This was not quite the weekend I had planned. I went out on Saturday morning for my usual walk, this time going to the Hughes-Garran area, particularly the woodland. There had been rain overnight so the ground was wet, the sky was still a bit overcast and temperature a little cool. I had then planned to go for a short hike later that day with my son in Tidbinbilla National Park but we were having car problems so we ended up having a very nice hike over Red Hill Nature Reserve. The next day, again, because of car issues, I returned to Red Hill, which was covered in fog, with a light frost as well, for a walk there. The fog stayed for my whole walk and for most of the day. In the end, I spent my whole weekend wandering over Red Hill Nature Reserve, which was not a bad way to spend a weekend. The conditions were not great for photography, especially of birds, so there are plenty of pictures below of subjects that are not birds. I hope you do not mind and enjoy the photographs.
A picture of a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo hung on the outside of someone’s fence, unfortunately a vandal thought it needed more work
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/5.6 and 1/100 SEC])
Rain running down the trunk of a gum tree on Saturday morning
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 200, 32mm, f/8.0 and 1/125 SEC])
A fog laden spider
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 200, 55mm, f/6.3 and 1/40 SEC])
Rain drops on a leaf
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 400, 40mm, f/5.6 and 1/160 SEC])
A dead gum tree with fog in the background on Sunday morning
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 400, 18mm, f/5.6 and 1/160 SEC])
Frost on a gum leaf
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 200, 55mm, f/18 and 1/4 SEC])
A conifer surrounded by eucalyptus on a foggy morning
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 200, 20mm, f/13 and 1/8 SEC])
Two dead gum trees standing like dear antlers
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 200, 20mm, f/14 and 1/15 SEC])
Water droplets on a spider wed
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 200, 55mm, f/10 and 1/40 SEC] with Yongnuo YN14EX Macro Ring Lite)
On the Saturday morning the only birds I was really able to photograph were these two Crested Pigeons (Ocyphaps lophotes) who were looking a little forlorn. They were on an overhead power line at the Hughes-Garran Woodland. They did not move much while I was looking at them. They had fluffed their feathers up in an attempt to heat up more air around their bodies for warmth. The one on the left often had its eyes shut while the one on the right had its eyes open in the photographs I took.
Two Crested Pigeons on an overhead wire
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/250 SEC])
Later in the day walking with my son I heard this possible female Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), allowing me to look in the right place for it. The bird was in an area where I have often seen Satin Bowerbirds. It was making that unique mechanical whirring call wile it hopped around the area. Unfortunately, it tended to stay in the shadows so it was hard to get a good picture of it.
A female Satin Bowerbird looking for food in the morning
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/125 SEC])
Later in our walk we saw this probably juvenile Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus) with a lizard it had caught. I did not see the capture of the lizard, only the butcherbird with it. I wondered if the bird was looking for a convenient broken branch or thorn-like protrusion on the tree to act as a hook so the bird could more easily tear at the lizard’s flesh. I was hoping to photograph that behaviour. Once the butcherbird was doing something on a vertical branch but its beak was behind the branch and I could not move around to obtain a better shot. The lizard emerged still in one piece so I am not sure the bird had found its “hook”.
Grey Butcherbird with a lizard ready to eat, possibly looking for a natural “hook”
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 330mm, f/5.6 and 1/1000 SEC])
The bird from another angle
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 330mm, f/5.6 and 1/1000 SEC])
On the Sunday morning I saw these two Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) eating grass in the park that separates two rows of houses in Hughes. They then moved closer to a hedge of one of the houses. The fog was still a little high but still blocking the rising sun, making it hard to shoot a good photograph of these two kangaroos. They did just look like two naughty children caught in the act.
Two Eastern Grey Kangaroos at the hedge of a house fronting a public park
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/5.6 and 1/8 SEC])
While we were walking up a track on Saturday morning I saw a bit of red moving, it was a Red Velvet Mite. It was moving at a good speed, crawling over most things. I was not able to change lens so I used the tele-photo lens to shoot it. It is not a great shot as the camera was having a hard time focussing on such a small thing.
A Red Mite crawling through the leaf litter
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/125 SEC])
This Meadow Argus (Junonia villida) landed on a trail in the sun, propping down to sun itself. It was another tattered example of this species. While I was trying to get a photograph of this butterfly I asked me son to keep an eye on the butterfly below.
A Meadow Argus sunning itself
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/1000 SEC])
This Common Grass-blue (Zizina labradus) landed on the trail very nearby the Meadow Argus above. It was more flight, taking off very quickly to fly off to a different location.
A Common Grass-blue sunning itself
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/1000 SEC])