David Jenkins

An Afternoon at Red-capped Robin Nursery

December 1, 2016December 1, 2016Posted in Red-capped Robin, Woodlands Historic ParkTagged Red-capped Robin, Woodlands Historic Park6 Comments

Astute reader that you are, and having followed along from the beginning of this blog, will recall that I originally all those years back set it up to document the comings and goings of Red-capped Robins at Woodlands Historic Park.
As the years have gone, things have changed, and among them of course, our move away from the area.
So when we travel back that way we are more or less tourists.

Where once we had a fine almost family familiarity with a number of Red-capped Robin pairs, and were as familiar with each of their territories as they were, today we are just interlopers in their front yard.

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A Little Wag Tale

November 25, 2016November 25, 2016Posted in Werribee River Park, Willie WagtailTagged Werribee River Park, Willie Wagtail6 Comments

Over the past few weeks along the river area at Werribee River Park, (The Office), we’ve been waiting for the Willie Wagtails to get into their nesting season.
Normally quick off the rank for a bout of nesting, the Wagtails around The Office seem to have been particularly slow in making the first move.
Not that I blame them, as about 8 pairs we worked with last year, built a nest early, and were washed out with rain. They rebuilt, only to have a second storm cell come though about a fortnight later and once again wash them off the branches. After a couple of weeks they started again, and as luck would have it, a third storm ripped through and again devastated their efforts. By the fourth clutch, we were well into summer and most seemed to raise this round. At one stage there were over 30 young juveniles all flitting about together as mum and dad worked on a fifth clutch.

This year, they seem to have taken the approach: Wait till the storm season is behind us.

And about two weeks back, we were thrilled to hear the nesting call of as many as 8-10 pairs as they worked away building in various locations from highly concealed among the leaves, to desperate, out in the open. Nothing is going to get us.
But.

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Taking a bit of a drive for Pardalote Parenting

November 20, 2016November 20, 2016Posted in Guildford, Newstead, Straited PardaloteTagged Guildford, Guildford General Store, Newstead, Striated Pardalote6 Comments

Spoke to Mr An Onymous and suggested that we might like to do a day trip up to see the Rainbow Bee-eaters working in the creek-line at the Newstead Cemetery.
The promise of a pie from the Guildford General Store sort of clinched the deal, and we found a day that looked promising weather wise and planned accordingly.

Best light in to the creek-line would be late afternoon as my Mum’s “Keep the Sun over your Left Shoulder, Dear!” would be just the ticket.

Phoned Guilford General to ensure that they would have a pie in the warmer for us, and chose a Lamb Rogan Josh and a Chicken Kashmiri as the likely candidates. “All good to go,” says Emily. We then packed the gear and headed up.

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An easy day out

October 28, 2016October 28, 2016Posted in Birdsaspoetry, Crested Pigeon, Pacific Gull, Point Cook, Sacred Kingfisher, Yellow-tailed Black CockatooTagged Crested Pigeon, Magpie-lark, Point Cook Coastal Park, Sacred Kingfisher4 Comments

Friend of mine once said in conversation as we chatted about my time in the bush, “Bird photography is pretty easy, you just sit in a deckchair and photograph any birds that happen to come by.” And today, for once, he was right. Thanks for the advice John.

Mr An Onymous had looked at the weather maps, the weather forecasts, the icon ladies and I guess in the end, just plain looked out the window, and declared we should take a trip to Point Cook Coastal Park on Friday. Sounded good as we’d not been out that way since the end of the Flame Robin season, most of the birds were well on their way back by mid of September.

Meet you down there, and so we did.

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With Werribee Wagtails at Goschen

October 23, 2016November 22, 2016Posted in Goschen, Hooded Robin, Owlet Nightjar, Rainbow Bee Eater, Rufous SonglarkTagged Goschen, Hooded Robin, Owlet Nightjar, Rainbow Bee Eater4 Comments

The Goschen Bushland Reserve outside Lake Boga, is renowned among bird obsevers as one of the true ‘honeyspots’ in the Mallee.
Little did I know as a young kid, riding my bike around the area, that I’d be back so many years later to spend time photographing the birds of the area.

We had travelled up to enjoy the BirdLife Werribee—aka Werribee Wagtails— camp out in Swan Hill. Of course one of the spots to visit was Goschen.

On the way up, one of the relatives had informed us, “Goschen now has been fenced off.” or words to that effect, and it sounded as though access was restricted. I had visions of a 3 metre chainwire fence all around the area. And huge gates with those big padlocks that Parks Vic. seems to be able to produce for such occasions.

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Spending an afternoon in the Sunshine with Eloise

October 17, 2016October 17, 2016Posted in Uncategorized3 Comments

We’ve been away up the family acres.

So not much local bird photography from us. However stay tuned as I slowly get a week’s worth of shots sorted out.
We went up for the annual Birdlife Werribee, (formerly Werribee Wagtails) camp out.

As we unpacked in the early afternoon, the warmth of the sunshine was a bit too much to ignore and we decided by unanimous vote to “Go to the Office, and see how the Black-shouldered Kite pair were doing”.

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When the Only Thing You can do is to Stand in Awe

September 20, 2016September 21, 2016Posted in Uncategorized, Werribee River ParkTagged Nikon 1 V3, Osprey, Werribee River Park9 Comments

Full-Contact Nature Sport

We had taken a run to The Office in the late afternoon. Mostly just to check on the progress of Kitty and Kalev-the Brave.

And as the evening sunshine warmed us against the chill of the wind, down the river flat, in the crisp golden light a steady wing beat carried at quite breathtaking speed, an Osprey. Actually by now I suppose it should be “the Osprey”.

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The Cycle of Life: Spring Forces at Work

September 18, 2016September 18, 2016Posted in Uncategorized3 Comments

The weather has kept us at home. Grey skies are one thing, but cold, damp, wind-driven rain is a force to be reckoned with. And inspite of Drizabone, there still has to be enough light bring some decent exposure rates.
So. Home it is.

I was under the pergola, working with the Nikon 1 focusing variations, and noted our local female Blackbird going over the fence with a beakful of building material. She stopped long enough on one trip that I managed to get a reasonable shot of her at work. “So,” thought I, “She must have a nest going in somewhere nextdoor.”

About an hour later, however I saw a Blackbird with head up and lots of wing flapping, and I reached for the camera, thinking it was probably a juvenile that was begging for food.

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Graced by an Osprey at The Office

September 14, 2016September 14, 2016Posted in The Office, Werribee River ParkTagged Nikon 1 V3, Osprey, The Office, Werribee River Park11 Comments

We have had some rain. 70mm in 3 days, the gauge says.
And, this morning, I set out for my weekly Tia Chi class. Start of a new semester, so I was pretty excited about getting back to class. And at 8:00am, as I was getting ready, the rain, was, well, sheeting down. So any ideas of spending a few hours with the birds at The Office, were not even a glimmer of hope. But a we settled into such routines as “Waving hands like Clouds”, “White Crane Cools Wings”, and “Monkey offers a Peach”, it was possible to glimpse a shaft of brilliant sunshine making an appearance through the clouds. By the time we paused for a break, it was definitely bright sunshine warming me though the window, and stirring the possibilities of a chance to venture out in the early afternoon.

EE soon agreed and we headed out right after lunch. To my despair, the road into The Office, was waterlogged. And we picked our way along through the water, and the puddles and the inevitable mud pools. On arrival at the carpark, Kitty and Kalev were nowhere to be seen, and despite looking for a while, we still were Kiteless. So we wandered down to the river area.
Which as it turns was a great move.

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New Work at The Office

September 12, 2016September 12, 2016Posted in Black-shouldered Kite, The Office, Werribee River ParkTagged Black-shouldered Kite, The Office, Werribee River Park8 Comments

Toward the end of last year, a pair of Black-shouldered Kites— we named them Kitty and Kalev-the Brave— set up and successfully fledged three young.

