bell miner

In late June, Sethy and I made a visit to Melbourne Zoo. It was mostly his day and focused around the stuff that interested him. I did get to spend a bit of time in the great flight aviary though and was surprised at the amount of birds you get there.

I know that these guys don’t count on my life list. I know that in photography circles, this is cheating. I don’t care. This is an awesome way to practice photographing birds in different conditions. They are more used to humans and allow you to get closer to ones in the wild. I didn’t get to spend as long here as I would like – the perils of being with a kid – but we have a zoo membership. We can always go back.

I need to get more photos of my new best friend. I love red tails. I’m desperate to see more species, and various subspecies, of them in the wild. It’s going to take a lot of work though and more money then I have.

A friend on the bird photography site posts so many of these from Byron Bay. I’m keen to see them in the wild, but would love to spend a long time photographing them. Similar to brolgas.

Top town view of one of my favourite ducks. It was so brilliant to be able to get close up views. I’ve gotten photos of these guys, plus musk and freckled in the wild lots of times. I really enjoy being able to capture the nuances and subtleties in close proximity.

Look at the colour variations on its back. I’ve never noticed it before.

Close up view of a Glossy Ibis. I want to return to get closer views as I think I’ve only seen these guys from a distance once.

Heron of some description. I totally need to do more research.

Royal Spoonbill. Haven’t seen spoonbills nearly enough lately, will be making that a priority over the summer.

Outside the aviary

Obviously, the aviary was a true highlight. Outside of there, however, we were able to add a lifer for Sethy. There was a decent amount of bell miners about and I was able to get good views.

This regent honeyeater was in a cage but Sethy was excited to see something that I had seen.

A nice photo of a kookaburra.

We were lucky enough to get really close to a juvenile nankeen night heron. Seth loved getting close, he let us get within 50cm of it. Unfortunately other kids saw how friendly he was and then scared it away.

This little guy was hanging out in the pygmy hippo enclosure. Love the illusion.

I probably wont be blogging about further trips to Melbourne zoo, because the animals are kinda generic. Glenn has made multiple trips and gotten some mad photos. It really is a great place to both practice and learn.

I may add various photos as webpages to this site as we are getting a number of good ones.

I went to my great grandmothers funeral in Mansfield a month ago. It was a long drive from Geelong and I had a bad cold, so I kept an eye for interesting stuff along the side of the road. I saw a number of wetlands and a rail trail. I made a mental note to research and visit those places later – although I didn’t think I’d be able to until 2016!

One of those places was the Yea Wetlands. Or, depending on who is sharing the car with you, ‘YAY!’ I’d never properly birded in that area and had no idea what to expect. It ended up being one of the highlights of the day.

Tawny Frogmouth

We saw this tawny frogmouth sunning itself on a log across the river. It was so close. We were on a suspension bridge so all of us turned around and started snapping photos of it. They are some of the clearest I’ve ever gotten and that includes the photos of birds I’ve taken in free slight aviaries. I loved being able to capture the detail on it’s feathers. It wasn’t there on our return.

Sacred Kingfisher

Another highlight was seeing a sacred kingfisher with a lizard in its mouth! I’ve been wanting to see something like this for some time. This is only the second time I’ve seen a sacred kingfisher and any kookaburras I’ve seen have been well camouflaged

The detail of the lizard is poor quality. I spoke to a couple of people about lenses during the weekend and they confirmed what I’ve suspected: there must be something wrong with the lens. Even when they put it on the right manual settings the photos turned out crap. Glenn and I are thinking about upgrading the lens anyway. I mostly want photos to ID whereas Glenn wants the great shot.
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Bell Miner

I was very excited to see the bell miners! The second photo shows a number of juveniles under a nest. This means that I don’t have to go to the botanical gardens in Melbourne to track down these guys and the Eastern Spinebill. (I loathe leaving the house – and especially going to Melbourne – so am grateful for any excuse to avoid an area :P) Their call and colouring was different to what I expected.

Others:

I think this is the White-throated Gerygone. It’s probably the rufous whistler; I know I saw and got a photo of the gerygone but am feeling too overwhelmed at the moment to double check. The gerygone looked way different to what I thought it would be, a lot smaller. It was rather difficult to photograph.

(I’m certain it isn’t the gerygone but I’m going to pretend it is – I’m tired!)

Like the flycather, it was smaller then expected. I expected it to be mostly one colour with a white throat. It mates for life. Can resemble the fairy gerygone and younger ones can look like a weebill. I’m not sure these are something that interest me that much yet, I normally stick to the groups of birds I’m passionate about. Still, always fun seeing a new bird.

Brush tailed possum tail sticking out from a hollow. I know a 6 year old that loves possums and knew he’d dig this.

The above photo is a leadens flycather. Someone questioned the ID on Facebook later that night but apparently the undertail is diagnostic?

It moved so quick that I struggled to see it, let alone get a photo. I was really surprised when I got home to see that I got a clearish shot! It is so much smaller then I expected. I thought it would be willy wagtail sized. Someone else said they had originally thought the same thing. This makes me feel less stupid 🙂 I’ve been wanting to see a flycatcher for sometime although, as usual, I know nothing about them.

It’s apparently misidentified a lot. Graeme Chapman has info on telling them apart. It prefers drier habitats then the satin. Would these wetlands qualify as dry?

Was a very big day and I still feel like I’m recovering from it. I loved being with others that had a similar passion not just for birds but for all things nature. People would stop to get photos of bugs and skinks and fungi. My primary interest is birds but I am fascinated by other animals – I just don’t have the energy to pursue that passion. People would talk at length about camera settings. I felt like I was amongst kindred spirits – something I haven’t felt in a long, long time.

I was getting exhausted by the end and did rest a bit. I was paranoid that I was being rude during times when I wasn’t overly social. I mostly felt relaxed which is a lovely break from my normal feelings of anxiety. It confirms that I need to find a balance between career and my love of nature.

I need to explore everywhere and learn as much as I can. Australia is so fascinating. And the birders I met yesterday were so generous with their knowledge.

Now to sleep off the exhaustion 😛