Category: Birding

Birding in Montagu

Nana's cheeky robin-chat waiting for his snack.
Nana’s cheeky robin-chat waiting for his snack.

Firstly some apologies for my absence – we’ve been travelling for a few weeks. My original plan was to prepare some posts to publish on the go but things got away from me and it never happened. Maybe next time! And so back to July last year for a look at my favourite birding images from my stay in Montagu. The Cape robin-chat above is very tame and has my parents well trained to produce snacks of cheese on demand. If they are a bit tardy, he wanders into the house to hurry them up!

The gorgeous male Southern double-collared sunbird seen in the garden
Cape weaver on a wire feeder.
Female Cape weavers squabbling over the bread holder.

Birding in my parents’ garden is always rewarding, especially as they have a good supply of bird feeders. Another awesome spot in Montagu is the lei-water dam, used as a roost by egrets, herons and cormorants. It is right in town and has a great hide/platform which gives good access for photography. I could probably spend a whole day there — no-one else in the family can quite see the attraction as it is a bit smelly. My favourite image is the male Cape weaver in breeding plumage hanging from the bottom of his nest, which is built on the end of a thorny branch and suspended over water. Hope the lady weaver approves! We also found more industrious weavers in the nature garden on the other side of town – this time, a Southern masked weaver was busy with the beginnings of his nest. It was fascinating to watch him weave the grass strands in and out.
Incoming! Grey heron adding twigs to their nest at the lei-water dam.
Male Southern masked weaver beginning his nest.
Blackheaded herons at the lei-water dam
Male Cape weaver looking for female approval of his nest building skills.

Dryandra Woodland Village

Dryandra misty morning
Dryandra misty morning

I thought I’d finish off my Dryandra posts with a few images taken in and around the wonderful Lions Dryandra Village– we’ve stayed here a few times and always been very impressed. The cottages were originally built to house the woodcutters working in the area, so they are lovely old buildings with creaky wooden floors and outside ‘dunnies’. Each cottage has an outside and inside fireplace – a plus for us as my husband loves being able to build a real fire (safely). The caretakers (Lisa and John) are very helpful and a fund of useful information; they do appreciate visitors who respect nature and the tranquility. If the cottages are full there is a DPaW campground at Congelin.

Numbat cottage at Dryandra
Eucalypt sunset silhouette
Kangaroos in the paddock

The cottage verandas face west, wonderful for sunset viewing across the paddock populated by Western grey kangaroos, with eucalypt forest in the distance. You don’t really need to move very far to see all sorts of interesting birds, like the very obliging male Red-capped robin shown below. Possums often make a night-time appearance and if you’d like to see more of Western Australia’s nocturnal marsupials the Barna Mia santuary is open some nights. Just dress warmly if you are visiting in winter. An early morning walk near the village should result in some close-up kangaroo sightings. There are plenty of other walks, good for wild flowers in spring and if you are really lucky you might see an echidna or a numbat (I’ve glimpsed a numbat once – would love a photo opportunity!).

Red-capped robin
Mum kangaroo with her joey in pouch
A section of the Lol Gray trail

Dryandra birding

Singing honeyeater on eucalypt ©Jennie Stock – Nature in focus lg

Dryandra and the surrounding area is always good value from a birding point of view, particularly considering the proximity to Perth (about 2 hours driving). From a photography point of view, I appreciate the fact that I can just wander off from the cottages and find plenty to see and photograph. On our last visit, the old arboretum was very productive, as the yellow eucalyptus flowers were attracting several different species of honeyeater. Although the Singing honeyeater is a common species in Perth, it was great to have them feeding at eye-level. I enjoyed seeing and capturing the smaller Brown-headed honeyeaters – they were quite a challenge as they flit about busily.

Brown-headed honeyeater hiding in the eucalypts
Brown-headed honeyeater hiding in the eucalypts

An entertaining spectacle was provided by a very fierce Willie Wagtail that seemed to have a kamikaze approach to life; diving and swooping at the much larger Grey Currawong. Currawongs probably do eat nestlings of other birds, so I guess the wagtail could be justified – the strange thing was that only one of the pair of currawongs seemed to attract the Willie wagtail’s ire. Meanwhile, a Ringneck parrot quietly went about feeding in the weeds in the adjacent paddock.

Incoming!
Incoming!

Grey currawong
Australian ringneck feeding

Some of the first bird images I took with my ‘big lens’ (the Sigma 150-500) were taken in Dryandra in July two years ago. I have learnt a lot about photography since then but am still fond of these pictures – partly due to the subjects being such beautiful birds. They were all feeding on another eucalypt species where the flowers had fallen onto the ground and attracted heaps of bees.
Restless flycatcher
Splendid fairy-wren – eclipse male
Yellow-plumed honeyeater

© Jennie Stock – Nature in Focus, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any images or other material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Early morning on Rottnest

Herschel Lake at sunrise
Herschel Lake at sunrise

The first time I stayed over at Rottnest I was there to help with a bird banding project – banding almost always involves early starts. The first morning I rode past the beautiful scenery and shorebirds, wishing I had time to stop with my camera. The second morning I arranged a little bit of time off – I think it was worth it to get such lovely light. My plan is to find a way to spend a whole week over there just taking photos, as the birding and scenery is so wonderful.

Strolling on the beach – Ruddy turnstone
Banded stilts and reflections
Red-capped plover

Rock parrots on Rottnest

Rock parrot on Rottnest Island
Rock parrot on Rottnest Island

A little while ago I spent a weekend on Rottnest Island trying to get some decent images of these gorgeous little birds. There is a very small population of Rock Parrots (Neophema petrophila) left on the island, although there are more on the mainland. This first image gives a good idea of their small size, with the bird not much bigger than the tufts of grass.

