Spring has sprung, the grass has ris
Chicks are where the action is!
Show us your chicks! Any good sightings?
This pair of Australian Wood Ducks in the Georges River, Sydney have a brood of 11 (11!) delightful ducklings. I never got more than 10 in the frame at one time, but was lucky to get some nice light.
Cape Barren Goose and Goslings - in a sanctuary near Avalon Airport near Geelong.
Baby Bin Chickens (Australian White Ibis) on an island in Centennial Park, Sydney. First photo shows feeding very young chicks - next photo is of an almost fledged bird being fed.
Spotted a pair of lapwings on Little Collins Beach near Manly, Sydney - one patrolling, the other on a scrape in the sand. I realised the scrape was a nest when the bird stood up - and a whole lot of extra legs appeared underneath him! I shot this sequence with a very long lens and the birds were not disturbed. The 4 chicks ranged freely on their own, every so often returning to snuggle under their parent for a bit. I saw them again this morning, 6 weeks later - 3 of the chicks have survived to be almost full-sized fledgelings, happily feeding on the shoreline.
Not the best photo, but still quite cute - a Dusky Moorhen chick on the nest at Eastlakes Golf Course, Sydney
I went for a walk back to the same beach where my lapwings were, and see 3 of the chicks have survived, with the "teenage" fledgelings confidently foraging on the shoreline - great to see they have thrived on this very exposed and busy beach.
Nobody else got any chicks to post? I'm loving all the baby birds around. Here are a few more of mine from this weekend.
Mumma Mallard, I think shes been cheating on Papa Mallard, maybe too early to tell.
And her chicks!
Tasmanian Native Hen (unsure if this is mumma - they tend to hang out in extended family groups).
More Masked Lapwings, they are ecerywhere down here, so much so that I don't often take photos of them. I think this is the same photo posted in my Small Year Challenge.
Masked Lapwing Chick by Dale Watson, on Flickr
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Sorry Alex, bit slow off the mark with this one.
Love the Coot chicks, they really should be called ducklings, caus they're ugly in a cute kindo of way!
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Yay for more chicks! Thanks for posting. Yes, those mallard chicks looks suspiciously like little black ducks!
One form the other day, Eurasian Coot. so cute all these babies!
Nice shot of the coots Sue. Still reckon they are ugly in a cute sort of way!
Another from me, Black Swan family with Cygnets. Posted earlier in Big Year Challenge, but haven't seen any since (not close enough to get a photo).
url=https://flic.kr/p/2hbKaLo]
[/url]Black Swan family by Dale Watson, on Flickr
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
ooooh, i am jealous ;-) no chicky things anywhere here for me to capture yet. thanks for the pix, all are awesome. cute and cuddly boys, cute and cuddly (skipper the penguin).
Domestic Geese out for a paddle with their Goslings.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Yes, bring on those chicks!
Chestnut Teal daddy & chicks. INteresting how the chicks all have head stripes, like your mallards Dale, also like the wood ducks I posted - and overall reminiscent of adult Pacific Black Ducks. Hmmm, what is going on there...
I quite like this photo - Pied Stilt chick, from Waterbird Refuge at Bicentennial Park this morning
Hi Alex some nice photos. Love the little stilt. If you google it, most ducklings have stripes. Although some of mine didn't.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Lovely little Pied Stilt chick (might want to edit the info attached as seems to be Banded Stilt). The light was awful so very well done. It was also good to see the Chestnut Teal family... seemed to be plenty of breeding going.
Some chicks for Alex.
Tawny Frogmouth... one of 2 chicks and 2 adults... against the light
and another with that dreaded stick!!!
A few Australian Wood Ducks... is this a huddle or a puddle of ducks?
and a final one from Bowra, Cockatiel being fed
They're soooo cute, love the Frogmouths and the "puddle" of Woodies.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
That might be a cuddle of ducks, Sue.
Reckon you could be right, Woko!
Love those additions Sue. Definitely a cuddle of ducks! And your frogmouths are awesome! I think you need to develop a special "eye" for frogmouths, I haven't seen any for years and they are all around. You've done some great shots into tricky light there.
Kelp Gull Chicks - was on the edge a breeding colony, maybe 250-300 adults all in "alarm mode". Only back on type photos, they weren't sticking a round for close ups!
