So I got an ealrly start this year (2nd Jan), but was awaiting time to sort and confirmation on ID for a couple.
In true recent Dale style, I start with a Pelagic, not an organised trip, but a day out with my best mate fishing. Learned to take the camera, you never know what you going to see! Oh had a good day with the fish as well.
2 lifers for the day, but some very average photos (all clear enough for ID), most if not all are heavily cropped.
I did see quite a few other species, but want to wait until I can get better photos before posting.
Here goes.
1. Buller's Shearwater - a lifer, thought it was something else until I got home, ID confirmed on Seabirds and Pelagics Australia.
Buller's Shearwater (Ardenna bulleri) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
2. Sooty Shearwater - 2nd lifer for the day, again needed to confirm ID, as they are hard to split from Short-tailed, and often found in mixed flocks.
Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
3. Short-tailed Shearwater - more than a thousand seen, but hard to get decent photos.
Short-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna tenuirostris) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
Short-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna tenuirostris) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
4. Black-browed Albatross - only 1 seen, but it settled nicely near the boat.
Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
5. White-chinned Petrel - very common but I still like them. The last photo is a big crop of the 2nd, because I love the detail you can see in the bill etc.
White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
6. White-faced Storm Petrel - hard little blighter to get good photos of.
White-faced Storm-Petrel (Pelagodroma marina) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
White-faced Storm-Petrel (Pelagodroma marina) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
7. Fairy Prion - again hard to capture.
Fairy Prion (Pachyptila turtur) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
Fairy Prion (Pachyptila turtur) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
And now for some common species (well to me anyway)
8. Pacific Gull - I beleive there is talk about a split into a Tasmanian Sub-species, not that that matters for the challenge.
Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
9. Silvergull - still hope to get a better photo with better light, but these will do for now.
Silver Gull (Larus novaehollandiae) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
Silver Gull (Larus novaehollandiae) by Dale Watson, on Flickr
Great start Dale! There goes my lead lol.
Fantastic detail in the White-chinned Petrel, I thought it had a damaged bill at first, but no?
Thanks Karen, I won't have the lead for long, but I might get the most unique species, that's my plan, but so long as it's fun, I don't care too much.
The bill is normal for the species, I believe the correct term is "tube nose", and quite a few seabirds have similar structure. If you look closely at the shearwaters, prions and other petrels, they have similar structure.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Very interesting looking bill.
Also nice work on the lifers, two new species for our 2022 challenge already.
My goal is just to beat my last year score, just keep improving!
Dale rockets into the lead - and with two completely new birds as well! Fabulous :-)
I'm loving the seabirds and learning new things from you Dale - looked up tubenoses and learned a bit about the order Procellariiformes - so cool. While I was doing that I discovered how small some of these are (eg the Fairy Prion). Its difficult to get scale from these photos (I guess no reference from the background) so I'd assumed they were much larger birds.
Thanks Alex, if you look closely at the 2nd photo of the White-faced Storm Petrel, you can see the splash made by rain drops. As you say, hard to get an impression of size.
Dont expect to be leading for too much longer. Looking to increase my tally, and with a little help from some new contacts, and more pelagics should be able to do.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Wow Dale, some super shots there!
Wow Dale, what a wonderful start to the year... 2 lifers to boot! I love the White-chinned Petrel close-up as it does show the tubenose really well.
Great birds to start your innings, Dale.
What's the tip for photographing moving objects whilst on a moving object?!
Thanks all for your comments. You guys and your encouragement keep me going.
I will try and answer Michael's question at the end, so this might be a bit long!
We in Tasmania are experiencing (like everyone else) a surge in COVID-19 numbers, and I am a frontline worker, so my future expeditions are some what unknown for now. At least we haven't had Lockdown, like so many of you last year.
Michael, there are some techniques for photographing from a moving base (boat, car, whatever), while not conclusive here goes in no particular order.
