I will be honest, this was not the walk we had planned for Namadgi National Park, I got my Boboyan Roads mixed up so we turned onto Old Boboyan Road when we should continued along Boboyan Road. I am not upset because we will do the originally planned walk very shortly and I was also able to see two Wedge-tailed Eagles. I saw one of them in the distance through a mess of tree branches, I was amazed I had picked out this awesome bird of prey which was perched motionless on a far away dead tree. I was even happier when I could get photographs from a better vantage point further along the trail. My son and I both enjoyed the trail, despite the weather not being great, cloudy with the temperature hovering around 6ºC (about 43ºF). In addition, I was undeniably happy to get some OK shots of the eagles considering the bad light as well as the distance to the birds. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
An exposed rock face at Namadgi National Park
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/100 SEC])
Snow on a rock face at Namadgi National Park
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/13 and 1/60 SEC])
Snow on a distant mountain at Namadgi National Park
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/13 and 1/125 SEC])
We were getting towards the end of our short hike and I had not been able to see any birds I could photograph. I was thinking I would just content myself with the photos of the Red Necked Wallaby I had already taken. It was at that point I saw, through an intervening mesh of branches filled with leaves, what I thought was a bird-like shape on a very far away branch of a dead tree. Lifting my camera to my eye, so I could use the telephoto lens, to determine if I was looking at a bird or just a dead branch I was excited to see a Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) perched on the branch. It was staying still, just moving its head from side to side. Walking further along the trail I was able to see the tree in a more open setting. It was still a long distance away, but clear of the surrounding trees. I did not realise it at the time but I was able to see an eagle higher in the tree. Like the bird I had just seen, it was motionless except for its turning head. It suddenly defecated, before spreading its wings to fly steeply down, to the west, away and out of view of me. I do not think I spooked the bird as I was so far away. I walked on a bit, before noticing another eagle in the same tree. I am positive this was not the same eagle that had just flown down as that eagle probably did not have enough time to fly back up to the tree to land on this branch. Also, later that day, in looking at the photographs of the first eagle, I realised the first eagle and this eagle were actually on the same branch, the other eagle was higher in the tree. This eagle also descended on the wing towards the west. The dark plumage marks these birds as both being adult birds, so possibly a mated couple although the photographs are not able to show if there was a size disparity, as the female is larger than the male. It is impossible not to feel exhilaration after seeing these stunning birds in the wild. Viewing those birds with my son made my morning.
The upper-most Wedge-tailed Eagle perched at the top of the dead tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/320 SEC])
The Wedge-tailed Eagle taking off
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/320 SEC])
The other Wedge-tailed Eagle perched on a lower branch
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/320 SEC])
Walking further along the unsealed portion of Old Boboyan Road I saw this male Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang) off to the western side of the road, perched on a star picket. I only saw one. I tried to move closer for a better photograph but the the bird flew further to the west to a patch of scrub. The red breast makes it clear this bird was a male.
A Scarlet Robin perched on a star picket
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/125 SEC])
Red-necked Wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus) are common but shy. They do not let people approach them in the wild. The first one I saw was on the far side of a creek, quietly standing in the grass. When I turned towards it, the wallaby climbed a bit higher out of the creak to look at me. It stayed where it was for a few minutes before hopping off into the thick grass. The other Red-necked Wallaby was along Old Boboyan Road, almost towards where our walk finished. It was on the western side of the road. Other people had passed it but it started to move slowly away as I stopped to pay attention to it. Fortunately, it did not bound off but just moved slowly a little distance away where it continued to eat the grass. Both had an obvious rufous colouration but the variation in the colouring is clear between these two individuals.
A Red-necked Wallaby across a creek eating grass
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/60 SEC])
Another Red-necked Wallaby
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/160 SEC])