Tawny Frogmouth

We recently has a visit from a Tawny Frogmouth that decided to spend the day sleeping in our Jacaranda tree close to the house. All was fine until the local Currawongs tried to run him out of the area and decided to move to the tennis court fence. At least in this position I was able to get some good shots of him. By next morning he had moved away.

Warracknabeal

Recent trip to the Victorian Wimmera-Mallee region highlighted the changes to the landscape following the extreme wet conditions of the last six months. There is water lying in areas not seen for many many years. The Yarriambiack Creek in Warracknabeal, which was the subject of severe flooding early in the new year, now looks a picture.

Bird photography was a bit more difficult. There are no doubt many more birds as a result of the good conditions but with water so easily available they are spread out over a wide area. At least managed to get some good shots of a pair of Eastern Rosellas

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

Fairy-Wrens feeding a family

On a recent trip to Mt. Tomah in the Blue Mountains I witnessed a pair of Superb Fairy-Wrens feeding a family of chicks. I was amazed at the constant activity and the speed at which each bird left the nest, only to return with more food a few moments later, feed the chicks, and then head off again. I could not see the nest as it was buried deep in a dense bush and I did not want to cause undue stress to the parents by getting too close. 

Heavy Rains

Recent trip to the Wimmera region in NW Victoria highlighted the effects of widespread heavy rains over many months. Here is a photo of the Yarriambiack Creek between Warracknabeal and Brim. This creek has been mostly dry for at least 10 years previous to this year. The rain has had a devastating effect on the grain harvest which would have been the best in many decades.