Sunday 20 September 2015

Regent Honeyeaters Revisited

First stop for the afternoon was along Ryan's Road near the old Barnawatha sewerage ponds. There was not much about except for a few Fairy Martins and Welcome Swallows high in a tree by the track

Fairy Martin + Welcome Swallow, Ryans Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/4000

so I headed back to the location where we'd found Regent Honeyeaters yesterday for one last look before the drive home.

First bird found was a Restless Flycatcher.

Restless Flycatcher, Cyanide Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/800
Restless Flycatcher, Cyanide Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1600

but it wasn't long before several (it's always hard to count individuals when they are moving around so much) Regent Honeyeaters came back to the same location as yesterday.

Regent Honeyeater, Cyanide Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/500
Regent Honeyeater, Cyanide Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2500
Regent Honeyeater, Cyanide Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/500
Regent Honeyeater, Cyanide Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/400
Regent Honeyeater, Cyanide Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/800

and to top off the day, I managed to find a handful of Little Lorikeets feeding and calling high up in the treetops - not a great shot but it was good to see and hear these beautiful little parrots.

Little Lorikeet, Cyanide Road, Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, Victoria
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 adapter), ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2000

A great weekend spent with fantastic people in a beautiful part of Victoria and some wonderful birds to boot with 9 species added to this blog. First time I have seen Regent Honeyeaters for 30 years and first time photographing them so that alone was worth the trip. Can't wait to get back to Chiltern!

2 comments:

  1. Those Honeyeaters have fabulous markings and I see they are all ringed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, all the released captive bred Regent Honeyeaters are banded. Red over silver on right leg are this year, Blue over silver are 2013 so it was great to see some birds that have survived for 2 years and still around.

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