A couple more shots from WTP then I'm off on holidays, hoping NSW South Coast brings me some birds I don't usually see. Any recommendations for birding spots around Merimbula through to Wollongong gratefully received :) I'll be checking out Panboola wetlands at Pambula but going blind from there on up.
80) Royal Spoonbill - another bird that I've been sitting on photos for, and sadly my flight shot didn't turn out very well, so this is it for now - and a juvenile for comparison
82) Common Greenshank - somehow I didn't see these on the day, I think because I gave my binos to my hubby to play with to keep him occupied knowing that birding isn't his favourite thing, so I was birdwatching just with my camera. I'll blame that anyway. But luckily these lovely birds are in focus enough to pass muster, and its a case of pick the odd one out with a Godwit thrown in for good measure! A second shot for clarity with Godwits and a sneaky flight shot
Great shots in flight, Danika, especially the black swan.
My favourite (and most generous for birds) spots in the Illawarra/Shoalhaven would be; Lake Wollumboola from the north east side, parking at Culburra beach for shore birds; Jerrara dam is a beautiful spot for forest birds and lake birds and is east of Kiama; east again of Jerrara Dam and up on the escarpment is Barren Grounds, great for a walk, but also for forest, grass and heath birds (I snuck in the ground parrot and emu wren here last year). Closer to home for me (Wollongong) you can catch subtropical rainforest species on the Mt Keira Ring track and the short track up to Mt Robertson lookout (pilotbirds).
That's about it for me, as my birding range is rather short, but growing slowly thanks mostly to this group. :)
Love them, Danika, some great shots there... and I do like the Quail family. That shot from the bird hide really does demonstrate how difficult it can be with shorebirds!
Good grief, that Little River Bird hide shot! Wow!
I've been to WTP once, a couple of years ago, and the view from the hide wasn't like that lol. OK, was early spring if I remember, so the migratory shorebirds were missing, and high tide so no mud flats - I remember a variety of terns on some floating platforms, and a LOT of swans, and that was it. Ooooo that looks exciting!
Some great birds and shots there! So many birds I'd like to see.... maybe in a few weeks :-)
Some great flight shots Danika. Loving all your photos. Just enjoying seeing everything the everyone sees. Such a friendly group, sharing locations, and birding together for those close to each other. Simply fantastic.
Thanks for all the encouragement on my flights shots, the swan and even the fuzzy quails :) It's a fun day out when you have a great selection of birds to point your camera at!!
Michael, thanks so much for your guidance on spots to target in your area and thereabouts, I really appreciate your help! So sadly, our car failed to start after we parked the 1st day at Merimbula, it didn't get any further than that!! We did hire a car and got as far as Jervis Bay but had to turn back to Merimbula to check in with the mechanic and retrieve our car, so we didn't get to Wollongong - but we plan to try again in September so its not all lost, I'll definitely be referring to it then :) Ground Parrot is an amazing incentive!
Alex, I did hope this would whet your appetite and only hope we can turn on the birds for your visit!
I have so many birds to follow from the South Coast NSW trip but I'll wait til I'm home, and not on borrowed wifi. Ciao for now!
Looking forward to hearing about your trip ...the car issue must have been so frustrating but I admire your resilience in hiring a car and pressing on!
Haha Michael, there were definitely some pouts and talk of going home and not contining the holiday...but here's the thing:
-the Merimbula airport is currently closed for "renovation" so no flights out
-just getting a hire car to use locally took us a gargantuan effort and they would NOT let us drive it back to Melbourne (no one-way trips)
-towing our car back to Melbourne was looking like costing us between $2000-2500
-the thought of getting on the coach then a train with a bike and our excessive luggage gave me a headache....
So in the end it was easiest to choose the mechanic/hire a car option and continue holidaying locally!!! After some serious moments of stress...
But it was all worth it! Beach time and birds - what a combination!!
And the car is up and going, we got home (2 days late) and I hope that we're on a better run! And yes, now we have roadside assistance...ah for foresight!
