Nature walks with my camera: October 2013

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

LaTrobe Wildlife Reserve - Oct 2013

Took a walk up around the LaTrobe Wildlife Reserve on Monday and had an excellent day despite the weather. It was overcast and grey when I started and it wasn't long before the rain came and got me diving for cover to save my camera! The rain proved quite useful because as I stood, hunched under a tree, sheltering from the rain I managed to see a lot more birds that I probably would have walked straight by otherwise.

This was one of them - and by far my favourite of the day, hence so many photos.
This striking honeyeater is only 11cm long and very quick. I'm not even going to tell you how many photos I actually took - many of them a blur or completely bird-less. But lets just say, thank god for digital cameras!

Scarlet Honeyeater (male), Myzomela sanguinolenta

This is the much less striking female Scarlet Honeyeater.

Scarlet Honeyeater (female), Myzomela sanguinolenta

I've been to this wildlife reserve once before but the lakes were completely dry. Everything is green and lush now and there were plenty of happy birds about including this male Chestnut Teal.

Chestnut Teal, Anas castanea

Pairs of Rainbow Lorikeet's were abundant and very photogenic.

Rainbow Lorikeet, Trichoglossus haematodus

And here's another bird that has changed my view of pigeons. I used to think of pigeons as 'rats with wings' ever since travelling around Europe. I think it might actually have been one of the city squares in Florence, Italy, that really got me hating them. They were in plague proportions and every monument had spikes added to them to stop the birds landing on them and pooping everywhere. Anyway since then I heard Dr Karl say that pigeons don't actually carry any diseases and I've discovered some really pretty species like the one below.

Common Bronzewing, Phaps chalcoptera

Red-rumped Parrot, Psephotus haematonotus

I managed to spot and photograph 4 new species for my list which was pretty exciting. This Olive-backed Oriole is one of them. Apparently they are excellent mimics of other birds, and can also 'throw' their voices to sound like they are calling from somewhere else.

Olive-backed Oriole, Oriolus sagittatus

This inquisitive Scrubwren wanted to know what I was doing hiding under his tree when it started raining again. He came about a foot away from my head at one stage to look at me.

White-browed Scrubwren, Sericornis frontalis

When he'd tired of me I turned around to see my 3rd new spotting hanging off the reeds in the lake.

Clamorous Reed-Warbler, Acrocephalus stentoreus

An Sacred Kingfisher flew in for a spot of fishing in the rain, but failed to catch anything while I was there.

Sacred Kingfisher, Todiramphus sanctus

Found these cuties poking their heads out of one of the nesting boxes.

Common Ringtail Possum, Pseudocheirus peregrinus

Finally captured and identified the Bell Miner. I had repeatedly heard these birds when we walked the dog along the Darebin creek but had never taken the time to stop and figure out what they were. Their call is a high-pitched 'ting' which sounds like a bell and is beautiful to hear in the bush.

Bell Miner, Manorina melanophrys

Australian White Ibis, Threskiornis molucca

Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Macropus giganteus

Saturday, 26 October 2013

Darebin Creek bird survey - Oct 2013

Since my interest in birds has evolved, I thought it would be interesting and educational to help out at a bird survey that was being conducted along the Darebin creek. While everyone else donned binoculars, I walked with my camera. This actually proved very beneficial to the survey as my long zoom was nearly always better than the range of the binoculars and the captured image could be ID'd long after the bird had flown off.

We split up into small groups to observe different habitats along the river. Unfortunately our group managed to get the area full of introduced Common Mynahs which probably scared most of the indigenous birds away.

The Common Mynah was introduced to Australia in the 1880's to control pests and has since been declared by the World Conservation Union to be among the world's 100 most invasive species.
An action group has formed in the area trying to figure out how to stop the spread of them in the park. And there has been talk of installing traps to catch them and then gassing them in euthanasia boxes.

Looks like this Mynah had taken over one of the nesting boxes meant for the native birds.

Common Mynah, Acridotheres tristis

Australian Raven, Corvus coronoides

Brown Thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla

Grey Currawong, Strepera versicolor

Magpie Lark, Grallina cyanoleuca

Spotted Turtle-dove, Streptopelia Chinensis

Pacific black duck, Anas superciliosa

Just as we were finishing up for the morning we spotted something very unexpected coming towards us.

By the way it came up to us and sniffed around our legs, we agreed it was not wild but a pet that had either escaped or been dumped along the river. We then faced a dilemma - leave it or attempt to catch it. If we left it it would either die or start killing a lot of the native wildlife. So we ran back to the car for a box and some hay band and one of the ladies (who luckily turned out to be a vet) grabbed it. No sooner had we contained it and returned to the other groups did we find out that another one had been spotted nearby. It wasn't long before this one wandered up to us to see what all the fuss was about.

The bird survey wrap-up.

The data collected by all the groups showed that 48 different bird species were present in the small area we had all walked. And 2 stinky male ferrets had been caught and taken away by our vet friend!

Cockies in the backyard - Oct 2013

There are a lot of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos in our area. The other day I noticed one sitting on our fence and another on our neighbours roof. Thinking that this would be a great opportunity to get some close up pics, I ran inside, grabbed my camera, set some bird seed on a table in the backyard and waited. It didn't take long for curiosity to overcome the fear of me being so close to the food and soon two beautiful white Cockies were happily eating seeds right beside me.

Once they had had their fill they called out to their mates and soon after I had 5 more Cockies in my backyard. It was all going well until one cheeky Cocky decided to investigate the clothes line and started destroying the pegs. It was a cute photo op but when it started trying to untie the line I decided it was probably time they move on!

Wineries, walks and wildlife - Oct 2013

Ok, so now I've figured out how to link pages I will slowly start adding my collection of bird photos to the Australian Birds tab. I've split them up into different bird families so I can easily see my collection thus far and will continually add to them with every new spotting.

As I go through my photos I will be adding posts to re-live the adventures associated with the spottings. These will not be limited to birds but include all wildlife encounters. The posts won't be in any particular order and will take some time to get through so I better get started!

You'll have to bear with me while I learn and play around with the formatting :-)

ADELAIDE
We just got back from a long weekend in Adelaide visiting my sister and her partner. They had organised a full itinerary to keep us busy and we were exhausted by the time we got back to Melbourne!

First up was a nice (but steep!) walk up and down Mt Lofty. It was a lovely warm sunny day and every man and his dog was out there sweating it up the hill. This Stumpy tail took a much more relaxed approach.

Shingleback, Tiliqua rugosa

A screeching pair of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos got our attention as they flew into their nesting hole.

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus funereus

The next day we walked along the cliffs from Hallett Cove to Seacliff. There was plenty of bird and sea life about.


Singing Honeyeater, Lichenostomus virescens		Rock Dove, Columba livia

This kestrel had just landed on the rocks with either a small brown snake or possibly a legless lizard in it's beak. Soon after it had landed another kestrel came and snatched it's prize away and then flew into the cliffs to some very hungry sounding chicks. Unfortunately I couldn't see the nest from the walking track.
A local mentioned she had also recently seen the kestrels flying in with pigeon chicks.

Nankeen Kestrel, Falco cenchroides

There were some very happy seals lounging around in the shallow waters.

New Zealand Fur-Seal, Arctocephalus forsteri

And a pod of dolphins.

Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops aduncus

Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops aduncus

Of course we couldn't visit Adelaide without visiting some wineries, so it was off to McLaren Vale for lunch!
Nothing like lying on a picnic rug, sampling wines and listening to an orchestra of birds in the trees.

Found out recently that the Crimson (Adelaide) Rosella is thought to be a crossbreed of the Crimson and Yellow Rosella. Both species still interbreed with the Adelaide Rosella which is why it has such a variation in plumage.

Crimson (Adelaide) Rosella, Platycercus elegans flaveolus

A young European Goldfinch was just starting to get some colour in its feathers.

Crested Pigeon, Ocyphaps lophotes

Our last day was spent walking around Morialta conservation park.

Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus

This is my favorite spotting of the weekend - a beautiful Musk Lorikeet. Thanks to Adam for spotting it as it emerged from a hole in a tree and posed nicely on a branch for me before flying off.