I was really fortunate to meet a wonderful person on the ‘Understanding Birds’ course who also works as a volunteer guide at the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG). She offered to take some of us to see a few of the special bird sites at the ANBG, in particular the bower of a Satin Bowerbird. I could not spend long with group but I really appreciated the opportunity to have a walk around the ANBG with someone who could point out where to go to look at birds. I hope you enjoy the photos below.
The first bird we actually saw on the walk was this lovely New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae). The day was a little overcast making lighting challenging for a bird under the canopy but I am happy with this photograph. I like the pollen remnants on the crown of the bird. This helps to illustrate why birds are so important for native plant cultivation in Australia as carriers of pollen between flowering plants. The New Holland Honeyeater is also just a lovely looking bird and they are always around the ANBG, particularly in the grevillea section.
A New Holland Honeyeater, note the pollen on the front of its crown
The next bird we saw was the reason I had come, it was the Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus). Unfortunately the recent heavy rain may have knocked down the bower and the male had not rebuilt it. He may not be planning to rebuild it if he already has a mate. We did see the male though. While we were looking at the bower, with its blue offerings the male collects to impress the female, he landed, then hopped around his bower before flying into a small tree. He remained on a branch for a while before moving to another one. As it was overcast and I was photographing a dark bird against an, effectively, bright white background I used a flash unit to provide a fill flash. I think it worked well, with the flash carrying the distance. This bowerbird is not tame but is accustomed to people moving around so he was not as skittish as birds further away from human habitation meaning I could get closer than I normally can to completely wild bowerbirds.
The male Satin Bowerbird, back right, in his bower with his blue objects
A male Satin Bowerbird
There were also Eastern Spinebills (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) around and I managed to get this picture below. It is the best picture I have so far of this bird but I still want a better one. This bird was moving around the grevillea section sucking out the nectar from the native plants.
An Eastern Spinebill obtaining nectar with its tongue just visible behind the leaf
The ANBG is not just a home to wonderful birdlife. At the start of the path around the gardens is a fountain where a number of Gippsland Water Dragons (ntellagama lesueurii howitti) were sunning themselves. The top two photographs are of an adult water dragon while the bottom one shows a juvenile.
An adult Gippsland Water Dragon
A head close up
A juvenile Gippsland Water Dragon