Sooo - here's hoping for another big year! I'm going to raise my sights this year, and aim for 275! If we can travel this year, I'll make a few interstate trips - if not, I'll be scouring the deserts and QLD and VIC borders :-)
So I'd better get started... January 1st was spent driving from Lake Cargelligo home, but I took the time to stop at the Ponds in Cargelligo, the Wetland at West Wyalong, and a roadside stop or two. Only one photograph I really liked - but a few good birds to post, and I'll post some EBC shots of ones I don't see regularly in Sydney so that at least I have a marker down - might come back and replace them later.
1) Apostlebird - lets start with an A! Love these guys, not unhappy with the shot.
2) Bluebonnet - not a great shot, but the only one I got and I wont see them for a while :-(
3) White-fronted Chat - you can see Mrs WFC peeking out from the bush too.
4) Black-fronted Dotterel - familiar birds
5) Musk Duck - stopped at West Wodonga quickly for him on he way back, as I dont see them often.
6) Pink Eared Ducks - not great shots, but we don't often see them in Sydney, so I'll post up anyway
7) Variegated Fairywrens (race assimilis, "Purple-backed Fairywrens". eBird has these as a separate species and I was super happy to see them, especially to get a shot at the breeding males. For now they are lumped as one in the WLAB3 - but I suspect they will split out into a separate species this year, we will see.
8) Zebra Finch - horrible EBC shot, sorry, but I don't know when I'll see them again
9) Little Friarbird. This is an immature bird, with yellow throat and chest patches - very handsome too
10) Hoary-headed Grebe - don't see a lot of these in sydney either, so I'm posting this poor EBC shot for now
11) Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
12) White-plumed Honeyeater - I really like this shot. Tiny active birds always chasing each other through the trees, it was nice to get one sitting still in good light for a second
13) Straw-necked Ibis - again not a great shot but who knows when I'll see them again
14) Sacred Kingfisher - not uncommon in Sydney, but these were all around my campsite at the Weir, so I'll post them now as a memory. Loved waking up to hear them calling :-)
15) Yellow-throated Miner - poor shot, but they aren't found this side of the mountains
16) Pelican - quite like this in-flight shot, not perfect, but quite dramatic. They have the most amazing wings.
17) Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. I've grown to really like the subtle beautiful patterns in shorebirds
18) Australian Shelduck
19) Australian Shoveler - another EBC, but a bird I don't see often
20) Brown Treecreeper - never caught them in good light, so not a great shot.
21) Red Wattlebird
And that will do for day 1.
Very impressive tally for day 1!
I hope you get to that target as you are putting in the effort so expect to reap the reward. Expecting some terrific and unusual birds this year to improve on last year.
Almost 20% of my total in one day, what a a fantastic effort. Again, I love seeing the photos of species that I am not familiar with, and may not get to the places which you are able to.
Really do appreciate everyone's efforts. Thanks.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Wow terrific collection so far! And we're only a week in! Great job! It's going to be an exciting year. Just stay safe in Sydney - you're having a Victoria type year so far
Great photos Alex, I love the Variegated Fairywren. Beautiful colours!
Wow, I can't believe you have so many wonderful birds already. At least 8 species there that will be difficult for me to get. Well done!
Thanks all :-)
I did a dawn walk in Centennial Park today, central Sydney - specifically to photograph the Flying Foxes coming home to roost. Got some decent photos of the bats, and then picked up some of the local birds in the early morning light. I was also testing my repaired lens - I now realise its been having autofocus issues for much of last year, the performance now is better than its ever been :-)
Lets start with a bit of a collection of corellas :-) I followed a big flock of Little Corellas, and had fun catching their antics in the glorious first morning light. I was particularly trying for some dramatic light effects, and was quite pleased with some of the shots, so I'll show you a few. And then I spotted a few Long-billed Corella mixed in with them, and managed to get a couple of decent shots of them too. It was only when I entered the sighting in eBird that I realised this is the first time I've ever positively ID'd them - and so while I've thought I've seen them before, this was a technical lifer - on a suburban casual outing to photograph bats i the middle of Sydney! Enjoy the pics :-)
22) Little Corella - they were digging in the lakeside mud, playing on some newly planted trees like a jungle gym, and generally being raucous and funny - I do love the way they play. The light was low and warm, and I tried playing with slightly underexposing them (so as not to blow out the whites) and isolate them from their background - I'm quite pleased with the effect. The fo
23) Long-billed Corella - they quite often flock with the Little Corella, and I think also cross-breed and hybridise with them. The key differences are the much longer beak, and red on the chest.
