The June long-weekend for the Queens Birthday is at the start of Canberra’s winter so while the sun is out the mornings can be very cold. I was fortunate in that I went out on Sunday morning to photograph around Kambah Pool and then I went out again to photograph just over the border in NSW at Carwoola. Kambah Pool on the Murrumbidgee River was nice but the weather was overcast so the light was a bit poor. On the other hand, photographing at Carwoola was in the bright morning sun with a slight fog and a heavy frost coating things. I really enjoyed both days as they were nice places to explore. Because the weather is colder now it is harder to find birds and other wildlife so over those two days I only saw a few species of birds but I really enjoyed seeing them. I love Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos so I was happy that was the only bird I was able to photograph at Kambah Pool. I also love Crimson Rosellas so I am not upset that was one of the few birds I saw at Carwoola. So, sorry, below you will find more landscape shots than bird photos but I hope you like what you see.
Unlikely tree growing on boulders in the Murrumbidgee River, staying put despite floods
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF40mm f2.8 STM [ISO 100, 40mm, f/14 and 0.4 SEC])
Gnarled roots show this tree is a survivor at Kambah Pool
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 35mm, f/8.0 and 1/5 SEC])
Long exposure of the Murrumbidgee River at Kambah Pool
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 35mm, f/8.0 and 1/30 SEC])
A bird-friendly rock in the Murrumbidgee River at Kambah Pool
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 100mm, f/5.6 and 1/50 SEC])
Small rapids on the Murrumbidgee River at Kambah Pool
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 35mm, f/22 and 1.0 SEC])
Gnarled conifer beside the Murrumbidgee River
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 35mm, f/22 and 1.0 SEC])
Frost on a plant near a farm gate at Carwoola
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 35mm, f/22 and 0.3 SEC])
Fog over the rural view at Carwoola through a frost-covered gate
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 35mm, f/22 and 0.3 SEC])
Frost-covered bulrushes catching the morning sun at Carwoola
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 35mm, f/10 and 1/80 SEC])
Molonglo River at Carwoola on a frosty, froggy morning
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM [ISO 100, 35mm, f/8.0 and 1/200 SEC])
A group of about five Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos were in a stand of conifers that straddled a narrowing of the Murrumbidgee River just downstream from Kambah Pool. The trees were not tall and the birds were in the lower branches. Unfortunately, I could not see what they were doing in the trees and the female bird I photographed had just flown to the branch in the shot and after I took a few photos she and the group took off. Although we see these birds regularly in the Canberra area, in recent years there has been concern that there is not enough data on the numbers of these birds so it is not clear how well the species is going.
Female Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo among the conifers
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 241mm, f/5.0 and 1/200 SEC])
I was attracted by the tree and the moon at first and then I realised the birds in the tree were Australian Ravens (Corvus coronoides), as well as some European Starlings. This tree at Carwoola was on a small rise but seemed very popular with a number of birds using it to perch on, including these ravens. There is something reassuring about the call of ravens. They always seem to be around and appear to be thriving from the human-made changes to the environment. They seem prepared to eat anything and Noisy Miners always respond with loud alarm chirps when ravens are about. This flock stayed in this dead tree for a little while before flying off to the right of the picture in a north-easterly direction.
Australian Ravens and European Starlings share a dead tree under a moon at dawn
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 100mm, f/8.0 and 1/250 SEC])
These two Galahs (Eolophus roseicapillus) later turned up on the same tree, well after the ravens had left. They were preening themselves in the morning sun. There were some Eastern Rosellas in the tree but they departed as soon as they saw me. The Galahs looked at me then went back to preening. I think that is a male on the high branch and a female below. These birds form a lifelong bond so this could be a pair.
Two Galahs preening themselves in the same dead tree seen above
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
I found some Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans), which is not hard around Canberra. They were at the base of the dead tree above in some wattle shrubs. They were eating some seeds from the surrounding vegetation. One of them flew out of the shrub grabbed a flower head and continued on to a frost covered strand of fence wire. It held the flower head in one foot, lifting it up slightly to make eating easier. I really liked the picture of this bird on the frost covered wire with a metal picket framing one side of the shot and a clear blue sky behind. Something about that shot just evokes rural Australia and I am sure that this scene is repeated on a daily occasion at thousands of small locations across Australia. The colours of these really common birds always makes me happy.
Crimson Rosella in a wattle tree
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Slightly earlier shot to the one at the head of this post, I just think it is quintessentially rural Australia, a rosella on a farm fence
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/400 SEC])