balyang

Collared Sparrowhawk at Balyang

April 6, 2018 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Seth, mum and I went down to Balyang to look for bugs. As soon as we got there we heard this unusual call. I can’t describe it but I hadn’t heard anything like it before. It was high up in the tree and the light was fading. Oh no! I recorded the calls just in case I needed them for later.

Seth and I circled the tree a couple more times. I was lucky enough to get the two shots I’ve shared below. Obviously, they have been edited.

At the time, three young collard sparrowhawks were still hanging around the area so I didn’t want to post about it. I do miss living in the area. It’s still fun to get these little surprises when I visit.

Baby Herons: After The Floods

October 31, 2016 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I first spotted the nest in September and was hoping it was still intact. The wild weather has been destroying a number of nests in the region.

I was so happy to see them in the nest and it turned out I wasn’t the only one. There were two other people there, including a lady with a telephoto lens.

I think they are 3-4 weeks old and hopefully should be fledging soon. I managed to see the fledglings last year however missed them in the nest. 😉 If you look closely, you’ll see I even managed to get both birds pooping. Now THAT is a skill.

Yellow Spoonbill at Balyang

March 17, 2016 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

The spoonbills have returned to Balyang! There have been a lot of ibis lately after the floods have filled the ponds. I hadn’t seen spoonbills in a while.

On this day, there was three. This yellow-billed spoonbill, a species I rarely see there, landed on the mating tree. I knew that the photographs would be mediocre from my position, especially as I stuck to creative auto. I still thought it was worth experimenting with.

It stayed here for about 10 minutes and I experimented with different types of photography, and different levels of editing.

They didn’t turn out like I hoped but I’m still grateful. I know what settings to research now. I also didn’t know that they have black tips on some of their wing feathers. Always watching, always learning.

Pied Currawongs at Balyang

March 2, 2016 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

There are a bucketload of currawongs along the Barwon River at the moment. I see at least 4 or 5 whenever I walk a short distance. Normally, I don’t even try to photograph them because of the amount of foliage in the way.

On this day, I was at Balyang. This little guy was hanging around and wasn’t moving too far away. I took the opportunity to get photos for the ID website and was secretly hoping to get a photo of one defecating 😉 Alas, I had no luck in the latter.

I’m pretty stocked at how the photos turned out. Normally these lighting conditions produce mediocre results. I’m even more intrigued by them now 🙂

Close Ups Of Long Billed Corella

February 27, 2016 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Last week I was at Balyang when I noticed this long billed corella sitting on the ground. The behaviour is quite unusual, they are usually pretty flighty at Balyang. I snuck up a bit closer to get some photos for the bird ID website and was surprised at how close it let me get to it.

I think it may have been ill or injured. I moved away after I snapped these photos but it was still there an hour later. I didn’t return for another week, so I don’t know the outcome.

It is a very good time along the Barwon now for cockatoos. Mum had gang gangs in a tree in her backyard, and they even allowed her to get close! I had seen one there a week earlier but it flew away as soon as I opened the back door. The day prior, Sethy and I had seen 15 in a tree when going for a walk. In contrast, Corio is just corellas and galahs.

I can’t wait ’til the breeding cycle is over so I can go to other places and see different species 😀