Uriarra Crossing is set in a small valley where a road crosses the Murrumbidgee River. It is north-east of Canberra, where the Uriarra Road curves through undulating hills. I first found the location when I was participating in a charity bike ride and thought it was beautifully placid, deserving of a return visit. It may have taken me a while to come back with my camera but it was worth the return. I had not even reached the crossing before I pulled over to take my first photographs of the scenery. It was such a beautiful little place with some reasonable facilities for a picnic. The access to the river was an easy stroll. I probably visited at the wrong time of the year as Canberra comes to the end of Autumn with Winter fast approaching. The weather was not too cold but many animals would have been rising later in the day once the sun was higher in the sky casting a warming glow over the area. I was able to see a Grey Thrush-strike and you can always count on Superb Fairy-wrens to be about. I am looking forward to returning and may be wandering in a different direction along the river. It is just one of the lovely locations Canberra has. I really hope you enjoy the pictures below.
The morning sun creeping out to the Brindabella Ranges
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 400, 18mm, f/14 and 1/60 SEC])
The morning road winding to Uriarra Crossing
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 400, 18mm, f/18 and 1/30 SEC])
The Murrumbidgee River flowing through Uriarra Crossing
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 400, 55mm, f/6.3 and 1/800 SEC])
The Murrumbidgee River, looking upstream from Uriarra Crossing
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 400, 55mm, f/6.3 and 1/800 SEC])
I got caught up in landscape photography so my time almost got away from me and I had not shot a photograph of a single bird or any other creature. I was lucky a Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica) flew into a small thicket. It stretched down from the branch it was on to peck at something in the dense growth beneath it. I thought this may be a female given the colouring around the eye and the dark shoulder. She called a couple of times and I thought I heard another similar call from across the river, further upstream. She then flew to another clump of vegetation. I lost sight of her and she was gone.
A female Grey Shrike-thrush looking for food
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/500 SEC])
There are always Superb Fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) around. I saw a group of three, which all appeared to be females. They were making their constant call while moving between shrubs, trees and the ground. The second photograph below was a bit of fooling around in post processing where I basically removed the background’s saturation in Adobe Lightroom to emphasise the fairywren in the foreground. It was more of an experiment than a change of style. Nice to try something new.
A female Superb Fairy-wren
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/640 SEC])
Fooling around with Lightroom, this is the same photograph as seen at the top of the post
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/400 SEC])
Later on that day, when I was at home, I noticed this Gum Tree Shield Bug (Poecilometis patruelis) on a bit of shade cloth. I had to take a photograph. It was not moving, just its antenna adjusting slightly. I really liked the way its colours combined with the geometric shapes on its back.
Gum Tree Shield Bug
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 200, 55mm, f/8.0 and 1/8 SEC])