We left Melbourne for a week's holiday (so we thought) on Feb 5th and drove to Lakes Entrance for the night. My target location here was Bullock Island, much better than it sounds, as it overlooks the channel where the lakes and river go out into the ocean. It's tidal, sometimes there are dolphins (not today), there are fishermen going in and out in boats throwing stuff out that birds like, there's a small creek area, there are sand bars, it's got rocks, its just good for nice birds. I walked via the beach from our motel to the island, definitely worth doing.
I took several shots of these birds across the channel because the sun was super bright and I couldn't really tell through my binos whether I was looking at Pied Cormorants or Little Pied; turns out, when I got the photos on the laptop, it was neither!! I didn't expect Black-faced Cormorants but along this breakwater there were maybe 40 birds! Very exciting! I've only seen this species in South Australia once before.
So of course, a flight shot!! And of course, I thought it was a Little Pied Cormorant at the time...
There were lots of these around Lakes Entrance, but I didn't see any as we went further up the coast into NSW for some reason. I did look for them but never saw any more. This one was eating a huge piece of washed up dead fish when I came along but I missed that shot and it dropped it. Hopefully it went back to it after I left.
There were also several juveniles in the area and I really like this flight shot of a juvenile carrying a crab or some other snack. Couldn't choose between the two shots.
I've been taking shots of these wherever I go this year, but hadn't gotten anything that I really liked yet. But this shot appealed to me because of the Masked Lapwing's former name which I grew up with: Spur-winged Plover. I think you can see where they got that name! I've never seen the spurs so prominent when the birds are standing. I've seen them prominent when they're flying at me!
I saw these gulls fighting over some food and thought it was a fun shot, didn't see til I got the photo up on the laptop what food it was that they had!! First time I've seen one in the wild!!!
I have these in my backyard...yet in 2 months I haven't gotten a single shot! I hear them often but they're very elusive, staying up high in their tree, until the babies arrive and start getting around the yard; then they're everywhere!
This is from the bush along the beach on the way to Bullock Island.
Did you know there is a Platypus Reserve in Bombala? In fact, they say Bombala is in the heart of Platyus Country! Unfortunately the best time of day to see them is early morning or late afternoon...not high noon when we stopped in for lunch!!
87) But this White-eared Honeyeater was there, checking out the river also so bonus.
A trip to remember no doubt. Some gorgeous shots...the Pacific Gull especially and I am really surprised at the Silver Gull's meal of a seahorse! I doubt that we will get another seahorse shot this year.
Some lovely shots along the coast, Danika. I had to look at the silver gull and seahorse shot 3 or 4 times. Unbelievable!
The kelp gulls are entertaining to watch, too, always dropping and carrying things. I grew up with the 'plover', too, and remember my friend mistakenly calling them 'plummets' because of the way they attacked us. :-)
I forgot to say that I know Bombala as I spent plenty of time there growing up and Platypus were easily seen. That was some time ago and I have not been there in many years... I think there was only one very small motel. Looking forward to more from your trip.
Yep some more great photos. Apparently Silver Gulls will eat anything that will fit in their mouth. Agree not likely to see another seahorse here anytime soon. Glad you got no,e safely, and I guess overall enjoyed the trip.
I certainly never thought I'd get a seahorse photo ever so yeah, probably not again this year!! :)
I do like the name plummet for the Masked Lapwing, very suitable haha!
I didn't know you were so familiar with Bombala, Sue. You would possibly know the way that we came from Orbost via Delegate, through the forest and around all the windy roads, beautiful but slow, and heavily affected by the summer bushfires before covid-19. So interesting to try out a new route!
Onto Merimbula where we arrived on Sunday afternoon too late to do much but settle in. We made a booking at our favourite oyster restaurant for that night (Wheelers - outstanding, straight out of the lake!), got in the car and nothing happened! But it happened suddenly, mark you!! (A little Goons humour for you). So that was uninspiring. Had to summon up a taxi to get to dinner, didn't realise that there was only one in the town!
But I was determined not to leave the town without doing the boardwalk, whatever our next steps were going to be. So Monday morning I was off! 3 blissful hours of denial on the Merimbula boardwalk!! Enjoy!
88) Striated Heron
I've only seen these up at the Gold Coast before now so I was excited to see one down this far south! This was the only sighting I had in the area, and it was raining/misting, and it was a flight shot across the lake, but I'll take it!!
