Lindsay (to his Ozzie Mates), dropped me a note on his scheduled visit and I found a day that looked suitable. Not that we had many options.
So as the Banjo said. We went.
The weather map showed no cloud at all when I checked, but when we got to the Pt Wilson Road it was pretty certain the map was wrong. So we suffered the usual grey sky pics. And kept our eyes up for an elusive Sea-eagle.
Lindsay had about 4 birds that he really wanted and we managed to add Brolga. A pair were sitting in the grass on the far side of a pond, and at first everyone jumped to conclusions “She’s nesting!” but change the ‘n’ to an ‘r’ and you’d be much more likely to be right. So it was. When we swung by on the return journey, they both had moved quite a long way down the bund.
And then we saw them have an altercation with a handful of Cape Barren Geese, and the geese didn’t bother to stick around and argue.
At the moment the Whiskered Terns are hunting prodigiously and obviously productively. So we spent quite a little time working at really close distances with them as they swept along the mouth of the Little River.
And to top it off in the distance a Sea-eagle took off. Too far.
I was using the 300mm f/4 lens and was surprised to remember how fast it was at grabbing focus. I must remember to put it back on the D2Xs and it will really sing.
The sun came out and we had a really fine afternoon and some good results. On the way back we stopped for the ‘traditional’ coffee and Banana Cake at the Highway Lounge, and then as we were near swung into the Werribee River Park, but it was pretty quiet. But on the way out three of the young Kestrels were hunting in the evening sunshine. Lindsay was hanging out the window trying for that ‘best’ shot. The bird obliged by dropping off the post on to the road, but I think the af on the D7000 might have found the roadside more attractive. At least that’s how I interpreted his response.
Here’s a days sample See Lindsay’s Page sometime soon for his version.
We dropped him at the railway station after a day of much mirth and frivolity and some great birding and excellent photo opportunities. Seeya next time mate.
“Is she nesting?” No, afraid not.You don’t mess with the big guy. For some reason the Geese were not welcome in his pondReally soft light helped the Spoonbill shots.Whiskered Tern at touch downLittle wings that have flown so farThe tide was a bit slow turning and these birds were anxiously waiting for the mudflats to be exposed.A Wagtail sees of a Brown FalconPied Oystercatcher on final approachAlways enjoy the flight control of the Silver Gull.Its not obvious, but the Black winged Stilt is moving the Red-necked Avocet along. No room in this pool.The master at work.
Sometimes the best ideas are those that come with out lots of planning and forethought. Just go out and do it.
With a small cool change coming in, and the wind shifting in from the south, we packed the picnic, grabbed some Earl Grey, and phoned the WTP birding line and booked for an evening down by the sea
To our delight the young Spotted Harriers were still on the roadside, and parking carefully to avoid any likelihood of mishaps with trucks at 110kph, we took our time to get the best lighting on the bird perched on the top of the cyprus tree cones. Then tired of begging, it took advantage of the strong breeze and launched, drifted upwards to the top of the treeline and then without a wing flap, sailed along the treeline and back. Not exactly hard photography as it turned in the evening light. The great tail moving one way or another like a large oar or rudder to keep it almost stationary in the air. With barely a wing flap, it simply enjoyed the moment. So did we.
When we got to The Spit, Murtcaim (n) we found a number of Swamp Harriers at play. Interesting to watch their games from a distance, but not much hope of being able to get close enough of great shots, but highly entertaining none the less.
Further down the road we came upon a pair of Brolga, but they were just too far away to do any real work, so we headed back to Lake Borrie. And then first came upon some Yellow-billed Spoonbills, and a Great Egret sitting on a fence rail. While EE got moved for a clear shot of the Egret, all the seagulls in the world- or at least the 10,000 or so on the seaside took to the air with a broadcasting squawk.
A White-bellied Sea eagle had made a sneak attack along the grasslands, and had swung up over the hapless gulls. Each gull to itself seemed to be the answer, and someone’s relative went home for dinner with the eagle. I managed to find the camera by the time the action was all over.