And then a few of the local park birds. I was happy with the lens and the morning light
24) Eurasian Coot. Often the problem with photographing these is gettingenough light to show the black feathers, without completely blowing out the white shield on its bill - and getting a nice light on the eye to pick out that glorious red. So a common waterbird - but I haven't been happy with many of my photos of it.
25) Pacific Black Duck. Another very common bird, but surprisingly handsome on close inspection, and that can be trickly to capture. When the light shines off the speculum it irridesces beautifully - so the challenge is always to get both the eye and the speculum in the sun, along with decent feather detail. This one is nearly there
26) Intermediate Egret - such handsome birds, and this one was stalking amongst the white waterlilies (no datasheet)
27) Noisy Miner - I thought I'd get this one in now so I can ignore them for the rest of the year...
28) Dusky Moorhen - another dark bird that can be quite tricky to photograph well
And some more of the local park birds
29) Black Swan - pretty standard swan on the water shot, but the light is nice
30) Crested Pigeon - another bird with irridescent feathers that are fun to try and catch. I've seen some glorious photos of them displaying those feathers, which I'll try to catch one day - meanwhile, I quite like this one.
31) Australian White Ibis - a not entirely successful experiment - again trying to isolate the bird, not blowing the whites, but having enough light for the black head and beak. Its generally worked, but I'm getting horrible noise in the background. Its time to start experimenting with Topaz for de-noise, I'll work on the RAW files and try to improve this one in post processing. But you can see what I was trying to achieve here.
Bonus shot (16 repeat) Australian Pelican - I tried to get really close and get this portrait with a lot of detail and isolation - I'm quite pleased with it
These are some gorgeous photos Alex. I really like the feather detail in the moorhen and coot, we get a lot of them here and they look fantastic.
Wow, Alex, what a start with some wonderful shots. Not sure that I can pick a favourite but am pleased that your lens is now working well. The light is magic in some of these shots... love the Long-billed Corella and Pacific Black Duck.
Wow! You have got some stunning photos! Do love a good close up of a Pelican!
Such beautiful pics Alex. I love that first light of the morning, such a special time to be up and about I think.
Some great detail in your images there Alex and a nice varity of birds. Well done.
Thanks for all the kind comments :-)
On the 17th I went for a walk with the nice birders of Kuring-gai to Bobbin Head NP - lovely walk through the mangroves and woodland. Not a huge number of birds, but a couple of different ones and some nice sightings.
32) Brown Cuckoo-dove - a lifer for me. I got there a bit early, and heard them calling in the bush - so I went bushwhacking for 30 minutes, and eventually got a shot at one of them.
33) Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. Not a bad shot in the early morning light, so I'll post it. But one of my objectives this year is to get a really good shot with erect crest - I'll replace it if I get one :-)
34) Yellow-tufted Honeyeater. This is a reliable spot for these gorgeous honeyeaters. I was with a group of birdwatchers, so didn't have time to stay and get more than this ID shot, but I'll try to get a better shot later in the year, they are lovely to look at.
35) White-cheeked Honeyeater - we normally only see the New Hollands in the south of Sydney, so I was happy to see these guys, I didn't get a photo of them last year.
And as a bonus - I was photographing a Sacred Kingfisher (already posted at #14) - a long way off, but nice perch and light - when I was photo-bombed by his mate. Not a perfect shot, but lovely spread of wings, thought you might like it.