If your camera permits, shoot in RAW, this usually gives you more flexibility to post process your photos I have 2 memory card slots, and usually shoot to 1 card in RAW and the other card in JPEG. This can affect the camera's "buffer speed", while shooting. JPEG makes sorting photos for processing an easier process (for me anyway) - they are easier to view on the computer.
Shoot loose, crop tight - leave some room in your frame to allow for sudden and unexpected movement (either your subject or you on your base) and crop tight in post production. I think this applies to shooting any moving subjects, which movement can not be easily predicted.
Fast shutter speeds. This helps reduce the effect of motion blur. This will increase the ISO required (I currently leave Auto-ISO on), which can lead to noise, evident in most of my photos, but this can be corrected a little in post production. With practice, you can use manual ISO, but I am not that confident. Shutter speed of at least 1/2000th for moving subject, sometimes up to 1/4000th of a second. Rule of thumb says your shutter speed should be at least as fast as your focal length - so if shooting at 600mm with a zoom, then you should have a shutter speed of at least 1/600th of a second (my camera the closest is 1/640th), this needs increasing dramatically for moving objects. If you can hold your camera steady, you can reduce shutter speeds, but increases the risk of out of focus shots.
Image stabilisation on your lense - some recommend turning this off, and there are arguments to do that, but I find if you can find the correct setting (my lense has 3 - off, 1 for general movement and 2 which is more designed for single direction, I.e panning only) it helps a lot.
Try and find something to lean against, so that your movement is in cooordintation with the boat - limits possible effect from boat movement, water movement and your movement on the boat (potentially 3 different directions of travel, all at the same time). Keep your arms braced against your body, and hold your breath whilst the shutter button is pressed (not always easy, but with practice!).
Maintain a "wide base" - legs apart in order to try an maintain your balance and a stable platform.
My current settings consist of;
Aperture Priority (not ready for full manual mode YET) - your f stop setting should be reasonably low in poor light, and maybe 7.1-11 in brighter conditions. Sometimes your lens will dictate the f-stop available to you.
Shutter speed - I am lucky, I have a good camera, and can achieve shutter speeds of around 1/4000th with good light (this obviously affects your required ISO) and has a direct effect on your depth of field.
ISO - currently always on Auto, hoping to move away from Auto at some time in the future.
White Balance - again auto white balance - there is enough going on without fiddling with white balance, you can "fix" blown whites and some colour problems in post production to some extent.
Back button autofocus (instead of half-press of the shutter button) - alot of modern cameras allow you to program your button functions to suit your needs. This will take alot of practice to get used to, but made a huge difference to my keeper numbers. If your camera has "focus lock" or "focus tracking" then use it - again if I achieve focus and keep the bird in the frame, the camera will lock focus on my subject, so long as I keep the back button focus pressed and my object stays in frame.
Also if using back button focus, you might need to be almost constantly applying focus (with moving objects) in order to reduce the amount "focus hunting". Focus hunting will reduce battery life immensely.
Always carry spare batteries - for a pelagic, I always carry 4 fully charged batteries, often have need 3.
Hope that is helpful. I will try at some stage, to post both an original un-processed JPEG uncropped photo along with a processed RAW version, so you can see how I work.
Hope that is helpful, and whilst no expert, happy to answer any questions you may have.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Wonderful info, Dale. One other thing suggested to me (who has not yet been on a pelagic tour) was to try a lens around 200-400mm as birds will be close. What is your take on that?
Meantime, stay safe, Dale.
Thanks Sue, a lot of the people on the trips I have been on do use 100-400, some with a 1.4 Teleconverter which gives 140mm-560mm focal length (I know you know that Sue, but some may not). I agree that is a useful suggestion, and fits with the philosophy of shooting loose and cropping tight. I have seen some of their results, and they are phenomenal. Obviously camera equipment and photographer are all important components to successful photography. Knowing your gear and its limitations is crucial.
