For various reasons I have not managed to
get out into the field with the camera over the Christmas New Year period so
have decided to start 2015 with a post containing odds and ends of photos from
2014.
I snap many shots of subjects here and there that don’t fit into a blog post. In reviewing and culling photos from 2014, a few shots looked to have some merit, keepers, so I decided they would be included as a gallery of shots in one post to kick off 2015.
I snap many shots of subjects here and there that don’t fit into a blog post. In reviewing and culling photos from 2014, a few shots looked to have some merit, keepers, so I decided they would be included as a gallery of shots in one post to kick off 2015.
There is no particular theme though they have been
roughly ordered according to guilds and some off-the-top-of-my-head captions
have been added.
Hope you enjoy them!
Note: enlarge photos with a left click of the mouse and then use the mouse wheel to scroll back and forth through the photos (can't view captions in this mode)
Water birds:
Hooded Plover coming in to land on ocean reef, St Andrews Beach, Mornington Peninsula NP. |
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, international summer migrants feeding on sand island, Jones Bay, Gippsland Lakes. |
Pacific Black Ducks, Lake Guyatt Sale - why do so many bird species rest with their beaks buried in their back feathers? |
Pink-eared Ducks (aka Zebra Duck), male and female pair (male is slightly larger), wetland at Coolart Historic Area, Somers Mornington Peninsula. |
The unusual dangling membranous flaps near the tip of the bill have no doubt developed to assist with filter feeding in water. |
Dusky Moorhen at Coolart - they seem to occupy a similar niche to Purple Swamphens but are much less common and numerous. |
Royal Spoonbill at Mallacoota - the back light allows the wing bones and muscles to be clearly seen. |
A broad diet makes the White-faced Heron a successful and widespread species. This one was hunting for worms on a suburban lawn alongside Starlings. |
Cockatoos:
A male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo drinking at stock trough, Sarsfield East Gippsland. |
Female Gang-gang Cockatoo drinking at puddle, Sarsfield East Gippsland. |
Forest and Woodland birds:
Is is hard to resist taking a photo of a Scarlet Robin, (a bird of forests and woodlands) during the spring/summer breeding season. |
In autumn and winter Scarlet Robins move out into more open country where they are often seen perched on farm fences and gates. |
Speckled Warbler on farm gate at Sarsfield. Woodland birds, they feed on the ground where their smudgy (speckled) plumage provides great camouflage. |
Buff-rumped Thornbills, another woodland species, often found feeding with Speckled Warblers. |
A juvenile (note chestnut rump) female (note orange spot on side of neck) White-throated Treecreeper. If you look closely you can see the large foot adapted to life on vertical tree trunks. |
The Black-faced Monarch, a summer migrant from northern Australia, nest building at Fairy Dell near Bruthen, East Gippsland. |
Satin Flycatcher calling to the female in the next photo. Knocker Track, Alpine National Park, north of Omeo. |
Female Satin Flycatcher - note the broad bill which is no doubt useful for catching insect prey on the wing. |
Honeyeaters:
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater feeding in Red Box near Bullumwaal, East Gippsland. |
Singing Honeyeater, The Blowhole, Mornington Peninsula National Park. |
Brown-headed Honeyeater sharing water with another flower pollinator, the introduced honey bee. |
Raptors:
This Peregrine Falcon was disturbed from a freshly killed Grey Teal and it was coming to let me know it was not too pleased with my presence. |
Peregrine Falcon hunting along cliff tops between Cape Schanck and Bushranger Bay, Mornington Peninsula NP. |
Nankeen Kestrel on kill atop low sandstone cliff St Andrews Beach, Mornington Peninsula NP. |
When the bird flew its prey could be identified, a young Eastern Blue-tongue Lizard. The grey tail with dark bar near tip shows this is a male. |
To finish off, a rare raptor from central Australia taken near the Birdsville Track in August 2012.