I read about a trail that crossed McQuoid Creek near Kambah Pool that I thought looked interesting. I did not want to do the full trail but I wanted to concentrate on the area around the creek itself. The trail was easy enough to access, it was opposite the small carpark located outside of the Kambah Pool entrance. While I was prepared to get my feet wet crossing the creek, because I had already read about that possibility, I was not prepared for the waist-high grass that I encountered. The rain over spring and summer had caused a lot of growth in this area meaning that the trails were no longer too distinct. I started following a trail made by a vehicle and missed the connecting trail. I only realised I had missed the trail when I encountered the Pine Island to Kambah Pool trail, which was a well-made and maintained trail. The area that I was in was very small and I never went too far from where I could still hear the odd car driving to Kambah Pool so I was in no risk of getting truly lost but I knew that my original plan was not going to work. The weather was also challenging because it was very overcast which not much light reaching the subjects that I was looking at. Fortunately, on both days that I visited the weather cleared up a bit towards the end of my time there so I had some better lighting. I was happy to see a Nankeen Kestrel on my first visit as well as Dollarbirds; those sightings prompted me to return the next weekend in anticipation of what I might see. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below of what I did see.
Read MoreGang-gang Cockatoo in a hollow, another Dollarbird and some interesting insects - Photographing around Red Hill Nature Reserve on Sunday, 24 November 2019
The birds on Red Hill Nature Reserve were fantastic this Sunday morning despite the overcast and cloudy conditions. There were so many Gang-gang cockatoos around, including a quiet male being a sentinel at the entrance to a hollow. I saw another Dollarbird on a different part of the hill to the one last week, as well as my first ever Cicadabird. I was also glad I had my macro photography set-up with me as there were some interesting insects, including from the day before when I went walking around my yard with the macro camera. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
Read MoreDollarbirds are around as are the Corellas, and I even saw a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo in a hollow - Photographing around Red Hill Nature Reserve on Saturday, 16 November 2019
The birdlife around Red Hill Nature Reserve was even better than usual on this Saturday morning. I saw my first Dollarbird of the season and two species of Corellas were around. There was also a Laughing Kookaburra in a hollow. The wonderful birdlife combined with a warm, sunny morning made it a great start to the day. I hope you like the photographs below.
Read MorePhotographing around Red Hill on Saturday, 12 January 2018 - Gang-gang nestlings and a juvenile Dollarbird
This morning the walk around Red Hill Nature Reserve was even more special than usual as JackyF had sighted Gang-gang Cockatoo nestlings during the week. This was great news because Gang-gangs are picky breeders who have had many of their nesting spots destroyed when the large eucalyptus trees were removed around Canberra. Red Hill is a location they have used in the past for nesting so this sighting of nestlings is confirmation of a successful breeding season. We now all have our eyes open for other nestling sitings around Red Hill. I was also fortunate to see a juvenile Dollarbird on Red Hill. I hope you enjoy the photos.
Read MorePhotographing at Callum Brae Nature Reserve on Wednesday, 2 January 2019 - A Rainbow Lorikeet pair and butterflies
This blog post is out of order with the one immediately preceding it as I wanted to record my sightings on Red Hill Nature Reserve as quickly as possible and then post them to Canberra Nature Map to help out with noting the wildlife on the hill.
You may notice the colour tones of this post are a little different to past posts. I use the very powerful Adobe Lightroom for my post-processing. I have learnt how to use it by watching YouTube videos. Some of the advice has been fantastic but other advice, I have learnt from experience, is not suitable for me. In the past, based on advice from a YouTube video, I always used Camera Landscape as my basic profile in Lightroom. I have now decided that is not the best profile, so I have switched Camera Faithful, which I think works better. I am sticking with the camera profiles as the consensus seems to be Canon cameras have a larger colour palette than Adobe so it is better to use that as the base profile rather that the adobe options.
Moving to the actual day, I always enjoy visiting Callum Brae Nature Reserve although on this day I felt the birdlife was already in hiding because of the heat. By 9 AM the mercury was already over 26º Celsius. The weather did not bother me as I had a wonderful time photographing a pair of beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets. I then got a little distracted by insects while I was following a dry creek towards some dams where I hope to find birds. I spent too long with the insects so I had to cut my plans short. That seems to happen a lot with me, but I have fun no matter what happens to my original plan. I hope you enjoy the photographs.
