Black Mountain Birds - 12/9/2016
This is exciting, my very first bird watching expedition in Canberra! I've been looking forward to this! My first birding outing was at Black Mountain and it was fabulous. I saw birds that I've only seen a couple of times before and some species in such abundance where I've only seen one or two before. A fabulous walk; I'll definitely be going back.
A striking Pied Currawong with that beady yellow eye
A juvenile Crimson Rosella - you can see the green starting to recede from the chest and by the time it is adult it will be fully bright red
Acrobatics from a juvenile Crimson Rosella
Not a great photo, but you can see how challenging it is to get shots of bush birds like the little female Superb Fairy Wren
I'm hoping this is a Buff Rumped Thornbill because that would be new and exciting but the photo isn't good enough to determine - its probably a Brown Thornbill, still an exciting favourite but one I've seen many times
The beautiful Striated, or striped, Pardalote. They sing the sweetest song and it was fabulous watching them around their nesting holes, chatting to each other and generally being very entertaining.
These Striated Pardalotes reminded me of two old men chatting - I got a whole series of them in different poses and it was a lot of fun!
I love my new camera precisely for the reason that I can take these types of photos - I love flight shots and action shots but my old camera although it tried wasn't quite up for the challenge
Whether its Buff Rumped or Brown Thornbill doesn't matter at this point, I just love that I can capture it mid air!
This is a Noisy Friarbird, the first time I've ever gotten a photo, having only seen it once before. I would have missed it altogether if I hadn't been taking a shot of another bird and seen it in the background. It certainly wasn't at all noisy.
The gorgeous outstretched wings of a Striated Pardalote landing at its nesting hole
I love the beautiful Golden Whistler!! How stunning is the yellow, white and black suit? He was eating the juicy worm and I heard that, otherwise I would have missed him too! I've only seen these once before so this was a real treat
Isn't he a beauty? I had such fun photographing him
Unfortunately Mrs Golden Whistler doesn't get to share the brilliant colours. But still, I'm a fan of her subtle greys and faun colours
Only the third time I've seen the White Throated Treecreeper and by FAR the best photos I've ever gotten! Birding in Canberra is turning out to be so exciting!
Hello there! Check out the Treecreeper's feet, huge for its size, and with huge capacity to grasp bark. This allows them to run upside down along the bottom of branches - amazing to watch!
Okay prepare your eyes to search for the White Naped Honeyeater - it is pretty much in the middle. Look for a black head smaller than a leaf, an olive back and white front
Now there are two - look up on the right side. Gorgeous little birds, look for the red eyebrows!
The Grey Fantail can be very tricky to photograph because it flits and dances around a lot. I had so many shots, and cut them down to a handful if that! I do love to hear them call and do acrobatics
And then it launches itself across to the next tree to look for bugs
Here is the cousin to the Striated Thornbill, the Spotted Thornbill - you'll need to zoom in to appreciated the spots
The spotted back and spotted front - gorgeous!
And the outstretched wings - so beautiful. I love my camera for helping me get shots like this
Another of my favourite, but aren't they all? The Yellow Faced Honeyeater is just lovely
Lovely white Sulfur Crested Cockatoo in a gum tree