My Nature Blog
During the school term, it can be hard to arrange to hang out with Sethy sometimes as it depends on both my health and other commitments. On school holidays, it is so much easier. Just find a day where it is sunny.
During our November visit, I fell in love with a brolga chick and promised myself that I’d return to watch it grow. I didn’t have the money to get out there before now and boy, had it grown!
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.
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!
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.
Last week, Carolyn asked if I wanted to go birding on Monday. I’d turned down two offers of adventures already (I needed to get the house clean for the internet cable guys) so immediately agreed. The night before, I was kind of regretting that decision. I’d just spent a busy day with the little dude and knew I’d be a bit meh the next day. I decided to just go with the flow and I’m glad I did.
The first port of call was to Serendip Sanctuary. I was at Werribee Treatment Plant with Paul Rushworth when he told us about the baby cape barren geese at Werribee Zoo. I was immediately interested, despite forgetting I’d photographed them previously at Serendip. If they were at the zoo then there was a good chance they would be here. Plus Serendip is slightly more accessible thanks to the recent bus and train changes.
Very, very glad I went as Carolyn is a great guide to the area. She told me about all the places the birds loved.
Red rumped parrot. Only took the photo because it’s butt was hanging out.
Lizard. It didn’t like it when I accidentally blocked the light to take a photo. Look at how flat its back is!
This is the nest of a whistling kite. There were quite a few in the area, I was so annoyed that the camera wasn’t working. The nest looks very similar to a crow one. I’m trying to learn more about nests so was very thankful.
Turns out that yes, there was a lot of babies. I was so fortunate to be able to see them so little. The geese bred a lot earlier then I expected. Do they even breed later in the season?
I’m hoping to visit here twice a month in the future so I can keep an eye on them, it can be a great learning experience.
Serendip is a fun place to photograph emus. Especially if you love the facial expressions.
Magpie goose. Planning to return over the summer to get more photographs. Do they breed here?
Young black winged stilts. 
Chestnut teal
Freckled duck. Would love to return here and just spend an hour photographing this guy. The ones at Mcleods Waterhole were a lot friendlier then the pick eared ducks there but I would never be able to get the opportunities that I got here. I just think they are beautiful ducks.
Buff banded rail. Not sure how interested I am in continuing to photograph these guys but there was at least five in the enclosure.
The above photos are of a crested pigeon displaying nesting behavior. I noticed the beginnings of a nest above us and saw this guy collecting nesting material.
Bronzewing. Always a pleasure seeing those.
Shelducks. Love them. I never noticed the different facial markings before. Also notice the shoveller in the background? Carolyn keeps on proving to me why I should get a pair on binoculars.
Shovellers again. I believe their orange feet is a way to tell them apart?
A tree that had fallen down but was still alive. It was ginormous.
Carloyn was also kind enough to show me the tree where the purple crowned lorikeets like to nest.
I had seen them once before but the photos I got were mediocre. This was pure accident. We were at a distance so the photos aren’t as good as they could have been. I’m very keen to go back to try and get better photos.
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You need to do multiple visits over a period of time to be able to fully appreciate Serendip, as well as visit there with people who know it quite well. It is very similar to Balyang in that way. It has a lot of hidden secrets.
Carolyn and I went here after we went to Serendip. My initial impression was that ‘oh, this is like Balyang but on a slightly larger scale.’ Then we turned around and saw just how huge the place was.
My initial comments were because the first two birds I was greeted with was this heron and darter.
Then I saw the cape barron geese – and more goslings! – and thought “oh, we aren’t along the Barwon anymore.
I haven’t really explored areas around Lara. I haven’t had the time, nor the knowledge. Carolyn and I walked around here and she showed me where the birds like to hang out at different times of the year.
She is so knowledgeable and taught me so much. It may be worth coming back at a later time but, for now, it isn’t that high of a priority. If you live between Corio and Werribee, this can be an interesting place to drop into. You’ll probably get similar species to what you’d find in other locations in the area. It’s great for getting close photos of Geese. I was also intrigued by the proximity to Hovells creek, something I’m keen to walk along again.
On Wednesday, I went to Serendip with my dad and nephew. I was hanging out with family while my mum was getting over an illness and dad decided to give mum a break for a couple of hours.
It was raining on and off, so we first drove around the you yangs for a short while. We tried to find the tawny frogmouth near the information centre with no luck. I later read that this can be rather difficult.
We also went to big rock. I loved the bush there, I hadn’t been there in ages. I’d love to return there to bird!
We got to Serendip just as a group of school kids arrived, which is always fun.
We saw this Eastern Rosella. I did hear another interesting bird but of course, Sethy wouldn’t be quiet while I tried to find where it was.
One of my main priorities was seeing any baby goslings.
I saw these two cape barron geese. I love baby birds. I later saw magpie goslings.
I got this cute photo of a kangaroo sticking its tongue out.
I met a lady who had the same camera as me but wanted to check out the quality of my sigma lens. Accidentally caught the wren with it’s mouth open! Feeling kind of smug, considering Glenn has been struggling to capture one.
While in an open aviary, we saw this rail and it’s chick. Sethy saw the chick first. Wish we’d gotten more photos!
An older gosling.
This bird was apparently sitting on an egg. I’ll have to visit to see the baby when it’s hatched.
Planning to visit again with Glenn this time. We didn’t get to check out any of the decent areas as it started raining again. Also: what is the best time to see brolga courtship displays?
