Tag Archives: Nature Photography

New life in the mangroves…

Posted on April 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

While on a birding trip, exploring Reef Island in Western Port Bay, I found a germinating seed pod of a mangrove plant…

Reef Island Mangrove Seed germination, Reef Island, Western Port Bay, Victoria

Germinating Mangrove Seed Pod, Reef Island, Western Port Bay, Victoria

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Posted in Plants, Victoria

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Preening along the creek…

Posted on March 29, 2016 | 2 comments

While walking along Elster Creek, I photographed a flock of Australian Wood Ducks that have been in the area over the summer. Wood Ducks breed in large numbers with parents and the occasional aunt raising up to 16 chicks. The one photographed below was grooming its finer down feathers. I thought the wind was blowing the feathers forward but as I photographed the duck it raised and lowered the feathers at will as it preened.

Australian Wood Duck, Elster Creek, Victoria

Australian Wood Duck, Elster Creek, Victoria

 

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Black & White, Victoria

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Cockatoos and Barbed Wire Emus

Posted on March 27, 2016 | Leave a comment

On a day trip with a few birder friends, we explored Eynesbury Forest in the western plains about half an hour from Melbourne. Eynesbury is a growing commuter suburb established in a rural setting with a 288 hectare Grey Box Forest. It has a good variety of birds and animals and has an open under-story with good foliage for the smaller birds. I have always enjoyed walking in the area. On this particular trip we found large groups of cockatoos and parrots. I found the group below feeding on salt bush seeds. Later we explored the old colonial homestead grounds and found the barbed wire Emu.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Eynesbury Forest, Victoria

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos feeding on seeds, Eynesbury Forest

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Eynesbury Forest, Victoria

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Eynesbury Forest, Victoria

Barbed Wire Emu, Eynesbury Forest, Victoria, 20 Feb 2016

Barbed Wire Emu, Eynesbury Homestead, Victoria, 20 Feb 2016

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Posted in Birds, Black & White, Victoria

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Where do they hide?

Posted on March 19, 2016 | 2 comments

Camping at Halls Gap, in the Grampians, I got up early one morning to check out the locals birds. Walking across the road to some paddocks near a few houses I watched several deer resting after a nights feeding. Apparently there are 6 species of deer in the forests and associated farmland in Victoria and they number in the tens of thousands.  It seems incredible that I have only seen them a few times over the years. I spend so much time in the forests and yet I never see them. There is still so much to be aware of when walking around. As soon as the general campground started to wake up these two quietly wandered back up the slopes and into the forest.

Deer, Halls Gap, Grampians, Victoria

Deer, Halls Gap, Grampians, Victoria

Deer, Halls Gap, Grampians, Victoria

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Posted in Animal, Victoria

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A Growling Grass Frog

Posted on March 15, 2016 | 8 comments

On a visit to the Western Treatment Plant we stopped at the Crake pit in T-Section which due to intermittent rain has maintained a water level that is perfect for several species of Crake. Along with watching and photographing the crakes we heard a Growling Grass Frog – a frog becoming more rare and endangered in many areas of Southern Australia including Victoria. It is also called the Southern Bell Frog and rather unkindly: the Warty Swamp Frog. I quite like the name Growling Grass Frog. It has a deep drawn out call and you assume it is a larger frog but when seen it not very big at all. Recently I started to record sounds of various birds and pretty much anything else I could get close to. I have found that there are very few areas that don’t have man-made noise pollution in the background – freeways near wetlands, boats along the coast, distant chainsaws and trail bikes far out in the forests. Luckily in this case the background sounds were two rather melodic birds: the Australian Reed Warbler and a Little Grassbird.

Click on the play button to hear the Growling Grass Frog

Growling Grass Frog, Western Treatment Plant, Werribee

Growling Grass Frog, Western Treatment Plant, Werribee

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Posted in Frogs, Victoria

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Thornbill and the Magic Fantail

Posted on March 14, 2016 | 4 comments

I travelled down the Western Port Bay coastline over the long weekend and camped at Balnarring Beach with some friends. On Sunday I met up with my mate John and explored a new site – a long forested gully called Wuchatsch Reserve in Nyora.  The site had an impressive list of forest birds including Crimson and Eastern Rosellas, Spinebills, Silvereyes and a good number of honeyeaters. While watching the honeyeaters we found a small flock of Striated Thornbills and a Grey Fantail hunting flies off a branch.

