Ku-ring gai Wildflower Garden wildlife

While photographing birds at the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden recently I looked across to a sunny patch in the undergrowth to see a large Red-bellied Black Snake keeping an eye on me. He was partly obscured by the foliage but got a few good shots - glad I had the 500mm lens fitted so could keep a far enough away as not to frighten him off. We were next to a large pond that has lots of frogs and as he slithered back into the reeds around the pond I could see from the size of him that the frogs kept him well fed!

Got some reasonable bird photos as well here is a one of the Yellow Robins that were very active that morning.

This one is an Eastern Whipbird that was very active in the undergrowth, as they normally would be, but occasionally would fly into a tree or in this case on a bridge.

Birds of Norfolk Island

Had some good opportunities to photograph various bird species while visiting Norfolk Island. In particular there were several good locations to observe and photograph the Red-tailed Tropicbird which is one of my favorite birds for in-flight shots.

At Point Ross there were some nesting Black-winged Petrels which was a pleasant surprise. I have only seen this species on Lord Howe Island previously. They fly at an amazing speed looking for all the world like jet fighters. Makes flight shots particularly difficult but rewarding if you can manage one or two decent images.

Saw a number of Sacred Kingfishers which are also difficult to "shoot" as they are wary and keep on the move if you approach them too quickly.

Just like Lord Howe there were numerous White Terns, another beautiful little bird. By all accounts Terns pair up for life and return to the same spot to breed each year. They have a particularly long migration each southern hemisphere winter the birds migrate to the far north around the Arctic Circle.

Norfolk Island

Just returned from a trip to Norfolk Island. Great coastal scenery, historic ruins of the penal colony that existed in the late 1700's and early 1800's (Kingston a world Heritage Site)and plenty of bird photography opportunities made for an enjoyable visit.

View from Cooks Memorial

Kingston - Quality Row

Kingston Pier and Slaughter Bay