There was 1 bloke who was using an 800mm fixed prime, and was able to get great head shots of close birds, but couldn't get the whole bird in the frame - superb quality, but limited use?
A lot of birds do come quite close, but there will also be some which are still some distance away, or as with the Storm Petrels, particularly small. My lenses were bought mostly for land based photography.and I needed all the reach I could get.
The other advantage of 100-400 is it reduces the affect of movement - small movement with 60-600 for example can mean you lose you subject from the viewfinder and that is a real pain.
I am currently using 2 setups, a 100-500 with 1.4 Teleconverter for the organised pelagics and my general photography and a Sigma 60-600 on the smaller boat, and frequently lose sight of the subject with both. I guess it depends to some extent on what you already have and what you can afford. I was advised to get a reasonable camera, and spend extra $ on good glass!
For me, I have had lots of changes on the last 2 years to my gear, I am lucky enough to be able to afford some good gear (doesn't make up for the photographers ability to use it), and I can't bear to part with my old stuff.
Personally, I have found if you by lenses of the same brand as your camera and best you can afford, it seems to improve your results. The big problem with the Sigma 60-600 is weight, at 2.7kg. It is a great lens, but it does have some drawbacks, with weight the main one.
100-400 lenses are very versatile, and well worth considering if you looking for something new.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks for the tips Dale! I am not a photographer at all, just a birdwatcher. I think it took me about a week to figure out the 'shoot loose, crop tight' tactic with my White-throated Nightjar. I just kept missing it or blurring it, trying to follow it with the zoom lens on. I put the standard lens on and was able to follow it much more easily through the viewfinder.
I look forward to seeing your RAW v processed pics, thanks for sharing.
Dale, that is some very useful info on shooting techniques for pelagics - thanks :-)
Re shooting RAW and JPG - I started off doing that, but eventually dispensed with the JPEGs - they were simply slowing down the camera and producing more files that I didn't need. I've switched to only shooting RAW, and then only producing JPGs of the edited pictures for various purposes - eg full res JPG for general use, low res ones for this site, etc. It does mean that you need to be able to edit in RAW - but Lightroom and many other programs (including the excellent free Faststone viewer/editor) can handle this as easily as they handle JPGs.
Probably my biggest issue with BIF seabirds generally (I'm not experienced in pelagics but imagine this would be worse) is blowing out the whites on these predominantly white birds. Its often difficult to judge exposure when the same bird can be tracking against a very bright white sky in one instant (where you might want up to +1 or even more exposure compensation) and against a dark sea the next where you might want to underexpose a bit to preserve the whites. Shooting RAW certainly helps with maintaining a bigger dynamic range (between lightest and darkest points) but even the best post-processing wont restore completely whited out overexposure - so I tend to underexpose a bit as a rule of thumb as I can often recover a great deal of dark areas in post. I still mess it up a lot :-) So I have the "blinkies" switched on in my playback and tend to check it quite a lot - that often gives me warning that I'm blowing out whites and I can dial in more compensation as needed (or remember to switch off a compensation value I had dialled in previously!)
They are a real challenge even from the shore - I've been so impressed by how your pelagic shots continue to improve - and can't wait to try some myself :-)
Thanks Karen, no such thing as "just a birdwatcher" or "just" anything for that matter. You do what gives you joy! Sometimes I feel I miss a lot because I am focused on getting a photo, rather than just enjoying the moment. With your zoom lens, if you keep it on the "short", that will have a similar effect as using your "standard" lens. Not sure what zoom you have - if it is a 100-400 for example, shoot at the 100 end and crop from there. If your subject is stationary, then you can zoom in on it. I think you just need to find what works best for you and run with that. Get as much advice as you want, and you can choose to accept or decline anything that you find won't work for you. Practice may not make it perfect, but it certainly helps.