So far, three of the Rottnest birds have been banded (or ringed). The plan is to monitor this group of birds and collect information to help determine the exact population size, whether they are breeding, which parts of the island they use and so on. The researchers wanted some images of banded birds to use for posters asking for sighting information from the public. We managed to find a group of four rock parrots, including the three banded birds, each of which has a metal band on its right leg and a coloured plastic band on the left leg. They were moderately cooperative, allowing me to get some images of them and their bands. They didn’t go so far as to fly into the nets that had been set up in the hope of catching the unbanded bird!

Banded rock parrot
Rock parrot pair
Rock parrot on fence

Anyone who visits Rottnest and is lucky enough to spot a banded Rock Parrot, please report date, time, location, number of birds and band colour to boldparkbirdbanding@hotmail.com For more information see http://www.rottnestisland.com/about/flora-fauna/birds

Rottnest Island

Quokka on Rottnest
Quokka on Rottnest

This cute little creature is a quokka, a small marsupial familiar to any visitor to Rottnest Island. ‘Rotto’, as it is affectionately known, is a small island off the coast of Perth, Western Australia. Reached by a ferry trip of about 1 hr or by private boat, Rottnest is popular for summer holidays and day trips. There are virtually no cars and most people get around on bicycles. I have found Rottnest to be a great place for photography; as is the case on many islands, the birds and other animals are much less skittish than usual. In fact, the quokkas often get too close!

The Rough and the Smooth
Backlit raven
Curious Golden whistler female
Silver gull portrait

Rottnest is home to a couple of very attractive feral species – introduced birds that have ‘gone wild’. I think there is now only one peacock left on the island – he did look rather lonely. I saw a group of pheasants as well; I’m fairly sure this one is a young male bird.

Lonely peacock
Male pheasant on Rottnest

Crested Terns on Penguin Island

Catch of the day

Every time I’ve been to Penguin Island, I’ve been fascinated by the Crested Terns (Sterna bergii). The first time I visited with my camera, I watched for ages as a group of terns splashed about in the small waves on the more protected side of the island.

Terns in the waves

In late November last year, the terns were busy raising their families. They started out with the young hidden in the vegetation and the poor parents battling to get fish to the chicks without losing their catch to the very determined Silver Gulls.

Crested tern parents doing their best to feed their chick

Two weeks later, the colony had moved down onto the beach.

Crested tern colony

The gulls were still very much in evidence but not seeming as much of a threat, probably as the chicks were older. I’m not sure how the parents find their offspring in amongst all the chaos.

Tern chick on the move
Waiting for food – Crested tern chick
Crested tern with lunch
Young Crested tern exercising his wings

Hopefully those chicks are all grown up now, and in juvenile plumage like the bird on the left below.

Juvenile crested tern on the beach
Adult Crested tern pair

© Jennie Stock – Nature in Focus, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any images or other material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Penguin Island

Bridled tern soaring
Bridled tern soaring

Penguin Island is one of my favourite places to visit near Perth. It’s a bit of a drive from home south to Rockingham but then just a short ferry ride to the island, which forms part of the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park. Bridled Terns breed here in summer – it is an awesome experience visiting when they are in residence as they are so close and flying all around you.
The birds and other animals are so much more relaxed than on the mainland making it easier to get close to them (sometime they get too close). I would love to be able to get over to Penguin Island early to get the soft light but as the first ferry is at 9 am I may have to learn how to kayak (and be brave enough to take my camera!).

Pied oystercatcher probing wet sand
Colourful crab
Room with a view – nesting Silver gull
Adult Crested tern pair
Snoozing Australian sea-lion

If you’re lucky you’ll spot a wild Little Penguin – the smallest penguin species, found on the southern coast of Australia and around New Zealand. In summer, you sometimes see a couple of penguins hiding under the boardwalks but most of them disappear early in the morning to fish all day, returning at sunset. The island is closed to visitors in winter when the colony (about 1000 pairs) gets into breeding mode. The Little Penguin below is a late fledgling I spotted in the middle of the day – he probably tired of waiting for his parents to return and decided to try fishing for himself. Hopefully he made it to adulthood.

Little penguin fledgling
Pair of Mute swans at Penguin Island

Another unusual sight I came across was this pair of Mute Swans in the sea near the jetty. Mute Swans are an introduced species in Australia; there is a breeding colony at Northam (about 100 km away) but this pair were seen in the Rockingham area for a while.

© Jennie Stock – Nature in Focus, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any images or other material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Birding in Denmark, Western Australia

The south-west corner of Western Australia is very beautiful, but even so, the small town of Denmark stands out as a wonderful place to visit. During a short stay in January, I was very torn between birding and photographing landscapes. Here are some of my favourite  bird images from the week.

Little black cormorant drying out, Wilson Inlet.
Little black cormorant drying out, Wilson Inlet.

The Wilson Inlet is a large body of water nearly 50 square km in size, close to Denmark and home to a huge array of water birds. I wish I was brave enough to take my camera on a kayak, as that would be the ultimate way to explore.

Crested tern hovering - Wilson Inlet, Denmark, Western Australia
Crested tern hovering – Wilson Inlet, Denmark, Western Australia

William Bay National Park is a short drive east of Denmark – more gorgeous scenery and more birds! I was pleased to capture some of the fairy wrens that are prolific in the area.

Splendid fairy-wren females in a little huddle, seen on the way to Waterfall Beach.
Disappearing wrens
Little pied cormorant, Wilson Inlet
Male Splendid fairy-wren.
Pacific gull in juvenile plumage, seen at Madfish Bay.
© Jennie Stock – Nature in Focus, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any images or other material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.