A few days ago my friend told me that a Freckled Duck had been seen at Lake Macdonald. I checked on Eremaea Birds and a lady did spot one and she had a photograph of it. We both thought it would be a good chance to get a good photograph of one while they were in the local area. Two days after the sighting was put up we went to have a look for ourselves.
We started off at the boat ramp and made our way along the bank of the lake. Many of the usual waterbirds were seen like the Pacific Black Ducks, Purple Swamphens, Darters, Dusky Moorhens, Eurasian Coots, Intermediate Egrets, White-faced Herons and the Australasian Grebes. The first birds sighted were the Pacific Black Ducks near the boat ramp and this Darter sunning itself.
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| A Darter sunning itself at the boat ramp |
This lone Caspian Tern was spotted flying over the lake. They are regularly sighted here.
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| Caspian Tern |
We spotted the Freckled Ducks right down the far end of the Botanical Gardens loafing on a PVC pipe going into the lake. There were 4 Freckled Ducks, a Hardhead and another Darter all on the pipe. I got a few snaps and thought we would wait a while until they moved off the pipe to get a more natural shot. In the meantime I noticed the Pied Butcherbirds and the Noisy Miners attacking a hawk in the distance. I couldn't make it out so we went to investigate. When we got there we found it was actually this Pacific Baza. It mustn't be a resident in the Botanical Gardens as the birds were relentlessly attacking it. I have them on my property and the other birds at home don't bother them as they are use to them and know they will not harm them as they are mainly insectivores.
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| Pacific Baza |
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| The Pacific Baza again |
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| The Pacific Baza just after being swooped |
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| The Pacific Baza resting for a brief moment after flying away |
After a short wait (45 minutes or so) the ducks finally made their way off the pipe so I could get a nicer shot. They didn't stay off for long before returning to the pipe again!!
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| Freckled Ducks with a Hardhead |
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| The Freckled Ducks returning to the pipe with the Darter |
I thought I would wait for a while to see if they came closer to the bank to get a better shot. While I was waiting I heard a few Little Wattlebirds in the tree not far from me. I got a few pictures but not to the standard I was hoping for. They were in amongst the branches and it was quite dark and I was looking into the sun. I managed to get these photos at least before they flew off.
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| Little Wattlebird with a grub |
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| The other Little Wattlebird sighted |
After a fairly lengthy wait we realised that the Freckled Ducks were in no hurry to move far from the pipe. We decided to leave and come back later in the afternoon to see if they had moved to a better position.
The lighting was much better in the afternoon for taking photos due to the position of the sun in relation to the water. As soon as I arrived all the Pacific Black Ducks landed near me near the boat ramp. The sad thing is, that this most likely means they are getting use to being fed here, most likely with bread!!
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| Pacific Black Duck coming in for landing |
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| Pacific Black Duck |
While I was making my way around the lake edge I spooked this Australasian Grebe that flew a short distance before landing again. I didn't get to track it for long, hence why it is out of focus.
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| Australasian Grebe getting ready to take off |
We found the 4 Freckled Ducks again when we got back around to where they were earlier in the day. Much to our delight they were closer to us so we could get better quality photos.
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| Freckled Duck |
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| Three of the four Freckled Ducks |
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| Freckled Duck from the left side |
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| One of the other four Freckled Ducks |
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| A pair of Freckled Ducks |
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| The other two Freckled Ducks |
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| The same pair of Freckled Ducks again |
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| My favourite Freckled Duck shot |
After taking the photos of the Freckled Ducks I noticed an Azure Kingfisher. I was hoping it would land in the sun but it stayed in amongst the thick branches where the lighting was terrible. Luckily for me it stayed in the one place for quite a long time, which gave me an opportunity to change the settings to get a reasonable shot given the conditions.
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| Azure Kingfisher from behind |
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| Azure Kingfisher |
A few minutes later I noticed the Freckled Ducks taking off and they landed on the opposite side of the lake.
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| Freckled Ducks taking off |
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| The Freckled Ducks flying to the other side of the lake |
I saw this Intermediate Egret hunting in the reeds on the way back to the car and heaps of Pacific Black Ducks.
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| Intermediate Egret hunting in the reeds |
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| Intermediate Egret |
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| Pacific Black Duck preening |
The following day I heard my peahens calling out with their warning call. They usually only make this call when there is a predator around, usually a hawk or eagle. I quickly went out to have a look around the tree where they were calling out. I looked around up in the canopy but I couldn't see anything. They were still calling out so I knew there must be something there. I thought it may be a goanna on the trunk. After a few minutes I spotted what they were looking at. I don't know how they spotted it to be honest!! It was a Tawny Frogmouth roosting in the tree. After a few minutes had passed the peahens moved on as they realised it wasn't a threat to them.
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| Tawny Frogmouth roosting |
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| Tawny Frogmouth |
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| Tawny Frogmouth roosting close to the trunk |
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| Camouflage of the Tawny Frogmouth |
More updates and pics coming soon.
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Australian Birds KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY
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