Yellow Billed Spoonbill nesting
Yellow Billed Spoonbill (nesting)
Wandering along the river bank near the caravan park in Swan Hill I observed several birds high up in a eucalypt tree on the opposite bank. With my camera I was able to zoom in reasonably close and see that it was a pair of Yellow Billed Spoonbills nesting high up in the tree.
The nest, clearly visible, was at least 15 metres up above the ground. From memory, this is the first time I have observed this species actually breeding. For more interesting observations of Australian birds, go to another of my blogs over at Trevor’s Birding (click here).
Reedy Lake Ibis Rookery, Kerang, Victoria (part 2)
Purple Swamphens, Kerang, Victoria
Our holiday in Victoria
September 2007
The Ibis rookery just out of Kerang in northern Victoria has a well appointed bird hide, complete with a very good telescope. This birding hot spot is always worth a visit, and every time we drive through this area I plan to stop there, have a cup of tea and do a spot of birding. Literally thousands of Straw-necked and White Ibis roost and nest in this area, along with a good range of other waterbirds, such as Purple Swamphens, Pelicans, Egrets, Herons and a range of bush birds and birds of prey like eagles, hawks and kites.
Reedy Lake Ibis Rookery, Kerang, Victoria
Reedy Lake Ibis Rookery, Kerang, Victoria
Reedy Lake Ibis Rookery, Kerang, Victoria
Kerang Bird Hide, Victoria
Our holiday in Victoria
September 2007
From Gisborne we travelled north to Bendigo. This is a beautiful city in the gold fields region of Victoria. There are many historic buildings and places in this rural city, but we had only enough time to visit a native plant nursery – my wife’s passion – and to have lunch in one of the parks.
The historic heritage of this city and the natural beauty of the area deserve more than just a quick drive through. It deserves a week or two of exploration, camera in hand. We did have an extended holiday there many years ago. I must have some photographic slides of the city that will be worth digging out and showing here sometime.
As we drove north from Bendigo we were stunned by how the drought had affected the northern parts of the state. A few kilometres out of Bendigo it was as if someone had drawn a line across the road. The rain stopped at that line. Vegetation in the paddocks north of there were bare of feed for the sheep and cattle, despite it being the middle of spring. The fields should have been lush with pasture.
Just out of the town of Kerang we stopped for a half hour to visit the Reedy Lake Ibis Rookery. Every time we use this road I make a point of stopping here for a cuppa and a spot of birding.
Reedy Lake Ibis Rookery, Kerang, Victoria
Birding in the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Gang-gang Cockatoo
Our holiday in Canberra
September 2007
One of the main incentives I had for spending a whole day in the Australian National Botanic Gardens was to do some serious birding. The day we spent there was a beautiful sunny day but the birding was rather quiet. You get days like that. Despite that I managed to see a nice range of birds, I added a new species to my life list (the amazing Powerful Owl) and added photos of several species to my growing collection of bird photos, including the beautiful Gang-gang Cockatoo (see my photo gallery here).
Red Wattlebird
It is a pity that we only had one day in these lovely gardens. If we lived in Canberra we would be very frequent visitors. The changing seasons would not only be great to see the ever changing variety of birds, it would also be great to see the different plants flowering at different times of the year.
Further reading:
- Lunch time visitors – birds that came to our picnic lunch
- Pied Currawongs – one of the common birds of the gardens
- Gang-gang Cockatoo -more information about this wonderful parrot
Eastern Spinebill
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Our holiday in Canberra
September 2007
During our visit to Canberra earlier this year we spent a whole day at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. This time was particularly enjoyable to my wife and her interest in Australian native plants. Her camera was kept busy all day taking photos for her reference library. Annoyingly she discovered that the memory card in her camera failed to download the photos that night, so she lost some valuable shots. We have since replaced the card.
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Further reading:
- My first Powerful Owl sighting – a special bird seen in the botanic gardens
- Lazy lizards – photos of several lizards we saw in the botanic gardens in Canberra
- One bird that finally sat still – about getting a good photo of an Eastern Spinebill for the first time
- Close encounters of the bird kind – up close and personal with a Red Wattlebird
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra