My motivation for getting out of bed before the sun rises on a Saturday morning is the knowledge that I will be shortly walking around Red Hill Nature Reserve photographing something interesting. I never try to anticipate what I will see on the hill that day, I just know I will see something. On this morning, I was so glad to see Rainbow Lorikeets. As I said in a previous post, I really have a soft spot for these engaging parrots as they were always around when I was growing up in Sydney. They still maintain their mischievous ways. Despite all the marvellous birdlife I saw, this was the first morning in a long time I did not come back with a single Gang-gang photograph. I certainly heard the birds and saw one fly past, I just did not see any of these wonderful birds in a tree. Towards the end of my walk I found a placid, cooperative Australian Magpie who went about its business, mostly, unconcerned about my photographic activity. I also photographed three different species of insects, all with my telephoto lens. I hope you enjoy the pictures below.
During the week I saw Rainbow Lorikeets in one of the trees in my yard. I was so happy to see them around as they are colourful birds with such cheeky personalities the way they hang upside down looking at you. Not surprisingly, I heard these birds on Red Hill before I saw them. They were in an old eucalyptus tree with a number of hollows. One bird was very high in the tree while another was much lower. The lower one seemed to be moving from side to side in a regular manner while it was calling. It was not perturbed by the Grey Butcherbird, which was perched on a branch below it. The lower lorikeet, after a short while, made its way to a north-facing tree hollow, where it disappeared completely inside. It stayed inside for a while before re-emerging. When it re-emerged it flew to another tree a short distance away, where it stayed momentarily before flying northwards towards Red Hill. The higher bird remained in the top branches of the tree.
A front view of the Rainbow Lorikeet on the lower branches
The Rainbow Lorikeet peering out from the tree hollow
If the lorikeets had not made a noise in the tree they were in I probably would have missed the Grey Butcherbird silently perched in that tree. It was not calling, just observing its surroundings. I thought one of the lorikeets was going to chase it away but the Lorikeet was just moving past the butcherbird. The butcherbird did eventually fly to another tree, before it decided to fly north towards Red Hill itself.
The Grey Butcherbird in the second tree, observing the ground around it
Climbing up a fire trail on Red Hill Nature Reserve proper there was this Crimson Rosella sitting in an old eucalyptus tree getting the sun’s rays. There were a number of Crimson Rosellas around, sometimes in groups up to four. I initially over-exposed this shot as I was not paying attention to my settings, having just photographed birds in some shadows.
I varied my walk route a little this mooning as I wanted to see if I could photograph a group of Superb Fairy-wrens I had heard on the north-west aspect of Red Hill. Sure enough, they were being active in some shrubs and low trees. There was a lot of shadow as the sun was still rising. Occasionally the birds would hop into a brighter spot where I could operate the shutter. I was especially focussed on the male, below, in his fine blue plumage.
A male Superb Fairy-wren
There are always Eastern Rosellas around and I saw this one near a hollow I had seen a Gang-gang exploring a few months ago.
On my walk back home I came across this area of the hill where there were choughs, magpies. magpie larks and kangaroos. I thought it would be worth sitting quietly on a convenient rock to observe the activity. I was rewarded when a pair of Yellow-rumped Thornbills flew to a sapling directly in front of me. They appeared to be consuming the lerp on the branches. They were not concerned by my presence and it was peaceful just watching them. They moved through the branches quickly before flying off to another tree.
I like the way the eye of the Yellow-rumped Thornbill is visible through the triangle of small branches
The White-winged Choughs started in the shadows so were very difficult to initially photograph. Eventually one moved into a better lit area. The group of five birds effectively formed a grazing line, all moving in roughly the same direction. They would occasionally squabble over some bit of food before resuming their steady advance. There was at least one juvenile in the group. They did not take kindly to a pair of magpies trying to move them on. The choughs fought back leading to a stand-off between the different species.
The White-winged Chough in a patch of sunlight as it trails the rest of the group
Coming down off the hill back into Hughes, I came across this Australian Magpie preening itself on the lower branches of a tree. It was not bothered by my presence so I was able to get close enough to really zoom in on its face. The stare of the magpie can be something with those burnt eyes. I found the head study produced some great results, hence why I featured one shot at the top of this post as well as another below the full-body photograph. In the final photograph, in this series, you can see how the bird is able to bend its neck to allow its beak to preen the lower neck feathers. I could have kept watching this delightful bird much longer but I had to get back home. Despite being swooped by magpies on my bike I can easily understand why they are Australia’s favourite bird.
The magpie checking to see if I pose a threat
Looking towards another group of magpies
Preening itself, still with its eye open
I had a further opportunities to practice “telephoto macro” photography while I was out. The first opportunity was this Honeybrown Beetle that had decided to do away with its brown camouflage to rest on the white sign telling people their dogs must be on the leash.
I saw another male Common Brown Butterfly and could not resist the chance to photograph it. This male was far more staid than the one last week. I was able to get very close to it without it flying away.
The insect photograph I was happiest about on the morning was this Tau Emerald Dragonfly. I saw it hovering near where the Australian Magpie was, down near Hughes. It was flying around the shrub in the background. It landed once, gripping the underside of a leaf. It remained there for a while, meaning I was able to take a number of photographs. It then took off but kept approaching this shrub. It had a brief aerial collision with a bee, when they were both heading for the same part of the shrub, but the dragonfly re-approached to once again hang from a leaf, as seen in the picture below. That was when I saw the magpie, and I wondered if the dragonfly would become a meal for the magpie.
I have a number of pictures of Eastern Grey Kangaroos from the hill that morning. I liked this photo below as the joey is getting very large but is still in the pouch. I doubt this photograph really shows how big the pouch is with the joey in it. I was wondering if this is the stage where the kangaroo parents tell the joey, it needs to make a life on its own. The joey must be a teenager, as it is still sleeping on such a lovely morning.