Preening his feathers

Purple Swamphen, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia

On my visit to the Laratinga Wetlands last week I saw several Purple Swamphens.

The individual featured in today’s photos show one that was quite unafraid  of me and allowed me to approach to within a few metres. These wetlands attract many visitors daily: walkers, cyclists, runners, picnickers, photographers and avid birders like myself. So, taking that into account the birds are quite used to the human traffic on the paths around the wetlands.

It the photo above the bird is busy doing his early morning preening. In the subsequent photo shown below the bird seems to be asking whether his feathers look okay. I love getting special bird poses like this one.

Good birding.

Purple Swamphen, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia