buckley falls

More Moorhens at Buckley Falls

November 22, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Last week, I shared some images of dusky moorhen chicks I took at Buckley Falls. I wasn’t proud of the photos I took so went down there again 8 days later. My goal was to take photos of the chicks with the sigma 150-500 lens and hopefully get better detail.

The best laid places of mice and moorhens. I wasn’t able to find the family that I saw previously. I was able to get much better photos of a different family though. I’d say these chicks were around the same age as the other family.

Some of the photos are still a bit blurry. Still, I’m impressed with the detail on the wings and head. The parents were doing a really good job. Hopefully the kookaburra I’ve recently seen there doesn’t get to them!

Dusky Moorhen Chicks at Buckley Falls!

November 14, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I posted about the awesome night herons (and their lunch!) that I saw at Buckley Falls. As it was a Seth day, the schedule was based around what he wanted to do. Which, being a 7 year old, was to climb over rocks.

There was skinks near those rocks. And other families. And, as I noticed on the way back, some dusky moorhen chicks.

These guys were teeny weeny. They were well hidden so many of the photos turned out to be blurry. I’d been experimenting with black and white photography (to teach Glenn), so accidentally forgot to change settings.

It looked like a couple of families were hanging out together. The chicks would hang out in an enclosed area surrounded by rocks and move out whenever they felt safe. Too much noise/movement? They would go back to hide. They didn’t even need encouragement, which I thought was rather interesting.

Was lovely to see unexpectedly find them 🙂 I had been looking for chicks on any description (birds, I mean :P) at Balyang but had only seen the occasional group of ducklings. I’m assuming they are hiding elsewhere. I now need an Eurasion coot family to complete my mental collection.

Other Buckley Falls Shenanigans

November 13, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Earlier today, I shared photos of a hungry night heron at Buckley Falls. Sethy and I were there for a couple of hours and there were a number of other interesting observations.

These photos are a bit generic, but they highlight some of the photographic opportunities currently available.

I often go to the lower lookout that is overlooking the man made area of the falls. It’s hard to explain. The below photo shows it best.

In the above photo you can see the falls themselves. On the rocks at, and in front of the falls, you’ll often find various species of heron. I’ve been seeing night herons occasionally, but they require more patience. There is usually 2-3 white faced herons. This is an incredibly popular area for birds looking for fish.

If you look in the rocks that are in the still water behind the falls, you can occasionally see other species of bird. On this visit, I saw this hot little pied cormorant. I’m not sure what is up with the white on the wings, I think that some feathers must be askew.

If you are patient enough, you can also see herons leaping across the stones at the top of the falls. You can get some awesome photos if you are quick enough. You have to be very observant as they can stay still for ages before they decide to move.

The herons also like hanging out at some rocks at the bottom of some steep steps. If you sit still they will get very close to you and fish in front of you. You can get a lot of photos of them doing a variety of everyday stuff. The ones here are less skittish then the ones I’ve seen elsewhere. This can also be useful if you are learning about photography and want to experiment with settings.

There are a lot of dragonflies here, and elsewhere, at the moment. Good luck trying to get a decent shot.

No idea what the below bug is. I’m working on getting various critters identified.

It has taken me a while to really like Buckley falls as a birdwatching place. It’s mostly because it requires more patience then other places. You have to wait in the one place for an hour or two and just watch the various birds as they move around. In the past, I wasn’t mature enough to do this. It didn’t help that I was struggling to leave the house. You can expect to see a lot of birds in a short period of time like you can at other environments.

I’m very keen to visit here a bit more often now 🙂

Glenns Barwon River Birthday Ramble

October 29, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

On Monday it was Glenns birthday. We had originally planned to go to Melbourne to do some photography but the stormy weather had other plans. We didn’t fancy going to the zoo and botanical gardens in drizzly weather so chose to stick around Geelong.

Glenn, however, decided that the day was conspiring against him and didn’t see the point in going anyway. I persuaded him to go. We had a bit of a tiff where I told him that he was choosing to be in a funky mood and he could still have a good day if he wanted. We decided to walk to Queens Park bridge so he could try to photography the baby honey eaters.

Honeyeaters

He had a lot more success then I did when it came to getting photos. The tripod helped, as did the fact we were there mid afternoon. He was fascinated at how the act of feeding was over with so quickly. There would be nothing for a long period and you had to be so quick to get the action shot. It was such a challenge, but he did really well.

I think they were close to fledging. One of them was moving about on a branch next to the nest. The parents were working so hard.

Buckley falls

The birding past Queens Park bridge was pretty uneventful. No kingfishers this time, nor the elusive crested shrike tit. Glenn had an opportunity to practice photographing red rumps once we got to the golf course.

A facebook contact had observed a night heron in the area. Another Facebook friend had gotten some great photos of a heron feeding. I wanted Glenn to try to get some more photos of herons.

The feeding photos weren’t great, but the wind helped make the photographs more interesting. Glenn said he thought there was three herons in the area.

Black Cormorants

I’m proud of how Glenn is able to ID birds now. He asked if a darter was a type of cormorant. I said no and handed him my field guide. I asked him to point out the differences in the birds. “Oh, they are shaped differently and the beak isn’t hooked.” He then looked further down the page and pointed at the black cormorants. “These are the ones we saw. I recognize the wings.”

