Australian Birds Photography: KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY: Little Egret

Showing posts with label Little Egret. Show all posts

Friday, January 3, 2014

A Trip to Parklakes at Bli Bli

Today I went with a couple of friends to Parklakes at Bli Bli. Parklakes is a residential community which has numerous waterways and lagoons around it. Many of them look like they are man made while some are naturally occurring. We were unsure of exactly where to go when we arrived.

When we first arrived we parked at the end of Parklakes Drive and there were a few small dams just off to the left. A few Purple Swamphens and several Tawny Grassbirds were in the long grass around these.

One of the several Tawny Grassbirds

As we made our way back we saw some more waterways and ponds behind the playground/park. This area had a good variety of birds but not the ones we were looking for. The main birds we saw were Golden Whistlers, Red-backed Fairy-wrens, Pacific Black Ducks, Wandering Whistling-Ducks, Dusky Moorhens, Purple Swamphens, Blue faced Honeyeaters, Spangled Drongos just to name a few.

While we were here we met another young guy taking photos also. He was looking for the Little Bittern in particular. After talking with him we all realised that the area that we were in was not the correct area for the snipes, bittern and crakes. There are a few much larger lagoons further down the path towards the northern part of the estate. We stuck with this fellow birder for the majority of the morning. While we were there we saw about ten other people also taking photos, each looking for a few particular species.

All of the following photos were taken in these two larger lagoons.

The only Royal Spoonbill sighted

There were quite a few Baillon's Crakes close to the reeds around the edge of the lagoons. This was the first time I have ever seen them. I was surprised by how small they were. I was expecting them to be about the size of a Buff-banded Rail but they are only half the size! They were quite close to us and were walking out in the open for a reasonable length of time. Usually the are more secretive than this as far as I'm aware.

A Baillon's Crake

This Little Egret stayed in close proximity to the Royal Spoonbill for about two hours. As the Royal Spoonbill was sifting for food with his bill he was stirring up food for the Little Egret.

The Little Egret was regularly seen with one leg laying on the reeds like this

The Little Egret hunting

Another Baillon's Crake

The Baillon's Crake looking for prey

The same Baillon's Crake from above

A Baillon's Crake

Two Little Bitterns were seen several times briefly flying out from the reeds and landing in the reeds a little further down. They didn't come out to the edge of the reeds where they could be viewed for longer periods so we didn't manage to obtain a photograph in the time we spent there. They would fly out about every 20 to 30 minutes and move to a new location within the reeds. I was surprised by the size of them as well actually. This was also a first for me. I had never seen them before today. Hopefully I get another chance in the near future to get back down and capture a photograph of them.

Several Black-fronted Dotterels were seen in the shallow water and muddy areas of the smaller lagoon. The Latham's was seen briefly and a couple of the other birders managed to capture a photograph, but I wasn't one of them.

A Black-fronted Dotterel

The same Black-fronted Dotterel

There were a few flocks of Plumed Whistling-Ducks, approximately 50 in total that were here as well as a few smaller flocks of Pacific Black Ducks.

A pair of Plumed Whistling-Ducks

Plumed Whistling-Ducks

These cormorants were sitting on the light poles of the tennis court near the lagoons. The next light pole over also had a cormorant but a different species.

Little Black Cormorants

Little Pied Cormorant

This Baillon's Crake was not near as approachable as the Baillon's Crakes sighted earlier in the morning. As soon as this one stepped out from the reeds it ran across the water into the closest reeds.

A more secretive Baillon's Crake

There were several Chestnut-breasted Mannikins that were sighted flying about the lagoons and landing at the tops of the reeds.

A Chestnut-breasted Mannikin

On the large oval to the eastern side of the lagoons about seven Australian Pipits could be seen. I would love to come back to this spot to try and photograph some of the other species that were here. Overall a good morning out birding, even though it was so hot, so early in the morning.

More updates and pics coming soon.

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Australian Birds Photography: KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY

Saturday, October 19, 2013

A Quick Trip to Bribie Island

Last Saturday a friend and I called in at Bribie Island on our way down to Brisbane and Ipswich. I was hoping to see the Oriental Plover in particular but I knew it was unlikely as we arrived too late to see the shore birds when they are most active. We were late leaving the house and didn't arrive at Bribie until about 9 o'clock. We had a look at Buckley's Hole Lagoon to begin with and we saw several birds in this area. I was pleased as I actually got the first photos of a bird that I have only seen once before, which was the Mangrove Gerygone. I also got the first photos I have taken of a Little Egret.

A few Little Egrets were here along with many Mangrove Gerygones, Intermediate and Great Egrets, Whimbrels, Black-winged Stilts plus all the usual bush birds in the surrounding area like Noisy Miners, Grey Fantails, Willie Wagtails, Noisy Friarbirds plus a few others.

Several Black-winged Stilts were present at Buckley's Hole Lagoon

One of the many Mangrove Gerygones sighted

Some of the Mangrove Gerygones were quite approachable

A Little Egret hunting

The Little Egret preening

Little Egret

The Little Egret ready for take off

The Little Egret in flight

A couple of Gull-billed Terns were doing laps around the tidal zone and were collecting small crabs and other small prey from the mud each time they flew around.

Gull-billed Tern in flight

One of the Gull-billed Terns collecting some food while flying

The Gull-billed Tern with some food, which was eaten while flying

Just as we made our way back to the car, a Pheasant Coucal flew past and landed at the top of a shrub in the distance. I see these birds regularly but have few photos of them due to not having a camera or, because I usually see them while driving or they land in long grass. This one gave me an opportunity to get a few better shots. I love their advertising calls. What impressed me most of all was the fact that he did several calls while we watched him and the whole time he had a large bug in his mouth!!

Pheasant Coucal

The same Pheasant Coucal

The Pheasant Coucal just before he flew

The Pheasant Coucal in flight (still with his meal)

After this we headed around to Kakadu Beach. This area had a few species visible still even though it was getting late. There were heaps of Pied Oystercatchers and Silver Gulls plus several Whimbrels and a trio of Chestnut Teal. This is the first time that I have seen the Chestnut Teal in the wild too! A couple of other bush birds were also sighted around the gardens near the hides and along the path. While we were here, we did hear the Beach Stone-curlews calling from within the protected area. Unfortunately we didn't see them though.

Maybe the Oriental Plover was present but I was unable to locate it from the walkway or hides and I do not have a scope. Maybe I was just too late too. As much as I would have loved to see the Beach Stone-curlews as well as the Oriental Plover, it is important that people keep out of this area and allow these birds to rest and feed in this protected zone. If people keep/start going into this area for there own selfish reasons, just to obtain a photograph it would upset the birds. We noticed a large number of footprints going into the protected area. I'm sure more footprints than rangers that may be entering!! I noticed that many of the Pied Oystercatchers had bands on their legs too.

Pied Oystercatcher

A Pied Oystercatcher feeding

The same Pied Oystercatcher

These were the best few photos I could obtain of the Chestnut Teal as they were inside the protected area. These have been zoomed in and cropped, hence why they are so blurred.