Red Hill Nature Reserve seemed like it was going to be a bad choice this morning as the fog thickened while I was on the hill. At one stage I thought I would head back early but I am glad I kept going as there were some wonderfull photographic subjects. Early on I found an old caterpillar track from some construction plant like a tractor or bulldozer, which I used to practice with my different lens as it made an interesting subject between the trees on a foggy morning. While, right at the end of my walk I was again captivated by some beautiful Satin Bowerbirds, including one that seemed to be practicing its mating dance. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
A rusting caterpillar track from a tractor or something similar among the trees in the fog
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF40mm f2.8 STM [ISO 1000, 40mm, f/9.0 and 1/50 SEC])
An immature Straw-necked Ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis) was wandering around the small, suburban park that separates two parts of Hughes, joining Red Hill Nature Reserve to the Hughes shops area. I am used to seeing magpies, rosellas and even kangaroos in the area near a children’s playground but not an ibis. It was by itself foraging. I was able to get nearer by using a gum tree to shield my approach and then let the bird move into view while I stayed stationary. Most of these ibis will not let humans approach so I thought this bird was probably not as cautious yet. When it finally did start moving away it was because a person was walking a dog towards the bird. The ibis started walking faster but eventually took to the wing. In one photograph it looked like the ibis had picked up a large beetle, it was not clear. A few times it looked like it extracted something from the ground with its beak so the area may have been a good place to feed.
An immature Straw-necked Ibis in a suburban park
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1250, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/60 SEC])
An Immature Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus) briefly flew into a tree near where I was. It was making what sounded like a single note call. It looked around for about 10 seconds then flew off to another tree nearby but out of my sight. Sorry, the picture is not great because there was a lot of fog making it hard to get enough light.
An immature Grey Butcherbird through the fog in a tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/1000 SEC])
The Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) once again made my morning. I was walking down a trail towards the golf course before I decided to follow the path that paralleled the fence. I could hear the bowerbirds in a nearby thicket but did not want to try to get a photograph as they move through the thicket much faster than me, and the weather was against me on that day. I could then hear them in the trees ahead of me and saw about three birds, including the one on the branch in the photograph immediately below. I could still hear a bird in the thicket. A bit of movement caught my attention and I saw a green bird bouncing while displaying its feathers. It had two yellow crest feathers from a Sulphur-crested cockatoo in its beak. It hopped backwards and forwards along a log off the ground before it then dropped the feathers and hopped out of sight. No birds came to its area, indeed another bird flew to a different tree. I also saw the male in its dark plumage a little distance away in the thicket. It was on the ground and appeared to have something in its beak but I could not see it clearly. This thicket has previously had a bower in it.
A Satin Bowerbird on a tree branch
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 330mm, f/5.6 and 1/200 SEC])
A different Satin Bowerbird that seemed to doing a mating dance, with cockatoo crest feathers
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/160 SEC])