Was lovely to spy this Pipit out and about, first time for me and rapt to be able to watch him flit around for a short while and to hear his beautiful song when he left.
Another Cuckoo fledgling sighted too, a Pallid this time (I think ?). Was a bit limited for time, so couldn't stay to sight & watch the host parents unfortunately.
And a last minute shot (with a little too much midday sunlight 
) of a dear little Dusky Robin - really glad these guys are starting to "re-appear", I've missed their cheeky personalities.
Hope all BIBY members had a lovely and safe Christmas, and all the best for the New Year!!
(All birds seen in North Tas)
Australasian Pipit
Pallid Cuckoo Fledgling
Dusky Robin
Wonderful tac sharp images as usual & beautifuly composed, love your work Annie.
Cheers.
Agree 100% with Dennis - great photos. Looking at that fluffy little ball of innocence, it's hard to reconcile with it being a cuckoo.
I can just see that pipit photo on the front cover of Birdlife magazine. No, honestly it's just one of those photos where the bird doesn't fill the whole frame, and is ofset to the side of the photo in perfect focus, with other foliage and scenery out of focus... etc.
Even that Dusky Robin could also qualify for publication, I think.
Brandon (aka ihewman)
Lovely photos from you as always Anniej
Your photo of the pipit is wonderful.
Magnificent shots as always Annie
Dont take life too seriously, it never ends well
Thanks Dennis, windshear, WhistlingDuck & laza.
Windshear, I know! Cuckoos, a little bit naughty, but quite a little bit nice
. He/she was so cute just sitting there patiently, waiting for host mum or dad to return - I was spoiled by the placid nature of this one, didn't move too much as long as I didn't. Still trying to work out why the shot looks like it was taken with a flash, it wasn't, just a little too much on the exposure comp I think + dark bush behind - weird, if I wanted that look, I doubt I could duplicate it deliberately again, haha - oh well, all good learning.
Brandon, I'm not so sure about that
, quite a bit above/out of my league I feel - but thankyou so much, it really gives me a lot of encouragement to keep sharing
, and most importantly, I'm really pleased it was enjoyed.
I've been reading a little more on the Pipit and was surprised to find how "common" it is meant to be? Perhaps just one I've seen before but, being new to birding, not noticed, I don't know? And I'm guessing now I was a little lucky with it being perched too, rather than having to scramble around belly down in the dirt to get a shot
. All in all though and, common or not, one of my favourites sightings for the year for sure. So many more species I haven't seen or learnt about, so little free time! Happy birding for 2014 everyone!!
West Coast Tasmania
From a distance the Pipit I think looks a lot like a House Sparrow (just my opinion) and could easily be mistaken for same.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
AnnieJ
I cannot see the images. Did you remove them?
Same story here Canonguy, my Flickr noob stuffup. Have relinked now. Thanks for looking!
West Coast Tasmania
Flickr doesn't work/won't load at all for me, but I can see what other people post on there fortunately.
Do you mean you can't link your flickr hosted photo's onto here windshear?
West Coast Tasmania
No, I mean I can't even get the Flickr website to open on my computer. It just times out.
Hasn't worked for like ever...
You don't by chance use Internet Explorer as your browser do you? I think all the bugs were ironed out with that one, but....?
West Coast Tasmania
Dear god, no!
I use Chrome, but I've tried other browsers as well, no joy.
LOL, your reaction of sheer horror cracked me up windshear. Hmmm, I'm no guru (but dabble) - if all browsers do it, could be your cache is full or..or....that an alien force has invaded your computer. Either of those things help?
Do you have access to another PC to see if it's PC related? It's probably not the end of the world I know in the great scheme of things, but I'd find it a bit of bugger.
West Coast Tasmania
Wow AnnieJ! Just WOW. Your photography has come ahead in leaps and bounds in the past few months since we last spoke. You should be extremely proud of your pics.
A suggestion for shooting for cover shots is to take them as vertical (portrait orientation) frames and leave ample header space on top (probably around 25% of total image area) and some around the bird on at least one side for teaser text to be put to.