Striated Thornbill, Wuchatsch Reserve, Nyora, Victoria

Striated Thornbill, Wuchatsch Reserve, Nyora, Victoria

Striated Thornbill, Wuchatsch Reserve, Nyora, Victoria

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Grey Fantail, Wuchatsch Reserve, Nyora, Victoria

Grey Fantail watching the watchers…

Grey Fantail, Wuchatsch Reserve, Nyora, Victoria

a quick jump in the air…

Not a Grey Fantai, Wuchatsch Reserve, Nyora, Victoria

and magic…

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds

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A bright red cap

Posted on March 9, 2016 | 2 comments

On a drive around the Little Desert National Park as part of my compass tour of Vic,  I stopped and walked through a copse of pine trees looking for anything that might be out in the heat. I found a group of small robins and followed them for a while trying get a clear shot through the branches. A  male Red-capped Robin finally popped into view. The robins are like little raptors, they perch on a branch and when they spot something they pounce down and catch the prey. If you stand still for a while they just ignore you and you can get quite close.

Red-Capped Robin, Little Desert National Park Victoria

Red-Capped Robin, Little Desert National Park Victoria

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Posted in Birds, Victoria

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Too hot to be bothered…

Posted on March 8, 2016 | 2 comments

By the time I had left the Nurcoung Bushland Reserve it was getting quite hot (by mid-afternoon it would be low 40’s). Driving out along the rough bush tracks,  I spotted a large male Grey Kangaroo resting in the hole he had scraped in the shade of a bit of scrub. He sat up as I walked closer and then decided it was too hot to leave the shade…he probably reckoned he could take me…I reckon he could too. I walked back to the car and left him to it…

Male Grey Kangaroo, Nurcoung Reserve, Victoria

Male Grey Kangaroo, Nurcoung Reserve, Victoria

Male Grey Kangaroo, Nurcoung Reserve, Victoria

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Posted in Animal, Victoria

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Looking for desert rarities

Posted on March 7, 2016 | 1 comment

Over Summer I spent some time travelling and camping around Victoria. For a week I camped at Halls Gap which is a small tourist town surrounded by the Grampians, an ancient mountain range eroded over millions of years down to large forested hills. The Grampians form part of the Great Dividing Range that runs downs the east coast of Australia. While based at Halls Gap I explored the nearby regions looking for bushland reserves and national parks that I had not been to before. Nurcoung Bushland Reserve is a section of heathland and stunted Mallee scrub located to the west of the Grampians and near the Little Desert National Park. I was after a few target birds in this tough dry environment– The Southern Scrub-robin and the Shy Heathwren…

Southern Scrub-robin, Nurcoung Reserve, Victoria

Southern Scrub-robin, Nurcoung Reserve, Victoria

Southern Scrub-robin, Nurcoung Nature Reserve, Victoria

Morning song before the heat of the day…

Shy Heathwren, Nurcoung Nature Reserve, Victoria

Shy Heathwren, shy and well camouflaged…

Shy Heathwren, Nurcoung Nature Reserve, Victoria

Shy Heathwren, Nurcoung Nature Reserve, Victoria

The reserve is surrounded by miles of dry farmland. The rough 4WD track I followed mostly worked its way along the boundaries of the park. I would stop and investigate at various points when I heard something interesting. On one of my stops I headed inland a bit following a small family group of busy White Browed Babblers, foraging quickly amongst the low scrub. When I returned to my car I found a local farmer checking out the car and looking around. Apparently he had been watching me from a distance and wanted to see what I was up to – they don’t get many visitors to the area. After explaining what I was doing and showing him a few photos of the Southern Scrub-robin he told me that  rare and endangered Mallee Fowl were in the reserve and that we were close to a nest that was used this year. I followed the farmer down a bush track and found the Mallee Fowl nest – a large mound of dirt and composting material, 2-3 meters at the base. No sign of the birds but hopefully it was a successful breeding season for them…

Mallee Fowl nest, Nurcoung Nature Reserve

Large Mallee Fowl nest, Nurcoung Reserve

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Posted in Victoria

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Mallacoota colours

Posted on March 2, 2016 | 4 comments

The last few days I stayed at Mallacoota I drove around to my favourite spots looking for a bit of natural local colour. Early summer is the best time to visit, you have the place to yourself as the holidays crowds don’t arrive until Xmas.

Secret Beach, Mallacoota, Victoria

Secret Beach, Mallacoota, Victoria

Bekta Point, Victoria

Bekta Point, Mallacoota, Victoria

wallagaraugh river, Victoria

Wallagaraugh River, Victoria

Mallacoota Inlet, Victoria

Mallacoota Inlet, Victoria

Mallacoota Inlet, Victoria

Mallacoota Inlet

Mallacoota Inlet, Victoria

Mallacoota Inlet from Captain Stevenson’s Point. 