I've found the Sooty Oystercatchers harder to find than the Pied this year so far, and haven't had many good shots but I like this birdie - not as sharp as I'd like in the mist but beautiful
I took so many shots of Satin Bowerbirds in and around Bright trying for an amazing shot and turned up nothing, then on the Merimbula boardwalk this gorgeous beauty fly right in front of me, perched right in my eyeline and posed for one minute! What a blue eye!!! WOW!!!
I've only seen these once in Victoria, near Orbost, so I think of them as something that I can see when I go to NSW. This is a horrid photo, but I won't see them again, most likely so EBC
I went off the boardwalk onto a dirt track following a Whipbird which I did not find because it stopped calling as soon as I got close, then once I got far enough away started again!! But I found this cute bunch of Bell Miners doing gymnastics on the forest vines which was fun to try to capture
Along a back path behind the boardwalk I simultaneously surprised an Eastern Yellow Robin and a Rufous Fantail! Where to look, shoot, walk first?? I got one shot of the EYR then followed the fantail who was VERY unhappy about being disturbed and was alarm calling very loudly and persistently!!! It did NOT like me. But this made it display a lot so enjoy the shots I managed to get through the vines before deciding to leave it in peace!
I got a lot more shots like the second one than the first!!
Delightful tiny birds that have been a challenge to nail down so far. I enjoyed seeing the juvenile so I've included that here as well, its interesting to see the Red-Browed Finch with no red brow!!
I tried so hard for a flight shot, I really did, but this is just so beautiful to me, this great bird swimming in the lake fishing for lunch. What a gorgeous bird! Did you know that Great Cormorant have a big spot on the side? I never realised that until this trip, but now I can tell the difference between Little Black and Great Cormorants in the air and when perched, which is cool!
This is a juvenile WBSW that popped up beside the boardwalk and caused both it and myself to be stunned for a moment! Fortunately I recovered first and got one shot off before it disappeared.
I was on my way home when these whipbirds arrested me and dragged me back for photos!! There were 4 of them that I saw, playing in the side garden and around the pool and the next door forest of a house along the boardwalk. WOW! If that was my garden, I would be sitting out there all day watching them! So much fun, jumping up and down the trees, running around on the ground, chasing each other, displaying their tails, calling, just moving, moving, moving...this is one of the males showing his fancy tail to the female - shame about the stick!
And that was the boardwalk. Seriously, if you're ever up in Merimbula, check it out! It gets busy with walkers and runners but if you pick your time and the tide it'll be awesome.
That evening we wandered into town, without my camera because apparently that's what people do on holidays, and there on the mud flats at low tide right in the centre of town were roughly 80 Godwits!!!! So Tuesday morning...
99) Bar-tailed Godwits
This is a hard one because I took my camera and went nuts, and took like 300 photos of the Godwits!!! So choosing a photo is difficult. But here's my attempt to narrow it down to one shot. After seeing the Black-tailed Godwits recently at WTP it was very interesting to see the Bar-tailed Godwits and notice the differences. Of course when I went back the next morning there were only about 15 birds, but still, it was great to see them.
After heading back to the motel to watch our car get towed to the mechanic, an unnerving experience, we wrapped up our troubles in our old kit bag, hired a car and drove to Narooma. The part that was needed wouldn't be in til Thursday or Friday, nothing we could do til then, so might as well enjoy ourselves if we could!
10km out of Narooma on the highway is a rest area and the start of a walk to Lake Mummaga. I didn't do the whole thing, but it was beautiful, pretty overgrown, and nice birds in spots but none in others. It's kind of rainforesty and humid in patches and runs along a creek then the lake. Weirdly, the first bird I heard in the car park was a rooster!! Somehow a rooster and 2 hens live under an overhanging tree there!!! Not sure if they were dumped at some stage, or really how they got there...
100) Eastern Yellow Robin
I had an extended photo shoot with one lovely robin, and quick shots with another couple of birds and I think this is my favourite shot
Lovely set of shots, Danika especially the Little Scrubwren and the Rufous Fantail. Some nice birds from these areas and I must check out that boardwalk... weather bad last time I was in the area.
