Category: Flame Robin

Just little wanders

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Had a wander over the weekend with the organised Beginners Group of Bird LIfe Asutralia (Melbourne Group).  Titles get so long these days, and the acronyms are dreadful, but by the time I get it all typed I’ve forgotten what it was I was going to ramble on about.
Oh, yeah, we went with the beginners group to Woodlands.  Now as the National Parks people are on strike, the gate at Somerton Road is closed.  Which in some way s me thinks is a good thing.  But with nearly twenty cars parked along the road it did look to say the least a bit dangerous.  And as Somerton Road is apparently the extension of some race track or other, speeds along the road are simply overwhelming at times, with some of the best passing manoeuvres that would do credit to  Mark Webber at Albert Park F1, are taken with out much concern for the narrowness of the roadway.  Anyway I digress.

The weather was pleasant if just a bit overcast and after a stroll around the Moonee Ponds Creek tracks, – Note: the river was in a flood, probably 1 1/2 meters or more deep.- we decided to move around to the Providence Road carpark and spot Robins.  And on this day, the resident Tawny Frogmouths had moved to a new tree and were not to be found.  I was pretty much accused of  climbing up in the morning and moving them. <ggg>

The gate to the Backpaddock is now closed, so we made do by following the kangaroo tracks down toward the Dam area.  Now the robins were pretty much on strike too, it seems. However I broke away from the main group and with a little bushcraft, and determined perseverance and highly developed robin finding skills.  And let’s face it. LUCK, I found the pair, Lockie and Primrose. They were taking a bit of a stroll down toward the dam as there were some nice wet patches of run-off water from the previous couple of days.  Next, call up the group, so some thirty birdwatchers descend on 10 square metres of robin feeding territory and the fun begins. “There on the tree just on the left of the other tree, near the branch sticking out behind the wattle, near the laid over stump, about a metre off the ground, oh, never mind it’s flown away.”  Much too much fun.

Some of the beginners did however manage to get a good views of Lochie and another male, and Primrose seemed completely unpreturbed by it all and just continued to feed.  So after about twenty hectic minutes with the binoculars and pointing just about everybody had seen some good robin views.

We then moved back to the cars and had another great view of several of the Flame and Scarlet robins in the paddock near the cemetery.  Enough for all, so lunch was at the Woodlands Homestead. Then a bit of a walk around Woodlands Hill, but no raptors were up.

Dorothy and I went back for another look in the pm, and found some Flame Robins and Lochie and Primrose again.  Here he is in the sunshine.

Redcapped Robin Male, hunting in the sunshine after several days of intense rain.

 

Here he is again with a nicer background. He is my second most favourite of the Red-caps because he is very relaxed with me most of the time.

 

 

 

Hello, and aren’t you looking super?

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No one can say that the weather has been photographically kind over the past few days.  Its not just the risk of taking the cameras out in the rain, or the chance of getting wet, its just the light is so weak that the exposures are wide open, slow shutter speed.  Even on a tripod, the chances are the bird is breathing in and out faster than the shutter speed, so, its a blurry pic.

Stay home, do other things, play with last years images and hope for a break.

So with high hopes we set out early this morning, sun looked good, and the weather man gave us a 50/50 chance.  Should be good.

But!  The gate to the Woodlands Backpaddock is locked.  Work is going on to remove the feral invaders, and keep the feral photographers out.

Sadly we traipsed back towards the car.  But on the way, we found a lovely looking Female Scarlet Robin, so of course we stopped to play.  She and her mate were a bit skittish at first but after a little bit we managed to meet on sort of mutual terms and were able to get reasonably close. Good light and the rest was easy.

After all that excitement we travelled on a bit further and found an Eastern Yellow Robin.  Very impressive, and again a bird that once it settled down was not to fussed by being chased by a photographer.

Looks like we’ll be travelling a bit further to keep up with the Yellow Robin and fill in time till the gates are re-opened.

Female Scarlet Robin in the early morning light

 

Female Scarlet Robin hunting

 

Scarlet Robin Male

 

Find of the day. Eastern Yellow Robin in a small clump of Black Wattle

Foggy Morning with Robins

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The lack of posts here has little to do with enthusiasm and much to do with the weather.  When its been good weather, I have been elsewhere, and when I’m all set to go to the paddocks, the weather turns viral.

But I loaded up the Driazabone (and they are which is why they are so good), and headed out.  The weather went from inclement to downright foggy.  I had trouble seeing cars coming along the track to the forest.

And it really didn’t get much better.  However a good trusty tripod is such a good thing, even if its a bit heavy.  Or gets left behind in the marshes and requires a return trip just to retrieve the missing tripod in the middle of the night. (Don’t ask, just put it down to old timers forgetfulness).

