Gang Gang Cockatoos in Geelong

Gang Gang Cockatoos are seasonal visitors to the Geelong region. They usually arrive in autumn to feed on the ripening 'gum-nuts' of several eucalyptus species.

Gang Gang Cockatoo (adult males), Deakin University, Waurn Ponds
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens
195 mm, ISO 200, 1/200 second @ f/8

Gang Gangs are sexually dimorphic, i.e., (adult) males and females look distinctly different. Males have the bright orange-red head, females have grey head but have beautiful cream and orange banding on the breast and belly.

Gang Gang Cockatoo (adult male), Deakin University, Waurn Ponds
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens
400 mm, ISO 400, 1/640 second @ f/8

Gang Gang Cockatoo (adult female), Deakin University, Waurn Ponds
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens
400 mm, ISO 200, 1/100 second @ f/8

Like all cockatoos, they have large, powerful bills and highly dextrous feet, which they use in combination with a hard, rough tongue to manipulate food.

Gang Gang Cockatoo (adult female), Deakin University, Waurn Ponds
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens
400 mm, ISO 400, 1/400 second @ f/8

Gang Gang Cockatoo (adult male), Deakin University, Waurn Ponds
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 lens
350 mm, ISO 400, 1/400 second @ f/8

In this video I discuss how to photograph birds high in trees in bright, sunny conditions.

Pacific Gulls at Ricketts Point

As I have noted previously I grew up in Beaumaris and spent a lot of time on the beaches at and around Ricketts Point. I was close-by late this afternoon after meetings in Melbourne so took the opportunity to avoid peak hour traffic and check out the old stamping ground. There were at least 50 Pacific Gulls on the shore between the point and the yacht club--more than I have ever seen there before--including a range of ages (just missing  4th year birds), so I decided to spend some time trying to capture a few portraits. The sky was darkening quickly with rain storms crossing the bay from the south-west, which made for some interesting low-light photography. All these shots were taken at 1/200th sec or slower.

Pacific Gull (adult), Ricketts Point Beaumaris

Pacific Gull (3rd year immature), Ricketts Point Beaumaris

Pacific Gull (2nd year immature), Ricketts Point Beaumaris

Pacific Gull (1st year immature), Ricketts Point Beaumaris

Feeding attempts were being made on some dubious morsels...this first year immature spent a long time contemplating the remains of a cuttlefish

Pacific Gull (1st year immature), Ricketts Point Beaumaris

...apparently 2nd year birds are not any smarter as this one tried for several minutes to work out (unsuccessfully) how to swallow a tennis ball carcass

Pacific Gull (2nd year immature), Ricketts Point Beaumaris

There were also good opportunities for interesting flight shots (low light always makes it a challenge but sometimes the results are quite pleasing)

Pacific Gull (2nd year immature), Ricketts Point Beaumaris

...if not downright humourous

Pacific Gull (1st year immature), Ricketts Point Beaumaris

A pair of Australian Pelicans eventually broke up the party 

Australian Pelican, Pacific Gull, Silver Gull, Ricketts Point Beaumaris

so I headed back to the point to get a shot or two of the sun setting

Ricketts Point, Beaumaris

Sunset at Black Rocks

I was driving home from Geelong along the back roads just before sunset this evening and decided to drop past the Black Rocks end of 13th Beach. There are often several species of small waders here but none to be seen tonight. A bit early in the Spring for Stints and Double-banded Plovers maybe but not even the resident Red-capped or Hooded Plovers could be found. I did manage to find a few birds in flight to keep me entertained for a while though...

Pacific Gull, Black Rocks 13th Beach

Silver Gull, Black Rocks 13th Beach

Straw-necked Ibis, Black Rocks 13th Beach

Powlett River Mouth

After a few weeks of no birding I had the opportunity to get out with the camera this morning on my way to visit friends in Gippsland. I have been meaning to visit Reef Island for a while and today seemed like the ideal time. I was going to be in the area and low tide was mid morning, so what could be better?

...being able to see the island would have been a good start! The morning fog had disappeared inland but the sea air was obviously still damp and cold so the fog was still thick over Westernport Bay. On the chance that the fog would lift, I walked down the beach to the narrow low-tide isthmus that leads to the island but, alas, the fog was getting thicker...

So instead, I headed for the Powlett River Mouth (see map). This is usually a great place for a variety of birds with the ocean beach, river estuary, swamp and grasslands providing a variety of habitats. What I hadn't counted on was that every man, woman, child and dog also thought this was a great place to visit on a (now) sunny holiday morning. With so much activity, there was not a lot of bird life on the river but I did manage to find a solo heron, feeding on the exposed river bed on the opposite bank. It allowed me to get quite close--it's amazing how tolerant feeding birds are, especially when there's water between you and them.

White-faced Heron, Powlett River Mouth

There was a small flock of European Goldfinch in the swampy grassland beside the road. Small flocking birds are hard to photograph but one came quite close.