Years since I have been to Bombala but yes we travelled that road. My parents had friends down there who had relatives all over the area so we often went to see them as well... Delegate, Bibbenluke, Cathcart, Ando, Burragate, Rocky Hall are all familiar names. I wish I could remember where the farm was but I was just a child when we stayed there and then they moved to town so I knew it better. Sorry to hear the forest was so burnt as back then logging was very important to the town. Maybe my husband would like a detour through there sometime just to see the changes and maybe find a platypus in the river.
I am so pleased that you managed to find so many birds on this trip despite the car issue. We once had a major car issue 2 days into a 3 month trip and had to scrape together enough money to buy another one on the spot in Moree... fortunately, there was sufficient in the account and our wallets to get us a Subaru Forester at a great price (I think they felt sorry for us!) and still eat. The other car was shipped back to Sydney and fixed by our mechanic at no cost to us as he was responsible but it meant no trade-in deal. However, we made up the time and met our travelling companions at Cape Hillsborough and carried on with a fantastic trip around Australia.
I'm loving the travelogue :-) Sorry about the car troubles, but sounds like you coped admirably!
That seahorse! What a surprise.... I've seen a few when snorkelling / diving in NSW, but pretty rare, so that photo is absolute gold!
As for the Pacific Gulls - I've never seen one in NSW - I know they are about in small numbers, but up Sydney way anyway they are vanishingly rare. Aren't they impressive? And how cool to have whipbirds playing visibly - they are normally so secretive. Great pics!
I googled where to bird watch around Narooma and came along a helpful blog entry that suggested some really good sites, one of them being Lake Frou. The birds along the road in were amazing! I stopped for ages and found some really good bird, the forest was buzzing.
95) Red-browed Finch replacement - not the best photo but I loved watching this male RBF bring a straw to his intended female and try to flirt with her...not sure if he succeeded because she flew off in the end so...
101) Dusky Woodswallow
The forest was full of the calls of juvenile woodswallows calling for food, and hunting parents bringing back food and calling up their kids to feed them. There were so many woodswallows! I took a bunch of photos, flight photos, juveniles, adults, combos but I like this shot the most
Not my best shot, but my best for now. One of my favourite honeyeaters! I love their red eyebrow, and their sucking noise, and how I have to chase them around to get even half a shot!
I've been trying to track down this teeny weenie little birdie for years with very little success! This is the best photo I have EVER taken of it! Which isn't saying much if you saw the only other ones I took on the 2 previous occasions I saw them...very blurry distant duds! I was super happy with this little buddy who just cruised around quietly and took his time and let me take shots.
This is a terrifically exciting lifer for me! I've been admiring other people's photos for years, and finally I got to take my own shots of these stunningly beautiful wrens!
Well done, what a great lifer to get! They are beautiful and your photo really does the male justice.
Note that eventually the Working List of Australian Birds will be updated to show that west of the Great Divide there is actually a different species to be called Purple-backed Fairy-wren after DNA evidence split them from the Variegated Fairy-wren. That means the area of the sighting is important for the future.
This delightful juvenile led me on a merry chase through the treetops (well I was on the ground) but I was happy to get some shots. I rarely see these birds, except on the odd occasion that a migrating bird makes its one into Melbourne somewhere so its always a treat.
I don't see Little Egrets very often so I'm always excited to see them! The heat haze really hit these photos hard across the sand but anyway I'll take it.
Thanks Tommy, Dale and Abby!
A couple more shots from WTP then I'm off on holidays, hoping NSW South Coast brings me some birds I don't usually see. Any recommendations for birding spots around Merimbula through to Wollongong gratefully received :) I'll be checking out Panboola wetlands at Pambula but going blind from there on up.
80) Royal Spoonbill - another bird that I've been sitting on photos for, and sadly my flight shot didn't turn out very well, so this is it for now - and a juvenile for comparison
81) Black Swan - finally I got the sharp in focus flight shot that I was after!
82) Common Greenshank - somehow I didn't see these on the day, I think because I gave my binos to my hubby to play with to keep him occupied knowing that birding isn't his favourite thing, so I was birdwatching just with my camera. I'll blame that anyway. But luckily these lovely birds are in focus enough to pass muster, and its a case of pick the odd one out with a Godwit thrown in for good measure! A second shot for clarity with Godwits and a sneaky flight shot
A few replacement shots and bits and pieces
32) Additional Australian Pied Oystercatcher flight shot
30) Another Brolga family shot cos they're just so adorable!!