I’ve taken of late to shooting from the tripod with it very low to the ground, legs stretched out and laying behind it.  It gives the feeding birds an interesting perspective and makes the depth-of-field, both a challenge and an opportunity. Harder to nail focus on small birds, but when it does the soft backgrounds don’t get in the way. The robins on the moss beds are standing on a very narrow sharp area and everything else is out of focus. Old bones do creak a bit when I get up to move but.

The wonderful thing about mist for a photographer is soft delicate light that comes from it all, and the lovely moody effects it adds to landscapes.  It’s a bit tough through when the bird is about 8 metres away and the mist makes the image all soft and fuzzy.

But as a photographer mate says, “The light now melds over everything it touches”, and he’s right.  No harsh shadows, no contrasts, soft muted colours and light that edges its way around three dimensionally.  Super.

The robins have indeed become conspicuously absent the past few times.  The much anticipated flock hasn’t eventuated and its really small isolated families that move rapidly from place to place. But there are a few gems among them.

Male Red-cap in the soggy grass. He is a bit wet from hunting about, and very wary of me.
Another “Fatboy”. This male was on his own. He found a super big purple worm, but took off with it before I had a chance to get some eating shots. I found him on a branch looking decidedly overweight.
Another Red-capped Male. I had to walk a long way in to find him and again he was very wary of me. But the light just enveloped him.

Young Miss Heartbreaker

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After a busy weekend away from birding we were both looking forward to going back out to Woodlands today.  The weather didn’t promise much and didn’t deliver much either. But on the upside we didn’t get any showers so that helped.

Once we were inside the Backpaddock a family of Flame Robins came by, but quickly disappeared and we lost them.  Mr Mighty made an appearance but for some reason we didn’t get close enough for much worthwhile photography.  After waiting fruitlessly for some other action we toured about the pathways and I found Little Miss Red red-capped Robin.  Perhaps she should be called Little Red-riding Hood.

The sun graciously shone through some cloud and a little bit of extra light helped on the moss beds.  She seemed to be unattached today and was with a small family of female and juvenile Flame Robins.

But as always at the moment, the Thornbill flock flew in, and then out and everyone was gone.  There is plenty of activity, just not sufficient time to get some great photos.

How does she look. Red-riding Hood, with her little red-breast feathers and her brilliant orange red cap.
Female Flame Robin. She seemed to be calling to the family group because they took too flight and followed her departure.

Guess who’s turning all the boy’s heads?

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This little miss, has turned up over the past week or so, we spotted her in the rain, and all remarked about the ‘redness’ of her cap.

The last few days there have been a three male suitors down in the same area.  Very territorial and each of them, trying to drive off the other two. Today, one of them seemed to at least have the dominance and after a few verbal battles and some branch dancing, he moved her up the paddock away from the other two males. Nothing left for them, so they squabbled amongst themselves.

After about five minutes a little grey/brown streak zoomed down the forest and back out among the boys. With some suitable tail-wagging and some scolding tic tics, she got them all going again. One seemed to win out and again two males were left to themselves.

Something new going on all the time.

Mr Mighty and his lady are back feeding in their old quarters from last year.  He doesn’t seem to take part in the domestic worries across the forest.

An unattached female who seems to have all the local males interested
Mr Mighty feeding in a moss bed, very early in the morning, the sun is just starting to advance through the tree line

 

Young Flame Robin, part of a family of 5 birds.

 

One of the “Brothers” three males who seem to hunt as an independent group.

 

 

Robin Flock at Woodlands

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Seems like forever since I opened up the WordPress files, but as life does, other things have been getting in the way from getting out to the park.

The past weekend was a washout. Literally.  We went with the Birdlife Melbourne Photography group on just the wettest day.  It poured, showered, drizzled and did just about everything except give up a bit of light and relief for the photographers.  Andrew came along to lend a hand as a guide and that gave us a bit of flexibility about where to look, but in the end, the cameras mostly stayed in the cars and the rain jackets did their job.

Not to say we didn’t find anything with the highlight being a Yellow-tufted Honeyeater and several White-naped Honeyeaters.

Not one to be put off by a few minutes disappointment, I went back out this morning in the super sunshine.  A few of the Flame families were feeding together and several other smaller parties were around the usual spots.

This Red-capped Robin was one of several from the morning, but I liked the backlighting and the good show on his chest feathers.

Second bird is from a small number of independent females that don’t seem to socialise with the other flocks.

