grey box forest

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Owen1
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grey box forest

yesterdayn i went to a grey box forest near mt cotterell west of melbourne. on the way we stopped at a wetland and saw black-winged stilt. then we got to the woodland and there were red rumped parrots, brown treecreepers, cockatoos and galahs, and back-faced cuckoo shrike everywhere. i was lucky enough to see some purple-crowned lorikeets, diamond firetails, brown falcon and whistling kite, jacky winter, and grey teals. i also saw a dead speckled warbler-it had been hit by a car along the road, wish i could have seen it alive.
the woodland was an amazing place for birds-very diverse, and i will be going back there sometime in the future.
enjoy these photos!


the woodland

an uncommon speckled warbler

brown falcon

diamond firetail!!!

brown treecreeper

purple-crowned lorikeet!

black winged stilt

Tassie

Mate, What a top variety, I'll bet you were stoked about that.
The woodland shot looks like brilliant habitat for many species...thx for sharing Owen.

Araminta
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OMG Owen, what great photos!! I have to find that forest! I have never seen a "Diamont Firetail" in my life! How did you find the falcon? Did you see it in flight, and land in the tree? I can tell, you must have had a geat time.( I wanted to go out, and try my new camera,but it started to rain, so I went to the shops to buy a bag to carry the camera instead.:-))

M-L

Tassie

Well do tell Araminta.....what sort of camera did you get??

Araminta
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Hi Tassie, a Sony SLT A55 VL , + a Lense 75-300mm F 4.5-5.6 .So far I'm still reading the manual.LOL I took some photos yesterday, I'm quite happy with. (only birdie has seen them,you know, I'm a very shy person(?)). Once I know how to use it, there will be photos, trust me. Have you read anything about that camera? I can not complain about anything, it is a birthday present from my husband, and what do they say? You don't look a gift horse in the mouth?

M-L

Tassie

Gidday Araminta, no you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
You woukd have to be happy about getting that for your B'day, I have not read about them but I will check it out.

Owen1
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thanks tassie and araminta. i had never seen a diamond firetail either. it was a wonderful habitat.
araminta to get to the woodland you have to travel a short way up the western freeway, then turn left at the leakes road exit, turn right on griegs road, travel along it for a while until you get to eyensbury road (there will be lots of green sighns for the eyensbury development). keep driving along eyensbury until you get into the forest. there is a grassland on the western side of the forest which is also interesting.
regards, owen

Cheers, Owen.

Owen1
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BTW..i did see the diamond firetail in flight. it just looks like some sort of brightly coloured red, black and white thornbill, only slightly larger.
the brown treecreepers and red rumped parrots are in plague proportions in the forest, while the purple-crowned lorikeet and diamond firetail are somewhat harder to find.

Cheers, Owen.

birdie
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Owen that is a great selection, and thank you for adding a habitat shot, I find it really useful to know the kinds of areas to look in in the different locations. I would love to see a purple crowned lori and that is a lovely shot of the Diamond Firetail and of the Stilt !
Your lens seems to do a good job and it must be a help to have the extra length.... as long as you can keep it still which I can't these days!! Does it have IS?

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Birdgirl2009
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Wow Owen, you have some really fantastic birds there. I love to see BOP, so I would have been thrilled with the brown falcon. The shot of the diamond firetail is great and I would love to see a purple-crowned lorikeet.

Birdgirl2009
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btw Araminta - I am delighted to see that you have a camera now so that we can see some of the birds you are telling us about

Owen1
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thanks birdgirl and birdie.
birdie if you mean image stabiliser yes it does have it.
the lens is incredibly hard to hold still, especially with small birds in foliage. it always wants to focus on other bits. - i did weights to be able to use it properly and hold it stock still. it is quite a heavy beast to lug around but it is worth it though when you get a good shot.

Cheers, Owen.

birdie
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For me Owen..... small birds in foliage always means manual focus. otherwise there is just so much stuff for the camera to focus on, particularly with wrens. I'll add a shot here if you don't mind to show what I mean. have to upload it first though .

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Araminta
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Thanks Owen, for the directions to those woodlands, I have already googled them, but yours are much better. I have to write them down, being a girl, I'm not good with maps.:-))

M-L

Owen1
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thats alright araminta. i would love for others to go there because it is such a great habitat and the birdlist there is impressive.
also if you want to go to the swamp on the way to see grey teals and black-winged stilt - along with other birds, here are some more directions.
when you take the leakes road exit instead of going right you should go left on griegs road first and then turn up troup road and about 100 metres on the right you will see the swamp.
then to go to the forest simply go back to griegs road and turn turn right, then follow my previous directions.

Cheers, Owen.

Owen1
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birdie i am now tending to use manual focus more often when the bird is in between leaves or twigs.

Cheers, Owen.

birdie
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I took this yesterday behind the netball courts when my daughter's game finished ..... would have hung around for better shots but someone was waiting to go to Maccas!!!!

Wrens and Thornbills are the worst little culprits for hiding in foliage and thorny twigs LOL . the sun was shining so brightly on the male that was the only reason I saw them at all..the blue was brilliant

Ha ha for once I was in a position to be out in the sun away from the forest and the birds decided otherwise.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Owen1
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thanz for sharing birdie. manual focus is much better for that sort of thing.
nice wren shots. is it a variegated?

Cheers, Owen.

birdie
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Sorry , yes they are and we get heaps of them around here. He was so bright I think maybe it was in breeding colours and they were a pair.

I saw every kind of little bird down there near the courts in the scrub near the creek ( about 300m from the Sewerage ponds) but I had to leave..... that is torture for me :')

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Owen1
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sounds like a good little patch for the birds.
when i was in brisbane i saw only one female variegated and also a pair of red backed fairy wrens, which the males are extremely bright and contrasting and the females are as plain as possible.

Cheers, Owen.

birdie
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Yep, it is a very ordinary looking place but packed full of small birds because of all the vegetation I guess...lots of medium trees behind with reeds, prickly rambling stuff and lantana in the front so there is a lot of protection for them. And I guess being near a swampy patch means there is no shortage of insects for hem to at either. I have photographed red back wrens there before too. They are always sooooooo exciting to see as they are breathtakingly beautiful aren't they?

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Owen1
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yes birdie when i first saw red backe wrens i spent ages trying to get a shot, to no avail so then i was happy to just stand there and watch the pair go about their business. a wonderful bird.

Cheers, Owen.

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