Well my wife decided I was definitely crazy this morning when I left for the golden hour in apparent sub-zero temperatures to go to Casuarina Sands Reserve on the Murrumbidgee River, about 20 minutes drive from the centre of Canberra. The drive was quiet, with few cars on the road. Casuarina Sands Reserve itself is a peaceful. little area on the southern bank of the Murrumbidgee River in the Cotter area. There is a sealed-road carpark with flush toilets. The light was not great as the sun was just making it over the surrounding hills at the time I had to return home. What sunlight there was struggled to cast any brightness on the area as there were a few clouds hanging about. With all that said, I am keen to return on a more suitable day as the location was a lovely spot with a lot of potential for birding as well as bird photography. The photos below are not great because of the lighting but I saw today as a good chance to work on the exposure triangle to try to get some good shots. I have also purchased Adobe Lightroom so I am trying out my editing skills as well. As always, I hope you like the photos.
An Australasian Grebe
There were two of these Australasian Grebes feeding in different parts of the Murrumbidgee River at Casuarina Sands. They were both swimming with the flow of the river, occasionally placing their heads underwater, presumably looking for food to dive after as they are birds that are able to dive underwater. I came acrosss one of them when it popped up after diving near the bank of the river where I was standing up. Although the linked Wikipedia article states that Grebes dive when threatened, so they can swim away, this one, after it noticed me, took off across the river in running flight along the surface of the water.
A male Superb Fairy-wren
Initially I saw this group of about six Superb Fairy-wrens in the car park when I arrived, they appearted to be feeding. They then moved down to the open area along the river bank, moving backwards and forwards along there. Individually they were flitting quickly from one spot to another on the ground apparently searching for food. The bird at the bottom right is most likely a juvenile or non-breeding male given the bluish tail.
Initially high up in a tree this male Crescent Honeyeaterwas making regular calls. There was possibly a second Crescent Honeyeater around answering with its own calls. As with many birds, the male is more colourful than the female, with the female being more of a duller grey in colour. Given the light conditions, and the bird remaining high up in a tree a distance from me, my lens was working hard to get these shots.