European Goldfinch, Powlett River Mouth

A small mob of Eastern Grey Kangaroos loafing about in the nearby grassland provided the non-avian entertainment for the morning.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Powlett River Mouth

Bar-tailed Godwits back at Ocean Grove

The small flock of overwintering Bar-tailed Godwits that appeared at the Barwon River in Ocean Grove last year (see previous posts from 28 June, 24 March and 10 March 2011) is back.

This afternoon, I counted 45 individuals roosting on the sandspit at the mouth of the Barwon River.

Bar-tailed Godwit, Ocean Grove

Many were banded but I did not get close enough to photograph the bands clearly. There was another photographer approaching the birds and he managed to have them take flight on three occasions :-(

Bar-tailed Godwit, Ocean Grove

They returned twice...

Bar-tailed Godwit, Ocean Grove

...but on the third strike, they took off down the beach.

ANZAC Day Part 3

Following Cape Nelson and Cape Bridgewater seabird watching and an afternoon in the drizzly rain at Mt Richmond NP, I drove to Nelson and Picaninny Ponds (just over the SA border). There was not a lot of bird activity at the ponds or on the Glenelg River so I drove back through Lower Glenelg NP. By late afternoon it was getting dark with the low cloud cover so I didn't spend too much time searching for birds in the forest but the macropod watching was great with kangaroos and wallabies feeding on the edge of the tracks every few hundred metres. The persistent drizzle was occasionally broken with glimpses of sunlight but the animals always seemed to be on the side of the road with the sun behind them but they did allow close approach from inside the car (this one is shot with a 200mm lens).

Red-necked Wallaby, Lower Glenelg National Park, Victoria

I enjoyed the slow drive through the park eventually reaching the Princes Hwy just west of Heywood. From Heywood, I took the Woolsthorpe Road 'short cut' and just on sunset spotted a paddock near Tyrendarra (see map) with a small flock of Cattle Egrets. The clouds had broken up and the sun was peeking through giving a beautiful orange glow to the landscape so I stopped to see if I could capture some of the egrets among the cattle on the other side of the paddock.

Cattle Egret, Tyrendarra, Victoria

Cattle Egret, Tyrendarra, Victoria

Five of them took off but maintained a tight formation allowing me to capture them in one shot and the slow shutter speed (1/125th second) gives them a slight blurring that to my eye is quite attractive.

Cattle Egret, Tyrendarra, Victoria

When I turned around to cross the road back to the car, I spotted a large flock of Common Starlings flowing across the farmland.

Common Starling, Tyrendarra, Victoria

The swarm crossed paths with another one approaching from the other direction

Common Starling, Tyrendarra, Victoria

and they merged into one larger flock, flowing across the pasture

Common Starling, Tyrendarra, Victoria

then turned towards me, filling the sky in front of the lens

Common Starling, Tyrendarra, Victoria

I love these large flocks. They seem to take on an life of their own, flowing and gyrating like a single meta-organism. It is fascinating to think about what is going on with each individual bird...what cues are they taking from the birds around them to enable this to happen and who decides where they are going?

Mt Richmond National Park

After the morning's seabird watching, I headed inland to one of my favourite places in SW Victoria: Mt Richmond National Park (see map). Mt Richmond is an extinct volcano that is a remnant oasis of mixed eucalypt forest and swampy heathland surrounded by farmland. It is a spectacular place for wildflowers in spring but also has a great diversity of birdlife year-round. The park is easily accessed from Portland-Nelson Road via Stephens Road and Mt Richmond Road but can also be accessed using a variety of tracks that are fine for 2WD unless very dry or very wet.

Old South Boundary Track, Mt Richmond National Park

The summit picnic ground, at the end of Mt Richmond Road, is a great place for bush birds and offers a range of short walks. The rainy weather diluted (pun intended) my enthusiasm for any extended walks so I spent time taking short strolls out and back along several of the walking tracks. With dark clouds overhead and dense vegetation, there was very little light in some areas so I pushed the ISO to 800 to give a bit more speed but even that was not enough to capture this Brown Thornbill that, a split second before, had been beautifully perched on the bracken frond.

Brown Thornbill, Mt Richmond National Park

I spent about 10 minutes trying to find a reasonable view of a small flock of Red-browed Finches that were very active in a dense patch of bush but this was the best I could do

Red-browed Finch, Mt Richmond National Park

I also found a White-throated Treecreeper feeding on tree trunks in the picnic ground.

White-throated Treecreeper, Mt Richmond National Park

As I was trying to get a better viewpoint to get a side-on shot, the bird flew to a puddle on the track for a drink.

White-throated Treecreeper, Mt Richmond National Park

It only stayed a few seconds before it was chased off by another customer who had an alternative use for the puddle.

White-browed Scrubwren, Mt Richmond National Park

While watching these antics, this little character landed in the tree right next to me - right at the close focal limit of the lens.

Superb Fairy-wren, Mt Richmond National Park

Heading home