29) Replacement Black-winged Stilt photo - I was too hasty with the first one!! I love this shot of the flock taking off :)
31) Improvement Black-tailed Godwit photo
33) Improvement Australian Pelican photo - had to get a flight shot!
View from the Little River bird hide for Alex :) hopefully a few more birds than Cairns!
Damsel fly
Great shots in flight, Danika, especially the black swan.
My favourite (and most generous for birds) spots in the Illawarra/Shoalhaven would be; Lake Wollumboola from the north east side, parking at Culburra beach for shore birds; Jerrara dam is a beautiful spot for forest birds and lake birds and is east of Kiama; east again of Jerrara Dam and up on the escarpment is Barren Grounds, great for a walk, but also for forest, grass and heath birds (I snuck in the ground parrot and emu wren here last year). Closer to home for me (Wollongong) you can catch subtropical rainforest species on the Mt Keira Ring track and the short track up to Mt Robertson lookout (pilotbirds).
That's about it for me, as my birding range is rather short, but growing slowly thanks mostly to this group. :)
Love them, Danika, some great shots there... and I do like the Quail family. That shot from the bird hide really does demonstrate how difficult it can be with shorebirds!
Wow at that Black Swan!
Good grief, that Little River Bird hide shot! Wow!
I've been to WTP once, a couple of years ago, and the view from the hide wasn't like that lol. OK, was early spring if I remember, so the migratory shorebirds were missing, and high tide so no mud flats - I remember a variety of terns on some floating platforms, and a LOT of swans, and that was it. Ooooo that looks exciting!
Some great birds and shots there! So many birds I'd like to see.... maybe in a few weeks :-)
Some great flight shots Danika. Loving all your photos. Just enjoying seeing everything the everyone sees. Such a friendly group, sharing locations, and birding together for those close to each other. Simply fantastic.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Love your flying Swan shot. Awesome!
Thanks for all the encouragement on my flights shots, the swan and even the fuzzy quails :) It's a fun day out when you have a great selection of birds to point your camera at!!
Michael, thanks so much for your guidance on spots to target in your area and thereabouts, I really appreciate your help! So sadly, our car failed to start after we parked the 1st day at Merimbula, it didn't get any further than that!! We did hire a car and got as far as Jervis Bay but had to turn back to Merimbula to check in with the mechanic and retrieve our car, so we didn't get to Wollongong - but we plan to try again in September so its not all lost, I'll definitely be referring to it then :) Ground Parrot is an amazing incentive!
Alex, I did hope this would whet your appetite and only hope we can turn on the birds for your visit!
I have so many birds to follow from the South Coast NSW trip but I'll wait til I'm home, and not on borrowed wifi. Ciao for now!
Looking forward to hearing about your trip. :)
Oh no, what a bummer! Impressed that you hired a car and had a crack anyway - I may have thrown a tantrum and sat down to sulk.
Looking forward to hearing about your trip ...the car issue must have been so frustrating but I admire your resilience in hiring a car and pressing on!
Haha Michael, there were definitely some pouts and talk of going home and not contining the holiday...but here's the thing:
-the Merimbula airport is currently closed for "renovation" so no flights out
-just getting a hire car to use locally took us a gargantuan effort and they would NOT let us drive it back to Melbourne (no one-way trips)
-towing our car back to Melbourne was looking like costing us between $2000-2500
-the thought of getting on the coach then a train with a bike and our excessive luggage gave me a headache....
So in the end it was easiest to choose the mechanic/hire a car option and continue holidaying locally!!! After some serious moments of stress...
But it was all worth it! Beach time and birds - what a combination!!
And the car is up and going, we got home (2 days late) and I hope that we're on a better run! And yes, now we have roadside assistance...ah for foresight!
Back to the birds...
