Red Hill Nature Reserve was the location for my usual walk although, I went through the Federal Gold Club so I could then follow the path along the southern side of Red Hill, about half way up. I was distracted by the birdlife before I got to where I was going but I was not upset, the birds were too beautiful not to photograph. I enjoyed getting some shots of Laughing Kookaburras, a quintessential Australian bird with its mismatching blue and brown. The fact that the kookaburras were looking at hollows was even more exciting. I also saw a pair of coots mating. Just a wonderful way to start a weekend. I hope you like the photographs below.
White Cherry Blossoms at Manuka later in the day
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF40mm f2.8 STM [ISO 200, 40mm, f/8.0 and 1/800 SEC])
A different type of White Cherry Blossom at Hughes
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 800, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/1600 SEC])
African Daisy
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 800, 100mm, f/5.0 and 1/200 SEC])
The next day, the first day of Spring, the sun was striking this spider web just right
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/100 SEC])
Australian Wood Ducks have been breeding. This family was at one of the ponds at the Federal Golf Course. (I have also seen a family on the southern side of Lake Burley Griffin at the Beijing Garden.) Both parents were keeping the ducklings close by, chasing away other ducks that got too close. The ducklings appeared to be eating the grass without any problem.
Female Australian Wood Duck and ducklings
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/250 SEC])
A Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) pair mated in front of me. The female was on a raised area in the pond. I took some photographs of her then I heard another coot (the male) make a repetitive, single note call. He came from under the bank where I was, out of some reeds. Initially, I thought he had become aware of me and was sounding an alarm but the female did not move. In looking at the photographs later I noted her body appeared to change as the male approached. In the photos before the mating her body was plump, while when she was aware the male was approaching, her body slimmed down. She did not try to avoid the male, who took a circular route around the pond’s edge to approach her directly from behind. She appeared to ready herself. The male climbed onto her back and her head went under water. He was not on her back for long, possibly 10 seconds, I was not counting, then he raised his wings to climb down. She kept her head arched down but she came out of the water. He then moved away from her. The photographs below show some of these stages.
Male Eurasian Coot approaching the female from the rear to start the mating, note the female’s body shape
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/7.1 and 1/400 SEC])
The male on top with the female’s head underwater
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/7.1 and 1/200 SEC])
After a very short time the male flapped his wings, the mating was over
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/7.1 and 1/200 SEC])
The mating is complete, note the female’s body shape now
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/100 SEC])
A pair of Gang-gang Cockatoos (Callocephalo fimbriatum) were in some trees near the saddle of Red Hill and Davison’s Hill. One was calling and there was possibly a response from somewhere else. I eventually saw the bird calling was a male in a tree. There was female in a different tree about 10 m away. She was on a branch close to the tree with the male but she was quiet. Then two more Gang-gangs, a male and female, flew in from the south, forcing the male out of his tree into the tree where the quiet female was. The second pair stayed in the tree the male had been in, with the second male calling. The second pair of Gang-gangs only stayed a little while before flying off to an isolated gum tree further up Davidson Hill with the original pair of Gang-gangs following them to that tree. There were already two Laughing Kookaburras in that tree and they quickly chased most of the Gang-gangs away, although one of the Gang-gangs may have stayed high in the tree. The Gang-gangs few off to the south along the side of Davidson Hill.
Male Gang-gang Cockatoo
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/640 SEC])
The quiet female Gang-gang Cockatoo
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/400 SEC])
The pair of Laughing Kookaburras (Dacelo novaeguineae) were intent on “protecting” their tree from Gang-gang Cockatoos. They were in the gum tree when the four Gang-gangs arrived. Only one kookaburra went after the Gang-gangs. This kookaburra then flew at the second kookaburra who went to a dead branch. The other kookaburra flew to a hollow in the trunk of the tree. It spent a bit of time with its body inside and only its tail outside. It was able to go all the way in, where is stayed for a minute or so. Some wood chips few out and a little while later its head appeared outside the hollow, where it paused, before flying out to a nearby branch. It then quickly flew back to a second hollow below the first one. It did not go inside the second hollow but stayed on the outside. That was the stage when I thought I had to keep moving.
The gum tree with two kookaburras (two thirds up on left and at five o’clock from the first kookaburra, taking to flight) and a Gang-gang Cockatoo (top right, behind leaves) and the two hollows in the trunk towards the bottom of the picture
One of the Laughing Kookaburras in the tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
One of the birds about to emerge from the upper hollow
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/320 SEC])
The same bird inspecting the lower hollow
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/320 SEC])
I saw a second Laughing Kookaburra beside the greens at the golf course. It flew up from the greens to a low branch in a tree, where is stayed reasonably still before flying off to a taller tree. It stayed very still and is also at the head of this blog post.
The other Laughing Kookaburra I saw
(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])
A Crested Pigeon was by itself in some tall trees that were still bare of leaves.
Crested Pigeon high in a tree
(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])
A European Bluebottle (Calliphora (Calliphora) vicina) was defecating on some leaves in my backyard. Not surprisingly, when the fly saw me disturbing its private moment it crawled to the underside of the leaf out of my sight.
European Bluebottle defecating on a leaf
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 800, 100mm, f/5.0 and 1/1000 SEC])
Plant hopper (family Fulgoroidea) have interesting looking nymphs. I was not sure what I had photographed when I took the picture below, I thought it was seed case or cocoon, until I cropped in and saw the eyes; visible at the bottom of the skin. I then realised the creature had legs. Guessing I would have no hope of finding out what insect this was, as there are over 10 000 known Australian insects, I just labelled this photograph as an unknown insect. By coincidence, I came across an article on the Australian Museum webpage talking about strange-looking nymphs, and a photograph of a plant hopper nymph looked like my picture below. I was very pleased to discover the article as it helped expand my knowledge about the interesting animals living around me. I hope I find one of these nymphs while it is still in this form, it would be great to get a photograph.
Discarded skin of a Plant hopper nymph, with the two tails sticking into the air
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/100 SEC])