloudy morning. First of this set of three was on a grass verge on the oposite of the main road. Looks good with the grass and small flowers it was grazing on. A little further on and around a corner the second and third photos of the set were possible because it was on the same side of the road and so just that bit closer. Love the range of colours and those flowers look that much better in the background with the nearer poses. Left me with a BIG smile for a while 😁.

Back along the river bank and a smaller family of wood ducks was spotted. Mum was herding the ducklings on, dad standing there puffing his chest out with ruffled feathers just in case anyone dared come too close 😊.

Australian wood ducks galore on a big old log wiht one at the end just making herself heard! Sharing with a pair of chestnut teals, which feature in the second close up - perhaps the female chestnut teal is giving her own back to the wood duck?

A little pied cormorant on a favoured log judging by the colour of its perch!

Just as we arrived back I was quick enough (despite the unfavourable light) to get this small flock of yellow-tailed black cockatoos as they careened overhead. If their squawk iis not distinctive enough their long slow wing beat certainly betrays them.

Tassie II - mostly waterbirds

This post is mostly dedicated to waterbirds sighted in and around the western tiers and north central area of Tasmania. A feature will be the young ones - cute but also highlighting the early struggle that their life can be!

This first series of photos was taken along a walk around a lake and gardens at a delightful rasberry farm cafe just out of Deloraine. The first two offer a Tasmanian native hen showing off for the camera - first with a spread of the wings while looking down the lens of the camera; second with a slight sideways glance and model's cross-legged step 😀.

Out on the lake, sadly with no willingness to drift or dive closer, was this grebe. The light is not entirely kind, but I think it might a hoary headed grebe by the dark stripes along the head. Not seen one of these before.

Next out on another part of the lake with much better lighting having moved around further, was this pair of chestnut teals showing how much more flamboyant the male plummage is. Also not keen on drifting too close!

Finally from this location, a parent and young native hen grazing. The chick is mimicing the parent closely. 

The next set of three photos are from our western tiers B&B grounds. First up another shot of the so far elusive green rosella, this time on the grass giving a sense of how it is their movement that gives them away not their camoflage.

There was a walled courtyard through which you drove to your parking bay. Wandering along the outside of this wall one day I snapped this sparrow keeping an eye on me as it was basking atop the wall among the grasses enjoying the sunshine.

Then looking across our front courtyard into the wonderful garden, this common blackbird was perched on a branch allowing the surrounding foliage to show off how they can look so wonderful (despite being pests).

The next five photos were taken while walking along various paths beside the Meander River in Deloraine. They feature newborns, with one exception. 

The first features three very young pacific black ducklings learning their craft; second and third show a protective native hen guarding and guiding her new chicks - small black fluff balls! The fifth photo shows a native hen with a larger brood of chicks in its care grazing along the river bank.

This fourth one in the set has no young ones - it is a mallard enjoying the afternoon space on the river.

The next two photos are offered for context. The first is a black currawong, endemic to Tasmania, perched high atop a pine tree just below Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain. I included the second photo, panned back, just to highlight the wonderful environment that is "lost" by zooming in. Different pictures allow different thousand word stories to be told!

The final series of photos I have labelled individually. They were taken during our return on a day trip to Launceston. We stumbled on the Tamar Valley Wetlands. Gloomy afternoon and some showers before we made it all the way round, but here is a glimpse of what we saw on the tidal flats & grassed areas at low tide.

Pacific black ducks with a lone chestnut teal

A purple swamp hen

A black swan making haste for the water

A black swan watching over cygnets

A black swan checking out a pool

A skittish european goldfinch in the grass

A superb fairy wren also in the grass

A purple swamphen chick struggling through the mud
looking for mum

Found her  ... looking with envy to be able to move
so easily through the mud!