Went out yesterday to try and find the Ospreys however we could not get to the location as the road was still flooded from the heavy rains over the weekend and Monday. You may have seen it on the news.
So we found another spot (Bass Point Reserve, Illawarra, NSW) where there were small birds, and I love taking photos of small birds so we ended up doing that instead. Thought I would share some with you. I am new to birding so I dont know the names of all of them.
Willy Wagtail
Red Cheek Bul Bul
New Holland Honeyeater
Dont know what this is. Was a very small bird and constantly hopping around.
This bird was very interesting. It could hover in same spot for a short amount of time like a hummingbird to get to those little flowers. Would appreciate it if somebody lets me know what it is.
Looks like they got chopped off in the forum post. Sorry about that. I thought I had cropped them enough. Hope the new forum that I have seen mentioned comes online soon (hint hint, nudge nudge) :)
I was born to live and I live to die.
The little brown bird is a female or juv female superb fairy-wren and the other is an eastern spinebill.
And yep the website/forum is coming along soon.
Thanks Holly.
I was born to live and I live to die.
hi abeleski. the last three hummingbird like shots are of a male eastern spinebill. you got some seriously good shots of it in flight around the flowers. well done.
Cheers, Owen.
Thanks Owen1. When I first saw it hovering I was very surprised. Then I waited for it and managed to get those photos. It was flapping those wings so fast. I think I should have frozen the action some more but I did not get another chance at it. Maybe next time.
I was born to live and I live to die.
its good in a way to show the wings blurred because it shows the movement. i have only once seen a spinebill hovering.
Cheers, Owen.
Owen1: Maybe it depends on what they are feeding. The flowers as you can see in those photos were supported by very thin branches so maybe thats why. I am only speculating.
And yes I definitely was going for the motion blur on the wings. I just wanted a touch more speed so the head is a little sharper but still show the wing motion blur. I am just picky.
I was born to live and I live to die.
Top shots Alex, and the flowers look like the pesky Lantana to me.... a total pet up here in Queensland, and if the birds love it so much then that must be why it spreads so easily!
the spine bill shots are excellent.In fact..they are all great! I went out today and got another card full of garbage blurry and underexposed stuff :(
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Nice shots.
Birdie: yes after looking it up I can confirm it was the Lantana plant. They were everywhere but the birds seem to love being both in it and feeding off its flowers.
Thank you all for your positive comments.
I was born to live and I live to die.
Yes Alex, my post was meant to read "pest" not pet!!! It is so invasive in Qld. I grew up with it as a garden plant in NZ and everyone had it. Here we have whole hillsides covered in it. You really deserve the positive comments BTW as I am very jealous of some of your shots! How the hell people find birds in good lighting I am starting to wonder! I can see I am going to have to get out of my neighbourhood to find them.
Look forward to seeing more of yours :)
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Try coming out of the Rainforest Birdie... :)
Yes Tassie, it'll have to happen one day soon I guess!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
How did you go in the floods abelski?
I was so thrilled to be giving a workshop locally as it is my usual day to go into the office in Sydney but I got stuck right in the thick of the flooding. A trip home that should have taken 15 mins took 4.5 hours. I have never seen anything like it in person.
And on one last topic...
Lantana is a tricky one for birds. Small birds love it and actually I would hate to think of how much more our small birds would struggle without it. It is however a noxious weed. Removing it all in one go in an area is the worst thing that can happen and thankfully bushcare groups etc now recognise its value and remove small patches at a time (to allow replacement veg to grow).
Birdie: Well I am not sure I got lucky. I was actually out that day to take pictures of Ospreys but I couldn't get there due to the flooding. I have been stressed at work lately so I took two weeks off to relax and thought I will get a chance to do some photography. Well my holiday started with lots of rain and flooding and weather has been overcast and windy and my first week is almost over and I have not managed to do as much photography as I was hoping.
Holly: I had some water come in through the roof but didnt do a lot of damage. I didn't get flooded thank god like some other people did. I can imagine what your trip was like. I heard some pretty terrifying stories from people getting stuck trying to get home.
And yes that Lantana is prolific where I took the photos. There is not much else vegetation wise apart from some big trees. Is it an introduced weed or is Lantana an Australian plant?
I was born to live and I live to die.
I have been googling and apparently it is introduced. This is from one of the sites I found:
Lantana is a Weed of National Significance. It is regarded as one of the worst weeds in Australia because of its invasiveness, potential for spread, and economic and environmental impacts.
Lantana forms dense, impenetrable thickets that take over native bushland and pastures on the east coast of Australia. It competes for resources with, and reduces the productivity of, pastures and forestry plantations. It adds fuel to fires, and is toxic to stock.
Lantana is a serious threat to biodiversity in several World Heritage-listed areas including the Wet Tropics of northern Queensland, Fraser Island and the Greater Blue Mountains. Numerous plant and animal species of conservation significance are threatened. It is listed as the most significant environmental weed by the South-East Queensland Environmental Weeds Management Group.
It is a problem in gardens because it can cross-pollinate with weedy varieties to create new, more resilient forms.
They seem more worried about stock and forestry than birdlife though.
I remember in northern NSW stopping by the side of the highway at a rest stop and finding it teeming with these little wrens hiding in the lantana.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Great photos but especially the ones of the eastern spinebill. In the first one of these it looks just like a hummingbird