We left Melbourne for a week's holiday (so we thought) on Feb 5th and drove to Lakes Entrance for the night. My target location here was Bullock Island, much better than it sounds, as it overlooks the channel where the lakes and river go out into the ocean. It's tidal, sometimes there are dolphins (not today), there are fishermen going in and out in boats throwing stuff out that birds like, there's a small creek area, there are sand bars, it's got rocks, its just good for nice birds. I walked via the beach from our motel to the island, definitely worth doing.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S102044857
83) Black-faced Cormorants
I took several shots of these birds across the channel because the sun was super bright and I couldn't really tell through my binos whether I was looking at Pied Cormorants or Little Pied; turns out, when I got the photos on the laptop, it was neither!! I didn't expect Black-faced Cormorants but along this breakwater there were maybe 40 birds! Very exciting! I've only seen this species in South Australia once before.
So of course, a flight shot!! And of course, I thought it was a Little Pied Cormorant at the time...
84) Pacific Gull
There were lots of these around Lakes Entrance, but I didn't see any as we went further up the coast into NSW for some reason. I did look for them but never saw any more. This one was eating a huge piece of washed up dead fish when I came along but I missed that shot and it dropped it. Hopefully it went back to it after I left.
There were also several juveniles in the area and I really like this flight shot of a juvenile carrying a crab or some other snack. Couldn't choose between the two shots.
85) Masked Lapwing
I've been taking shots of these wherever I go this year, but hadn't gotten anything that I really liked yet. But this shot appealed to me because of the Masked Lapwing's former name which I grew up with: Spur-winged Plover. I think you can see where they got that name! I've never seen the spurs so prominent when the birds are standing. I've seen them prominent when they're flying at me!
15) Silver Gull - replacement
I saw these gulls fighting over some food and thought it was a fun shot, didn't see til I got the photo up on the laptop what food it was that they had!! First time I've seen one in the wild!!!
86) Grey Butcherbird
I have these in my backyard...yet in 2 months I haven't gotten a single shot! I hear them often but they're very elusive, staying up high in their tree, until the babies arrive and start getting around the yard; then they're everywhere!
This is from the bush along the beach on the way to Bullock Island.
76) White-faced Heron - replacement
An improved flight shot!
Next stop: Bombala, NSW.
Did you know there is a Platypus Reserve in Bombala? In fact, they say Bombala is in the heart of Platyus Country! Unfortunately the best time of day to see them is early morning or late afternoon...not high noon when we stopped in for lunch!!
87) But this White-eared Honeyeater was there, checking out the river also so bonus.
A trip to remember no doubt. Some gorgeous shots...the Pacific Gull especially and I am really surprised at the Silver Gull's meal of a seahorse! I doubt that we will get another seahorse shot this year.
Some lovely shots along the coast, Danika. I had to look at the silver gull and seahorse shot 3 or 4 times. Unbelievable!
The kelp gulls are entertaining to watch, too, always dropping and carrying things. I grew up with the 'plover', too, and remember my friend mistakenly calling them 'plummets' because of the way they attacked us. :-)
I forgot to say that I know Bombala as I spent plenty of time there growing up and Platypus were easily seen. That was some time ago and I have not been there in many years... I think there was only one very small motel. Looking forward to more from your trip.
Yep some more great photos. Apparently Silver Gulls will eat anything that will fit in their mouth. Agree not likely to see another seahorse here anytime soon. Glad you got no,e safely, and I guess overall enjoyed the trip.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
I certainly never thought I'd get a seahorse photo ever so yeah, probably not again this year!! :)
I do like the name plummet for the Masked Lapwing, very suitable haha!
I didn't know you were so familiar with Bombala, Sue. You would possibly know the way that we came from Orbost via Delegate, through the forest and around all the windy roads, beautiful but slow, and heavily affected by the summer bushfires before covid-19. So interesting to try out a new route!
Thanks for all the comments everyone :)
Onto Merimbula where we arrived on Sunday afternoon too late to do much but settle in. We made a booking at our favourite oyster restaurant for that night (Wheelers - outstanding, straight out of the lake!), got in the car and nothing happened! But it happened suddenly, mark you!! (A little Goons humour for you). So that was uninspiring. Had to summon up a taxi to get to dinner, didn't realise that there was only one in the town!
But I was determined not to leave the town without doing the boardwalk, whatever our next steps were going to be. So Monday morning I was off! 3 blissful hours of denial on the Merimbula boardwalk!! Enjoy!