Alex, I agree entirely with everything you have said. I was taught if your using the histogram to "expose to the right", so that you have some more detail to use in post processing. It is difficult when the background keeps changing. Usually I am happy to lose the background, but as you can see, you can also lose the detail on a dark object with a light background.
Agree shooting both JPEG and RAW, does affect the camera's buffer speed. Not sure if it just me, but I get disappointed when I view the raw files on the computer, and yes the "blinkies" are a must.
I have difficulty in applying post processing specific parts of a photo, post processing is my weak point I think. I tend to apply a process to the entire image.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Promised myself I wouldn't post too many of the same bird this year, well thats out the window. In a previous post I said I would post to show what I mean by "shoot loose, crop tight". And then a new bird for this year.
Well the first 2 photos show that - my 9. Silver Gull was shot at 233mm and is unprocessed (just added my logo), while the 2nd is the same photo posted above, but cropped and processed.
These taken on another fishing trip, alas, too rough to go to deep, so only the tern too add, and an additional critter at the end. Small boat so not my favourite camera (some images not as sharp as I would like).
10. (Greater) Crested Tern (eastern ssp.) 1st Original JPEG out of the camera (just added my logo), 2nd is cropped and processed from the RAW file. Still learning the post processing, so results might no be to everyones liking. Again showing "shoot loose, crop tight".
As we got closer, the tern took flight - few photos, all at 600mm (should have backed off a bit).
And thern we had a hundred or so dolphins follow us. Hard to predict when they will surface, and I missed the best acrobatic display of the day!!
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks Dale, great advice. I am just trying some BIF a bit more this year, and I have been mostly been doing that at 600mm, and mostly missing. I will dial it down and see what happens.
Chasing the terns as they are fishing while I am on land is hard enough, but good practice to start. Also have begun to collect RAW and jpeg on to my SD cards, as you suggest. Certainly helps to ID when the jpeg is a silhouette.
Thanks again.
Thanks for all the info, Dale. Agree with the 'shoot loose, crop tight' philospophy works well for moving birds. i also have a 'group focus' setting on my camera which can lock on if needed.
One more comment about RAW v JPEG: the JPEG file has been processed to an extent by the camera where-as the RAW file has captured all the data but needs to be post-processed. That is why they look so different when seen on the computer but you have more flexibility with the RAW file.
Thanks Sue, appreciate your comments.
I understand RAW vs JPEG, I use my JPEG to guide whether I think a photo is worth processing, then proceed to process the RAW version. My methods are probably slow and cumbersome but they work for me.
One day when I am more comfortable, I may well shoot RAW only.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
No Dale, that is exactly what I have been doing. Some great information in your post.
Wow, some amazing and very helpful information there Dale, and others too!! Thanks so much! I feel like my head may explode, but I'm trying to take it all in...I think I may have just learnt why I'm missing so many BIF shots! Great processing information too. Just love this group!!
And Dale so many incredible birds captured already!! Just so cool to see! Great work and please keep it up, work and Covid-19 permitting. I trust that with a good vax rate your state won't have to go through the lockdown experience - fingers crossed! It is just so awesome to see the ocean birds, and that huge pod of dolphins must have been epic!
Looking forward to more.
Dale, I love that you've kicked off with another pelagic :) The close-up on the White-Chinned Petrel is incredible!
And I've bookmarked this thread for technical tips too :D amazing and helpful information indeed! I'm only a bridge-camera photographer (I've got a Panasonic Lumix FZ80) but even with that, every little thing I learn and try expands my world just that little bit more.
Thanks Tommy, bridge cameras are capable of taking some great shots, as already shown in your 2022 challenge.
I don't claim to be an expert, but happy to offer my work processes for others to consider. Photography, in my opinion, has several important components, the most important is the photographer, and being happy in what your doing, take photos for your enjyoment, and if others enjoy them that's a bonus. My advice is to get all the advice you can, and figure out what suits you the best.
My goal this year will also be 150 birds (that's achievable, but will need more time than I had in 2021), but I also hope to improve my skills as a photographer
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks Danika.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks for the info Dale! And nice photos too!
Have been out yesterday and again this morning, have a heap to process.
Got excited over this little one this morning, and couldn't wait to post. Hope you enjoy.
11. Scrubtit - Endemic, and only the 2nd one I have ever seen, secretive and shy in dark understory. Maxed out on ISO -12,800, 1:1600 of a second with exposure compensation of +3, and then some lightening in post. Happy with the result.
Left Side, Right side and Backside.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Wow, Dale... well done on getting such great photos of this gorgeous little bird. I have only seen them once and they are very elusive, small and found in dark places... also hide in the foliage really well. These shots are fantastic!
Wow what wonderful shots Dale!
Fabulous find Dale, and great photos to boot.
Thank you all for your kind comments, right place right time.
Back to earth for a few - thought I would check off some easy ones early this year, before I forget them, so a few from close to home. Some may require an upgrade later (hopefully).
12. Superb Fairy-wren female and male (Tasmanian ssp.)
13. Australian Pelican - just lazing on a Sunday arvo.
14. Australian Pied Oystercatcher - adult and junior (with catch in 2nd photo).
15. Australian Wood Duck.
16. Common Greenfinch.
17. Common Starling.
18. Dusky Woodswallow. Heaps of these near home this time of year.
19. Eurasian Coot - an easy find for me.
Bottoms up!
20 Goose - (no fact sheet) domestic species, but wild on the Huon RIver near home, love the blue eye.
21. Great Cormorant - sharing a limb with a Little Black (separate pic).
22. Little Black Cormorant.
23. Little Pied Cormorant.
24. House Sparrow (male).
25. Muscovy - not a duck nor a goose (no fact sheet). I have 2 locations where these can reliably be found, nothing special, but another species at least.
26. Pacific Black Duck - possibly as close to pure breed as I can find, mostly hybrid with Mallard, sadly.
27. Pink Robin (female) - hoping to upgrade to a more colourful male at some stage.
28. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo - these were feeding on the tallest plum tree I have ever seen - possibly 25-30 metres.
29. Australian Magpie (Tasmanian ssp) - young bird I think, was with a family of 3 young and 1 adult.
30. Welcome Swallow - another young bird, trying to get 1 in flight, lots of wasted shutter counts!
31. White-bellied Sea Eagle - regularly see near home, can be hit and miss, it was at (not my home) home on Sunday sitting on a high voltage transmission tower, and took flight when I got too close.
32. White-faced Heron - usually easy to find, but hard to get close too - spook easily.
Second photo - I like the reflection.
33. Yellow Wattlebird (young) Endemic - hoping you will allow this one, it has not developed much in the way of wattles yet, but they can only just be seen behind the leafy thing in front of the face (behind and below the eye).. Should get an upgrade anyway at some stage. Clearly, is not a Little Wattlebird - the only thing you could confuse it with.
34. Yellow-throated Honey-eater Endemic - another I hope to upgrade. You can just see it's yellow throat.
35. Tasmanian Native Hen Endemic.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Quite cute, Dale. A new one for me!
Wow, Dale, you've had a great time. I love the young Yellow Wattlebird and the Pied Oystercatcher but also the White-bellied Sea-eagle and the action shot with the the White-faced Heron... then the Tasmanian Native-hen... just all of them really.
Forgot to say: you now have Domestic Goose and Domestic Duck recorded as Muscovy Duck was not an option on our list.
What a huge collection you've added there Dale!! Great shots!
I just love the action shots of the Coot diving and the White-faced Heron fishing, great capture of the water splashing back. And the Sea-Eagle is magnificent, beautiful flight shot! Looks like a great encounter.
I'd love to come over and get a look at those endemics some time this year, we'll see how things go. Very cute baby wattlebird!
Interesting about the Pacific Black Ducks being largely all interbred with Mallards, I didn't realise that. That's a shame. They are beautiful ducks.
Another beautiful set of photos Dale. Love your Sea Eagle.
Always happy to see a bush chook (Tasmanian Native Hen)! More wonderful photos Dale, I love the Sea Eagle and you really captured the manic glint in the bush chook's eye.
Thank you all for your kind comments, looking to have a big year!
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Great to see all those birds, especially the endemic Tassie birds, so cool. I'm so impressed with your scrubtit shots Dale - they are SO hard to find let alone photograph, and you've got some great shots there - nice!
I am really enjoying all the wonderful photos this year, some amazing talent showing off some great birds. I am also enjoying my photography, getting out an about is fantastic.
This will be the first and last time I apologise for too many photos this year (maybe), I am sorry, but I am having trouble deciding which ones to post!
First up, some more endemics, I know you all love them.
36. Dusky Robin, endemic - was taking photos of a Grey Shrike-thrush (to follw) when this little one popped up on the fence, there long enough for 2 quick photos, and then gone - only 1 photo posted, they are pretty much identical.
37. Green Rosella, endemic - this one was in the shadows a bit, so hoping to get another in better light.
38. Black Currawong, endemic - These have very little cropping, mostly just aspect ratio, it was very close, and a bonus bug, which it carried whilst still continuing to hunt. Hastings Caves carpark - wet forest.
You looking at me bud?
39. Brown Thornbill - was hoping it was another endemic, will have to wait for a Tasmanian. High up overcast day a definite EBC shot. A very huge crop!
40. European Goldfinch, heavy crop, but easliy identifiable.
41. Kelp Gull - this one circled many times - harsh light, again hope to improve. This bird appears to have only 1 leg, you can see what I think is a stump tucked in. You may notice it has "red lipstick" on the lower bill only, the Pacific Gull will have it on both upper and lower in an adult bird. The Kelp Gull also lacks a black bar accross the tail which the Pacific has.
42. Laughing Kookaburra - the 1st photo was taken as it took flight from a powerline (I like the photo except for the wire!), the 2nd is where it perched near the orchard. The classic look of concentration - looking for a feed.
43. Grey Shrike-thrush - had lunch with some friends on Monday. They know my love of birds, and mention a "Joe Whitty" that turns up most days - well it must have heard us, a few seconds later these photos are the result. Comes in to admire/peck at itself in the mirror (I must tell them it needs a good clean). There is a bird bath just below the mirror.
And now a couple of extras.
Promised myself I was not going to take any more Superb Fairy-wrens this year, but this little lady was just too hard to resist, striking a beautiful pose on the frond of a baby Man-fern.
12. Superb Fairy-wren.
14. Australian Pied Oystercatcher - one of my favourite reasonably common shorebirds that I see. Pretty happy with this and the other 50 photos I took of the same bird!
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Love them, Dale especially the Black Currawong and Pied Oystercatcher. I also like the BiF of the Kookaburra despite the wire. Those Green Rosellas are really beutiful birds as are the Tassie Robins... looking forward to more.
I think two years of the dreaded bug lurking around has given us all the impetus to get out and get birding... seize the day!
Some lovely shots Dale - seeing a real step up in quality too :-)
My favourites are actually the Grey Shrikethrush warning off his reflection in the mirror - great shots! Always like to see endemics from far off places, and your Black Currawong and Dusky Robin shots are really good!
Nice set of photos Dale! Love the Green Rosella, and the reflection shots of the Grey shrikethrush are neat!
I'm also in love with the GST admiring/fighting itself in the mirror - gorgeous perspective!!
But my favourite is the Kelp Gull, I really love these gulls and your photos are just so cool. I haven't seen one for a long time so it was great to get your photos.
Thanks as always for the Tassie specials, I look forward to a Tassie Thornbill later and that is a magnificent Pied Oystercatcher.
Don't apologise for too many photos, I'm feeling in the same boat this year, its so long since I've seen some birds that I want to share all y shots!!
Great photos again Dale, you can post as many of them as you like :) I do love the endemics, and that Dusky Robin is gorgeous.
Thanks again for your kind words.
Went out both Sunday and Monday, somewhat locally (40 minute drive), and came home with some new birds for the list, another 2 endemics and a bonus lifer. So in a sinlge month I have gotten more than half of my entire years count last year (113) that will make it hard for the rest of the year, bring on the Pelagics!
Will start with the endemics.
44. Tasmanian Thornbill - endemic, went to kunanyi/Mt Wellington for a stroll, saw a couple of these but in very dark damp forest, so no clear enough shots. On the way home stopped at Fern Tree at the foot of kunyanyi ( the traditional indigenous name for Mt Wellington) and copped the opposite conditions, bright backlight. Overall happy but want a better shot at some stage.
45. Tasmanian Scrubwren - endemic, again sore heaps in the dark understory at higher altitude, was surprised to see 3 or 4 feeding on the pipeline track near Fern Tree. Not great photos, so again looking to improve, but happy to count for now.
Sunday had me at Risdon Brook Dam, north east of Hobart - there have been some good records of Pallid Cuckoos (lifer for me) and Blue-winged Parrots. Met up with another couple of birders and had a few hours wondering. Got quite a few birds for the list. Conditions were not great - dull overcast morning til around 1030, then overbearing bright blue skies, anyway it was a good day.
46. Pallid Cuckoo - lifer, sadly not a clear view with Dev's dreaded twigs in the way, but enough for ID.
47. Blue-winged Parrot - high up both times, 1st is early with cloud, 2nd is a bit brighter.
48. Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike.
49. Forest Raven - hope to improve on this one - long way off.
50. Eastern Spinebill - not a bird I see often, so it is always a pleasure.
51. Grey Fantail - photos from both days, the 1st from Fern Tree, a scruffy looking specimen. The others from Risdon Brook Dam - young looking birds I think, love it when they perch nicley.
52. Common Bronzewing - 1st time I have seen one perched high on a branch, usually flush them before seeing, this one quite content to sit for ages.
53. Silvereye - think this one was hoping I couldn't see it - another one to upgrade later.
54. Scarlet Robin - heaps of these, a scruffy male and then possibly a female, you can just see some colour on the breast.
On the way home, decided to detour to Lauderdale, a place where I was almost guarenteed to see the next 3 birds.
55. Black-faced Cormorant - this little one completes the list for Cormorants found is Tasmania - Little Black, Little Pied, Black-faced and Great.
56. Noisy Miner - it is actually a treat to see these, we have none where I live (yet).
And last but not least, one of my favourite little birds.
57. Musk Lorikeet - noisy little blighters and easy to find when the Flowering Gums are in bloom (just need to know where to look).
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
At the risk of repeating myself: great photos again Dale :) I really like the Eastern Spinebill against the white sky, and I do like the Black-Faced Cormorant (congrats on getting the Tassie set).
Beautiful photos Dale. How sweet are those Scarlet Robins! I have only ever seen one once but they are a favourite of mine. The Eastern Spinebill photo is amazing too.
Sweet scarlet robin; there must be a way to thank the birds who pose properly for us!
Wow, Dale, you've been busy. I just love them all but those Musk Lorrikeets are spectacular.
Yeah, I love the Musk Lorikeets too, soime great shots there. Cool to see the Black-faced Cormorant, we don't get them here, a very smart bird. And your Grey Fantail is quite different looking to ours, I see its a different ssp, much buffer - intereresting to see. Great to see your island birds as always :-)
Dale, congrats on a mega... I cannot wait for you to finally post it before commenting as I'm travelling.
Thanks for all your kind comments,
I think I know what Sue is congratulating me on (Mega), but I am stumped as to how she knew! Anyway be patient, a few ordinary birds before the "big one".
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
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