Might have tried for some BIF shots, except they were swooping that close, I could hear the sound of their wings. Didn't stick around,don't like disturbing them to much.
Kelp Gull Chicks by Dale Watson, on Flickr
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
hi guys, i can finally contribute to the chickadee thread. this lil guy is so cute and fluffy. it can't fly yet, no liftoff and no tail to keep things under control, just flaps the wings for now ;-) amazing a cat hasn't had it for lunch.
i made up a google photo's collage, but it cut some of the lil guy off, you get the idea though.
here's a brief 16 second vid of the lil guy trying. Baby Magpie in the No-Fly Zone.
cheers, tweet (and happy xmas 2019 to you all)
Such a cutie!
Wood duck 'chicks'
Lovely photo Greyson
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Couldn't resist these 2 little cuties - Pacific Black Ducks.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Great to see some new chicks in this thread. I have some more in the camera, will post once I've sorted them out.
Bell Miner chicks waiting for a feed from the parent while hidden deep in the lantana. Fluffy little bundles were quite safe and ignoring me.
Haha, that second one is classic - little ball of fluff with a mouth. Nice shots :-)
I can add these Willie Wagtails from Tempe Ponds last week. Junior by now outweighs his parent, who is being run ragged by the demands of junior. I suspect it will soon be time for the parent to start showing some tough love - "Just Say No"
Immature White-winged Choughs with the dark or less red eye at Glen Davis in the Capertee Valley, NSW... at least 3 in the group shot were a little vocal but not too bad.
I disturbed this little Orange-footed Scrubfowl in some bushes near Darwin Airport. He seemed disorientated and was pecking at himself. I thought he was covered in fluff and leaf litter - but on reviewing the photos, I see he was covered in green ants (Oecophylla smaragdina). Poor bugger was probably in some pain, these are really aggressive ants with a nasty bite, and they also inject a bit of venom to make things worse. I reckon he'd been hiding in the leaf litter, and disturbed a team of these guys. He is clearly getting some wins on de-anting, but its pretty hard without hands.
Oh, those green ants hurt! I suppose the bird has a way of dis-lodging them, maybe a roll in the dust?
This Silver Gull chick was being harrased by 3 or 4 adults, with mum or dad trying desperatley to fend them of. This is the parent (I think) and the rather large chick - looks to big to be a Silver Gull still with down, but apart from Bar-Tailed Godwits, there was nothing else around.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
immature Dusky Moorhen as feeding on its own but not into full adult plumage as yet. Like this one as it cocked its tail feathers.
Royal Spoonbill being fed. Very overcast day so lighting not great but interesting to watch the process. A sequence of pictures with a photo bombing White Ibis. I did not keep the picture of the young Spoonbill which appeared to be drooling before the feed. It was the most insistent of the two youngsters. Nor have I shown the bill almost punching out the side of the parent's throat or deep down the throat. Persistent and noisy!
I found some spotted pardalotes workgin through the trees at Botany foreshore yesterday - not a great pic, but I love these birds, and cool to see one feeding its young :-)
Love the little Pardalote, so cute! I offer a few as well from West Wyalong wetlands, NSW.
White-breasted Woodswallow ... above my head and then from a distance so I did not call attention to them
Australasian Grebe and chick... who can resist these cute little guys with their zebra markings
adult Australian Pelican and a younger one judging by bill colour and the legs!
Suppose I should also post this one, Collared Sparrowhawk and chicks... parked underneath it and heard the adult calling
Lovely set Sue. Grebe chicks are awesome :-) But baby sparrowhawks - what a great find
Yes, Alex but pure luck! The call made me look as I had come back to search for the Collared Sparrowhawk that I'd seen that morning. I confirmed my ID with the experts but was quite confident that it was not a Brown Goshawk... generally a challenge to differentiate.
Big Feet I know you're the one!
Dusky Moorhen chick from last weekend
Great feet!
The babies are out and about at Berwick Springs lake near me :)
Purple swamphen - Swampy Jr looking a little gawky while out to breakfast with mamma.
Eurasian coot and bub.
A young Chestnut-breasted Mannikin at the bottom of the stack, taken in Cairns.
Nice!
They are so cute
Baby Swampy running over the rocks this morning.
Great shot :-)
Dude that is so cute. Is he missing a toe or is it just hidden?
Pages