I have been asked to start the next thread in this great series.
Before Christmas, on our regular walk in Mathison Park, I found a very secretive bird, the Buff-banded Rail Gallirallus philippensis, feeding openly in a muddy patch between the rushes and I was able to photograph it. It was the first ever seen in Mathison Park.
Kennedy
What a find! That is just stunning !!
a few days later the bird was at the same spot again and I suddenly became aware that there was a group of tiny little balls of black fluff at the edge of the rushes. The Buff-banded Rail has a family of newly hatched chicks.
Here is mum with 2 of the babies:
and here is the group of baby rails, are there 4 or 5?
Excellent shots of this very unique looking bird!
I see 5 babies! So cute!
Thanks so much for starting the new thread!
This message was edited Jan 13, 2008 3:34 PM
A few more recent pictures include this Sooty Oystercatcher - Haematopus fuliginosus, who came walking past while we were eating our lunch on Squeaky Beach in Wilsons Promontory National Park. This was a surprising chance for a photo, as the Sooty Oystercatcher spends all its time among the rocks and it is the Pied Oystercatcher that frequents the beaches and mud-flats.
At Christmas, we drove over to Adelaide to spend Christmas with our youngest son. The Crested Pigeon - Ocyphaps lophotes is very common in the Adelaide area
waiting outside the hotel on Christmas morning for my son to join me for an early morning walk, I found some Red-rumped Parrots - Psephotus haematonotus feeding on the roadside verge and was able to drive the car close enough for some pictures. Here is a male showing a hint of its red lower back (the rump is really green), with a duller female behind him:
and here is a better shot of the female (who has no red on her back)
Great shots, kennedhy!
as I was photographing the Red-rumped Parrots, a man walking a dog came on the scene, and the parrots took flight, just as I pressed the trigger. I was so pleased to get this chance photo of the mail parrot in flight
Wow their all so beautiful; great shots!
on Christmas afternoon, I went over to a nearby wetland to walk off my Christmas dinner and found a number of Whiskered terns - Chlidonias hybrida flying up and down and often dipping the water for little fish. They never perched anywhere near the edge so the only pictures possible were flight shots and I was very pleased with this shot, which shows its grey belly very clearly
Nice set! Did the Buff-banded Rail pull a big crowd of birders in to see it, if it was a local first?
Resin
Beautiful shots, kennedyh! Thanks for starting the thread.
Here's a shot from my outing with my daughters to Brushy Creek Lake Park the other day. A lovely male Cardinal sitting in a bush along a ravine. I was on an embankment above him and he was so pretty with the water in the background behind/below him.
This message was edited Jan 13, 2008 2:54 PM
back home I visited the Sale Wetlands and I tried to get a picture of a Latham's Snipe - Gallinago hardwickii. They are such alert birds that it is hard to get close enough, but this shot was quite pleasing. Looking at the picture was a real surprise! I was focussing my attention on the snipe and hadn't realised that the quite uncommon duck, the Freckled Duck - Stictonetta naevosa was also in the picture. It is not often that you photograph a difficult bird by accident! Here are Snipe and Duck together
Didn't know you got Whiskered Tern in Australia! I've seen one of them in Britain (rare visitor here from southern Europe) and a few in Bulgaria.
Resin
The freckled duck is lovely. The snipe's beak - that is truly something!
Resin,
it did attract other birders to the site and a few saw it, but it did not co-operate as well as it did for me. No-one else saw the babies and in fact although I saw the bird in the same place on about 8 occasions, I only ever saw the babies the once (although I keep looking).
One last bird to complete my introduction to the series. Last week I was back at Wilsons Promontory againa (helping with a plant survey) and we again ate our lunch on Squeaky Beach. I commented that there were so many people using the beach (on a hot sunny day) that there was no way we were going to see the Sooty Oystercatcher this time. I was right, but instead we found a pair of Hooded Plovers - Charadrius rubricollis feeding beside a streamlet at the back of the beach. These are birds that are very much beach livers and are somewhat reduced in numbers by mankinds rather excessive taking over of the beaches. They nest at the back of beaches and it was great to find that this pair, despite the crowds on the beach, had succesfully reared two young, who were with them, fully grown, but in juvenile plumage.
Here is an adult Hooded Plover
and here is one of its offspring
Thanks so much for all the pics,they are amazing.
Its so nice to see all these different birds from Australia!
Sorry to have interrupted your introduction with my cardinal, kennedyh.
Did you not know the freckled duck was there at all, or just didn't know you'd gotten him in the picture?
Speaking of ducks, as I mentioned in another post, I took my daughters birding at Brushy Creek Lake Park the other day. They weren't quite as excited about watching and trying to ID all the little birds as I was, but they really enjoyed feeding the ducks!
Sweet pic Peeper!
There was a male Mallard and two female Mallards and I guess a "mutt" who came up for bread. I thought this was a nice shot of Mr. Mallard and his ladies.
My daughter took this one. Not bad for a 10 yo photographer. I didn't even crop it.
Great pictures! :) I find I spend more time here than in the brug forum!!
Anyhoo...
"I wanna singa about the moona and the juna and the springa..."
Peeperkeeper,
Your cardinal was welcome, although he found himself in unfamiliar company!
I did know there were freckled ducks about. They are regular at that spot, which remains the only place I have ever seen them. I just wasn't thinking of photographing one at that moment. They are considered one of the rarest of the Australian ducks and are supposed to be safe from shooters in the duck season.
Kennedy
Nice pics indiana and Peeper & Peepers daughter!
Heres another American Goldfinch on the Upside Down feeder.
Neat looking birds you have there kennedyh! Fantastic shots!
Great pics! Love all the cute little ones!
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I have noticed I have not seen any collared doves recently. Are they migratory? There are still plenty of mourning doves.
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All we see around here are the Mourning Doves during the year.
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