pacific black duck

Balyang: Early November

November 18, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This trip took place on November 9.

There is a problem with repeated visits to the one location. You see all these interesting things that warrant documenting. Yet, that don’t fit into a normal narrative. Normally this is fine. Lately, however, it means a whole bunch of posts titled ‘Location: other.’

I have no idea if there is an easier way to process these notes. Feel free to email me with ideas. For now, as I have a small readership, this will do.

I saw this raven while walking along a street towards Balyang. I’m assuming the purple bit is a gape and that it indicates it is a juvenile.

There was a raven seemingly collecting nesting material. It did drop it, without provocation from the cantankerous willy wagtail.

A beautiful long billed corella was hanging around. It was coorporative for my project of taking photos of birds drinking. As was this red rumped parrot.

I was photographing the white faced heron when I saw what I’m assuming is the parent flew towards it. I have no idea why they still hang out and what the dynamics are of their relationship.

I hate mynas – but I still enjoy getting photos of them with food in their mouth.

There was a lot of activity in the tree above me at one point. I’m assuming some of these are juveniles.

The above is a sulpher crested cockatoo without the crest. At first I wondered whether it was a hybrid, as I don’t believe I’ve seen one without a crest before. It made no sense. Could it be a young?

I asked online and they said it could have lost its crest for a number of reasons. I don’t think it is a juvenile. I’ll tell you why in a future post. Babies, babies galore at the moment!

There appears to be ducklings galore too, but they never hang around for long. I think they realize pretty quickly that it isn’t safe.

I also saw these two feral ducks mating. Couldn’t understand why the duck was sitting so funny in the water until I saw the other ducks head bob up. Apparently this makes me a perv. I reckon it just makes me weird. Science is science. And I can never compete with the other birders so I need unusual areas where no-one will bother to compete.

A juvenile masked lapwing. I was disappointed to miss out again on seeing a younger one, however that disappointment didn’t last long. I love the markings on its feathers and the shorter wattle.

Another corella. Perhaps the same one?

This eurasion coot photo almost isn’t worth sharing. Really, I was trying to get a poop shot. I *just* missed. I still love it poking its little tongue out.

I kinda can’t wait until the mating/breeding season is over and I can start revisiting other places again. It’s going to be weird NOT posting daily.

Rainy Eastern Beach and Limeburners Point

June 14, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This trip took place on May 31st

Late May/Early June was particular difficult for us. On the 30th of May, we got the phone call telling us to get to hospital now. Papas health had deteriorated and the family had been called in. This happened 10 minutes prior to a cadets adventure so we hopped in the car, got there 10 minutes early, and my parents rushed to the hospital.

My parents went to the hospital every day for the next 5 or so days. I knew that this would disrupt Seths routine a little bit so decided we would do the Eastern Beach adventure. We’d start around Cunningham Pier, walk to Limeburners Point and see where we go from there.

The weather was quite windy and the rain was taunting us, so it wasn’t the best day to find stuff in the ocean. Seth loved the water hitting the barrier and then hitting his face. We also saw a number of gannets.

They were flying a lot further out then I’ve seen them in the past and it was difficult to get photos of them. I’m curious as to how the wind impacts their proximity to shore? It sucked, because Seth couldn’t see their awesome dives.

We were able to see 3 juvenile pacific gulls, which was amazing. They were flying low and close, we got so many photos of them in flight. So much detail!

Below, I can see that the bird has something in its mouth. I have no idea how to tell what it is, though

Stormwater Pond

We then walked around Eastern Park towards the storage pond where we have seen that crake in the past. We stopped to see the bats, which was a real highlight. Despite the cold, they are still incredibly active. We saw some interesting fungi, although they weren’t as good as other locations.

This photo shows the underside of the ibis, where you can clearly see the red.

I as initially disappointed as we didn’t see a grebe, but this one showed up from behind the reeds. I wonder where the others went to?

It was a very kid friendly twitch that allowed me to get some great photography. We saw way more pacific gulls then usual. Maybe the bad weather brought them closer to shore? Will look into it – and will also look into where to find kelp gulls!

Also: we found a rat skull. It stinks, but I’m working on it.

More Birding Shennigans at Balyang

September 11, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

We were walking towards the bridge to Balyang when we heard the cockies. “There, in that tree.” [Read more…] about More Birding Shennigans at Balyang

Windy Balyang

October 1, 2013 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Today was the first time I had been birdwatching in about a week. It’s weird how reluctant I am to go on an adventure, despite feeling a lot healthier. I nearly didn’t go as Glenn didn’t want to come with me. The weather this morning was horribly windy, with hail and sideways rain. I decided to just go. Glenn is on holidays soon and I doubt we’ll be as active as we are planning. As long as we get to Werribee Treatment Plant!

A heron flew over and landed before I had a chance to get the camera ready. It was nice; I don’t see them there that often. He flew over again later.

I was sitting down, watching the birds on the teeny island in the middle when this guy waddled over. There were a lot of people feeding ducks there today and I think he wanted food. Still, I got some beautiful shots

There were a lot of welcome swallows about. They were incredibly hard to photograph; I got some average ones of them in flight. This little guy was still long enough for me to get several photos.

I then went for a walk along the path that is alongside the road. I was hoping to see something rare – perhaps a lathams snipe. I did get to see this pink-eared duck and got several shots.

I really do love these ducks. I wish I could see a large population and had a camera with a better lens. They are so cute.

Glenn wasn’t there so I didn’t have to rush everywhere. I got to walk slowly and do photography that I enjoy, rather for identification purposes. I love shooting the sun through flowers. I’m thinking about going to the botanical gardens to continue this.

Mr Pelican was there again. He came up close as a family was feeding him as I was able to get some really lovely shots.

This trio of ducks were keen to be fed. They are pretty tame and really fun to photography.

Glenn loves getting photos of birds in flight. I was sitting down in a secluded area, trying to get photos of the small birds that were flying really fast. I heard a honk and snapped a photo of this guy. I got several more as he flew over to where I was sitting. He wanted to join his ducky friends and get in on the bread action.

It ended up being a really nice shot, even though it was accidental.

The final bird (and the second new species) is the White plumed honeyeater.

It was a lovely trip; one that taught me a lot. I do prefer solo birdwatching; I just feel bitchy leaving Glenn here. I see it as my job to make sure he enjoys his days off. It’s silly and is an anxiety thought pattern I’ll have to defeat. I felt accomplished and a lot more peaceful.

I know I need to do this more, it’s just a matter of when. I have very little income coming in and hang out with my nephew pretty often. The weather is manky on a regular basis and I don’t have a car. It feels like there are so many obstacles and that this journey is going to take a long time.

This is just panic as Glenn will have a MONTH off and I need Jade Time. There is also impatience due to being sick for so long. I think I need to make some birdwatching/hiking friends. I’ll see what local tours we can do on Glenns month off.