australian magpie

Balyang Mid Spring, 2015

October 16, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Woo! Finally getting to the last of this weeks posts.

The little pied cormorants were definitely a highlight of the past week, but there are definitely other highlights.

Walking to Balyang

I got a lift from dad to Queens Park so I could check out what birds were in the region. I probably could have walked further if I had packed proper shoes but I didn’t trust my thongs. It was a good decision; by the end of the visit to mums house my legs and butt were really aching. This may have been partially due to my decision to weed mums overgrown veggie garden but I digress.

One of my goals is to capture as many photos of bird nests, and birds nesting, as I can. I am learning so much from it. I try to be as quick as I can so as not to disturb the birds. This currawong nest was photographed really quickly. It is surprising how many birds nest right next to a busy path, although this was a fair distance away.

There were a decent amount of baby magpies about. And some over protective parents who are overzealous about people who are just trying to walk up stairs. Below, I discovered this magpie eating some kind of bug 🙂 Part of me wants to research and figure out what it is!

The hard headed duck, or A hard headed duck, has made a reappearance. Months of nothing and finally, NOW the area starts to get interesting. This reminds me… I should probably go to Drysdale and see how the lens works there!

Parrots drinking

A highlight of the day was also being able to get photos of a sulpher crested cockatoo and a red rumped parrot having a drink. I think that is my new photographic obsession.

Turns out I have seen a little corella!

I have no self confidence when it comes to ID’ing birds. I was fairly certain that these were little corellas but was uncertain, because one of my bird books listed them as being moderately common instead of common. It listed two locations where you could find them in Melbourne. I assumed that this meant there was isolated populations locally.

Wrong! I was right in that most of the corellas I’ve seen in the past have been long billed. So, hi five for me there.

This is me quoting directing from the comment thread on that group. I know this is bad form, but it is primarily for my learning moreso then anything else.

West of Geelong Long-billed is very common. Littles tend to be in bigger flocks that cruise around large areas.
Long billed have expanded their range into the Melbourne area, not through escapees, but through the clearing Little Corellas are more of an inland species, but again they have increased in number & have come down to Melbourne & Gippsland etc in their large flocks.

Fascinating. It is curious that I’ve mostly seen long billed – and makes me wonder what two littles would be doing at Balyang? I know there are open paddocks a couple of km away. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out and may try to teach myself their call. It’s probably I’ve seen the littles around and just ignored them. Regardless – it is a lifer!

Great cormorant

The photos may be generic but I was able to get this great cormorant that was just floating about. There is usually one there on each visit.

Reed Warbler

Was so hoping this was a little grassbird as I’ve been trying to knock that off my list for awhile. The tail was too short and the markings on it and the chest weren’t right. I was hoping that it was, regardless. Mostly because the noise was different.

I went to the playground near Balyang with Seth later that day and ended up seeing several reed warblers, including ones making this sound followed by the warble I’m used to. Again, I learned something. Again, I dipped on a fairly common lifer. It is a bit weird how these guys popped up outta nowhere!

Little black cormorant

On the Tuesday there was a couple of little black cormorants there, which was awesome. I was hoping to get some photos of some small spats but it never really worked out. That is okay, I think the photos turned out well.

The final picture is of these ants eating a much larger creature. Sethy said it was a wasp. I also saw a dead blue tongue when walking home.

In sadder news, there are foxes in the area and they killed two of mums chickens. We live about 1km from the river. It sucks.

Final Winter Visit To Serendip

August 21, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

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.

Belmont Common: Cygnets are grown up

October 29, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I was always planning to go to Belmont Common today. However, when mum phoned up asking if I wanted to go to the pet shop, I saw the opportunity for a lift there. I had forgotten what life is like with my 6 year old nephew. No amounts of promises that he’ll behave will stop him from acting up sometimes. Intentionally.

Despite his best efforts to scare everything away, I was able to make the observations that I wanted to.

There are plenty of babies around. I saw this butcherbird chick.

