Today when the rain went away we went to a wetland near the Yarra River and walked through the reedbed in gumboots looking for Bitterns but we didn't stand much chance of seeing one.
We did manage to see around 30 species and a good range of waterbirds so it was good to finally get out without being rained out! The Red-rumped Parrots blended in so well we nearly scared them off until we heard them.
Female Wood Duck
Red-rumped Parrot (male)
Red-rumped Parrot (female)
Hardhead
White-plumed Honeyeater
Eastern Spinebill, which moved around so much so this was the best shot
Common Bronzewing Pigeon which decided to hunker down instead of flying off.
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Thanks for looking
Lovely clear shots Owen, I have only ever got pictures of leaves or stems when I have tried for a Eastern Spinebill photo, so getting the bird in a nice pose is an achievement too. Thanks for sharing.
While they are locally common (as per the name) I think the Bronzewing is quite a stunning bird with the iridescent patches on the wing - that photo is lovely.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Nice set of photos,every time i go out in search a particular species i can almost guarantee i wont see any!
Glad to see you had good day anyway.
Well done Owen! A nice set of shots. The Bronzey is a beauty and those Red-rumped are such a sweet little parrot. You're braver than I am because this morning I was on my way to the WTP and turned back at Camberwell when I saw the approaching clouds.
Cheers,
George
Melbourne, VIC
Nice shots Owen, the Spinebills are hard to get. I got lucky last year at Walhalla while trying to get shots of a Lewins a Spinebill landed right in front of me, couldn't believe my luck. Banyule flats? is that near Bulleen?
All of these are nice shots, but I especially like the red-rumped parrot, whenever we see them they seem to like being in the shade, which makes it hard to get a good clear one. Your pic is lovely and clear. They are pretty little parrots. We are heading up towards Mackay for a few days and hope to get some shote os birds we haven't seen before, our friends are at Finch Hatton at the moment (in a van) and we haven't been there before, they say it's lovely up there at the moment.
Meave
Thanks everyone. George we were also planning to go to the WTP but the weather wasn't looking good down south so we will probably go there next weekend. We did get rained on a bit.
Cath & Shane the Banyule flats wetland is just a little north of Bulleen. We don't live far from it at all.
Cheers, Owen.
A great record of your day in the wetlands, Owen.
Many years ago a friend & I donned gumboots & tramped almost knee deep through Bool Lagoon near Naracoorte. I forget what we were looking for but we disturbed a lot of Australasian bitterns. It was a surprise to see so many but it shows that you never know what's there until you get up close & personal. I remember that day well, too, because we came upon about 150 brolga or, as the Romans would have said, brolgae. We crept to within about 10 metres of them, hidden by a mound of earth, before they took of in a mass startle. Bird watching has many wonderful memories for me!
Thanks Owen i know that area fairly well, when we were young blokes (long before this internet thing lol)we used to swim in the Yarra near Finns reserve and all the way up to Warrandyte. Used to ride our pushies from Preston.
I would love to see a Bittern one day. Naracoorte is just over the SA border isn't it Woko.
Cheers, Owen.
great shots O1, gotta love the ducks!!!
if your happy when your birding, flap your wings.
Indeed it is, Owen. I imagine Bool Lagoon is in good shape at the moment so there could be lots of bitterns there. Unfortunately, I don't have any contacts down that way to tell me about bittern numbers. You may know that Australasian bitterns are very secretive, well camouflaged birds, hence the reason for their group motto "Once bittern, twice shy", I guess. But it would also explain why, without wading well out into the lagoon, we would never have been able to tell that there were many more Australian bitterns around than had been imagined.
They are so shy and endangered now too so that makes it even harder to find one. I suppose you have to get lucky to see one!
Cheers, Owen.
Or do a lot of searching where people usually don't go, Owen.
True that woko.
Cheers, Owen.