Pelican in flight
Australian Pelican near Murray Mouth, South Australia
I recently visited Goolwa near the mouth of Australia’s longest river, the Murray. While doing some bird photography in the area this Australian Pelican took off from the river. I managed a reasonable photo of the bird as shown above. One of the challenges ahead of me is to gain more experience in taking shots of birds in flight. Species like gulls and terns can make excellent subjects for this type of photography because they often swoop or glide low overhead enabling good action shots. Slow moving birds like pelicans and eagles can also be good practice.
I still have plenty to learn in this area.
An evil looking bird
Willie Wagtail at one of our bird baths
I was recently sorting through a few of my bird photos and came across this shot of a Willie Wagtail at one of the bird baths in our garden. Nothing unusual about that; they come most days for a drink or a bath.
What struck me about the photo was how evil the eyes of the harmless little Willie Wagtail can sometimes look, especially when enlarged like the shot above. It seems to be saying: ‘Don’t mess with me, buster.’
In reality, this species is known for its feisty attitude towards other bird species, especially any who dare come near to their nest or young. I have even seen one attacking our largest raptor, the Wedge-tailed Eagle. This eagle has a wingspan of about 280cm, whereas the little Willie Wagtail would be stretching to span 20cm. In fact, the Willie Wagtail is not slow at attacking a human, often swooping and even giving one a peck on the head for getting too close to the babies.
For comparison, I’ve included below the original photo before I enlarged it.
Willie Wagtail at one of our bird baths
Crested Pigeon close up
Crested Pigeon
We love having the Crested Pigeons in our garden and on our two hectare (5 acre) block. They are a resident breeding species here and we see them every day. I’ve never really done a census count on how many there are around here, but we always seem to have at least a a half dozen or more. On a few occasions I have counted up to about 40 perching on the power lines running along the road side.
Crested Pigeons make a flimsy nest of a few sticks and it always surprises me how the eggs can possibly stay in the nest. An even greater mystery is how the chicks remain in the nest. They must be able to cope because they are very successful birds, breeding frequently.
Our local resident pigeons regularly visit our bird baths. This gives me many opportunities to do photographic studies of this species. Yesterday the bird in this set of photos posed nicely for me, first in the shade (see below) and then closer to me in the sunlight.
Crested Pigeon
Crested Pigeon
Dusky Moorhen and chick, Adelaide Zoo
Dusky Moorhen
One of our common water birds here in Australia is the Dusky Moorhen, shown in the photos on this post. This species is found throughout eastern and southern Australia, as well as south western Australia. The birds shown in these photos were swimming in one of the ponds in Adelaide Zoo. They were not captive birds but free flying birds who found that the environment within the zoo boundaries to be quite suitable for living – and breeding.
I was quite pleased with the photo above as it shows the interplay of light and shadows on the water, the ripples accentuating the effects of the light.
Dusky Moorhen and chick
Cattle Egret, walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo
Cattle Egret in walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo
I love visiting the walk-through aviaries at Adelaide Zoo. It enables me to get close up photos of many species I have trouble approaching closely enough for good photographic studies, like the one above. When one is only a few metres from a bird of this size (48-53cm high) and puts the zoom on the lens into action, amazing shots can result. The fine details of plumage come to life and the colours can be impressive. Please note that the photos on this post have not been altered in any way from the originals.
Cattle Egrets are widespread throughout northern and eastern Australia and parts of SW Western Australia. They are widespread in my part of South Australia but my experience of them is that they are not present in huge numbers here. They take on the beautiful orange plumage during breeding. I love the plumes on the back of the bird shown in the photo below (click to enlarge).
Cattle Egret in walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo
Cattle Egret in walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo
Cattle Egret in walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo
Cattle Egret in walk through aviary at Adelaide Zoo