Birds

yesterday I had the closest encounter with a kite (about 3 metres) and the little eagle (about 15 metres) The weather was really crappy so I had left the camera at home. Went back today to shoot some more.

A kestrel

but this one is raptor food for sure

It’s hiding from me…

Many birds about today but no raptors. (too many people about)

This is one I like

Spotted the little eagle again. There were other people about so I could not get close to it but considering the very dull day I was happy to get something.

And some pelicans…

One point of difference with our swans is that they can skim at high speed on water as well as flying. Not sure how fast this was going but it was pretty impressive.

Birds can be funny. this female was demonstrating how she can stand on one leg

the male , two metres below. could not work out which  leg to use

The real version is that the female was stretching her legs and the male (same tree about two metres below) had spotted something on the ground.

Reality can be so boring at times…

Today we saw kestrel N2 hunting and catching something, then the little eagle made an appearance and a quick exit. I snapped a few photos but nothing decent so I shot this pretty blue wren.

We had some excited birders around in the last few days because some endengered swift parrots had been spotted. Apparently there are about 2000 left. Yesterday I saw one (maybe two) but in the distance and for a split second (they are listed as the fastest parrot in the world…) so I went back this morning and found one

then took a photo of some rainbow lorikeets playing (about 20 of those flew overhead as I was looking for the other one)

I went back with my wife,  looking for the swift parrots this afternoon, nothing for about half an hour then slowly they arrived. before we left we had 16 that we could see , maybe a few more in the vicinity. Not bad given that they are endangered.

comparing some other photos I realised that there are 12 in this one (a pair is at the top right corner) So 17 , at least, out of an estimated total population of 2000.

Today was the best viewing day. The longer we were thwere and the closer these parrots came to us.
Just one photo (out of about 140…)

From the day before when we could not find the parrots.

This one was fishing , flying only a few metres from one spot to another.

amazing photos, nice!

1% of world swift parrot population : )

A keen birder of 41 year of practice was there yesterday . He estimated there were at least 25 but probably 30 or so flying around us. The next project is to get a photo of a much rarer cousin of this, called the orange-bellied parrot. This one is down to around 50 (!!!!) some of those have been bread in captivity and then released. There are some at a place where we have the keys to but it’s a strip about 10 miles long and the exact locality is kept secret.

This shot I like because it makes clear what they are eating . It’s called lerp (also manna) a sweet secretion from those leaves. I learned that yesterday.

The other day, waiting for the parrots to arrive, I had a look around for a flame robin that lives in the area. A very pretty but shy bird. Could not find the male so I shot his wife.

Not sure how common this is but with several birds in our area, including raptors, I can get closer to the females than the males.

Still taking bird photos but waiting for a change of season and new birds I shot two very common ones here, a whattlebird and a stilt

One last photo in this thread.

My favourite bird at the moment, the kestrel.

This is N3 hunting. (I have identified 4 that hunt all within the same relatively small local park)

Been enjoying these a lot! Especially the cute parrots. Here’s a couple of a baby mourning dove in my sister in laws tree in her front yard. Pictures taken only 4 days apart

Hi David,

I stopped posting them because it did not look there was any interest at all.

But if you like parrots…

This is a galah that broke off from another 3 to come closer for a look . Lots of them around at the moment.

this cockatoo has someone feeding it because he hangs arounda certain area and is not al that shy . Others visit , mostly small flocks of 5-10.

these two rainbow lorekeet were busy courting so they did not mind me beign there

we do this same walk 3-4 times a week, first down to the beach (about 300 metres away) then along a creek and into the park. Most days we come back with some shots. Because we are in a migration area we see different birds in the different seasons.

As for how fast they grow up…

We have these masked lapwings (also called plover) . They nest on the ground in the stupidest places like in a traffic island (middle of the road) or close to a driveway. The chicks move out of the nest within a day or two so the parents are busy agressivly scaring people and other birds away for weeks. The one below is one of a pair that hangs around our walking trail.

“I stopped posting them because it did not look there was any interest at all.”

Though I haven’t posted in this thread before, I have been following it with interest and enjoying the wonderful photographs.

We had a rather geriatric pair of Spur-Wing Plovers nesting on our farm. But they took to nesting on the roof of the shed, on steel roofing, and the eggs eventually rolled off the roof. I did try to build a barrier to stop the eggs, but they were infertile anyhow.

I think one of the pair died a year or two ago and they were replaced by a young pair, who have been breeding.

Cheers

I’m enjoying all those cool Aussie birds i will probably never see. Mind if I contribute some cool birds you don’t have over there?

Anna’s Hummingbird

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Probably Allen’s, but maybe Rufous Hummingbird

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Hi Sharon,

we don’t have hummingbirds here but I have observed some honeyeaters briefly floating in the air whilst eating.

Small birds in flight are very difficult to catch, in fact I have a hard time getting a decent shot of the red rumped finches on land because they seem to always move the head .

Some from yesterday. The last one is a welcome swallow doing a hummingbird imitation .

One of the three kites I  see on our walk around the local park . Yesterday two birders asked me where I see them because they don’t. They are only the size of a pigeon.(the kites not the birders)

This shot from just before it took off hunting. Took it less that a minute to find a mouse and then it went to another tree to eat it.The day before it (or a mate) was hunting for maybe 45 minutes over a large area without catching anything.