This week I went on a few birdwatching trips. One was late Sunday afternoon after the rain on my property and the other was to the Cooroy Waste Water Treatment Plant. I had never considered going there but after seeing the post by Greg Roberts last week I couldn't resist going to have a look for myself, as I have been after photos of a few of those birds for a long time.
The first photos are from my property at Coles Creek. There were all the usual birds, probably about 60+ species. I got a few photos of some of the different species from the property that I didn't include in my last post. All of these birds were in high numbers on this outing.
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| Lewin's Honeyeater |
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| Brown Cuckoo-Dove |
There were about 40 Brown Cuckoo-Doves out which is more than usual and the majority of them were eating the berries off the wild tobacco plants. I deliberately left all these plants on the property as it provides food for these birds and many other during the year especially the Channel-billed Cuckoos.
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| Male Restless Flycatcher |
As usual these birds are nearly always at the highest point in a tree. Easy to spot and hear but much harder to photograph easily.
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| Male Red-backed Fairy-wren |
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| Male Mistletoebird |
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| Male Mistletoebird attaching droppings to a branch |
I knew that Mistletoebirds attach their droppings to a branch so the mistletoe can spread, but I have never witnessed this until this outing.
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| Laughing Kookaburra |
All the following photos were taken at the Cooroy Waste Water Treatment Plant. A word of warning though. Before you enter ensure that you ring Unity Water to notify them that you are coming. Before you enter for the first time you have to do a brief induction for safety and ensure that you sign the register upon entering and leaving the facility. I was unaware of all of this and just as I was leaving I had a Unity Water employee screaming down in his ute to give me a bit of an earful. My fault I suppose but ensure that you follow protocol to ensure you don't get in trouble or even fined.
The water birds here are very numerous. The most common species that were sighted included Buff-banded Rails, Purple Swamphens, Dusky Moorhens, Latham's Snipes, Pacific Black Ducks, White-faced Herons, Intermediate Egrets, Australian Wood Ducks, Hardheads and Grey Teals. All of these were in large numbers on the day I went from my observations. Many other species were also seen. In the bushland that surrounds the ponds a large number of species can also be seen. There would have been over 70 species that I observed or heard calling. The one I was most surprised about was hearing multiple Green Catbirds calling out down near the creek.
The water birds here are not very cooperative to photograph because as soon as you approach, they hide in the reeds or take flight, especially the Latham's Snipes!
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| Pacific Black Ducks |
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| Buff-banded Rail |
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| Latham's Snipe |
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| Australian Grebe |
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| Chestnut-breasted Mannikins |
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| Male Variegated Fairy-wren |
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| White-faced Heron |
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| Tawny Grassbird |
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| Female Australasian Figbird |
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| Pacific Black Duck ducklings escaping the big bad photographer |
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| Spangled Drongo |
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| Pair of Wandering Whistling-Ducks |
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| Willie Wagtail |
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| Intermediate Egret |
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| Purple Swamphen |
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Grey Teals
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Australian Birds
KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY
