Top 5 Bird Photos
When I go travelling one of the first things I pack is my binoculars. Added to this is my bird identification field guide. The third essential item is my digital camera. Armed with these items I’m ready for anything. Over recent years I have managed to take some great photos while travelling. Today I want to share with my readers my Top 5 bird photos.
1. Red Capped Robin:
I didn’t have to travel far to get this photo. About a half hour south of home is the Pangarinda Arboretum which features hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of Australian native plants. It is a haven for a wide range of native birds. This male Red Capped Robin came quite close and literally posed for me.
Red Capped Robin
2. Laughing Kookaburra:
I had to travel for two hours by plane and an hour by car to get this photo. I was on holiday staying with my son and daughter-in-law in Sydney. We went to the Taronga Park Zoo one day and this Kookaburra just sat there posing for me. Yes, I know we occasionally have Kookaburras in our garden at home, but none of them have posed like this one did.
Laughing Kookaburra
3. Noisy Miner:
Noisy Miners are common in many parts of Australia. Because of this they are not hard to photograph. This photo, however, I find very pleasing. It was taken in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. I was able to get to within several metres of this feeding bird who was quite unconcerned by my presence.
Noisy Miner
4. Red Browed Finch:
Finches in Australia come in a wonderful range of colours. The Red Browed Finch is a somewhat subdued member of the family. Despite that it is always a delight to see this dainty bird. This photo was taken inside a walk through aviary at the Cleland Wildlife Park in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. There were even more Red Browed Finches on the outside of the aviary.
Red Browed Finch
5. Musk Lorikeet:
We regularly go to visit our daughter in the Clare Valley in the mid-north of South Australia. On one occasion this Musk Lorikeet was feeding on eucalypt tree flowers in her garden. I was delighted to get this photo because this is a hard species to get clear photos of; they often feed deep in the foliage right at the top of very tall trees. Since taking this shot I’ve managed several more great shots of Musk Lorikeets.
Musk Lorikeet
If you have enjoyed these photos of birds you can see more than 500 more shots on my Photo Gallery.
If you want to learn more about Australian birds go to my blog called Trevor’s Birding.
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Picnic at Newland Head Conservation Park
Settler's Cottage in Newland Head CP
After our visit to Waitpinga Beach (see my previous two articles) we drove the short distance to the camping and picnic ground in the nearby Newland Head Conservation Park. This park is only a short distance from Victor Harbor and little over an hour’s drive south of Adelaide in South Australia. The camping ground is not big and can only cater for several groups of campers at once. The picnic grounds consist of several picnic tables.
Silvereye
A feature of the camping ground is the partially restored old settler’s cottage. This has a large verandah with some picnic tables and a BBQ for use by visitors. It was here that we had our morning tea of a cuppa and some biscuits. While we were doing that we were entertained by the local birds. Several Silvereyes were feeding in the bushes nearby and I managed to take the photo above. A family of Superb Blue Wrens came hopping around our feet seeing if we would drop a few biscuit crumbs for them. Several Red Browed Finches joined in the fun.
Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
Superb Blue Wren (male)
Birding at Victor Harbor
Yesterday I wrote about our recent trip to Victor Harbor in South Australia I also wrote about the beautiful birds I saw feeding in the Bottlebrush (Callistemon spp) bushes and trees in the street where we parked.
In amongst all the Musk Lorikeet parrots on a feeding frenzy were a few Little Wattlebirds. There are several species of Wattlebirds native to Australia. The most common species around home here in Murray Bridge are the Red Wattlebirds. I have quite a few photos of this species but the Little Wattlebird has so far eluded me – until now. They were so intent on feeding that they took little notice of me and the camera only two or three metres away.
Click on the photo to enlarge.
Little Wattlebird
Lorikeets in Victor Harbor
Musk Lorikeet
A few days ago we travelled from home in Murray Bridge down to the south coast of South Australia. My wife wanted to attend the native plant sale in Victor Harbor. This was one plant sale we had never attended. After talking to the various people there that I knew I went out to the car to wait for my wife to finish talking and buying. While sitting in the car my attention was attracted to the many Musk Lorikeets feeding on the flowers of the street trees. These trees were mainly bottlebrushes (Callistemon spp) in full flower. It was a delight to get so close to these beautiful little birds.
Musk Lorikeet
Related articles:
- Great birding moments #17: Musk Lorikeets
- Victor Harbor – more articles from my archives about this delightful town.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Australian Sea-lion, Granite Island
Australian Sea-lion, Granite Island
On our recent trip to Victor Harbor south of Adelaide I went with two friends for a walk across the causeway to the nearby Granite Island. This is a very popular walk for locals and visitors alike. We were delighted to see a very relaxed Australian Sea-lion lolling around in the water near the jetty. The way it behaved it was almost as if it was showing off its swimming skills to all the humans watching only a few metres away. Perhaps someone had trained it to behave in this way.
Australian Sea-lion
Australian Sea-lions are relatively common along the southern and western coasts of Australia. It largely breeds on the many islands along these coasts and I know of only one mainland breeding colony near Streaky Bay in the far west of South Australia. This species rarely venture more than 20-30km from the coast while feeding. From the size and colour of this individual in was most probably a female. Females range from 1.3-1.8m in length; the males at 2-2.5m are considerably larger and paler around the head.
Reference: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia (by Menkhorst and Knight).
Australian Sea-lion