White necked Heron

Hungry White Necked Heron at Belmont Common

November 28, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

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.

Other photos:

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!

10 Months Later: Pink Eared Duck Still at Balyang

February 6, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I’m meant to be launching an ebook right now. I wonder who is procrastinating?.

After meeting R at Jerringot, I decided to go back to Balyang to see if the pink eared duck was still there. It had been three weeks since I last visited, and my nephew hasn’t dragged me there much lately since he hasn’t been here as much. Basically, I wasn’t so sick of it.

I saw darters on the next. The babies seem to have fledged and, well, more darters are busy creating new ones.

If you look at the next photo, you can actually see the two heads from the birds mating. Young love 🙂

The following photo was pretty exciting – actually seeing eggs on the next! It got me wondering about how many clutches darters raise in a year. I read that they breed all round, although most of them breed in spring/summer. It seems like these nests are always in use.

The water is significantly lower in the lake area closest to the bridge over the river. I got some lovely pics of swamphens walking through the mud. I also got some photos of babies, although I was careful not to disturb them. The mum would ‘honk’ if I got too close and the chicks would rush into the reeds around the island.

This heron was around, although it was a bit skittish. Possible the one that I normally see at Jerringot?

I also saw my favourite, the pink eared duck! This means that he has been there for about 10 months and that the one at Jerringot is probably a separate one.

His/her behaviour is pretty consistant. I often see it on the side of the make lake/swamp area. You’ll probably need a scope or binoculars to get a decent look.

Sometimes, he is on the small island with the large, dead tree. On Tuesday, he swam near that area and came very close to the main area where people are. I got some brilliant views.

I noticed it ‘sleeping’ while floating, but it frequently had its eye open. I don’t know if it’s normal behaviour but was still fascinating.

The trip to Balyang was pretty generic and I don’t see myself rushing back, but I *should* take advantage of living so close to it before I move. I really love getting to know an area intimately and learning how it changes with each year and season.

Planning to focus on Jerringot and Belmont Common in the coming months. Hopefully will have a telephoto lens for the camera soon which should definitely help things!

Balyang + Jerringot

September 8, 2013 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday, my five year old nephew visited. He was asleep for an hour when he got here yet the first words out of his mouth after he woke up were ‘Can we go to Balyang?’

I agreed – if my dad could pick us up afterwards and take us for a quick look at Jerringot, as I know the little dude would love the bird hide.

Saw these birds fly above us as we crossed the bridge. I had seen them fly above our house earlier but couldn’t ID them. Dumb question: is this the time of year to go looking for waterbirds?

A number of birds had started sitting on nests. This was the first time I learned that swamphens had white bottoms! Very interested to see what their babies look like.

I was going over my photos afterwards and was really excited to see a bird I hadn’t seen before! Pretty certain that this is a pink eared duck. And, after a quick google, I think that I mistook his bill for his foot! Apparently, they have a “a large spatulate bill” while I’ve never seen before. I think that’s kinda awesome 🙂

I also checked out this nest, which normally houses a curious sulpher crested cockatoo. Instead, it had two lorikeets! They were poking their heads out and nibbling at each others necks. I wonder what happened to the cockatoo? They were beautiful though, which the mister loved.

Seth is just 5 but he knows all about algae. I took this photo so I could explain more to him later, should he ask.

My parents picked us up just after I took this photo. We played shopkeeper – I gave him his Ribena that we’d packed – and passed a wedding that had two kombie vans. It was a beautiful night.

Seth was enamoured with the bird hide. “You can look out here or stand and look out here and the birds can’t see you!” Dad liked the posters behind us, it helped us figure out a species of bird we saw later. The frogs weren’t as loud but they were certainly louder then Balyang.

The swamp hens were walking between the wetlands, which was awesome. Seth didn’t understand that the birds here weren’t as used to people as the ones we’d seen at balyang and was a bit too loud.

He tried to creep up to see this guy but, well,

It did give us a chance to talk about why the legs and necks are long. It was close to dusk so I wanted to look for snipes, but Seth was getting restless. We went back for a final look at the hide and then went home.

It was awesome for teaching Seth more about patience and birdwatching. His animal knowledge is getting quite advanced. He wants a copy of my field guide which he’s not getting – that’s mine! I’ve already bought us a few guides (insects, fungi, scats) to share. I love sharing my animal love with others. Hopefully I’ll get to sneak in some birdwatching at the Gold Coast later this week.