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Posted in landscape, Victoria

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Lifer 321

Posted on February 23, 2016 | Leave a comment

Over Summer the Western Treatment Plant, associated wetlands and conservation ponds are home to many thousands of migratory birds that spend the breeding season in the Northern Hemisphere: Northern China, the tundra of Arctic Siberia and along the eastern Eurasian Arctic. After the breeding season the shorebirds birds migrate down south of the equator and spread out over the Southern Hemisphere including Australia and New Zealand. The return to and introduce first year birds to their favourite feeding grounds. At the Pooh Farm there are thousands of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Red-necked Stints, and many Curlew Sandpipers, and a number of Common Greenshanks and Godwits .  Every now and again a rarer species turns up. This year we have had Pectoral Sandpipers, now becoming a regular in low numbers, a few Broad Billed Sandpipers and an exciting visit by a Red-necked Phalarope. A number of regular birders patrol the main shallow lagoons looking for a rare find. It can be difficult as many of the birds look the same, come in a variety of colours and plumage even within a species and may appear as a single slightly different bird amongst thousands.

This Summer I visited with a few neighbourhood birders including Dave, an experienced birder who has specialised in various shorebirds over the years. He managed to spot the Broad-billed Sandpiper, a stint sized species with a long flat bill. On two separate occasions,  amongst thousands of birds,  Dave has managed to find this little bird based on its features and its habit. The Broad-billed Sandpiper became my  321st Lifer and my 318th State Tick.

Broad Billed Sandpiper, Western Treatment Plant

Broad-billed Sandpiper, Western Treatment Plant

Curlew Sandpiper, Western Treatment Plant

Curlew Sandpiper, Western Treatment Plant

Mixed Sandpiper stint flock, Western Treatment Plant

Mixed flock of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Curlew Sandpipers and Red-necked Stints.  Western Treatment Plant

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W marks the spot

Posted on February 22, 2016 | Leave a comment

A common sound heard on the edges of the Mallacoota township belong to a large solid bird called a Wonga Pigeon. It is a bird that prefers dense scrub and rainforest. It has distinctive markings – blue grey upper body, and spotted white belly. The markings on the chest help with camouflage, imitating shadows amongst the trees. To me it looks like a large W. It will try and stay still and hide when you walk to close but when it flushes it is a loud clatter of wings and a mad dash through the branches and away. When several flush at the same time it is loud and generally spooks everything else nearby. The one below I found on an early morning walk near my campsite. It was not overly concerned by my presence and for the first time I managed to get a few images of this species.

Wonga Pigeon, Shady Gully Reserve, Mallacotta

Wonga Pigeon, Shady Gully Reserve, Mallacoota

Wonga Pigeon, Shady Gully Reserve, Mallacotta

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Wonga Pigeon, Shady Gully Reserve, Mallacotta

Looking for a bit of breakfast…

Wonga Pigeon, Shady Gully Reserve, Mallacotta

An early morning stretch – showing the white and spots under the wings and belly – help to blend into shadows and a bright sky when flying through the tops of trees

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Posted in Birds, Victoria

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Off with the Fairies…

Posted on February 21, 2016 | 3 comments

Over the summer I have visited the Werribee Treatment Plant (the pooh farm) numerous times. Every visit produces a comprehensive list of woodlands, wetlands and shorebird species, great aerial action, lots of raptors and during summer many juveniles. On this visit we drove around the Lake Borrie conservation lagoons and came upon large numbers of Fairy Martins including a good number of Juveniles. The young birds have not learnt to fear cars or humans yet so using the car as a mobile bird hide I was able to get some nice shots of the young Fairy Martins.

Juvenile Fairy Martins, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

Juvenile Fairy Martins, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

Juvenile Fairy Martins, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

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Juvenile Fairy Martins, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

Juvenile Fairy Martins – a little older than the previous pair

Juvenile Fairy Martins, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

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I also managed to sneak a few pics of this little skulker – a Spotless Crake. These birds like a muddy bank and plenty of cover to dart back into protection. They are not often seen and hard to photograph.

