My Nature Blog
Recently, I saw a Eurasian coot chick when at Jerringot. I was pretty stoked. I was even more stoked to see an eurasian coot dragging a reed across the water.
At one point, a second coot joined in and tried to drag it. It went away and the solo bird dragged it up to the nest and arranged it just so.
I didn’t see it do it again. Nor did I see any other coots engage is nesting behaviour. Still, it was pretty awesome to see.
I was at Belmont Common. I’d gone straight to the border of the golf course to see if the white necked heron was there. Fortunately, it was.
Yes, I had the ulterior motive of trying to get a poop shot. It proved more difficult then I thought, as the long reeds was obscuring my view. I watched for at least half an hour.
The bird moved quickly. It had something in its mouth! I have no idea what it is, but it made for some awesome photography. Most of the other critters it ate were too small for anyone to quickly photograph.
The heron is in breeding plumage at the moment and looking spectacular. I loved getting the photos of it fluffing up its feathers and stretching. Here is hoping I see/photograph more of them this season!
You’ve probably worked out by now that I love getting photos of chicks, especially of waterbirds. So far I’ve managed to get buff banded rail, dusky moorhen and purple swamphen. I’m pretty stoked at being able to get the last two, but I really wanted to get an eurasian coot. I’ve seen photos and they are so adorable when they are tiny.
I was at Jerringot, surveying the area from the bird hide. I’d visited there two weeks earlier with Sethy, but I hadn’t been able to get a proper look. He wanted to look for rabbits 🙂 I sat for an hour in the hide, looking for any signs of movement, when I saw this.
I don’t know how old the chick is. I also don’t know why there is only just one. Perhaps this area has more predators then others? I think the markings across the chest are fascinating, as is the black line down the beak.
These photos were taken from the hide at Jerringot using the telephoto lens. I’m stoked at how clear they turned out, usually the lens gets a bit soft at 500mm.
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.
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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.
On Tuesday, Glenn and I went to Belmont Common. The birding component was a bit of an afterthought. I just wanted to go to Belmont because it’s the only place in Geelong that stocks Birdlife Magazine.
(I need to find a way to get back issues! Especially last months, as it had a section on how to identify thornbills. Pesky little confusing birds.)
We decided to go to the bird hide. I’ve been using bird photography as a way to teach Glenn other useful photography lessons, such as patience. I wasn’t sure that he would enjoy it this time but we were in luck!
I could see two adult swans. I remember last year we saw cygnets and was hopeful that we’d see them again.
Glenn looked through the lens. I could barely see anything as I didn’t have a telephoto zoom, so I was just chilling out and drinking water. “There they are!”
They were obscured by reeds. Glenn thought that if he waited long enough, they would swim into the clearing close to the hide. We waited a good 20 minutes and were rewarded with fantastic views.
We got some really great shots
Stretching their feet
Eating stuff. Or attempting too.
Water dripping from their beaks.
Ducking under water
Stretching their wings.
It was a great shoot. And, it shows how much Glenn has progressed in the past year. Last year, he was so impatient that he scared them off. This year, he was rewarded with so many great shots that it was hard to choose what to share. You can see more in this album on Flickr. Scroll down to the bottom to see the recent ones (I don’t have the date set in the camera)
I was really, really impressed with Glenns patience and the photos we get. Some were out of focus but overall, it was incredibly productive.
There were 6 cygnets all up, compared to five from last year. I don’t know if this is the same family.
I didn’t see any stilts or snipes. There weren’t any spoonbills or herons. I can’t blame him for being bored that first time we visited. There were a number of ducks and swamphens. Pretty sure I photographed a grebe. Glenn got a nice photo of an ibis (not worth sharing, as ibis are meh.) We saw a butcherbird towards the end of the visit.
Glenn saw this in a drain by the side of a path. First time I’ve seen a snake there and I’ve gone there on some really hot days. I’ll still visit, just be cautious. It was really exciting seeing a snake so close to suburbia. It’s about 700 metres from my former house. Although there have been snake signs at Balyang. I think the excitement will wear off after a couple of sightings.
Finally – Glenn got a lovely bokeh shot. He was impressed with the quality of photos we got despite the harsh sun. And I was impressed with the 2 for 1 offer that Birdlife had!