Tharwa Sandwash is almost the last location on the Murrumbidgee River corridor that runs through the Australian Capital Territory. It was a quiet little spot at the end of an unsealed road but with a tranquil beauty despite the strong wind blowing that morning. I really did not care if I saw any birds or not, I was just happy to soak up the peaceful. quietness of this location. The car park was almost at the river bank, with large, shady gums providing a canopy over the short walk to the river edge. The Murrumbidgee River was slowly slipping past in an almost imperceptible way. Everything about this spot seemed to reinforce that it was a location to slow down in. I had originally had a plan to climb a nearby hill but, in the end, I barely covered much distance, I just stayed very close to the river. I really enjoyed my quiet Sunday morning there and I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
Looking northward, with the flow of the Murrumbidgee River from the Tharwa Sandwash
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 400, 18mm, f/14 and 1/200 SEC])
A wattle bush beside a pond
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM [ISO 200, 18mm, f/8.0 and 1/200 SEC])
An old woolshed at Tharwa with a cockatoo flying over the top
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/2500 SEC])
A male Superb Fairy-wren was the first bird I was able to photograph, although I had seen other birds around. This male was in a tangle of thorn bushes. There may have been another fairy-wren with him but I was not quick enough to see but I did hear a number of calls. This male stayed at the top of the bush for a little while before flying off. He is probably a young male as he is only now moulting into his breeding blue. Older birds may always be blue or will moult earlier.
Male Superb Fairy-wren moulting into its blue breeding plumage
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Grey Fantails (Rhipidura albiscapa) were in abundance the whole way along the area I walked through. They were mainly in the trees and small bushes along the river bank The birds were flying between various perching locations and occasionally doing one of their circular flights. I did not see much interaction between birds and I cannot say if I saw a small group of birds that were flying between different locations or a lot of different individuals spread out. I just know that everywhere I looked there seemed to be a fantail.
One of the Grey Fantails from that 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 1/640 SEC])
At least one Yellow-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa) was looking for food in a grassy spot between trees very close to the carpark. It was jumping throughout this grassed area, moving between the patches of shadow and light.
Yellow-rumped Thornbill looking for food
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/640 SEC])
A Speckled Warbler (Chthonicola sagittata) was in the same area as the thornbill mentioned above. Indeed, I thought it was another thornbill when I went to take a photograph. It was a little distance from the thornbill, and it was more in the shadows than the thornbill.
Sorry, not a great photograph of a Speckled Warbler
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/640 SEC])
A Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides) was perched on the opposite bank, high in a dead tree. It appeared to be looking at what was happening around it. I may have seen it fly across the river to the bank I was on earlier in the morning because a bird with a kestrel-like profile flew over me but I cannot be completely positive about the identification. Despite the strong wind, the bird seemed content where it was in an exposed location.
A Nankeen Kestrel on the far bank of the river, keeping things under observation
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/500 SEC])
There was Little Pied Cormorant on a rock, north of my position. It was not drying its feathers, just perched on the rock. Even though it was at a distance to me, it appeared to follow my movements, flying off when I went to the waters edge to get a different angle, even if I actually approached no closer.
Little Pied Cormorant
(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])
A lone Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) was perched on a power cable parallel to the access road. It appeared to be surveying what was around.
A Laughing Kookaburra perched on a powerline
(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])
Two Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena) were in an open paddock on the west side of Naas Road. They were flying around each other and briefly rested on this power line before one took off, quickly followed by the second one.
A pair of Welcome Swallows perched on a 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 1/1000 SEC])
Later on Sunday I was doing some work in the back garden and came across the following little creatures.
This Red Mite (Rainbowia sp.) was under the bowl of our bird bath that I had lifted off to clean. The mite started to move reasonably quickly after the bowl was lifted. It seemed at a loss as to where to go as it was climbing around the rim of the bird bath’s pedestal then back into the hollow. It was as if the mite was hesitant to climb down or maybe was not sure where to find cover. I could not get a good photograph of this red creature because it was moving around a lot.
A Red Mite crawling over our bird fountain
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/5.6 and 1/125 SEC])
This hairy caterpillar was on some brickwork, climbing up towards the eaves.
Unidentified hairy caterpillar
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/5.6 and 1/125 SEC])
I did not blog about photographing around Garran on Saturday as I did not get any pictures of birds. It was very windy that morning and the birds I did see were either flying too quickly or off in the distance. I have included some photographs below of the other natural subjects I took that morning.
A broken tree at Garran
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF40mm f2.8 STM [ISO 400, 40mm, f/8.0 and 1/60 SEC])
Looking up the branch of the broken tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF40mm f2.8 STM [ISO 400, 40mm, f/8.0 and 1/100 SEC])
I liked the way the sun lit this wattle
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF40mm f2.8 STM [ISO 800, 40mm, f/8.0 and 1/250 SEC])