This male is on a low branch. I am working on a very low tripod and laying on the ground to get a lower perspective. Get wetter, and muddier, but you see much more from the bird’s point of view.
Hunting in the early morning sunshine on a moss bed. I was laying on the ground, camera on a low tripod, just to get a separation from the background.

Nice to meet old friends

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Today, we with a bright sunny day instore, we went to The Pipemakers Park, in Footscray. It was one of the Heart Foundation “Green Walks in the Park”, and it was nice to catch up with a group of walkers and have a bit of a chat as we sauntered about the gardens at the Pipemakers Park, and then down along the Maribyrnong River.
First time we’d been down there, and the bird life is exceptional.  Two Brown Falcons sailing overhead as we got out of the car.  Looked great.  Also spotted several Eastern Shrike Tits among the bushes, and a host of other smaller birds.  Must take the cameras and a lunch and do it justice.  The gardener guy told me they often have a White-bellied Sea Eagle patrol the river, and there is a pair of nesting Eastern Barn Owls in the area as well.

We then had a date down at WTP, and with a spot of lunch at the Highway Lounge on the freeway, were well on the way to a good afternoon.  The first birds we spotted weren’t even in the Permit area, but were on the roadway outside.  Brilliant Flashes of  Red and Brown, feeding against the black tarmac of the road.  A Flame Robin family group of at least three males, and females and a few juveniles kept us out on the roadside for quite awhile.  On the return journey just as sun was setting they were still there and not that fussed by our presence.

It was Pelican day as well, and no matter where we went the big amusing lumps seemed to sail by in groups or small flocks.

On the way out, we went along Beach Road, and a Black-shouldered Kite was spotted in a tree, eager to make a nice shot, I put the car of the side of the road, and was getting ready when to my surprise, and joy and delight, and  amazement, the familiar “Kar, Kar, Kar”, of a hunting Nankeen Kestrel wafted down on the air.  I was out of the car, and had a dozen frames away, before I had even worked out where it was happening.  She, it was a female, took to a tree in a paddock, and I contemplated following, but after a few minutes, another high pitched scream from her, and she took off. There had to be a male somewhere near.   She flew directly overhead, (it really was like old times), and gave him a piece of her mind, before landing in the tree and gave her begging for food call.  He dutifully took to the air to find dinner for her.  She sat on the tree and watched, and occasionally screamed encouragement, until a demented Wagtail couldn’t stand it any longer and chased her of the tree.

It was so nice to hear her call, and to watch the delicate wind-hover of the male.    I hope they stay in the area, as we have only seen Kestrels there once before.

 

A Yellow-Rumped Thornbill, helping itself to the bugs in the spider web. It got pretty tangled in the web, and eventually had shake itself free.

 

Pelican making final adjustments on its landing approach

 

Female Nankeen Kestrel on a hunting trip.

 

Sunday at Woodlands

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Dorothy and I looked out of the window early in the morning, and decided it was just too nice a morning to sit at home and worry about getting ‘stuff’ done.
So we packed a picnic and took off to see what the Robins were up to.  And they certainly were.  We found the cemetery pair within a few minutes. The female must be the hardest working bird in the forest. She had at least 4 clutches this summer, and I counted 9 young that she had gotten off.  Given that she lost at least one nest to Ravens, she really didn’t have a moment to spare.  But she looks quite relaxed and in good nick at the moment.  Her male, is sporting a cute little white feather or two around his beak, giving him a little moustache appearance.

We settled into a favourite spot in the fenced off area and while we waited Andrew and Adrienne  turned up, so  we had a lovely morning with the birds and some great company. The weather couldn’t make up its mind but sunshine probably dominated. The birds are not in a flock yet, each little family group seems to be moving independently.  The three males, “The Brothers” are still together, and it was good to be able to find one, and then quickly find the other two in quick succession.  Mr Cooper-top is sporting his lovely brown feathers.

The Brown-headed Honeyeater trapeze troupe dropped by, and we also were entertained by the four Grey-shrike Thrush as they worked the trees, bushes and ground litter.

By the time we had arrived home it was too cold to work in the garden so we compared pictures from the day’s effort.  Dorothy is about to get a new Nikon 1 V1, the super little mirrorless camera, which just happens to have an adaptor that can attach the DSLR lenses, and that will give her some new opportunities.

The hardest working little bird. She has had a very productive summer, and now is piling on the food, ready for next season.
This boy and his rather shy female put in an appearance, he is now one of three males in the area. They are a bit of a bully to the Red-caps I think.
Mr Copper-top. One of three males that travel together, “The Brothers”.
Another of “The Brothers”. He is nicely positioned against the spider’s web.