Nice set Alex. A little tip with the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. I noticed, when they first land they have their crest up for a short period of time. Not always but a lot of the time they do. Love the Yellow-Tufted Honeyeater. We don't seem to get them much up this way.
Thanks Dev. Yes, I've seen that often with the Sulphur-crests (and some other crested cockies), its really reliable - I just haven't caught it perfectly in nice light yet :-) I'll keep trying.
I took my kids camping at North Durras on the NSW South Coast for a week. Had a lovely time there, gorgeous beaches, lagoon, forests, and we went snorkelling, surfing, canoeing, beach walks, forest hikes etc. It wasn;t a birding trip, but the boys like their sleep ins, so I was able to get out for a couple of hours every morning with my camera and found a few new birds :-)
36) Satin Bowerbird - didn't see these last year so I was pleased to see them. There were lots high in the trees, mostly "greenies" or immature birds, and females like this one.
37) Spotted Dove - common bird, but very pretty
38) Superb Fairywren - one of my very favourite birds - they were all over our campsite, and I found this pretty boy posing nicely in the sun.
39) Grey Fantail - there were a lot of these confiding birds in the coatal forest behind the dune. They are pretty fast moving, but do perch obligingly quite frequently, and you can catch them still for a second if you are fast.
40) Rufous Fantails were also around, but they behave quite differently - forage lower and faster, in the deeper woods rather than the edges, and I never caught them in good light. But I quite like this super-high ISO (11400) shot, it is almost like a painting rather than a photo!
Love both of the fantails. It is good when you can make the most out of a non birding trip.
The forests there burned badly last year, but regeneration is in full swing, and the forest birds are coming back. UNburned patches of coastal forest and in the Murramarang NP are certainly helping re-seed the bird populations in the burned areas. It was still a bit quieter than normal, but good to see them coming back.
41) Lewin's Honeyeater - I was really pleased with this shot - this fast moving guy posed just long enough in a patch of light in the dark forest for me to get a decent shot.
42) Eastern Yellow Robin - much easier to shoot, these friendly birds often follow you through the woods and pose nicely, watching you take photos. One of my favourite birds as a result :-)
43) Eastern Spinebill - another fast moving bird, tiny and keeps to the undergrowth. I was excited to see them (I didnt at all last year) but found them hard to photograph.
44) Brown Thornbill - I was really pleased with this shot. These little thronbills can be really hard to photograph, because they are so fast, tiny, never stop moving through the trees. But this guy got absorbed in eating his caterpillar for a second, and allowed the shot.
45) Striated Thornbill - I still have to shoot first and ID later with a lot of the Thornbills, and was pleased to find Striated Thornbills in the Brown thornbills I was photographing. I was sitting quietly by a little creek and this guy came down for a drink really close without noticing me, so despite the very low light, I got a reasonable shot.
Wow some lovely shots there Alex. I do dove the Lewis shot with his pose and the Brown Thornbill with his meal. Yes with LBB it is usually the case of photograph now and ID later. I have gotten quite good with the Gerygone and Brown Thornbill calls so those I can usually ID fairly well.
Thanks Dev. I really must put more effort into learning the calls - my visual memory is much better than my auditory, but it really does help if you can memorise the calls too.
Just walking the campsite at Durras was productive, there were lots of birds attracted by the exotic flowers, and people feeding the birds.
46) Australian King-parrot - this guy was so habituated to people he tried to land on my arm! It was actually quite tricky to get far enough away for a full frame shot - so I enjoyed going tight for a nice portrait instead
47) Crimson Rosella (elegans ssp.) the male of our more familiar subspecies of this highly variable rosella.
48) Little Wattlebird - plenty of them about, mostly fighting each other in the trees, but this guy was absorbed with a large moth he'd caught.
49) Golden Whistler - I'm still to get a nice shot of a male in full breeding colours, they are gorgeous. Until then, this rather scruffy female will have to do
50) Wood Duck - one of our most common ducks, and very handsome - I quite like this shot of a group of ducklings. There were lots of them around Durras, some with broods of 16-18 birds, including some groups where the adults had kept all 18 alive to near-maturity, a great record, so some successful parenting or the predators had been knocked down by the fires too.
