A few firsts for me and Andy

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birdie
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A few firsts for me and Andy

Had a wonderful day out birding with Andy yesterday. It was so good to go birding with someone from the Forum ( it has been a year since I last did it! already) and to know that you can stop and look and listen for as long as it takes without anyone winging!!!!!
to start with we had a wander around the car park at the edge of Mary Cairncross rainforest where we saw some delightful little scrubwrens and robins etc.
After this we drove to where I thought we were supposed to go but took a wrong turn and ended up driving through a very lovely treed area. Interestingly enough this was the area near where Duckie said he lives. We decided to stop and turn around to correct my mistake but on getting out of the car for just a moment across the road from a State forest or National Park we were quickly convinced that we were going nowhere in a hurry. Small birds everywhere and three firsts for me , one for Andy followed.
This Eastern Shrike Tit was a first for both of us and there was a pair that were happy to pose for a while. Sadly I stuffed up some camera stuff and didn't do so well on what should have been perfect shots. here they are anyway

There were heaps of white browed scrub wrens, this one was chasing ants in a plantation of Macadamia trees


The bracken was rustling with Variegated Fairy wrens and Whipbirds

I was so intent on chasing the wrens that I almost missed looking up and seeing this little EY Robin watching me.

Although technically not a good shot....just had to include another first for me this Eastern Spinebill

And although I have no shots to show for it, we seemed to be surrounded by a few little Pardelotes as well. ( the other first for me at least)
In the same spot we saw Yellow tail Black Cockatoos flying over at regular intervals, an unidentified BOP, and several grey Shrike thrushes.
Another highlight was to be able to listen to the Eastern Whipbirds chattering beneath the bracken, doing exactly the same chirping muttering that Windhover posted in his ID challenge.
then when we least expected it we saw something preening and fluffong itself in a tiny piece of bracken and it was another EWB! Sorry to say , as is so often the case with them.... no shots to show for it :')

All in all a very enjoyable and satisfactory morning.

birdie
birdie's picture

Oops posted the wren twice...wonder what I forgot!

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Tassie

Unreal Birdie, top Variety and that first one I have never seen one....thx for sharing.

abeleski
abeleski's picture

Such gorgeous birds. I am glad you had fun. Its always more fun sharing great experiences.

I was born to live and I live to die.

birdie
birdie's picture

Here are a couple more just to show the variety we saw. Terrible shots but Tassie can you identify the Treecreeper? I can't seem to make it fit the brown or the white browed..... Andy may have a better idea. My ageing memory can't remember it the way it was LOL
Brown thornbill I think
and treecreeper below

Also in a different location saw a few Bar Shouldered doves...I love them

Sunshine Coast Queensland

birdie
birdie's picture

oh and yes Alex.... the experience was doubly rewarding for the sharing at the time :')

Sunshine Coast Queensland

soakes
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Excellent pic of the crested shrike tit! What a find.

Are these birds rare? I've only ever seen one once and that was only for a few moments.

- soakes

soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia

Andy
Andy's picture

Thanks for posting the photos Birdie. I'm pretty sure the treecreeper is a White-throated Treecreeper. Brown Treecreepers are often found on the ground, while White-throated TCs are more often climbing vertically up branches. So I reckon that is what it was.

That was such a good spot, wasn't it?

Birdgirl2009
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What a great day you had. I wish I could have joined you. Or anyone interested in photographing birds. LOL. The Eastern Shrike Tit is a stunner and so is the variegated fairy wren

birdie
birdie's picture

One day I will be in the Newcastle area again on holiday Birdgirl and you and I will definitely do the Hunter Wetlands together. In the meantime if you are ever up this way.... you would only have to ask once!!!!!
Now that I am hearing the comments about the Shrike tit I am even more peeved that I committed a cardinal sin at the time and stuffed up my photo opp. I was shooting in RAW and L together ( just in case I turned up one that was extra special) and had forgotten to clean up the card so it was full after the first shot I got off with the Shrike Tit. While they were posing ..... I was deleting :'(

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Owen1
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sounded good Birdie. Shrike tits are very hard to find. I rarely see them around the melbourne woodland areas. The wren shots are impressive as well. Treecreeper could be a white throated.