Read MorePhotographing at Campbell Park Woodland on Monday, 31 December 2018 - a Gerygone, treecreeper and a pair of Dollarbirds
This was my first visit to Campbell Park Woodland. I had heard about this site for a while and I knew it would be quiet as far as the office buildings were concerned. Because this site backs onto office blocks used by the Australian Department of Defence there is a lot of parking at the site as well as intimidating signs warning visitors of trespassing. On. my walk to where the woodland began behind a fence I was worried I may have been misled about the site as there did not appear to be much birdlife. I decided to head towards a small dam I could see on my Google Maps app because all animals need water. That was when the morning lived up to its deserved reputation. Just around this small dam I saw a treecreeper, an immature woodswallow as well as Dollarbirds. I was told by somebody I met at the dam that there was another dam further on that is also good. Unfortunately, I ran out of time so could not get to the second dam. That will be for another day, and I will use the Canberra Ornithologists Group Campbell Park Woodland map as a guide. I hope you enjoy the photos below.
Read MorePhotographing around Red Hill on Saturday, 29 December 2018 - More possible Gang-gang nesting behaviour and Leaden Flycatchers with their young in the nest
I was able to get back out for a walk around Red Hill Nature Reserve, equipped with the knowledge JackyF had passed on about bird nesting sites. It was a lovely day for a walk on Red Hill with the birds being very cooperative, especially the wonderful Leaden Flycatchers. I also had a repeat sighting of Gang-gangs at a possible nesting hollow. I hope you enjoy the photographs.
Read MorePhotographing around Red Hill Nature Reserve on Saturday, 22 December 2018 - Gang-gangs, Kookaburras and some amazing insects
I went out for my usual walk around Red Hill Nature Reserve on Saturday, 22 December 2018, although I slightly varied my route to see what I could see. I was lucky from the start seeing some insect life, including interactions between ants and treehoppers. I also saw a pair of beautiful Laughing Kookaburras. It was a wonderful walk with the weather being kind with good lighting but not too hot. I hope you enjoy the photographs.
Read MorePhotographing at Red Hill Nature Reserve on Tuesday evening, 18 December 2018 - Gang-gangs and Tawny Frogmouths
On the evening of 18 December 2018, the same day I had been out to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, the indefatigable JackyF organised a group of interested local residents to locate potential nesting hollows on the Federal Golf Course that backs on to Red Hill Nature Reserve. As this activity happened in the evening the light was already fading, challenging my ability to photograph birds. I wish my skill level was better so I could capture birds in this fading light. At the end of the walk we were really fortunate to see a group of Tawny Frogmouths, of which I have one passable image in this post. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Read More'Understanding Birds' - An ANU Continuing Education course with Ian Fraser - including a great field trip to Mulligans Flat
This is a bit of a different post as I wanted to write about a course I undertook through The Australian National University’s Centre for Continuing Education. The course had a simple title that summed it up well, it was called Understanding Birds. The lecturing occurred over six nights from late November and there were also two field trips on Saturday mornings. The first field trip went to Campbell, Molonglo Gorge and Jerrabomberra Wetlands while the second one was conducted at Mulligans Flat Woodland Reserve. The second field trip will be described in more detail later in the post, with accompanying bird photographs.
Read MorePhotographing at Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve on Sunday, 25 November 2018 - A spectacular Dollarbird and an active Noisy Friarbird
I hate to say it, but this was my first visit to Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve. I can understand why it has such a good reputation. Visually, the woodland is a lovely place to visit and the birdlife was wonderful. I am planning to head back very soon as I did not reach the big dam, which I really want to see. I get the feeling the reserve will be worth a number of repeat visits to see all it has to offer. Despite only spending an hour there I was so pleased with what I saw on this first visit. I saw my first Dollarbird. I also found this Noisy Friarbird, featured above, who put on a great performance. I saw a Masked Lapwing family, who, while alarmed, did not swoop me. I really enjoyed my walk that morning, but I know there is much more to see. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
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