This Saturday was the first official day of winter, with the weather making the point thanks to a sub-zero start. Despite the cold, frosty morning I was still keen to go our for my usual walk on Red Hill Nature Reserve. I went to the eastern part of the reserve as I had not been there for a while. During my walk I was easily distracted by some water droplets on spider webs as well as a dead tree with fantastic character. I took the usual photograph of the tree but also tried something different by photographing up the trunk to where the branches came out of the tree. I was reasonably pleased with the shot. I was also happy to be able to photograph some Gang-gang Cockatoos again, it has been a while. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
While photographing in the area behind the old the Telstra building I heard the unmistakeable call of a Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum). I easily saw the male in a tree where there had been a successful breeding over the summer months. He was sitting on a branch calling. Unfortunately, the branch above was casting a shadow over half his body so it was hard to get a good photograph. Initially, I was not able to see the female but going around the back of the tree, I saw the female was sitting quietly on a branch in the shadow of the tree. Again, not a good photograph.
While walking back towards Hughes through a park, I saw a lone male Gang-gang Cockatoo high in a eucalyptus tree. He was calling but I did not hear any response, nor could I see a female around. I could see some very deep grooves in the branch where birds had apparently been gouging it out.
When I arrived In the area where I was photographing the dead tree and spider web the ground looked cold and I could not see any movement. After at least 20 minutes, when I was finishing up, I noticed one then another, then about six Concealer Moths in my immediate area flapping their wings as they appeared to bump along the ground. They were flying very short distances, often just above the ground, if not hitting the ground as they flew. Sometimes they would get to a stalk, which they would climb up rather than fly directly to the top. Later, looking at my photographs, I could see they were regularly cleaning their antennas. Their strange flying pattern intrigued me, as I was not sure if they were cold so were trying to warm up or if they were trying to search out liquid. I was also amazed how there appeared to be no insect life around that frosty patch then after, a little while, I was surrounded by these small moths. I also tried to get a photograph of them taking off from a stalk but the low light kept my shutter speed down as I was trying to avoid too much noise with a high ISO.