Tag Archives: Bird Photography

A Day in the Sun

Posted on July 18, 2015 | Leave a comment

A beautiful sunny day in Melbourne today. Met up with Dave E down at St Kilda Marina to look for some uncommon birds. No luck for me but we did find the more common birds and enjoyed some rare sunshine. Walked back up Elster Creek and ran into Gio (another local birder) and took a few more pics. Quite nice to be out and in the sun for a change – it has been so cold and wet lately.

Currawong, Elster Creek

Currawong, Elster Creek

Little Wattlebird, Elwood

Little Wattlebird, Elwood

Cormorants and Gull

Cormorants and Pacific Gull

Great Egret, Elster Creek

Great Egret, Elster Creek

Great Egret, Elster Creek

Great Egret, Elster Creek

En Plein Air Artist

En Plein Air Artist

Leave a comment

Posted in Birds, Black & White, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Hunters and Prey

Posted on July 16, 2015 | Leave a comment

The small birds are very aware of what is around and above them and are always on the lookout for the raptors that are everywhere at the Western Treatment Plant lagoons. The images below are from a few visits to the lagoons over the last several weeks. Even in winter it is a haven for many species of birds.

Superb Fairy Wren

Superb Fairy Wren

Superb Fairy Wren

Superb Fairy Wren

Little Grassbird

Little Grassbird

Zebra Finch, Western Treatment Plant,

Zebra Finch

Blue Winged Parrot

Blue Winged Parrot

Red Necked Avocet

Red Necked Avocet

Black Falcon

Black Falcon

Brown Falcon

Brown Falcon

Black Kite, Western Treatment Plant, Victoria

Black Kite

Black Shouldered Kite

Black Shouldered Kite

Leave a comment

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Littlest Falcon

Posted on July 14, 2015 | 1 comment

The Nankeen Kestrel is Australia’s smallest Falcon. It prefers the grasslands and open forests. It hovers or perches and watches for movement below and pounces  or drops straight down. There are a number of them at the moment at the Western Treatment Plant and surrounding grasslands and paddocks. I took photos of the two below while waiting for sunset and the Barn Owls to come out from their daytime roosts under the large Pine Trees in the area .

Nakeen Kestrel, Weribee, Victoria

Nakeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)

Nakeen Kestrel, Weribee, Victoria

Nakeen Kestrel, Weribee, Victoria

1 Comment

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , ,

Ghost Owl

Posted on July 12, 2015 | Leave a comment

Last night while trying to figure how to use my long lens to take a night-time photograph of an owl that was high in a pine tree, I took this image. One of many that was blurred and unusable as an ID shot but interesting as an abstract image.

Ghost Owl, Beach Road, Weribee

Ghost Owl, Beach Road, Weribee

Leave a comment

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Barn Owl – Victorian Lifer 311

Posted on July 11, 2015 | Leave a comment

Over the last few weeks people have been reporting a number of Barn Owls along one of the roads at the Western Treatment Plant. I decided that I would take a look and see if I could find any – I have never actually seen any in the wild before. I went mid afternoon and waited for sunset and for the owls to appear. I eventually saw 3 and took many photos. None turned out well except for these two images. Very pleased to get my 311th Victorian bird and to actually get a few images as well.

Barn Owl, Western Treatment Plant

Barn Owl, Western Treatment Plant

Barn Owl, Western Treatment Plant

Barn Owl, Western Treatment Plant

Leave a comment

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , ,

On the Hunt

Posted on July 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

A very photogenic raptor – The Black Shouldered Kite. There are at least a dozen of them at the Western Treatment Plant at the moment. They catch mice and other smaller prey. There must be quite of bit of food around for them as they have started to nest already and it is only mid-winter here in Southern Victoria.

Click image to enlarge

Black Shouldered Kite, Western Treatment Plant

Black Shouldered Kite, Western Treatment Plant

Leave a comment

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Flight

Posted on July 9, 2015 | 3 comments

A few images from one of the recent visits I have made to the Western Treatment Plant in the last month. It is a great place to photograph birds in flight – always a tough subject. There are many raptors always on the prowl that are constantly spooking the flocks on the water giving you opportunities to practice. The reaction of the flocks tell you that something good is above and you have to quickly spin around and look for the raptor that is causing the fuss. Some are ignored like the Black Shouldered Kite and others are taken very seriously – like the large mature Whistling Kites.

Click image to enlarge.

Pink Eared Ducks, Western Treatment Plant

Large flock of Pink Eared Ducks (aka Zebra Duck), Western Treatment Plant – one of my favourite ducks  – very photogenic and quite strange looking, and no other Aussie duck sounds like it.

Black Shouldered Kite, Western Treatment Plant

Black Shouldered Kite on the hunt – beautiful wing structure and displaying its black shoulder.

Whiskered Tern, Western Treatment Plant,

Whiskered Tern – two were flying and hunting along the lagoons and one would keep dive-bombing the other. This pic is of the lower tern avoiding its hunting partner that had just dived past it.

Black Kite, Western Treatment Plant

Black Kite – a different angle

Whistling Kite, Western Treatment Plant,

Whistling Kite prowling the lagoons.

3 Comments

Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Determined and Focussed

Posted on July 8, 2015 | Leave a comment

A few weeks ago a friend (Ron J)  and I stopped by Pencil Park in Keysborough to have a look around and see what was new. It was a nice sunny day and pretty mild for a winter’s day but it was quiet with not many birds around. We watched the wetlands for a while and took a few shots of the birds like Dusky Moorhens (Gallinula tenebrosa) and Egrets getting a late afternoon feed.

This particular Moorhen had a determined look about it as it hunted around the fringe and ate what it could find in the foliage along the water’s edge.

Dusky Moorhen, Pencil Park, Keysborough,

Dusky Moorhen , Pencil Park, Keysborough

 

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , ,

A gutsy attitude

Posted on July 7, 2015 | 2 comments

Amongst the many bird species seen and photographed over the last few weeks at the Western Treatment Plant, this little guy is one of my favourites – he is inquisitive, territorial and not afraid to get up and have a look at what is happening in his neighbourhood. I first saw him and heard his melodic call at one of the permit gates entering the Treatment Plant. He dashed off after seeing me but I used my playback call on my phone and he responded and stuck around for a while looking for the intruder. When calling he wags his upright tail back and forth like a battle flag…

Striated Fieldwren

Striated Fieldwren  – Calamanthus Fuliginosus

Striated Fieldwren

II

Striated Fieldwren

III

2 Comments

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Elwood Tawny Frogmouths

Posted on July 4, 2015 | 1 comment

I heard about this pair of Tawny Frogmouths last week and had a chance to look for them late last Sunday evening – I found them but it was too dark to take any pictures. After a week at work and a morning of rain I finally just got back from observing them again and taking a few pics. They are still one of my favourite birds to photograph. This pair is a bit unusual in that they are roosting in an exposed spot over the road near a suburban intersection in a large plane tree without any leaves. They still have decent camouflage with their colouring but just stick out a bit to a keen observer. I have added these guys to my local birds  page.

Tawny Frogmouths, Elwood

Tawny Frogmouths, Elwood

Tawny Frogmouths, Elwood

II

Tawny Frogmouths, Elwood

III

Tawny Frogmouths, Elwood

IV

Tawny Frogmouths, Elwood

V

1 Comment

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , ,

Juvenile Grey Butcherbird

Posted on June 27, 2015 | 2 comments

While looking for a couple of recently reported Boobooks along  Elster Creek today, I came across this young Grey Butcherbird. It was hunting in the school veggie patch. They eat a variety of food including other small birds. The brown and yellow feathering indicates a juvenile. I often hear and see these birds around the neighbourhood but this my first pic of a local bird.

Juvenile Grey Butcherbird

Juvenile Grey Butcherbird

2 Comments

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , ,

A Rare Royal Visitor

Posted on June 25, 2015 | 3 comments
Only once before have I seen a Royal Spoonbill roosting at the Elster Creek lake in the golf course. On a recent sunny Winter’s day I walked along the creek doing my rounds and I noticed a large pure white bird taking a nap on a log. It was larger than the local Egret. I spent some time quietly watching the Spoonbill and taking a few shots. The bird stretched, yawned, swapped legs and generally napped. The Spoonbill gave me a good look at the bill and how well it is designed for working in the sand and mud. It uses the bill in the water and down to the sandy bottom (40cm or so)  and hunts for shrimp and in freshwater mud it looks for small fish. It uses a side to side motion until something hits the sensitive part and is quickly scooped up.  It was the first time I got a good close look at the Royal Spoonbill and they have a remarkable face and bill and the toes impressed me as well. I have not noticed how big and versatile they are. Another bird I can add to the local birds list. 
Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

II

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

A bit of a stretch

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

Underside of the bill

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

Seeing the sensor pads in the wide part of the  bill

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

Well balanced with splayed toes

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

Wing stretch

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

Royal Spoonbill, Elster Creek

3 Comments

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , ,

Galah vs Dandelion

Posted on June 24, 2015 | 2 comments

Recently on a beautiful sunny Winter’s day, moving around the golf course and trying to avoid the wayward shots of beginner golfers, I came across a pair of galahs feeding on grass seeds along one of the fairway edges. They let me get fairly close and did not move off until a Magpie barged into the pair to investigate their food source – a defenceless dandelion seed head.

Galahs, Elster Creek,

Galahs, Elster Creek,

Galah, Elster Creek

Yum Yum

Galah, Elster Creek

II

Galah, Elster Creek

A miffed Galah after a Magpie crashed the dinner table…

2 Comments

Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Lethal Weapons?

Posted on June 22, 2015 | Leave a comment

I noticed 5 Masked Lapwings along Elster Creek recently that seemed to be in a constant state of agitation with each other. Several would stood tall and thrust out the wing spurs when another pair flew over or around them. Spur-winged Plover is an alternate name for Masked Lapwings. I knew about the spurs but had not  seem them closely until I had developed these shots. The male tends to have larger spurs.

Lapwings use these spurs against potential predators or anyone coming too close to nest sites and chicks. While the attacks can seem quite aggressive,  the birds rarely strike their ‘victims’, preferring a close approach to scare them away. The species is fearless and I have seen them go after much bigger birds like Kites and Eagles.

The birds I saw below did not attack each other but did make quite a bit of noise and displayed much posturing.

Masked Lapwing

Masked Lapwing (aka Spur Winged Plover)

Masked Lapwing

Masked Lapwing strutting his stuff

Masked Lapwing

Spurs on display

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , ,

A warm Winter’s Day and a Lifer

Posted on June 14, 2015 | Leave a comment

The Pink Robin has eluded me for several years – it even turned up in my neighbourhood last year and no matter how many times I took off to find it I kept missing out. Recent reports put one at a Melbourne Water Wetlands on Huntingdale Rd in Oakleigh East. So today I followed the bird report’s details to the backyard fences along the creek feeding into the wetlands where it had been seen and waited quietly to see if I could be lucky this time. I was visited by a Grey Fantail and while taking a few photos of it to test the conditions I saw a little flutter of wings on the fence beside me. I finally had my Pink Robin ( a female).  My 31oth Victorian Lifer.

I followed her around for an hour trying to get better shots as she moved into low scrub with a small feeding flock of Brown Thornbills, White-Browed Scrubwrens and the Grey Fantail.

Grey Fantail

Grey Fantail

Pink Robin

Female Pink Robin

Pink Robin

Many of the shots were like this one.

Pink Robin

Getting closer

Pink Robin

Pink Robin – my 310th Victorian Lifer.

Leave a comment

Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged , , , , , , , ,