Yesterday, Glenn and I went to Serendip. I’d been hankering for a proper adventure in a while. The trip to the Gold Coast didn’t count. I wanted to be immersed in the bush for a couple of hours. I wanted to be able to watch the same species for a while. Heck, I wanted to be around Glenn without feeling panicky about the impending weekend of doom (which is what conferences often feel like.)
We got there and I could just feel my body relax. The carpark itself was calming. It’s brilliant that we have such a place fairly close to home.
One of the priorities for the day, as you’ll quickly work out, was photographing the young cape barren geese. I know it sounds silly but I want to get them at different times in their life cycle so I can establish patterns in terms of growth/behaviour/feather changes.
Plus who doesn’t love photos of baby birds? Fortunately Glenn got into it too. A lot of the photographs are focused on the goslings with their teeny weeny mouths open.
There were young that were slightly older. These guys must have bred really early!
Look at the detail on their tiny wings! Can’t wait to see the down drop and older feathers come in.
A good shot of a fairy wren jumping. Glenn could be around the most amazing rare bird and would still try and get the ultimate wren shot. Would love to take him and see some of the different species of wren. Just not emu wrens as their elusiveness would probably drive him nuts.
Buff Banded Rail
In the past, Glenn would have focused on the easy birds with his photography. In our first visit it was all emus and marsupials. I’ve been working really hard with Glenn lately to focus on watching the bird for a while and really capturing their behaviour. It hasn’t come naturally to him but he has improved so much. I’ll tell him a bit about the bird and what to expect, and he’ll go into an area with an idea of the type of photography to get.
He was photographing something else in here when I saw these two rails sitting down. Their behaviour was interesting, very loving. It was like they were rubbing their beaks together but not actually feeding. I thought the mother might be sitting on a nest.
Interestingly, I saw a slightly older rail chick when visiting here in September last year. Wonder what they do if they get too many? There are about 7 in here as it is.
I do want to emphasis that I was on the path at the time. I was already sitting down trying to photography my one true love, the musk duck. If you look in the third photo, you can see a baby peeking out from under it!
I nearly screamed. I told Glenn to turn around to try and get a photograph. I knew he’d love it.
I love photographing baby birds and various behaviour. There is so much to learn and I’m so grateful for Serendip.
Other captive
I did have ulterior motives for going here. I wanted to photograph the freckled duck again! I thought the captive area would be great for other practice, but was surprised at just how much Glenn got into it. I’m such a proud girlfriend. It’s bloody hard to get good at bird photography and he’s giving it his all.
I got the above shot of it flying. Glenn got the below photos. It’s funny, these were so easy to get. In other area, I spent about 15 minutes trying to get a photo of the same species of bird, only wild, trying to catch a fish. All of them turned out crap.
Mostly because I had the boring normal lenses but whatever. Glenn’s the better photographer and he works 5 days a week.
My favourite duck. I found him! I could easily come back here and spend all day in this enclosure. The lighting was horrid and the freckled duck wasn’t as visible this time.
Look at his tail, though.
Glenn got the above one. We both wish the lighting was better but just look at that shot. This is how I know that Glenn will be successful. He needs work understanding the technical camera stuff, and I want to start teaching him about presets, but look at what he captured.
Female freckled duck.
Suspect the above birds are scarlet chested parrots. I need to see more parrots in the wild!
Elsewhere: 
A displeased swan confronting a grebe.
A bug that initially scared the poop outta me.
Close ups of a whistling kite. It is an artform trying to get someone else to see where a bird is in a tree. We do need a superior lens for shots of birds in flight.
This magpie was a complete butthead. We were waiting at the entrance for a taxi when I saw this angry looking bird swoop me. I sat down and it did it again!
Glenn thought it was hilarious, even after he told me how much it hurts. He also tried to get a photo of it, despite it trying to go him. We had moved away and tried to be respectful of it. We had to catch the taxi!
Glenn got a good photo, and a glare, from me.
We got other photos and I’m still planning to visit here quite regularly. Birding would be so much easier with a car! There is so much that I want to check up on and photograph.
I’ve also gotten more work lately. It’s a bit difficult trying to balance everything but I know this is a short term thing. Get the work out of the way and I can do more adventures. It’s spring.
I also need to do more research into the technical side of things to help Glenn.
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