We had a family day out at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, which sits at the bottom of Black Mountain in Canberra, just to the west of the Australian National University. The gardens have a good reputation for birdlife because of the concentration of flora, especially when it is flowering. The gardens did not disappoint. I was not able to photograph all the birds I saw as I was with my family and so I was supposed to keep up with them, not stay behind to photograph birds. Something about nobody understands me. I was really happy to see an Eastern Spinebill and a New Holland Honeyeater, I was just annoyed I could not get better photographs. We were all really excited when we saw the Echidna, who did not seem to care it was out in the middle of the day, mind you with that protection I guess it is very safe.
There were Red Wattlebirds throughout the gardens and these photos were of just two birds, in different locations. I guess the readily available nectar is a big drawcard for them. They appear to be reasonably accustomed to people wandering around the gardens because they are not very skittish when people are near them.
This Crimson Rosella was low down in a tree, right beside the path. With the overcast conditions and the shaded setting I used this as an opportunity to practice daylight flash photography.
In the Australian Natives portion of the gardens there were a few Eastern Spinebills flying around. I was slow to react and this blurred image was the best shot I was able to get. They were probably enjoying ready access to the flowering plants.
There were also a few New Holland Honeyeaters but as with the spinebills I was slow to react so the blurred image below was the first shot I took, followed by some much crisper shots of the back of the bird.
As I said in the introduction, in some respects the highpoint of the day was seeing this Echidna. It looked like it was digging for ants in the dirt at the back of the Red Centre Garden.
