I have made a few return trips to the Jawbone reserve lately. While quite exposed to the cold south-westerly winter weather, it is a place that allows fairly easy access to many birds. Typically I can find up to 50 species. A long but easy walk along the lagoons and scrub land, and the lagoons are narrow so at times a photographer can sneak up quite close. The secret is to not make eye contact and look like you are doing something else – they always seem to know when you are trying to get close and focus on them. The birds here are used to people running, walking and biking along the paths and edges of the lagoons even closer than we were and they were totally ignored…
Pink-eared Ducks, Jawbone flora and fauna reserve, WIlliamstown, Vic
Pink-eared Duck amongst Grey Teals
Pink-eared Ducks spooked by a White-bellied Sea-Eagle drifting along the coast
Male Blue-billed Duck, Jawbone flora and fauna reserve, WIlliamstown, Vic
II
Birder in the mud – sometimes you have to get cold, wet and muddy for the shot
Black-fronted Dotterel watching birders lying in the mud.
The Gap Year and Beyond 