Tra la la la la la
It's a Van Morrison thing.
I'm sure there's a rule against dandelions in bird photography, but fortunately I have never looked into such rules and I present to you the brightly coloured male Red-rumped Parrot, on top, and the drab and wretched female below. These are lovely parrots and I see them much more in summer than spring or winter. I assume that's because the young are now independent.
Swans don't spend all day baring their teeth. It's easiest to see them when they are preening although preening means moving at a million miles an hour (minimum) and it is more than my limited photographic skills are up to. (But don't you get sick of those super crisp and clear shots that you see on the other nature blogs and websites, that leave nothing to the imagination? I do. Not that I'm envious or anything..)
I noticed the swan teeth last year and had the chance to photograph them
today. The angle is from above as I'm not
prepared to jump in the pond with camera and snorkel. However you get
the idea. These are not real teeth, just serrated edges. My husband suggests a relic from the dinosaur era. I guess the serrations help for grinding grasses and reeds which swans eat quite a bit of. I have read the 'teeth' are used to help eat or catch
little fish but I think that is garbage. I've spent hours swan gazing
and there are mini fish and tadpoley things everywhere and never once did a swan make a move to catch one. I'm sure a few go down by default as swans drink all the time and I believe young swanlings would eat snails in the grass, but I think the serrations are for grinding the tough vego diet. I'm happy for you to make up your own mind.
The closed eyes seem standard while preening.
Two great waterbirds in two days. Cool. Maybe all the rain means these waterbirds are on the lookout for new locations, though I really think both were just passing by. This White-necked Heron was at a tiny dam in a park where I first saw one of these herons back in November. It could be the same bird back again. As I opened the park gate today, the heron flew to the nearest tree, where it stayed a minute or so before taking its leave.
The way I see it, there's photograghy then there's egret photography. Extreme whiteness makes them a challenging subject though I am happy to say these pictures are better than previous attempts. Egrets are beautiful birds, and definitely not regulars around here. This morning was the only time I've seen one at the pond. Many thanks to egret identifier extraordinaire GD for his assistance.
Reed Warblers are so loud and cheeful, it's easy to like them, and they'd certainly be high on the loudness to body weight scale, if such a scale existed. There's at least two Reed Warbler families at the pond and following are three shots of one of the young ones which fledged mid November. Ahem yes, it's been taking me a while to get some shots! The pictures look better if you click and make them bigger.
As you see, no sunshine this morning, but at least no floods here either.
Unlike birds, kangaroos are not waterproof and these Eastern Grey Kangaroos were still drying out this morning, after heavy rain last night.
This pair of young wattlebirds were left alone for a few minutes today. I'm sure mama wattlebird gave strict instructions that they were not to leave that branch in her absence. She was none too impressed to find a pesky photographer hanging about on her return, and made sure the young birds knew how foolish they were for following the letter of the law.
You're having trouble spotting the Baillon's Crake? That's just the way the crake likes it, keeping itself well out of trouble, in hard to photograph reed beds.
If you have a good memory you might recall I noticed a Baillon's Crake at the pond a while ago. Knowing that Baillon's Crakes are migratory and that many show up in Victoria, I was keen to know whether the November crake was checking in for long stay or a was a mere fly by nighter. To date, I have seen a crake, five times since and the bad photograph above, is from a sighting yesterday. Each sighting has been a week or more apart so the crake is good at cover. Since the first sighting I have only seen it up close once, in a tiny mud patch. Usually it's in the weedy, reedy sections of pond where it walks on water like a jacana. Sometimes it is so fast, I think of it as a mini goose on speed.
I'm really happy to know that the crake stuck around. I have read they like artificial wetlands (how they work this out I'm still wondering)and they also like sewage ponds so possibly maybe they aren't too choosy. The interesting thing I've noticed about Baillon's Crakes, is that although they are secretive, they will also happily go about crake business when people are watching. My kind of bird.
I don't know if this Sulphur-crested Cockatoo is diseased or just old, but it seemed so relaxed and content as it ate dandelion flowers this morning, alongside a bunch of much younger cockatoos. Youth is not everything.
For my very old friend JW :-) who is having a serious birthday soon, and yes I still smile the other way 'round!
Ik wens je een heel gelukkige verjaardag.
Nice to discover a Sacred Kingfisher in the neighbourhood. It was close to a small dam at the base of Mt Majura. But what is that Noisy Miner doing in my shot? If the current version of Photoshop has a Noisy Miner edit I will have to re-consider my poor attitude to post production.