Spotless Crake, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

Spotless Crake, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

Spotless Crake, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

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Spotless Crake, Werribee Treatment Plant, Victoria

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

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The Robins and the Owl

Posted on February 18, 2016 | 2 comments

There is a walk along the inlet from Captain Stevenson’s Lookout around the coast to Bastion Point. It runs along the edge of the camp grounds through tall banksia trees and coastal scrub and into a Pittosporum forest. The track leads on to the new Bastion Point boat ramp facility and the nearby swimming beaches now protected by the new sea wall. I met a couple who were going for stroll along the path who said that a large Caspian tern was fishing with the Silver Gulls in the shallows at the beach. Not having photographed a Caspian Tern before I headed down to find and hopefully photograph the tern. While walking through one of the deeper darker patches of Pittosporum Forest I came across a family of Rose Robins in quite a fluster. Several pink chested males and a number of females and juveniles seemed to flying back and forth across the path and into various low trees and bushes. I stopped to watch for a while and take a few photographs of these elusive tiny birds and noticed a pile of feathers at my feet. It took me a few moments to figure out what they were from – a juvenile Kookaburra. I looked straight up and into the eyes of a large Powerful Owl. This type of Owl prefers a daytime roost in trees located in cool, dark forest gullies. If it makes a kill during the night it hangs onto the kill all day and feeds at the start of the following night. Hanging from the Owl’s talons was the previous night’s kill.

Rose Robin, Pittosporum Walk, Mallacoota

Rose Robin, Pittosporum Walk, Mallacoota

Rose Robin, Pittosporum Walk, Mallacoota

Rose Robin, Pittosporum Walk, Mallacoota

Powerful Owl, Pittosporum Walk, Mallacoota

Powerful Owl, Pittosporum Walk, Mallacoota

After taking a few shots of the Owl I walked down to the beach and watched the Caspian Tern dive into the water and catch a good sized bait fish and fly off across the inlet. That left me with the hunting Silver Gulls to photograph. It was a nice change to watch them hunting for fish rather than begging for potato fries and digging through rubbish.

Silver Gull, Bastion Point, Mallacoota

Silver Gull, Bastion Point, Mallacoota

Silver Gull, Bastion Point, Mallacoota

looking for bait fish in the shallows

Silver Gull, Bastion Point, Mallacoota

whoops, cut that a bit fine

Silver Gull, Bastion Point, Mallacoota

shaking off the water…

Silver Gull, Bastion Point, Mallacoota

finally scored a fish…

I found another Antechinus in the forest but I am not sure what sort it is, I think a Brown Antechinus but I will have to research it…going by the girth I am guessing that this is a pregnant female. By this time of year the males have mostly died off after a vigorous mating season.

Antechinus, Pittosporum Walk, Mallacoota

Antechinus, Pittosporum Walk, Mallacoota

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

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Frogmouth, Whipbirds and a Pure White Raptor

Posted on February 16, 2016 | 3 comments

Whenever I visit Mallacoota I try to get to the Double Creek area several times a day. There is always a good variety of bird species (local and migrating through) and several vegetation types to explore from creek side vegetation, wetlands, woodlands, rain-forest and ridge-lines with tall forests. It is a compact site with four paths to wander down.

Along one of the creek sides I found a pair of Leaden Flycatchers singing away declaring their territory while above I spotted a white morph Grey Goshawk. The white/grey Goshawk is the only pure white raptor in the world. I knew that a raptor was cruising above by the danger calls of all the nearby birds. The bird alarm gave me just enough time to get the camera pointed skywards and set for a bright sky. The Goshawk cruised just above the trees.

Male Leaden Flycatcher, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

Male Leaden Flycatcher, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

Female Leaden Flycatcher, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

Female Leaden Flycatcher

Grey Goshawk, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoot

Grey Goshawk (white Morph), Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

I found the Tawny Frogmouth when I stopped at the small carpark to have some lunch and was staring into the trees when I noticed someone staring back….

Tawny Frogmouth, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

Tawny Frogmouth, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

White Browed Scrubwren Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

White Browed Scrubwren Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

White Browed Scrubwren Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

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Lewin's Honeyeater, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

Lewin’s Honeyeater, trying to stay cool along the creek on a very hot day

Eastern Whipbird, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

Eastern Whipbird working hard to feed two chicks that were following closely

As I watched the Whipbirds move around the undergrowth I spotted the little Antechinus hunting. It is a fearless tiny marsupial hunter, and given its mouselike size I am always surprised to see them out and about hunting in daylight.

Antechinus, Double Creek Nature walk, Mallacoota

Antechinus, I have not worked out the local species yet  – could be Shy, Brown or Swamp. 

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Posted in Birds, Victoria

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