I could hear multiple honeyeater fledglings. I saw a mudlark next that a friend had recently photographed. As they predicted, another bird species was stealing nest materials rather then using the now abandoned nest.

There was a lot of activity in the area near the golf course. A LOT of swamphens. One heron and an ibis. Of course, someone ‘accidentally’ scared them away.

I saw this magpie that looked a little worse for wear. Will research it later. Is it ill or just had a dirt bath?

One of the main reasons I wanted to go there was to suss out whether the cygnets where still there. They were, and they were mostly grown up. I wonder what happens when they grow up – when do they decide to leave? Do they stick together as a family? Where do swans hang out – and how do they know to hang out in a certain space?

Dad said it was possible they’d go to Swan Bay 😉

I also believe I saw a number of Latham Snipes. I think that’s what they were. Someone was running up and down the hill at the back and flushed several before I could try to get a photo. I’d estimate there was at least 6.

I know that the tone of this post is somewhat depressive – one of the challenges of living a normal life while suffering from a mental illness. I think it’s important to keep up the observations regardless of my mood as I can forget key details over time.

Birding along the Stan Lewis Walk

October 25, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I went for a walk along the Barwon River. I’d been trying to do more birding but had been finding it very difficult to go birding, get work done and get everything else done. I think it’s more of a sign that I’m struggling with anxiety then anything else. Regardless, when it cooled down to below 25 degrees yesterday afternoon I was outta there.

My main goal was to see a crested shrike tit, a bird that has been eluding me for some time. I have a contact on facebook that is always getting interested photos around the Queens Park area so decided to get more familiar with the area myself – despite my discomfort.

I was a short distance from home when I saw a mud lark in water that was near a drain. I remember thinking “That would be a good area for other birds to hide.” And then I saw this rail!

I was so shocked. The connection to my lens was faulty so it was hard to get a photo in time. And, then I saw that there was two of them! I’ve seen one before at Werribee zoo (it was a wild one that had made it’s home there.) But this…. do you know how long I’ve been looking for bloody crakes and rails at belmont common? I was fairly certain this was a buff banded rail, and I was right. It was such a lovely surprise. They weren’t there on the way back, though.

Baby Wattlebirds

A recent fascination of mine has been getting photos of baby birds in their nest. This is partially thanks to the same Facebook friend, and because Glenn loves the challenge. I prefer to look at them from a distance whereas Glenn loves getting photos. So, when I saw this, I had to get photos for Glenn. I actually phoned him up and he urged me to stay there and get more photos instead of walking further along to Buckley Falls.

The behaviour was interesting. Both parents would take turns in feeding them. They would only be at the nest ever so briefly to feed them, which made photography rather difficult.

The lens, which is temperamental, had trouble focusing quickly enough. I didn’t know the right settings. I didn’t have the tripod. I did the best I could in such circumstances. Normally I’d just encourage Glenn to get the photo. On Monday it is his birthday and we are going away to Melbourne for a photography nerd-out at the zoo. It’s unlikely he’d have time to get the shots for a while unless he wanted to come over mid week and spend $50 on taxi fares. I’ll see if we can find a way. Nonetheless, it was up to me to get the shot.

I think I got a couple of good ones. They certainly aren’t great and I’m not proud of them but they were the best I could do. The path was a bit busy and I was trying to keep my distance from the birds. I think we have a good month left to capture interesting bird breeding behaviour. We’ve had a good run considering neither of us drive and we aren’t really part of a community.

Other observations:

I had to get this photo for Glenn. Another obsession is birds feeding. I didn’t know if this was collecting a worm for a baby, but I didn’t want to go into it’s space.

I did notice four rabbits along the river which made me sad. I don’t think we are every going to win the fight when it comes to conserving native wildlife. I primarily took this photo to show my nephew, have no idea why the eye looks so weird.

I’ll be writing a couple of other updates over the weekend from birding trips during the last month. I’m struggling with anxiety so the tone will be a bit flat. Still, have made some interesting observations and have ventured further then normal.