Cheers, Owen.

birdie
birdie's picture

Yes Owen and Andy I checked another shot and saw the white brow . I found this shot of the tit which shows the colours a little better...though still haven't forgiven myself for muffing it at the crucial moment :)

Sunshine Coast Queensland

birdie
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Well Andy it seems we were indeed very lucky to catch the Shrike tit here locally. I was very excited to get an email from Graham Chapman after I made a few enquiries on Catbird breeding info, and he said he has only seen the Shrike-tits once in 10 years locally...so we did well indeed!!!!
He has told me the name of a local birder who runs the bird watching group and apparently they go out on one Saturday a month...maybe we should try to catch an outing with them one day?

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Tassie

You should try and get out with that crew Birdie, I do the same here and found them and the trips to be very informative.

birdie
birdie's picture

Yep Tassie, I think that is going to be a must if I can get a Saturday off ... or swap to an afternoon shift. I am getting hungry for more knowledge and locations! Graham Chapman was saying that he doesn't think the L lens is so essential as learning better techniques and that a 500 length is ideal for birding if you can get it even if it isn't an L type lens. He sent me a stunning shot of the green catbird..... one that I can only dream of taking because of the natural location and pose that it was showing .

Sunshine Coast Queensland

timmo
timmo's picture

Wow Birdie, how exciting to see some firsts for you both and uncommon birds on your day out. There's such a range of birds to be found up in that area too.
.
It sounds much like my day out up there yesterday, with a similar range of birds. I'll post my pics soon.
.
I know the feeling of having no shots to show for a good range of birds - I saw King parrots, Variegated Fairy Wrens, Eastern Whipbirds, Yellow-tailed black cockatoos yesterday, but was not quick enough with the camera to snap them.

Cheers
Tim
Brisbane

birdie
birdie's picture

Sadly Timmo, much of what I miss out on is because I am just too darned slow and then the lens is likewise! Of course it doesn't help when you are fiddling with stuff just at the big moment either :(

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Windhover
Windhover's picture

Nice shots Adrienne. Love the Crested Shrike-tit especially, I've seen them locally to me a few times, but they're certainly not a common species. Just wonderful.

I am surprised at the comment made by Graham, but each to their own. Naturally, shooting style and technique help, but so will GOOD glass. Personally for me nothing's better than the L series, even though they are the most expensive bunches of super teles on the market. Trust me, you will see a difference between the image quality of a 500mm f/4L IS by Canon and a competitor's product (you should know, you worked at Canon). The closest you get is the Sigma 500mm f/4.5L, but you're already behind the 8 ball with the maximum aperture being 4.5 not 4. I wouldn't even bother with a 50-500mm Sigma or a 150-500mm Sigma. Just not sharp enough at the long end. Also, I think he shoots Nikon, and the two brands (Nikon V Canon) have many differences. The worst being that you cannot use older, manual focus lenses, on new AF Canon bodies, where on Nikons you can. But I wouldn't want to bore non-photographers and pretend that I may know something about cameras and lenses. Will happily talk with you off line. You know I can talk! ;)

birdie
birdie's picture

I think he was making the point that even with the best lenses in the world, ultimately it is the technique of setting it up and doing the shot right that will make or break it Akos. He is very big on using a tripod of course, but he does acknowledge on his website that todays IS lenses have changed the whole thing very successfully.
I'll catch you off line for further discussion :') We were discussing Green Catbirds and the beautiful image of his gives me something to strive for.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

abeleski
abeleski's picture

I agree with Graham. I think once you have the technique right and you have the money sure invest in an L telephoto lens. I use Wolfy's 600/F4 Minolta at times just for play and first of all it pretty much demands a tripod as it is so heavy. The IS on the Sony/Minolta comes from the body rather than the lens. Not as effective as in-lens IS but you get free IS with all lenses including older ones.

Having said that if I had the money I would buy the Nikon 400/2.8 in a heartbeat. Would be nice to learn a good technique with an awesome lens. There are cheaper alternatives that aren't as good but come close. Generally the variable long range zooms aren't as good as the primes but the newer models seems to have improved a lot. My Nikon setup for birds is the best I can afford. 300/f4 AF-S. A very very sharp lens but has no IS and 300mm really isn't long enough for birding. I did buy a TC but you loose so much light and with no IS you are looking for a tripod and on this particular lens there is a known issue with the tripod mount which guarantees blur at slow shutter speeds. *sigh* We do what we can with what we can afford :))

Wolfy also just acquired the Sigma 500/4.5 and I must say it is one very nice lens but again no IS so you will need to use a tripod often. Although unlike a 600/f4 this one is not so heavy that you can't hand hold.

I was born to live and I live to die.

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