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nankeen night heron

Birding at the Barham River Mouth

October 1, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

The Barham River Mouth has always been a family favourite. It’s a secluded little area on the opposite side of Apollo Bay. It can be a lot safer for kids to swim in here then to swim in the ocean with waves. Sethy loves walking across the shallow parts of the river so it has become a place we visit a lot.

Om the second day, we decided to walk along the Barham River from my aunts flat. We walked along the back streets of Apollo Bay and to the Caravan Park. It was a side of Apollo Bay we hadn’t seen before.

We were lucky enough to come across this beautiful night heron. I don’t know whether it was the lens or the lighting, but I got some really beautiful shots of the bird.

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Going further along the river, Sethy and I were able to see a hooded plover. This is awesome, as it is a lifer for him. He loves hoodies and knows that some of my friends babysit them. I was planning on showing him some during the summer breeding season, from a distance. 

Discovering this means I can cross that off his bucket list and find another adventure for us to do. For me, it was lovely to see one of my favourite birds again.

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There was a shallow bit in the middle where a number of terns and a pacific gull pair congregated. Alas, no kelp gull. 

Day 3:

On our last day there, we decided to go to the beach again to let Mr Sethy just be a kid. He’d had lots of kid opportunities while there but he is in love with swimming and mucking around at the beach. 

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A great place for photography. I could have gotten some beautiful shots if I wasn’t so sick. By this stage, I had hurt my back from coughing so much so just wanted to go home.

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This was pretty cool.

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Lots of beautiful pieces of driftwood around which would have been fun to photograph, as well as the setting sun.

We had been there for about 30 minutes when I saw 4 medium sized black birds land on the rocks near the mouth of the river. I walked there slowly. I was right, sooty oystercatchers! I don’t see them that often so was pretty stoked to get a chance to photograph them again. I’ve seen some brilliant photographs of them prying open shells so was hoping to get similar ones.

Alas, the camera had trouble focusing. I got some cool shots but they weren’t entirely clear. I’m thinking that the sigma lens may have been more useful in this situation. I don’t care as I got to see these birds again.

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I’m not sure how great this area is for birdwatching as it had been pretty hit and miss on my visits. The birds I saw were awesome – especially the hoodie and oystercatcher. Just not sure it’s worth visiting unless you haven’t seen them recently in your area.

I *do* love the area for photography though. It’s easily within walking distance of the township. You can visit here on a walk to Marengo, or walk from here to the town. Either way is quite scenic.

Filed Under: Apollo Bay Tagged With: Barham River, greater crested tern, hooded plover, nankeen night heron, sooty oystercatcher

Photographing Birds at Melbourne Zoo

August 28, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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A nice photo of a kookaburra.

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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.

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

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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.

Filed Under: Melbourne Tagged With: bell miner, nankeen night heron

Recent Birding Adventures in Geelong

December 16, 2013 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

None of my recent twitching adventures have been worth writing an entire blog post about. Here is a collection of some of my favourite sightings.

I’m hoping to hire a birdwatching guide next year when my health and finances improve. [Read more…] about Recent Birding Adventures in Geelong

Filed Under: Geelong And Surrounds Tagged With: australian darter, black-fronted dotterel, laughing kookaburra, nankeen night heron, red-rumped parrot

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