88) Striated Heron
I've only seen these up at the Gold Coast before now so I was excited to see one down this far south! This was the only sighting I had in the area, and it was raining/misting, and it was a flight shot across the lake, but I'll take it!!
89) Sooty Oystercatcher
I've found the Sooty Oystercatchers harder to find than the Pied this year so far, and haven't had many good shots but I like this birdie - not as sharp as I'd like in the mist but beautiful
90) Pied Cormorant
Yes I'm obsessed with flight shots!! But I mostly only saw these guys in flight I have to say, in my defence...
91) Satin Bowerbird
I took so many shots of Satin Bowerbirds in and around Bright trying for an amazing shot and turned up nothing, then on the Merimbula boardwalk this gorgeous beauty fly right in front of me, perched right in my eyeline and posed for one minute! What a blue eye!!! WOW!!!
92) White-headed Pigeon
I've only seen these once in Victoria, near Orbost, so I think of them as something that I can see when I go to NSW. This is a horrid photo, but I won't see them again, most likely so EBC
93) Bell Miner
I went off the boardwalk onto a dirt track following a Whipbird which I did not find because it stopped calling as soon as I got close, then once I got far enough away started again!! But I found this cute bunch of Bell Miners doing gymnastics on the forest vines which was fun to try to capture
94) Rufous Fantail
Along a back path behind the boardwalk I simultaneously surprised an Eastern Yellow Robin and a Rufous Fantail! Where to look, shoot, walk first?? I got one shot of the EYR then followed the fantail who was VERY unhappy about being disturbed and was alarm calling very loudly and persistently!!! It did NOT like me. But this made it display a lot so enjoy the shots I managed to get through the vines before deciding to leave it in peace!
I got a lot more shots like the second one than the first!!
95) Red-browed Finch
Delightful tiny birds that have been a challenge to nail down so far. I enjoyed seeing the juvenile so I've included that here as well, its interesting to see the Red-Browed Finch with no red brow!!
96) Great Cormorant
I tried so hard for a flight shot, I really did, but this is just so beautiful to me, this great bird swimming in the lake fishing for lunch. What a gorgeous bird! Did you know that Great Cormorant have a big spot on the side? I never realised that until this trip, but now I can tell the difference between Little Black and Great Cormorants in the air and when perched, which is cool!
This completes my cormorant collection for 2022!
97) White-browed Scrubwren
This is a juvenile WBSW that popped up beside the boardwalk and caused both it and myself to be stunned for a moment! Fortunately I recovered first and got one shot off before it disappeared.
98) Eastern Whipbird
I was on my way home when these whipbirds arrested me and dragged me back for photos!! There were 4 of them that I saw, playing in the side garden and around the pool and the next door forest of a house along the boardwalk. WOW! If that was my garden, I would be sitting out there all day watching them! So much fun, jumping up and down the trees, running around on the ground, chasing each other, displaying their tails, calling, just moving, moving, moving...this is one of the males showing his fancy tail to the female - shame about the stick!
And that was the boardwalk. Seriously, if you're ever up in Merimbula, check it out! It gets busy with walkers and runners but if you pick your time and the tide it'll be awesome.
That evening we wandered into town, without my camera because apparently that's what people do on holidays, and there on the mud flats at low tide right in the centre of town were roughly 80 Godwits!!!! So Tuesday morning...
99) Bar-tailed Godwits
This is a hard one because I took my camera and went nuts, and took like 300 photos of the Godwits!!! So choosing a photo is difficult. But here's my attempt to narrow it down to one shot. After seeing the Black-tailed Godwits recently at WTP it was very interesting to see the Bar-tailed Godwits and notice the differences. Of course when I went back the next morning there were only about 15 birds, but still, it was great to see them.
After heading back to the motel to watch our car get towed to the mechanic, an unnerving experience, we wrapped up our troubles in our old kit bag, hired a car and drove to Narooma. The part that was needed wouldn't be in til Thursday or Friday, nothing we could do til then, so might as well enjoy ourselves if we could!
