I was unable to undertake my usual Saturday morning walk around Red Hill Nature Reserve so I headed out on Sunday for what ended up being a shorter walk than normal. Despite that restriction, the weather was superb with a beautiful blue sky, barely any wind and a mild temperature. The birds, while not too “exotic”, were plentiful, with enjoyable photographic subjects. Although Sulphur-crested Cockatoos do not have the same concerns attached to their breeding as do Gang-gangs, I was excited to see a Sulphur-crested nestling in a tree hollow I thought was being used for that purpose. I also found a group of Australian King-parrots feeding in trees just off the path who were very calm about me taking photographs. It was just a wonderful morning to be wandering around with a camera, so much so I was later getting home.
Looking south-west from Red Hill to the Brindabella Range
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 100mm, f/4.5 and 1/1250 SEC])
Walking thought the suburb of Hughes I came across a possible family group of Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans) feeding in a tree on a resident’s front yard. They were comfortable in the tree, remaining there as I walked close past. The bird that was closest to me was a juvenile in its green plumage that was slowly giving way to its adult colouring. The birds were feeding on the small fruits of the tree. In general, I find while parrots are feeding they seem to be more docile, less needing to flee as humans move past. It is often easier to get closer to them. Even though it was later than I normally go out for a walk, the sun had still not risen enough to crest the the hill and trees so these birds were in somewhat of a shadow against a very bright sky and I did not expose properly for that situation so they have gone through some post-processing to make the photograph lighter.
A juvenile Crimson Rosella feeding
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/1250 SEC])
One of the most enjoyable moments of my walk was finding a group of Australian King-parrots (Alisterus scapularis) at eye level feeding just to the side of the trail I was following. They were not perturbed by my presence, happily eating while I moved closer. I did not try to get too close as I did not want to scare them away from their food. In the group closest to me I saw a male, female and a juvenile. A bit further away I saw a male on a branch with the sun’s rays striking him like a spotlight. His plumage was bathed in light as if he was a light somebody had switched on. There was no hiding him, it was easy to see how he could attract the attention of females. He is the bird featured at the head of this post but my photograph does not do his colour justice. The photograph immediately below this paragraph is a male from the closer group. For King-parrots the male has a red head while the female has a dark green head. The final bird with the lighter green head is a juvenile. These are beautiful birds and I found it very hard to move away from this peaceful scene of the birds feeding.
A close-up of the head of a male Australian King-parrot
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/250 SEC] with flash)
A female Australian King-parrot
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/250 SEC] with flash)
A juvenile Australian King-parrot
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/250 SEC] with flash)
One objective I had set myself for this morning, a reason I really wanted to go out to Red Hill, was to visit one last time one of the hollows we thought would have been a successful Gang-gang nest but appeared to have been abandoned. When I arrived at the hollow there was no activity, although I could hear Gang-gangs calling in the nearby trees. I could also see three Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) in a tree not far away. These large, white Sulphur-crested birds finally flew to the tree I was looking at, with one of them even flying to the hollow after a brief perch on a convenient branch. It looked around to both sides, then it put its head into the hollow. I would say the bird appeared to recoil from the hollow, my perspective completely. To me it appeared that something made the bird pull its head back out and away from the hole. For the first time also, the bird reacted to the noise of Gang-gangs flying overhead, again my perspective, it appeared to flinch at the noise and may be a shadow as a Gang-gang flew well over the tree. The Sulphur-crested cockatoo climbed higher past the hollow, coming to rest on the small crook in the trunk above the hollow. I am not sure why it reacted to the Gang-gang flyover, whether the call of the Gang-gang had a territorial tone that is not clear to humans or whether a sight, or smell, at the hollow told the white bird the hollow had been associated with the other species. Either way, I thought the “recoiling” reaction of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, after it put its head in the hollow, made it clear the Gang-gangs had not been successful.
A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo checking a hollow previously used by Gang-gang Cockatoos
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/1250 SEC])
In spite of the disappointment I felt after seeing the events at the tree I talked about above, I was buoyed to see at another tree a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo nestling peering out quietly. It moved its head slightly but beyond that was perfectly still. There was a quiet, adult bird in the same tree that I assumed was one of its parents. I also saw another adult bird chewing at bark on a nearby tree, which may have been the other parent. The hollow with the nestling was the same hollow I photographed on 9 December 2018 with the cockatoo that looked to be having a nap, so it was good to see what is likely a successful breeding.
The cockatoo nestling, the lighter coloured beak indicates it is a nestling
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/640 SEC])
The nestling at bottom right with one of the parents at top left
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 100mm, f/4.5 and 1/640 SEC])
I had one more photographic encounter with these intelligent birds who have made such a success of urban living. I was walking back through Hughes, down a steep street when I saw three of these big birds enjoying the small fruits in a tree. Because of the gradient of the street I was essentially at eye level with one of the birds as it was feeding. The sun caught the bird’s eye in such a way that it exposed the red iris, which appears black in most other photographs. I was really happy with this photograph, although the bottom photo below does give the bird a somewhat sinister appearance. I assure you, there is no photoshopping of that eye colour, it was a lucky angle from the sun’s rays.
A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo making itself at home in somebody’s ornamental tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/1000 SEC])
A head study of the same bird
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/1000 SEC])
I am still a bit of a sucker for photographing Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus). I came across this mother and joey in a wooded area on the hill. The joey was still taking milk from the pouch of the mother, although it was too large to be back in the pouch. I had a chuckle when the mother gave some quick tongue washes to the joey, she almost appeared to smell the joey’s ears first before she licked them.
An Eastern Grey Kangaroo joey still sucking on milk from its mother
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 100mm, f/4.5 and 1/640 SEC])
The mother grooming the joey
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 100mm, f/4.5 and 1/640 SEC])
It is almost like they were posing for the photograph, mother on the right, joey on the left, may be that is why she licked clean the joey
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 100mm, f/4.5 and 1/640 SEC])
I finished off my walk by going to a small run-off stream where I often see butterflies and other insects. That morning I was rewarded by seeing three Stencilled Hairstreak Butterflies (Jalmenus ictinus) interacting. There was initially one, then a second one joined in, then a third. Sometimes one would sit out on a nearby acacia branch but they would be back in the swirling flying milieu shortly afterwards. There were some other small groups doing the same thing further along. I am unsure if this was breeding behaviour, as I cannot differentiate the sexes with these photographs but I enjoyed the flying display, and I was reasonably happy with the photographs I took. The shots could still be better but I am happy with where I am at.
Stencilled Hairstreak
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/640 SEC])
The three Stencilled Hairstreak butterflies flying around each other
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/3200 SEC])