51) White-throated Needletail - sitting around our campfire just after dark, I saw some swifts circling high above and catching the sun that had already set on us. I managed a very distant capture, and was delighted to be able to identify them as Needletails, a lifer for me (its likely I've seen them before but never been able to resolve them & ID them). Sometimes a long lens and high res sensor is the only way to identify a bird! I watched them hawking bugs every night, and enjoyed learning more about their quite distinctive flight and wing shape. The white rump extending up the flanks un a U-shape distinguishes them at a distance from the other swifts.
52) Silvereye - I like these cute and cheerful birds, foraging in family groups through the trees.
53) Eastern Whipbird. I spend sooooo long last year trying to capture one of these, so I was really happy to get one so early this year. The coastal forest in Durras was full on them, and one of these normally very elusive birds just popped up long enough for me to grab a shot. He is a juvenile male, but that didn't stop him from having a deafening whipcrack at close range.
54) Australian Pied Oystercatcher - I love oystercatchers, and we saw the sooties on the rocks, and the pieds on the mudbanks. Ddidn't get a crack at the sooty (I was snorkelling!) but had fun trying to catch the light in the Pied's eyes and beak. As they are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction and beach disturbance / dogs etc, there is a lot of study of the remaining birds - if you see a banded bird, you can always report them online here: https://www.environment.gov.au/science/bird-and-bat-banding/reporting-form
55) Crested Tern - there was a colony of 200+ seagulls and terns at the sandbank at the river mouth, mostly Crested Terns. I had to wade the rivermouth (only possible at some tides, and then with considerable trepidation for my camera gear!) to get the light on the right side, but I often just sat and watched them fishing and returning with fish for their juveniles. They are awesomely effective fishing birds. I've put in two shots, a sunlight juvenile, and then a more interesting (but less technically good) behavioural shot of an adult returning with fish, with the juveniles calling below.
56) Caspian Tern - on a grey morning the Crested Terns were joined by a trio of Caspian Terns, immediately noticeable by their bigger size and huge red bill.
57) White-bellied Sea-eagle. I was alerted by a cloud of raucous Corellas to the presence of a bird of prey - turned out to be a much-harassed juvenile Sea-eagle. I saw him 3 or 4 times, pursued at various times by Corella, Cockatoos and Ravens - keeping him in exercise.
Wow, Alex, what a wonderful set of birds... that shot of the Satin Bowerbird is a cracker but I love the Kingfisher and Rufous Fantail just to name a couple.. and who can resist those Wood Ducklings.
The White-throated Needletail and theTern with the fish are my favourites. Racking up quite a tally now Alex
Fantastic pics and what a great variety you found. I love that time first thing in the morning before kids (or husband) wakes up, so nice to spend it with the birds. Rufous Fantail is one of my favourites, such stunners, and I absolutely love your female Golden Whistler, personally more attractive than the male in my opinion - I think it's the big brown eyes :-).
Loving the small bird photos Alex, I'm finding them especially rewarding to find and you've got some great ones. Your Rufous Fantail is just a lovely photo.
Thanks for all the kind comments :-) I'm having fun trying to get better quality photos this year (while still reserving the right to post awful EBC where necessary :-)
I took the boys to Jamberoo last week at the end of their holidays, and dropped them at the water park for the day while I explored the Barren Grounds National Park on the escarpment above. I'd wanted to go there for a while, as it is a bird hotspot with some very rare / unusual birds, apparently it is quite reliable for Bristlebirds and Eastern Ground Parrots are possible if you are lucky. I dipped out, big time - I walked for 12 kms through the heath, woodland, remnant rainforest etc, and despite the varied habitats saw only 10 species the whole day, all of them common, and even they were incredibly difficult to photograph. I definitley got my timing wrong - arriving just before noon on a stinking hot day wasn't optimal - the birds were hiding quietly in the bush. I'll have to go back another tie when I can get there closer to sunrise. But I had a great walk in a beautiful place, did a side trip to the gorgeous Minnamurra Falls rainforest (heard a Wonga Pigeon calling nearby, but again the forest was very quiet generally). I didn't see a single new bird for the day, but I did get a better picture of the Straw-necked Ibis on my way back to pick up the boys, so I'll post this replacement for my EBC #13.