I didn’t intend for Glenn to get as nerdy as he has, but I like how he now understands the importance of knowing how the bird will behave. His photography has improved so much as a result.

I told Glenn about how bad my agoraphobia has gotten and how much I’m struggling. He said “you enjoy birdwatching, don’t you?” and I told him that all trips were a struggle. He’s encouraged me to back to the doctor so…. we’ll see what happens. Also will be moving over the next few months. Will really miss the area – but will be happy to be close to a different bus line!

Buckley Falls With Glenn

October 25, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Glenn hours at work have changed. By the time it gets to his weekend, he’s exhausted. Last Monday, I told him he should come with me to Buckley Falls. I had visited there the week before and noticed that there were a lot of fairy wrens there.

Long story, but Glenn has been trying to get the elusive shot of a fairy wren. They move so quickly that it is hard to get a clear shot. I was sitting there being taunted by the other birds that were hiding on me so I decided to call Glenn.

“They are teasing me. Oh, how they vex me! By the way, you should come here. Reed warblers too, if you can find the ****ers”. I’ll be writing about that trip shortly.

He was hesitant about going but was feeling better by the afternoon. We caught the taxi there and he was immediately gripped. He didn’t know where to go. Wrens everywhere! I haven’t gone through the photos yet because, well, he takes so many photos and it should be his job.

I did hear this little guy with a beautiful call though. I wasn’t sure if it was a bird I had seen before. I got home and youtubed the sound. Yep, definitely a grey strike thrush. I saw another one of them near Fyansford. I know they are generic but I don’t find them much around home.

We walked closer to the falls. Glenn got distracted by a great egret and a heron. He sat down on the rocks for about half an hour to get photos. It was difficult as people kept on walking past and scaring it away. An older man even walked past Glenn to get closer to the bird. Which is fair enough, but I felt for Glenn. He got some interesting photos. A friend in a FB bird group got brilliant photos of one eating an eel though – and his camera isn’t even a DSLR! We really need to investigate the lens situation.

Another FB friend observed a night heron there. Even though it’s a taxi ride away, I’m thinking I have to visit here more and suss out the birdlife. I’ll have to budget for taxis.

We got to Fyansford and saw some interesting birds overhead. Well, I did. I assumed they were just straw necked ibises, as they were pretty far away. Once I got home I realized that they were pelicans! I should have told Glenn and gotten some photos with the zoom lens of doom. Oh well.

I noticed this nest that looked like it belonged to a crow. Couldn’t get any better photos, but was an interesting find.

Sacred Kingfisher

Glenn was on a bridge. I was about to cross it when I heard a call that sounded different. I walked slowly so as not to scare the bird away. I was standing Glenn and looking at the bird that had the interesting call.

“Oh Glenn. I’ve been looking for a kingfisher for ages. You’re my good luck charm.”

He was snapping away a lot of photos while asking further questions about kingfishers – ones that I were unable to answer. I’ve only been back into birding for a year!

We got some interesting and clear shots. Well, Glenn did. I was too busy rambling about how happy I was and how life now made sense.

Birdwatching can trigger my anxiety but often, the payoff can be so worth it. This day was worth the times I’ve been stuck on a train crying because I wasn’t coping. It was worth the migraines and self doubt, and feeling so depressed because I can’t even leave the house to bird. It was so beautiful. People had mentioned seeing them along there but I didn’t think I’d be so lucky.

The sucky-eater

I saw flashes of yellow in a tree so snapped away, hoping that it would prove to be a stupid shrike tit. I ended up submitting these photos to a bird identification site. One of the photos was definitely a white plumed honey eater, a bird that I had seen on multiple occasions. I couldn’t figure out what the bird below was though. Maybe that shrike tit?

After lots of back and forth, I realized that this was the HONEYEATERS BUTT. It looks like a beak and head but no. You can clearly see the leg.

I felt like an idiot but hey, I learned a lot!

We ended up catching a taxi back from Fyansford. Glenn was boring and didn’t want to explore further. We were walking towards the hotel when I saw a bird of prey. I grabbed the camera off him – he wouldn’t have had time to find it. I had seconds to get a photo that would capture enough detail. And it worked! It wasn’t perfectly clear, but was clear enough for me to learn that the bird was a black kite.

Definitely want to return to Fyansford and explore the common. I want that area to be as familiar as Balyang Sanctuary is. It may be difficult if I end up moving before the end of the year. I don’t want to move from this area, the wildlife is magnificent. My nephew and I were walking back from Balyang and saw two different species of possum. In suburban Geelong! That would never have happened in Corio.

Glenn and I are are getting increasingly frustrated with the Sigma lens. I’ve been looking at the quality of the photos from other people in the photography group. They tend to have lenses that cost 8-20k. I’m thinking that we stick to this one until we increase our technical understanding and then get a 400m Canon. Not the best option, but is affordable and meant to have much sharper photos. I worry that I’ve led Glenn astray with the sigma purchase but we have gotten some fantastic shots with it. I guess it’s a testament to how much we’ve improved.