A Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike with a caterpillar 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 1/400 SEC]) — A Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike with a caterpillar 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 1/400 SEC])

A Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike having a feed and my first Olive-backed Oriole of the season - Photographing around Red Hill Nature Reserve on Saturday, 14 September 2019

Jon Steinbeck September 27, 2019

Red Hill Nature Reserve was absolutely beautiful in the early Spring sunshine. The weather was some of the nicest Canberra has had for a long time. The birdlife was starting to come alive with some visitors coming back and birds turning their attention to breeding. I did not get far that morning as I was enjoying myself, yet again, among the trees on the slope that faces the southwest. I watched a Weebill hop around some branches. I also enjoyed more pardalotes and a female Golden Whistler. It was a lovely Spring morning photographing some beautiful birds. I hope you like the photographs below.

The Rainbow Lorikeet pair looking at something that caught their interest

Photographing at Callum Brae Nature Reserve on Wednesday, 2 January 2019 - A Rainbow Lorikeet pair and butterflies

Jon Steinbeck January 9, 2019

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.

A female Rufous Whistler giving its morning call

Photographing at Campbell Park Woodland on Monday, 31 December 2018 - a Gerygone, treecreeper and a pair of Dollarbirds

Jon Steinbeck January 6, 2019

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.

A Red-browed Finch emerging from the nest it was building

Photographing around Red Hill on Thursday afternoon, 27 December 2018 - Looking and finding some nesting birds

Jon Steinbeck January 1, 2019

The never-tiring JackyF emailed to ask if I wanted to go for a walk one afternoon to look at a number of nests she knew of around Red Hill Nature Reserve so I could help keep an eye on them and take some photos as well. I jumped at the chance to see this important part of bird behaviour so we agreed to meet on the afternoon of Thursday, 27 December 2018. JackyF really knows Red Hill well and, as always, had some great things to show me. The Leaden Flycatcher was a standout. We also discovered the nest of a wonderfully coloured Red-browed Finch, who was building it very near a path. I hope you enjoy the photographs.

A Common Bronzewing we saw on our field trip to Mulligans Flat

'Understanding Birds' - An ANU Continuing Education course with Ian Fraser - including a great field trip to Mulligans Flat

Jon Steinbeck December 18, 2018

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.

I know it is not quite in focus but it was heart-pounding to see this Brown Goshawk targeting me

Photographing at Red Hill Nature Reserve on Friday, 30 November 2018 - Swooped by a Goshawk and saw a kingfisher nest

Jon Steinbeck December 5, 2018

I was not planning on going to Red Hill Nature Reserve on this day, as we were travelling to Sydney on later that morning for an overnight stay. However, when I woke up, I could not help myself, I just wanted to go for a walk and I am glad I did. The weather was a bit overcast but it kept clearing throughout the walk. I saw my first Olive-backed Oriole on Red Hill. There was a group of White-winged Choughs cooperatively building a nest. A pair of Sacred Kingfishers revealed what may be their nest to me. Among all those sitings, the most incredible experience, even if it was heart-pounding, was being swooped by the Brown Goshawk, which you can see in the heading photograph. I really enjoyed the morning walk on Red Hill, I rushed home, excited as one thing, still with enough time to do the things I had to do before going to Sydney. I hope you enjoy the photos below from the day.

The Noisy Friarbird calling while trying to eat a beetle

Photographing at Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve on Sunday, 25 November 2018 - A spectacular Dollarbird and an active Noisy Friarbird

Jon Steinbeck November 28, 2018

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.

Gang-gang_Cockatoo_Callum_Brae_Nature_Reserve_6490_20181011.jpg

Photographing at Callum Brae Nature Reserve on Thursday, 11 October 2018 - mating Gang-gangs and Ravens attacking a fox

Jon Steinbeck October 14, 2018

Callum Brae Nature Reserve is part of the extensive nature reserve system around Canberra. It is southeast of where I live and is part of a bush corridor starting outside of Canberra leading to Red Hill Nature Reserve. From my place it was a quick, easy drive to an area I have travelled past but never stopped at before. I was not sure what I would see at Callum Brae but my expectations were well and truly met. From mating Gang-gangs, to my first good sighting of Rainbow Lorikeets in Canberra, as well as a chance to see the shimmering green wings of the Shining-bronze Cuckoo. Despite the relatively small area of the nature reserve it packed many interesting sights in to the morning for me. I was so thankful to live in a city that has these types of reserves so near in such easy access. Unfortunately, it was another overcast morning, which I am still learning how to cope with, so the photos do appear to be a bit subdued. With that said, it was a wonderful start to another day of holidays, I hope you enjoy the photographs.