10km out of Narooma on the highway is a rest area and the start of a walk to Lake Mummaga. I didn't do the whole thing, but it was beautiful, pretty overgrown, and nice birds in spots but none in others. It's kind of rainforesty and humid in patches and runs along a creek then the lake. Weirdly, the first bird I heard in the car park was a rooster!! Somehow a rooster and 2 hens live under an overhanging tree there!!! Not sure if they were dumped at some stage, or really how they got there...
100) Eastern Yellow Robin
I had an extended photo shoot with one lovely robin, and quick shots with another couple of birds and I think this is my favourite shot
Lovely set of shots, Danika especially the Little Scrubwren and the Rufous Fantail. Some nice birds from these areas and I must check out that boardwalk... weather bad last time I was in the area.
Years since I have been to Bombala but yes we travelled that road. My parents had friends down there who had relatives all over the area so we often went to see them as well... Delegate, Bibbenluke, Cathcart, Ando, Burragate, Rocky Hall are all familiar names. I wish I could remember where the farm was but I was just a child when we stayed there and then they moved to town so I knew it better. Sorry to hear the forest was so burnt as back then logging was very important to the town. Maybe my husband would like a detour through there sometime just to see the changes and maybe find a platypus in the river.
I am so pleased that you managed to find so many birds on this trip despite the car issue. We once had a major car issue 2 days into a 3 month trip and had to scrape together enough money to buy another one on the spot in Moree... fortunately, there was sufficient in the account and our wallets to get us a Subaru Forester at a great price (I think they felt sorry for us!) and still eat. The other car was shipped back to Sydney and fixed by our mechanic at no cost to us as he was responsible but it meant no trade-in deal. However, we made up the time and met our travelling companions at Cape Hillsborough and carried on with a fantastic trip around Australia.
I'm loving the travelogue :-) Sorry about the car troubles, but sounds like you coped admirably!
That seahorse! What a surprise.... I've seen a few when snorkelling / diving in NSW, but pretty rare, so that photo is absolute gold!
As for the Pacific Gulls - I've never seen one in NSW - I know they are about in small numbers, but up Sydney way anyway they are vanishingly rare. Aren't they impressive? And how cool to have whipbirds playing visibly - they are normally so secretive. Great pics!
I googled where to bird watch around Narooma and came along a helpful blog entry that suggested some really good sites, one of them being Lake Frou. The birds along the road in were amazing! I stopped for ages and found some really good bird, the forest was buzzing.
95) Red-browed Finch replacement - not the best photo but I loved watching this male RBF bring a straw to his intended female and try to flirt with her...not sure if he succeeded because she flew off in the end so...
101) Dusky Woodswallow
The forest was full of the calls of juvenile woodswallows calling for food, and hunting parents bringing back food and calling up their kids to feed them. There were so many woodswallows! I took a bunch of photos, flight photos, juveniles, adults, combos but I like this shot the most
102) White-naped Honeyeater
Not my best shot, but my best for now. One of my favourite honeyeaters! I love their red eyebrow, and their sucking noise, and how I have to chase them around to get even half a shot!
103) Varied Sitella
I've been trying to track down this teeny weenie little birdie for years with very little success! This is the best photo I have EVER taken of it! Which isn't saying much if you saw the only other ones I took on the 2 previous occasions I saw them...very blurry distant duds! I was super happy with this little buddy who just cruised around quietly and took his time and let me take shots.
104) Variegated Fairy-wren
This is a terrifically exciting lifer for me! I've been admiring other people's photos for years, and finally I got to take my own shots of these stunningly beautiful wrens!
Well done, what a great lifer to get! They are beautiful and your photo really does the male justice.
Note that eventually the Working List of Australian Birds will be updated to show that west of the Great Divide there is actually a different species to be called Purple-backed Fairy-wren after DNA evidence split them from the Variegated Fairy-wren. That means the area of the sighting is important for the future.
The Varied Sitella is also a cracking shot.
105) Scarlet Honeyeater
This delightful juvenile led me on a merry chase through the treetops (well I was on the ground) but I was happy to get some shots. I rarely see these birds, except on the odd occasion that a migrating bird makes its one into Melbourne somewhere so its always a treat.
106) Little Egret
I don't see Little Egrets very often so I'm always excited to see them! The heat haze really hit these photos hard across the sand but anyway I'll take it.
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