A hunting we will go

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Friday dawned all lovely and still, with plenty of blue sky and none of the rain of the previous few days.  I was getting a bit tired of pacing the floor and finding other things to do, so it was good to get back into the bush and see if the storms had diminished the robins activities. I needed not have worried, as they were soaking up the sunshine and on the hunt everywhere.

The Brown-headed Honeyeater aerial trapeze team came by for a visit and I’ve put up a page here with their antics on display.

This young lady spent a lot of the morning with serveral other females hunting on their own. They seem to have a different call, a Cheep, Chip, Chip, which must be a location thing. This one seemed to be the noisiest or most persistent caller. Perhaps it was “C’mon girls, let’s go over here.”
Another one from the hunting party

A morning at Western Treatment Plant

Posted in Black-shouldered Kite, Brown Falcon, Buff-banded Rail, Flame Robin, Swamp Harrier, Whistling Kite2 Comments

Just look at the calendar!  It’s the end of April already.  Although I suppose a look out the window at anytime would confirm it is coming on to winter.

I make no excuses, I like to go to the Treatment Plant in the afternoons.  The light just runs down the roadways at a better angle.  Because there are so many limitations about position in Werribee getting the light direction is one of the keys to great photos down there. So daylight saving is my friend in all this endevour.

But come winter, well, things change a bit.  The sun is down by 5 pm, and so there is little time to get about the places we like to work from.  So for the next few months, we are back to early morning starts. (No point getting there at lunch time as the birds are past the hungry at all costs mode).  The light is harder to work with because the angle of the early morning sun is always lower and 3/4 backlight at best.

So in keeping with all that we loaded the car in the evening, set the alarm, and ventured out just as it was breaking daylight.  A better run down the Ring-road too.

As soon as we turned of the freeway onto Point Wilson Road, we found some Red-rumped Parrots.  A short distance along and Flame Robins were on the fence.  And on the Paradise Road, and the road to Ryans Swamp, past the pumphouse.  And a lovely Brown Falcon who sat motionless on a fence post and stared us down.  I edged the car past it, on the far far side of the road, and with the long 500mm had to shoot vertically to get it all in. And then it flew. So I got a crop, but am pretty happy with the result.

More Flames down at Chirnside Road gate, and then a fruitless search for Swan J19.

We travelled back along the road to the Bird Hide and in quick succession scored a lovely Swamp Harrier, a pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles and a Buff-banded Rail.  Not content we stopped near the Outflow from Lake Borrie and were entertained by five Black-shouldered Kites who  seemed to be enjoying the light breeze and playing a game of ring-around-a-rosie, from the outflow sign and a large bush.  No aggression, just plain fun.

More Flames along Beach Road, and a tree full of lovely yellow/green parrots.

We trundled down 29 Mile Road, and were amazed to find a single male Nankeen Kestrel,- the first we have seen at WTP (I had heard of it from reports on Victoria BirdLine.).
It hunted up the paddock, dive-snatched a mouse, and sat on the fence line to consume it.  So I moved the car forward a bit, it moved up about 3 posts.  I moved again, it moved up 4 posts, I moved again, and it moved even further.  A game of diminishing returns for me, and a success for the Kestrel.  Still I managed to get a few record shots of it at work.  Must go again. Hope its still there.
The farm management were in the process of some controlled burns on the grass lands, and amongst the smoke could be seen 5 or 6 Whistling Kites waiting for some action.  They seemed to be calling to one another, which is such a great sound, sends shivers down my spine.

Brown Falcon in early morning light. It allowed us to bring the car with in about 10m, which meant with the long lens I had to shoot vertical to get it all in.
Just airborne. I waited, as it went though all the pre-flight checks, and probably was a little too early on the shutter. Was shooting vertical, so had to put up with a horizontal crop in the end.
This one is at Chirnside Road Gate
It made a turn out of the waterway just in front of our position. The early morning light filtered through the mist has kept contrast down, and highlight the wing and tail feathers. No clever post processing, just a little lightening up on the head.

Wonders of a little rain

Posted in Dusky Woodswallows, Flame Robin, Redcapped Robin, Scarlet RobinTagged , , , , 2 Comments

After a couple of days of what can only be described as ‘typical’ Melbourne weather, the clouds eased off a bit, and the biting chill was gone from the wind.  So we both ventured out to see what the rain had done in the park.

We quickly found a number of Thornbills and Pardalottes who were enjoying hunting in the sunshine.
Also found a few robins Scarlet is still there and his Red-capped consort has taken on a particularly brilliant orange/rust coloured cap.

A small group of Dusky Woodswallows were enthralled with a small lump on a tree high up and spent a lot of time squabbling and mobbing one another, for what we suspect was a pool of water built up in the node on the tree.