Well, they are back! Or so it seems. Of course they could be completely different birds, but given their relaxed and settled manner, and the way they interact, I’d be pretty certain that we are looking at Kitty and Kalev-the Brave.

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Flying with a Brown Falcon

August 29, 2016August 29, 2016Posted in Brown Falcon, Werribee River ParkTagged Brown Falcon, Werribee River Park4 Comments

Few things under heaven bring more benefit than the lessons learned from silence and the actions taken without striving.

Went to The Office for a bit of afternoon therapy in the warm sunshine.

Bernie the Brown Falcon was also out in the sunshine. He is a bit busy as it turns out. He is busy letting everyone know that he and Bernice have claimed a nest loction and everyone, including everyone, is not welcome.
And at the same time he needs to begin to feed her up in preparation. A one-armed flying paperhanger, wouldn’t have it this busy.

Normally he is somewhat intolerant of my presence, and no more so today, I suspect. However, I am pretty certain we are on the “ignore, and they’ll go away” list.

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A Brief Interlude of Home Building with Tai Chi Pigeon

August 24, 2016August 24, 2016Posted in Tai Chi PigeonTagged Nikon 1, Nikon 1 V3, Spotted Turtle-dove3 Comments

For a number of reasons, I was stuck at home today. And Tai Chi Spotted Turtle-dove (to give her correct name), came to visit.

I learn so much about my Tai Chi practice from this bird whose sense of balance, harmony, and zoning out, always seem to give me something new to contemplate.

But today, TC was not just visiting. In the small bush beyond the fence, she has designs in mind.
And as I watched out the kitchen window waiting for the kettle to bring a cuppa to boil, she arrived with first one small twig, then another, then another of increasing size. By this time the kettle was busily looking after itself, as I’d slipped into the workroom, grabbed the V3 and the 300mm PF and TC 1.4, I’d been playing with earlier.

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Little Visits: Mansion Dwellers

August 20, 2016August 20, 2016Posted in Uncategorized, Werribee MansionTagged Nikon 1, Nikon 1 CX 70-300mm, Nikon 1 V3, Werribee Mansion2 Comments

We have a small break in the weather, and decided that a coffee at Werribee Mansion would be a good start, and a then a stroll around the gardens. Actually we were both secretly hoping that that the Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos might still be there. But no such luck.
At the slowly draining lake in the gardens, the usual Great Egret and Little-pied Cormorant were in residence. Along with a young Australasian Darter, that seems to have taken up domicile in the tallest of the peppercorn trees by the lake.

Plenty of Superb Fairywrens and a lone Australasian Grebe, and we had a fine day to just relax and to put some practice in with the Nikon 1 gear and the superb 70-300mm zoom.

Must write a review on said lens.

Enjoy.

The Werribee Mansion in sunlight Nikon V1 10-100mm PD Zoom and a Polarising Filter ISO 140, f/5, 1/250, @22mm

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Finding Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos

August 15, 2016August 15, 2016Posted in The Office, Werribee Mansion, Yellow-tailed Black CockatooTagged Nikon 1, Werribee Mansion, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo2 Comments

To be honest, we were just out for the sun, and the afternoon walk.
We had taken the road to The Office, and it was still a quagmire. But at least passable, so we pressed on. And just as well we did. As “Bernie” the Brown Falcon, and “Bernice” were on display in the paddocks. I’d say that they definitely have family matters on the agenda, and it was nice to be able to see them sitting together, and do a few slow laps over the tree tops. Not the usual fast cutting run of a falcon on a mission.

We ambled up to the mansion, and as we settled with the ducks, a Great Egret, and a cuppa of the good Earl of Grey, it I thought I heard the loud noises of some cockatoos in the distance. And within a few minutes, several Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos slipped through the trees.