Red Hill Nature Reserve was its usual awesome destination. I started on the Garran side before crossing the Federal Golf Club to get to the reserve proper. It was a fantastic morning where I think I saw a breeding pair of Gang-gang Cockatoos. There were also some other birds showing interest in hollows, which is a good sign at this time of year. There was also a group of Laughing Kookaburras, and I always enjoy seeing them. I hope you like the photographs below.
A rock pile sculpture on a rock beside the path
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/160 SEC])
A male Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) was perched near a hollow about two-thirds up in a tree. He was sitting there silently. He seemed to notice my interest and moved slightly away from the hollow. After a few minutes he flew south to another tree. He stood there very quietly, and although I scanned the tree, I could not see a female. As luck would have it, while I bent down to make some notes, the female appeared. Because I was not looking, I am not sure if she flew from another tree, possibly the first tree, or appeared from a hollow in this tree. I do not think she flew in because I did not hear any wings while I was not looking and her feathers look un-preened. Both birds were reasonably quiet in this second tree. I noted later, while looking at the photographs, that her left eye possibly had some half-red feathers around it. Both birds stayed in the tree for a little while before first the male, then the female, flew to the south-west, out of sight behind some trees.
The male Gang-gang Cockatoo started in a hollow at another tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
The female joined him at a second tree, but I am not sure how she got there
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/200 SEC])
A close-up of the female
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/200 SEC])
A Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) was perched near a hollow in one of the trees on the Federal Golf Club.
Crimson Rosella
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1600, 400mm, f/6.3 and 1/200 SEC])
A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) looked out from inside a hollow, also in a tree at the Federal Golf Club. I had been looking at the hollow while photographing the Rosella, thinking the space would make a good nest for a bird when the cockatoo’s head appeared from inside. The bird looked at me briefly before it withdrew back inside.
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo peering out from a hollow
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1600, 400mm, f/6.3 and 1/200 SEC])
A Galah (Eolophus roseicapillus) was examining a hollow, nearer the Club house. The bird did not enter the hollow but looked at it from the outside. I decided to leave the area quickly as the bird appeared to be unsettled by my presence.
Female Galah at a tree hollow
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1600, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/200 SEC])
A group of three Laughing Kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae) were sitting in some eucalyptus trees. They appeared to be looking for food. One of them flew to a tree where two Noisy Miners objected to its presence. the kookaburra snapped at them, flicking its head right back in the process. I managed to photograph that action below. The birds seemed to reach an accommodation, as the kookaburra stayed put and the miners continued to move around the tree. Another kookaburra, in a different tree, was the picture of focussed attention. It was on a branch but staring intently at the ground. It quickly swooped down to the ground but did not seem to be successful. Returning to its perch it resumed its focused position, before launching at another target. Once again it was unsuccessful and it flew off to a tree further away.
Laughing Kookaburra being harassed by two Noisy Miners
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Laughing Kookaburra ready to strike
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1250, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/320 SEC])
Two Sacred Kingfishers (Todiramphus sanctus) were taking it in turns to fly to the trunk of a tree. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the tree so I could not see what they were flying to. I worked my way around to a better vantage point and noticed two holes in the trunk that probably opened into at least a single hollow or possibly two. The kingfishers did not fly to the holes while I was on that side of the tree. I left the area quickly, in case they were feeding young birds and my presence was disturbing them, although I could only see one kingfisher by that time.
Sacred Kingfisher near a hollow
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
This Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen) was with at least one other magpie, although this one had the best perch. It’s slighlty dirty plumage made me stop. Magpies tend to be clean birds but this one had some obvious red dirt on its rear feathers. I wondered if it had been in a fight with another magpie, and was pushed to the ground, or whether it had been moving through a dirty area. I have seen some dirty magpies in the city but in the suburbs the magpies tend to be cleaner.
Australian Magpie with its feathers coloured by Red Hill’s soil
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Two, possibly juvenile male, Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) appeared to be practicing a mating dance near a bower. One was definitely a juvenile male as it was moulting into its dark satin plumage, with patches of blue appearing. The other bird did not have any clear patches of blue but juvenile males will sometimes get together to practice mating dances. I think the other bird was a male as well because it was putting sticks into the bower, like it was building it. The first bird actually undertook a bit of a dance while I was watching, complete with the metallic-like whirring sounds these birds make.
Probably two juvenile male Satin Bowerbirds practicing building a bower and dancing, note the blue emerging on the far bird
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/200 SEC])
The useless contortions of a caterpillar covered in ants caught my attention. The caterpillar had no chance of escaping the swarming ants. Some of the ants appeared to be covered in dirt, possibly as a result of the caterpillar’s squirming. I am not sure what species the ants were, although at least one of them had a green tinged abdomen.
Ants swarming on a still-living caterpillar, nature is not always kind
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])