And a lovely Redcapped Robin male danced by and posed against a freshly built spider-web.  Pity the light was just overcast at the time as the web would have glistened in the sunlight.

Red-capped Robin male and a spider web contrast.
Dusky Woodswallow flock taking a drink from a small pool of water high up in a tree.

The boys are back in town. Arrival of Flame Robin males

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I have been waiting anxiously for about two weeks to write the Headline. Each trip to the forest would reveal one or two females, and some unattached young males.

Today, I rugged up, and to my surprise, the weather held nicely most of the morning. At one stage I was pondering why I bothered with the rain jacket at all, as I sat in the sunshine and watched the few female Flame Robins and a couple of juveniles hunting along a roadway.  But by late morning, the weather had, I had to admit taken a turn for the worse. A distinct and sharp turn for the worse and black clouds rolled in, and rain began to fall.  Time for the car.  I was about 1.5 k down the range, so it looked like a bit of a slog out in the wet again.  I don’t mind being wet, its the expensive camera gear that I worry about.  Afterall I’ll dry out, but the gear being wet means another trip over to Ross, at The Camera Exchange, to buy new stuff.  He likes that arrangement.

Ever the optimist, I took the longer way round, down toward the small creek line, and back through the open scrub.  And there on the stumps, the branches, the small trees, and the old spikey bushes, were “The boys”. In the rain. The past couple of years, there has been a small band of males, three in total, and they have travelled and hunted together, but today, not only were the three working hard, but they had acquired two friends, making a total of five.  Add that to the 3 already here and we now have at least 8 males, and at least that many females, and a similar number of juveniles.  A flock in the making.

Interestingly enough, I did recognise features on two birds from last year.  They are a bit distinctive,  now it may be they are entirely different birds, but I think the odds are in my favour.  Mr Gingertop is back, and Mr Misplaced Chest feather is here too.

So as the rain fell, the shutter clicked and the birds fed it was just about as good as it gets.  Lunch-time became a thing of the distant future, and I could always use the excuse that it was raining, and I waited at the shelter for it to finish…

As it turned out, the rain passed by, the sun came out and the birds spent an hour or so in the one area, then typically on the turn of a wing they were gone.

I have put most of the images from this morning on a page here.  Click here to visit, or on the Tab in the header.

Flame Robin Male, in the process of a wing stretch. He is cleaning up after a passing shower of rain.

Looking for Flame Robins

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Over the past few days I have been out and about on other things than birds at Woodlands.  Including a day up at Murrindindi with the Midweek Bird group. It is the first time I have been there since the horrific fires, and I was a bit hesitant about going. Tragedy is not something I am readily drawn to.  It is as they say nice to see the amount of regrowth, and in some cases  along the river the understory has taken on jungle proportions. Which made it hard to find birds, but none the less we managed between us about 40 species. Highlight of the day were some Scarlet Robins in the carparking areas.  I think they appreciated the open area for their wait and pounce hunting.  One seemed quite unconcerned and approached quite easily to with 4-5 metres. So some good shots were acquired.

This morning the sun was up bright and clear and I went for a look at Woodlands. Down at an area rapidly getting the name “Three Ways”.  It is where tracks T junction. After some time waiting, eventually a number of Flame Robins appeared.  There are two males and females, and a few immatures.  They worked over the area for about an hour, which was a good way I reckon to spend my time.  Then like always, a turn of the wing, and they were gone. Not to be seen again.

Feeding very close to my camera position.
RIght at the end of my focus on the camera, I had to pull back a bit to get focus.

More Images in the Flame Robin Gallery

 

Flame Robins at Point Cook Costal Park

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The Green Walks in the Parks group had a day at Point Cook Costal Park.

As soon as we arrived Dorothy spotted a Flame Robin male on the fence behind us in the carpark. And I hadn’t even gotten out of the car yet!

The robin was easy to work with, and I managed a few shots of him on the fence line. Then we moved toward the homestead and there were at least two more pairs working the paddock by the trackside. They made a great sight in the early morning sun, and I probably would have stayed there all day, but we did the walk with the group instead.  Good thing as we crossed two Brown Falcons, three Black-shouldered Kite, and at least one, possibly a pair of Kestrels. (its that who saw what, when thing of spotting in a group). The Kestrel male moved over head with his lovely chireep chireep hunting call.

To add to the day, a Whistling Kite lazed its way along the on shore breeze, looking for prey.

With all that activity, we just have to find time to go down there again.

Male Flame Robin. Hunting from the fence line at the Point Cook Costal Park