And if you don't see birds - why not photograph what you DO see? :-)
Yes I have found that birding near mid day is not rewarding at all. Even late afternoon is not as busy as most mornings I feel. Your Straw-necked Ibis showing off his oil like sheen is very striking though. Dragonflies in flight do take a lot of skill and even more patience. I agree, I'm not limited to birds either. I ofen photograph butterflies, dragonflies, lizards or whatever else stays still long enough for me to photograph it
That still sounds like an awesome day out Alex, even if no new birds to see. And I also take pics of other things, spiders are great, especially in webs, they at least stay still for the camera :-). Not so great pics with my zoom lens but I still love to take pics of them.
Again great work Alex, I particularly like the dragonfly. Some great birds, and glad your getting out.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks for the comments all :-)
58) Channel-billed Cuckoo. I've never been able to photograph these birds, always only seen them in swift flyovers, and have been too slow. But this year they are everywhere, and one has been nesting in a neighbours tree, and being fed by currawongs. Its a long way off (300m or so), and in difficult light, but I;'ve eventually managed to get some identifiable shots. And its been amazing to watch these poor stressed Currawong hosts feeding this insatiable beast of a juvenile. The scond photo here is very poor, but it shows the comparative sizes well. And then of course 2 days after taking these shots I managed to get a crack at a BIF shot as one went overhead :-) So I'll keep trying over the next month or so while they are here to get a good photo - but meanwhile, have these :-)
Last weekend I took a walk around my local wetlands, Landing Lights - no unusual birds, but the light was gorgeous in the early morning, and I tried to take some nice shots of familiar birds. Here are some from around the pond and river.
59) White-faced Heron. The light was beautiful and was throwing lovely reflected colour on the water from the reeds.
60) Little Black Cormorant. Not a perfect shot of the bird, but I love the colours again.
61) Pied / Black-winged Stilt. These birds are quite hard to get a good photo of - the contrast between the black and white is extreme, and if you blow out the whites their head is just a featureless blob. Conversely, if you stop down too much, the black is just a hole. I've got it about right here for once. I love stilts, with their ridiculously long legs.
62) Great Egret - such impressive birds. Another bird that can be hard to photograph, as it very easily turns into a solid white block. I didn't get this perfectly, I've lost some of the highlights - but I do like the way the delicate plumes stand out in this shot.
63) Great Cormorant - a pitch black bird that needs good light to birng out any detail. I love the jade eyes of both black cormorants.
There are some good woodland and scrub birds at Landing Lights too - I managed to get a couple of OK shots, and I'll save the rest for later as I go there often.
64) Red-Whiskered Bulbul - not the best shot, but it will do for now.
65) Red-browed Finch. Such cute little birds - this guy has bitten off more than he can chew and is wondering what to do with all those seeds!
66) Willie Wagtail - got a reasonable portrait from one little poser, a very cooperative bird (they really are quite unafraid of humans) and then got a lucky moment with a parent feeding its young one a spider. Yum.
Aww how cute is that little finch!
This week I was up at Dubbo working on a new solar farm. Long days starting at dawn and ending after dark, but on my last day I had 45 minutes just before catching my flight, so took a walk around a little park near the river. Instead of making it a frantic walk looking for lots of birds, I decided to try to get some decent photos of the Red-rumped Parrots that were feeding along the path. I tried so hard to get them in flight, but gee they are fast - never quite caught them in focus - but even with only my little 300mm travelling lens I managed to get quite close for some portraits.
67) Red-rumped Parrots - the males are much brighter than the females, so I'm guilty of mainly focusing on them
2) Blue Bonnet (replacement) - they were joined at one stage by a couple of immature Blue Bonnets, and I was happy to get a better shot than my initial one.
30) Crested Pigeon (replacement) - I spent some time trying to catch the irridescent wing of the Crested Pigeons too, and quite like this shot
68) White-browed Babbler - but my real treat were these babblers. I love babblers, and happily followed them for 10 minutes as they gleaned spiders off the fenceline, swung upside down, played chasey up the trees, scolding each other all the while. It was only a little later that I realised they were a new Babbler for me - very similar to the Grey-crowned Babblers I've seen before, but white chest instead of chestnut, and subtly different head markings. Hooray, an unexpected lifer :-)
Hopefully next time I get to Dubbo I can take some time off. A friend of mine works for Taronga Zoo, and can get me behind the scenes at Dubbo Zoo to see their Plains-wanderer breeding program at work - how cool would that be?
How wonderful to get a lifer without realising it. There are two types of Babblers to be seen around Dubbo as you have found out. That Red-browed Finch shot is my favourite, great capture in flight.
Really love the light on the LBC and WFH and the mid walk pose is great. Well done on the lifer, always a thrill to get one of those. I do love the colours of the RRP portrait shot!
Alex, I love the Black-Winged Stilt but the Crested Pigeon is just fabulous. You really nailed the colours!
Thanks all, appreciated :-)
Awesome photos Alex! Love the Great Egret, stunning!
I've had a bit of a hiatus from birding, personal life and work life have been crazy. Quite frustrating, I've been to a few of my solar farms in the NSW and QLD bush, but such busy schedules, I didn't even take a camera :-( Hopefully things calm down enough for me to take a day off here and there for photography as well.
Anyway, managed to get down to Eastlakes Golf Course- another good local spot - many people hate golf courses, and they are not ideal, but a sight better than apartments and factories! Eastlakes has managed their bushland and wetlands well, and they are an inner city magnet for a lot of birds).
69) It was a grey morning, with very difficult flat bright white sky, so I struggled a bit with photos, but there was a flock of 24 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos who were very obliging, and I eventually got a few shots I was ok with, both flying, and playing in a nearby radio mast.
70) New Holland Honeyeater - very common in the coastal banksia scrub in Sydney, and while they are often chasing each other and fighting, sometimes they will pose nicely on a high point.
71) Bar-shouldered Dove - a bit of an EBC, I stalked him for a bit but he was quite wary
Bonus shot - a Water Dragon just because he is beautiful :-)
I see you are all running away into the 100s already, so I have some work to do to catch up - hopefully I can get out more soon :-)
Oh wow, I love your pics, and that water dragon is absolutely stunning. I love seeing reptiles around the place, they just look so prehistoric and fascinating.
I know what you mean about golf courses - I was a member of a golf course once until I discovered they were shooting Sulphur-crested Cockatoos as they were 'damaging the fairways'. Apparently the cockatoo damaged fairways were not acceptable to the elite members of this club. That was enough for me to leave. But I'd still prefer a golf course to a housing estate I guess.
I have to admit I have been expecting you turn up here with 50 new birds :-).
Thanks Karen :-)
>>I have to admit I have been expecting you turn up here with 50 new birds :-).
lol - I'll try not to disappoint you ... Slow but steady at the moment, its only March and I don't have to panic yet...
Oh I love that first YTBC in flight shot. I just adore those birds and their call. Reminds me of the Australian bush. It's funny, I don't see many New Holland Honeyeaters up here at all, yet down there it sounds like they are everywhere. Karen, surely it wasn't legal for them to be shooting the SCC. I know they can be a menace, but shooting them!! . . . makes me very sad and angry at the same time
Beautiful pics of the Cockatoos Alex! They're becoming a bit of a white whale for me... one of my favourite birds but I just never have a camera when they're around (or only when they're a loooong way off). And that water dragon is magnificent.
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