pelican

Cheeky Pelicans Having A Squabble

December 12, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Pelican numbers seem to vary at Balyang. Sometimes, you are lucky if there is one there having a nap. Recently, it has been common to see four or five there.

Usually they are spread out across the nesting boxes or on a perch large enough for their ginormous feet.

I was there recently, photographing my cormorant buddies, when I noticed these two. I rarely see them that close to each other. I was fortunate enough to photograph a quick squabble between the two.

This post has no other purpose other then to highlight how funny it looks 🙂 I’ve been overlooking them in favour of more ‘interesting’ birds. Hmm… maybe that should change?

Cacatua Galore-ita at Balyang Sanctuary

September 1, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Technically the title of this post is a useless pun. See, Galahs used to be classified under the ‘cacatua galerita’ – the same genus that corellas and cockatoos used to belong to. Then it all got reclassified. So, the above is a play on words that only cockatoo nerds AND word nerds will get. Aren’t I a ‘hoot?’

Anyway, Sethy and I went to check out Balyang Sanctuary a short while after getting back from Eastern Beach. It was a lovely day and I wanted to suss out whether there was any breeding/nesting behaviour going on or any baby birds. Basically, I was doing investigative work for Glenn.

There wasn’t much of that going on – so no need for us to go out to the other side of town. However there were a lot of cockatoos.

Cuddling Corellas

I looked up and was fortunate to see these two corellas canoodling. I was hoping it may lead to mating behaviour but it was just kissing. The photo quality turned out crap, it needed a lot of editing just to get to this point, but I believe the birds themselves are adorable.

Cockatoos in a hollow

I was fortunate enough to find cockatoos apparently preparing a nest. They were very, very defensive. I didn’t see them chuck much bark out so the images are a bit meh. Still thought it was interesting.

Then there are the generic other images one gets when the light is awesome and the birds are settling down. It was a mediocre shoot – I’m not really sure it’s worth me going back there other then when I’m with Seth.

Swan Bay: Viewing from a distance

August 7, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I used to love hiking. I had to drop the hobby when my agoraphobia worsened. I couldn’t leave the house and lost my fitness. I also lost all my blog posts from around that era.

Sometime, before 2009, I walked Bellarine Rail Trail. I did it over two separate visits and both 16km walks were enough to encourage me to buy expensive hiking shoes! The majority of the walk was through farmland and was beautiful, with the occasional opportunity to photograph a black shouldered kite. I was enamoured though when I got to the Swan Bay portion of the walk.

I don’t know if it is possible to get any closer, especially as I’ve since learned that birds love this area.

The photographs are beautiful but are of rather generic birds. I didn’t have the zoom lens at this time and my feet were blistered. I’m so keen to return here – especially over summer – which I know will annoy the heck out of me considering it is an hour on the bus. Also keen to explore swan bay. No idea how I’ll explore here as well as focus on Serendip + my other chosen locations.

It truly is an amazing wetland.

Winter adventuring at eastern beach

July 4, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

On Monday, Sethy and I decided to go on an adventure. He wanted to go further afield but really wanted to find an eastern spinebill. We had found a bell miner at the zoo the weekend before and he was super excited. I decided that we’d go to the botanical gardens and then walk along the beach.

(It is also possible that we were meant to go to Ocean Grove Nature Reserve but he slept in… and I had to make a 7pm showing of Terminator with Glenn. Hey, priorities!)

Botanical Gardens

It is quite possible that knowing the general location to find a bird, and knowing the exact location, are two separate things. I had read that spinebills were found there and had found them at a couple of locations in the wild. I hadn’t watched them closely enough to really know anything about their behaviour though, nor the type of trees they favourite. I found them by accident by looking for the types of plants I guessed they would like. Boy, did that hunch pay off! We got really good looks at them and I was able to get some awesome photos. We stayed there for about 30 minutes.

It was fascinating watching them fly. In some respects, they reminded me of hummingbirds. I’m not sure they hang around the same tree. I’d love to spend hours just photographing them. Would have to research the best settings though.

Limeburners Point

The following three photos were taking while walking to limeburners point – despite someones reluctance!

It was really fascinating to see a seagull actually eat something from the ocean. I’m used to seeing them be scavengers. I’ve also become fascinated about catching photos of birds in the act of eating other animals. My photos in that respect are mediocre and I have a lot to learn. Several people on Facebook have much, much better photos. I still think it’s really interesting.

Sethy was argumentative on the way to the point, but when we got there he was fascinated by both the fish and the birds

I’d love to get more photos of cormorants coming into land and flying. The way they maneuver their body makes for great photos.

Generic pelican. Haven’t seen one in a while.

Saw swans fly past, which was amazing. Don’t often see them out there.

Got some okay photos of crested terns. They were mostly hanging out amongst the rocks at the point.

This photo is mediocre but it was a highlight of the day.

There were a couple of people fishing there. There was a man near us that caught this fish. Sethy asked if I could ask what the fish was.

The man said it was a toadfish and chucked it back. It didn’t quite land in the water and puffed up. He said it was poisonous. Seth REALLY got into it. I think he could quite like fishing and fish.

Egret. Hankering to see an intermediate but it will happen eventually.

One of the reasons I love photographing cormorants.

Gannets

A young gannet. I can’t quite figure out the age, but am guessing it is between 1-2 years.

Most of the gannet photos are generic, but there was two that stood about. Above, when the bird had something in its mouth. For all the diving, there was very little eating. Plus the photo below, where it had its mouth open.

The Promenade

Sethy really got into the promenade. There was a large Asian family who, like us, were looking for fish. It was kind of awesome, we both helped each other out.

This is pair of shoes we found in a tree. Because it was funny.

A garbage bin in the water. Littering, but amusing nonetheless.

The globefish again. The other family loved seeing this. Seth sat down and watched it for quite a while, he was really fascinated by it. We also saw large silver fish but didn’t ID those.

The above are photos of grebes. Would have loved to have gotten more, but these sufficed.

The stingray. Very thankful to the other family for finding this! We were trying to look in two many directions and I was getting hungry.

Another tern.

Was a great twitch and reignited my interest in certain types of bird photography. It was frustrating because I couldn’t do the type of photography I wanted, but it was useful as I learned a lot about the type of birding I want to do in the future.

I’m exhausted. The past few months have been horrid. I’ve been birding as a stress relief but am now struggling to figure out the role birding has in my life. I want to run away and bird but need to tend to stuff like unpacking the house and finding a job. It’s difficult, as I don’t have time to grieve. I know this isn’t about birding but today marks one month since my grandfathers death.

I want to run away but know I have to rebuild my life. This is in the back of my mind everytime I think about birding or adventuring.

Birding makes my soul happy. I like my soul being happy.

Was an interesting twitch though. The movie afterwards sucked.

Vic Birders Outing to Werribee Treatment Plant

February 23, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This trip took place on the 15th of February

I didn’t really want to go to WTP last Sunday. I’d only had four hours sleep, due to being up late with my family the night before. I was already exhausted. I knew it was a bad idea. But… I needed to bird. I knew I’d look back on it fondly. I just knew that I would really struggle that day.

And I did. But it was so worth it.

I got picked up by Peter, from Bannockburn, at 6.30. We all met outside WTP at 7, where it took a short while to get started. Once we organized the various cars we headed off.

Kirks Point

The first stop was Kirks Point. You don’t need a key to access this part of the plant, I think. It’s a bumpy dirt road that is unsealed. You need a decent car to get there.

We saw a striated fieldwren on the way there, which was fantastic. I’d been hoping to find one at a number of birding locations along the Western Suburbs but hadn’t had much luck. It was so beautiful to photograph.

We were able to see a number of terns in this area, including common terns and fairy terns. I can definitely see the size difference between fairy and crested terns now. It always seems so much easier after you’ve seen it in the field. I struggled to tell the common ones apart until I noticed that they had a black bill.

Initially I couldn’t tell what was what and really struggled. Fortunately, Simon Starr from Firetail Birdwatching Tours was there to help out. He was very generous helping people and sharing his scope. Would love to bird with him when my budget improves.

I don’t know what this carcass is – would be interested to try to ID it at some pont.

Saw my first eurasian skylark! Was so grateful to be in a car with such generous people.

A deceased fish I found and wanted to try to ID. I’m a nerd.

Beach Road

I’m not 100% sure my locations are accurate, as we stopped at started at various points. I’m loosely organizing pictures according to where I think I was at the time.

The above is of a couple of zebra finch. I loved being able to get up close and watching them, it was so fascinating.

Then we found the banded lapwing! It’s a bird I’m obsessed with and would love to see again, I find the markings to be so beautiful. It was hard to get a clear photograph as they were a fair distance away.

There were also babies, which were every more difficult to photograph.

Obligatory plane photo for the nephew. It’s not currently being used to test stuff anymore, but it’s still fun.

This this is the little eagle that we saw

I also saw 2 brolga at the T section! They were right at the back and a bit difficult to see. It sorta shows how silly birding is. I can get up close and get really beautiful photos of the captive ones at Serendip. But no, I have to find them in the wild – just so I can claim it as a tick. I don’t even care about ticks, I guess I like it increasing my life list because it somehow conveys seriousness about birding.

I’ll continue doing my slow birding and just exploring certain areas as much as I can. I’m going slightly stir crazy as I’m really feeling the urge to travel, but don’t have the money to pay for driving lessons currently.

Sandpipers and stints

These were found just in the gate from the boat ramp. The directions given to a friend was “inside the gate, down point wilson road and opposite kirk point road. That first pond in.”

I can’t give further information as I’ve only been there once. The whole day, I had no idea where I was.

It was hilarious. As soon as Phil got out of the car he shouted “There it is!” I know that they aren’t that common, but I kinda didn’t see what the fuss was. I know it likes hanging out with the sharpies instead of the red necked stint. It looked a bit different, but certainly not interesting enough to photograph. I’ve learned that I’m just not into sandpipers and stints that much, at least not yet. It’s an overwhelming hobby and I’ll mature as I learn more.

See the bird in the grassy stuff at the bottom? Which has colouring that is a bit different? I have no idea how they could tell so easily; took me a while to find it.

The pectoral. Really liked being able to see one as I had only seen my first sharpies at Lake Colac last year. At that point, I wasn’t able to tell the difference between sharpies and pectoral. Once I learned that pectorals are a bit rarer I decided ‘ooh! I have to see one.’ Which, again, shows my silly reasons for adding stuff to a list.

I can see the difference in breast/facial markings now, but may have struggled if someone didn’t point it out to me. Kevin Bartram is awesome at telling birds apart, even when it’s really difficult.

White winged black tern around the rocks near gate 4.

Musk Ducks

At this point, I don’t remember where we were, other then the bird hide. I think we may have been driving to the car. All I know is that I saw a number of musk ducks and I was enamored.

I got this photo of a female for comparison purples. We struggled to tell the difference between a musk duck, and blue billed duck, recently when at Lake Lorne. I can definitely see the difference in the shape of the head.

The duck butt.

The thing I found especially fascinating was that it wasn’t his tail that as causing the water. He was using his feet! I didn’t notice that the first time I saw the video. I’d love to return just to take photos of the ducks.

The bird hide

As mentioned, I really struggled this day. Things were taking longer then planned. People wouldn’t move on after they were done, they would stay at chat for a while. This is understandable – and isn’t a criticism. I was so lethargic and it was a rather hot day, so I’d have to sneak off to the car to sit down and try to relax. I felt so rude – and questioned whether I did the right thing by going. I think I did but damn, it was difficult.

The bird hide was crowded and there was so many birds, so I thought I’d wait outside. Someone would tell me if they saw something interesting. This strategy failed, somewhat, as others saw a red knot. But I was fortunate enough to get extended looks at this spotted crake.

Photo of its bottom, to help with identification.

It wasn’t that skittish, unlike the spotless crake I saw later that day! I enjoyed being able to see it, especially since I’ve dipped so many times at Belmont.

Orb Spider in the hide.

I was one of only two people that saw this blue billed duck. I was sitting in the car attempting to practice mindfulness.

Thousands of shelducks in flight.

Cygnets with their parents.

Sheep 🙂

More shelducks. It almost felt like you were in the countryside.

Beautiful avocets.

Despite getting crook, it was a really lovely. So awesome that I had to go back home to my parents house so I could tell the nephew about it. He was just as excited as I was about seeing the banded lapwings. Now my parents are talking about maybe going there with Seth one day. That would be fantastic, he’d love it there. I wouldn’t want to ask a friend in case he gets overwhelmed.

I’m also joining the local field nats club. Big, fantastic day