Photographic study of an Australian Magpie Lark
Australian Magpie Lark at our birdbath
Sometimes I am lucky and get just the right pose in the birds I am photographing.
And sometimes they don’t cooperate.
Or the light is wrong.
Or it’s not in focus.
Or part of the bird is accidentally cropped – like the tail in the shot below.
Oh, well – you don’t get it right every time. I’ll just keep trying.
Maybe next time…
Australian Magpie Lark at our birdbath
Gouldian Finch, Adelaide Zoo
2 Comments »24th June, 2013; Category: Adelaide Zoo, Aviaries, Bird Behaviour, Finches, Photos, Zoos
Gouldian Finch, Adelaide Zoo
The above photo of a Gouldian Finch in an aviary in the Adelaide Zoo, South Australia is not a good one.
Sure – it shows some of the brilliant colours of this magnificent species, but the bird in question would not turn to face me. I had enough problems focussing on the birds through the black wire netting of the aviary, only to add to my angst when the bird would not pose appropriately for me. Nor would any of the other finches in this cage despite waiting a considerable time for them to settle. They were all very flighty and more concerned about flying around than posing for me.
Sigh.
Next time… I hope.
Gouldian Finch, Adelaide Zoo
Gouldian Finch, Adelaide Zoo
Singing Honeyeater at the bird bath
No Comments »30th March, 2013; Category: Bird baths, Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Honeyeaters, Photos
Singing Honeyeater
Over recent days I have shared some of the photos of birds seen during our recent hot spells of weather. Our bird baths are popular with the resident bird population and we can observe anything up to a dozen species in a ten minute period. Bird Bath Central can get both busy – and noisy.
One of the quieter species to come for a drink would have to be the Singing Honeyeater. They come individually – and occasionally in twos and threes – and never make a great fuss. certainly not like the gregarious New Holland Honeyeaters. I have observed that they tend to come when no other birds are around. The much larger Red Wattlebirds and Australian Magpies are the usual dominant birds, bossing the other species away.
And then we get those interesting birds like that not shown in the photo below. Sometimes the birds are just too quick for my camera. I must make a collection of photos of rocks, twigs, branches and fence posts showing where a bird has just been – but escaped before the shutter was released.
What the?
White-winged Choughs at the bird bath
White-winged Chough
We’ve been having some really long spells of hot weather recently, right up to the last few days when autumn should be gently sneaking in, along with cooler, more mellow days.
During the hot weather I like to keep up the water supply to our various bird baths in our garden. Most of the birds appreciate to fresh water and come for a drink, or a bath and often both. It is not unusual to have a parade of ten or a dozen different species attend the water source in a ten minute period. It can become a busy, noisy airport at times.
When I choose to write or read in our sun room with a good view of several bird baths, I will often have the camera at the ready. The passing procession of birds is a wonderful distraction, but it is times like this that I also get some excellent photos, like those of two White-winged Choughs last week. With the camera on 20x zoom, their bright glowing red eyes take on quite an evil look.
Further reading:
- Time for a bath – a long list of species, both birds and animals, using our bird baths
This post was updated on 20th September 2015.
White-winged Choughs
White-winged Choughs
White-winged Choughs
Let’s all have a morning bath
1 Comment »14th February, 2013; Category: Bird baths, Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Honeyeaters, Photos, Pigeons and Doves
New Holland Honeyeater enjoying our bird bath
Earlier this week it was rather warm. On most days we have some birds come to either have a bath, or have a drink. Many do both. Some just sit in the water, especially on very hot days.
On Tuesday of this week I was amazed at the procession of birds coming to drink and bathe. I was having my breakfast and it wasn’t yet very hot. This following is a list of species observed in a ten minute period:
New Holland Honeyeaters – about 12
White-plumed Honeyeaters – 2
Singing Honeyeaters – 2
Red Wattlebirds – 2
Crested Pigeon – 1
Spotted Turtledove – 1
Yellow Thornbill – 1
House sparrow – 10
Common Starling – 6
Australian Magpie Lark – 1
Superb fairy-wren – 3
Other species nearby:
Australian Magpie
White-browed Babblers
Willie Wagtail
The New Holland Honeyeaters caused the greatest kerfuffle; water went absolutely everywhere. I managed to capture this series of photos of one individual getting totally soaked.
Now I’ll have to get a bucket of rainwater and refill the bird bath.
Some of the photos shown here on Trevor’s Birding can now be purchased on tee shirts, coffee mugs, stationary and a large range of other items. Go to Trevor’s Photos site here.
New Holland Honeyeater enjoying our bird bath
New Holland Honeyeater enjoying our bird bath