Probably enough excitement for a mere whim.
Young Spotted Harrier expecting dinner to arrive soon.
Time to stretch those wonderful wings in the evening breeze.
One of many White-fronted Chats that seem to work as a flock at the moment
Waiting for its turn at the Swamp Harrier Games.
This one drifted almost up to our camera position.
Knocking one another of fence posts must be a raptor game, they all seem to indulge in it.
Cautious Brolga checking that the right protocol distance is being maintained.
Great Egret to wing.
Bulking up for the trip to the summer breeding grounds, the waders, mostly Sharp-tailed Sandpipers here, are hard at work getting as many calories as possible.
White-bellied Sea-eagle with its own method of calorie collection.
With the hot weather just making day trips so hard for photography, hard on the birds, hard on the photographer and hard on great images, we’ve been a bit subdued of late.
A small dry cool change wafted through and we took the chance to go back out on the Murtcain(m) to see if we could sight those elusive Brolgas.
The evening light played such a fine tune over the scene, and the breeze from the ocean was really refreshing. The birds seem to enjoy it too.
Black-shouldered Kite on a high vantage point.Juvenile Black-shouldered Kite, with its wonderful brown ginger markings.Zebra Finch.Yellow-billed Spoonbills settling in for an evening meal.Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.Swamp Harrier, all a bustle as it turns its body to keep up with the intended targetRoyal Spoonbill who stopped in the middle of a preen for a bit of a dance in the water.Not to be outdone, a Yellow-billed Spoonbill perfuming in the water. Perhaps the cool breeze gave them pleasure too.Oh, so elusive Brolga. Late evening stroll.Black-shouldered Kite hunting right on sundown. It lifts its head to be sure there is no sneak attack.
With the weather man predicting only more heat wave conditions, and the WTP being closed on Total Fire Ban days because of OHS issues, and good on ’em as far as I’m concerned. Don’t want to be driving around in the heat trying to find birds hiding from the heat
We found a bit of a break in the hot days, and decided and early morning start was the best thing. Rather than cover the usual spots we headed down to southern end, known among birders as 29 Mile Road, T Section or the Spit. Also Murtcaim(n) and Pond 9. The Brolgas had been seen among the ponds there and we thought it a good look see.
Here’s the way the day progressed.
Found one of the Spotted Harriers up in the early morning mist. That’s Avalon Aircraft Repair workshop in the distance.
The second young one also put up, and we got some good views even if the light was against us.
Golden-headed Cisticola came by to be sure we weren’t thinking of taking over its territory, and gave a us a good lecture just to prove its point.
We did manage to find the Brolga engaged in team precision preening, but they were too far away, and the heat haze even in the early morning was a curse.
A strong breeze really surprised these Golden-headed Cisticola, nearly blowing it off the rail. The leaning into the wing and wide stretch of the legs was all it could do to prevent it being swept away.
Another great find were a pair of Cape Barren Geese, they did a great little head nodding performance before taking to the air. I always feel a bit sad when I’ve partly been the cause of a bird taking flight.
No such feeling with Swamp Harriers. This bird had no intention of letting us get close under any circumstances and led us on a merry chase along one of the bunds, flying a brief spell, sitting until we caught up, and then wafting on down the road a hundred metres of so.
At the moment, there is alway a Whiskered Tern or two to keep photographers amused and waste lots of time trying to nail that elusive best tern shot. Its not that the birds don’t try hard enough.
And that pair of Geese just would not sit still when we were around.
My bird id skills let me down sometimes and the little grass birds are a good example, but this is a Horsfields Bushlark (I hope). It adopted a different technique to stay on the post, by crouching down.
Back along the Point Wilson Road, one of the young Spotted Harriers had returned to the nest tree for a bit of a spell.
And down along the rocks, the Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were ready to get down to work when the tide lowered a bit.
By late mid morning, the temp was up, the heat haze was reducing very expensive lens to the quality of my Mum’s Box Camera and coffee and a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich (not a bad alternative to a poi.), at the Highway Lounge. How could I resist
Over the past couple of weeks, the Brolgas that are down in the WTP have been a bit more open and readily noticeable. Either because of their walking along the roads along the bunds, or by flying in from seemingly nowhere.
At first I took to them as photo challenge. Big bird, easy to spot, fairly photogenic.
However after a couple of weeks of working with them, I am enamoured. These wonderful creatures with personalities all their own have walked, sung, and danced their way deep into my heart.
Not that its a two sided partnership. They are very people averse and make their feelings on the subject well know, both vocally and by voting with their feet, or wings.
We had decided EE, Mr An Onymous and I to take advantage of the cool of the morning as being the best way to get the best light and to make a concerted effort to locate the Brogla. Now like all birds, they don’t leave signs, or calling cards, so we left an hour or so after sunup and began our quest.
By mid-morning the score was photographers 0 Brolga 3. Then as we were going along the bund to Murtcaim(n) outflow, we saw the Helmutmobile on the other side of the pond, and on the road in front of him. A pair of Brolga. Apparently on a shopping expedition, or perhaps a philosophical stroll in the morning. As Mr An has rightly pointed out, they walk fast on those big legs. And it was as much as I could do to follow along on the opposite bank, as they headed on down to the other end of the pond.
At one point we (both) came upon a mob of Black Swans in the pond, and they were startled either by me, or more likely on reflection, the Brolga. Much wing clattering, foot splashing and eventually they got airborne.
The Brogla stopped, turned their heads, and I thought “Oh, No, they’ll fly too!” But instead they set up a constant calling and looking in the direction of the Swans, and I think I learned some Brolga speak. “Well, Look at those silly swans, we sure scared them. ”
See Helmut’s shot of the Swans in complete disarray on the wing.
Satisfied that honour had been done, they turned and walked nonchalantly off down the road.
I moved to the end of the road, and the pool. There is a road running along there and I figured, they will either turn left and be gone down the road or they might just as well turn right and walk pretty much right past me. However, like all good stories, there was a third possibility that I hadn’t counted on. They walked over the roadway, down the bank on the other side and disappeared into the grass. Brolga 4.
We stopped at the Murtcain(m) outflow, but the tide was in and the best we could do was a nice cuppa and a chat.
When silently as stealth bombers, 3 grey shapes came over the paddock, dropped into the lagoon and immediately started walking. They were much to far out for anything really decent, Brolga 5.
However not to be outdone, I walked down to the end of the roadway and slipped along the roadside trying to get as close, and hoping they would feed across toward my position. Photographer 1.
What happened next was the highlight of my day, probably my month, and might even be my year. (I don’t aim high!).
One of the three, the smallest, stopped walking. Turned about and danced. Now most have heard of the prowess of these birds as exceptional dancers. Don’t believe it. They are much much more than exceptional. To see a video is one thing. To see the elegance, lightness, the subtly of turn, and the wing movements is nothing else other than breathtaking. Its ability to step, and twist and turn and jump in a co-ordinated manner can’t be explained and a few still shots, don’t even begin to touch the scope of the repertoire. Photographer 2.
And it was doing it for itself. The other two took no part and took no notice.
I’ve concluded they do it because its fun. They enjoy it, and it’s an expression of being alive. I know anthropomorphism is frowned upon. I don’t care, I think they have emotions and this one wanted to enjoy the moment.
The heat haze over the water affected most of the shots, but none the less, its only encouraged me to continue working with these birds and hopefully they will grace me with another performance.
Nothing like a morning constitutional stroll.Oh, look I missed a feather, just there.“Silly Swans”When you’re casual walking there is always a time for a quick preen.Reaching the end of the road, would they turn and walk toward me?A threesome, perhaps two adults and a juvenile, flew quietly in for a walk along the pond.For no reason, only that it could, this bird decided to dance in the sunshine.Wings widespread help to control the dreaming drifting down sequences.At the height of the dance. Float like a butterfly.Performance over time to rejoin the walking group.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER doesn't mean I'm LOST 