Australian Wood Duck in the middle of the Murrumbidgee River(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 220mm, f/5.6 and 1/640 SEC]) — Australian Wood Duck in the middle of the Murrumbidgee River
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 220mm, f/5.6 and 1/640 SEC])

Photographing at Casuarina Sands Reserve on Monday, 28 January 2019 - Almost trod on a water dragon and was again obsessed with insects

Jon Steinbeck January 29, 2019

The public holiday Monday, 28 January, did not dawn with good prospects for photography being a grey, overcast morning. I was checking the Bureau of Meteorology site hoping the weather forecast would be wrong, with a sunny day replacing the predicted clouds and rain. It was not to be, the clouds lay across the Canberra region cutting the morning light. I had planned to go to Casuarina Sands Reserve as I had not been for a while and I wanted to visit it on a sunny day for once. I was not going to get my wish but as I like the location, plus I was already primed to go, I headed there anyway. I was not expecting much, knowing the photography would be a challenge. There were not many birds around but there was so many other things to see. I went further east than I normally walk, wanting to get to the rapids behind the lower weir to see what was there. The river was browner than I had I had ever seen it, possibly because of the recent heavy rains washing mud into the water. I knew the day was going to be special when I almost trod on a Gippsland Water Dragon that must have been on the track but I did not see before it dashed out from under my foot. I am not sure who was more scared. So while this post is short on birds it still has some other interesting photos, including of some insects I saw along the walk. I hope you enjoy the pictures below.

Laughing Kookaburra(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1250, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/800 SEC]) — Laughing Kookaburra
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1250, 400mm, f/5.6 and 1/800 SEC])

Photographing around Red Hill on Saturday, 26 January 2019 - Galahs, choughs and a beautiful female Common Owlfly

Jon Steinbeck January 27, 2019

It was a hot morning walking around Red Hill Nature Reserve. When I started my walk just before 7 AM the temperature was already 24º Celsius and by two hours later, when I finished, the mercury was sitting on 34º Celsius, with very little wind. Red Hill felt, and sounded, quiet. Even the kangaroos were content to stay among the trees rather than out on the grassy areas eating. They also did not bound away as far if I approached, possibly wanting to stay in the cool rather than move into the direct sun. Despite the heat there were birds out, as they still have to live. There were galahs feeding as well as kookaburras. I also became distracted by an insect I learnt was a Common Owlfly. Regardless of the conditions I always enjoy being up on Red Hill and I hope you enjoy the photographs below.

The male and female Gang-gang Cockatoo nestlings looking our of their hollow

Photographing around Red Hill on Saturday, 19 January 2019 - More Gang-gang nestlings and juvenile Grey Fantails

Jon Steinbeck January 20, 2019

Canberra suffered a veritable heatwave this week with several days over 40º Celsius and some relief coming this Saturday in the morning, although the temperature was still in the mid-30s later in the day. Walking around Red Hill Nature Reserve Saturday morning seemed strangely quiet, with what felt like fewer birds than normal. The morning was very overcast so most photos below have a white, cloudy sky as a background. Still, it is always nice to get out for a walk on Red Hill, and I still saw some great sights, as well as enjoying the natural environment. I was really happy to be able to get some photographs to confirm two more Gang-gang nestlings on Red Hill and I also enjoyed my brief time watching a group of Grey Fantails. I hope you like the photographs below.

This female Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo is a stunning bird

Photographing at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve on Friday, 4 January 2019 - Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos and a Rufous Whistler

Jon Steinbeck January 11, 2019

As this was the last weekday of my time off from work I wanted to go somewhere special to photograph, so I decided to make the trip to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. This wonderful gem of nature is an easy 30 minute drive from my house and always worth a visit. I decided to use Daslsetta car park as the centre of my exploring, with a walk eastwards then back westwards towards Tidbinbilla River. I really underestimated how much ground I was going to cover, quickly finding myself running out of time yet still nowhere near the river. There was a lot of birdlife around but the closed canopy made it more of a photographic challenge than a lot of places around Canberra. As always, I enjoyed my time and will be back. I was really happy I went because I saw some marvellous Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, an Australian Hobby flew past and I was also really fortunate to photograph two Yellow-faced Honeyeaters doing a horizontal face-off. A great morning spent in some truly beautiful country, I hope you enjoy the photographs.

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 male Superb Parrot, a truly gorgeous looking bird

Photographing at Red Hill Nature Reserve on Saturday, 5 January 2019 - Superb Parrots are truly superb, always room for Choughs and some interesting insects

Jon Steinbeck January 8, 2019

It was a hot Saturday morning on the Red Hill Nature Reserve, with the temperature already reaching 32º Celsius at 9 AM. May be it was just me but I felt there were less birds around and many of those I did see were sitting quietly in trees, under the canopy where there was shade. Despite the heat it was great to be out. It looked like the Leaden Flycatcher nestlings have fledged as their nest was empty. I also saw an immature Brown Goshawk as well as the truly beautiful Superb Parrots, hence why one of them heads this post. I hope you enjoy the photos.

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.

The female Leaden Flycatcher feeding one of her young

Photographing around Red Hill on Saturday, 29 December 2018 - More possible Gang-gang nesting behaviour and Leaden Flycatchers with their young in the nest

Jon Steinbeck January 1, 2019

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.

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.

Photographing around Red Hill Nature Reserve on Saturday, 22 December 2018 - Gang-gangs, Kookaburras and some amazing insects

Jon Steinbeck December 30, 2018

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.

Photography at STEP, National Arboretum on Wednesday, 19 December 2018 - Fascinating Ravens, cooperative Pardalote and a male Superb Fairy-wren

Jon Steinbeck December 27, 2018

The same person I met on the ‘Understanding Birds’ course, who volunteers at the Australian National Botanic Gardens also volunteers at the National Arboretum. Even though I ride through the Southern Tablelands Ecosystems Park (STEP) at the National Arboretum regularly on my bike I did not realise the plan behind it. The arboretum is attempting to replicate the various ecosystems found at different altitudes within the southern tablelands. While the trees are still young, once they reach maturity the park will be an evermore fascinating place to visit than it is at present. On the day of my visit it was very overcast with rain constantly threatening.

Two of the four Gang-gang Cockatoos I saw in a tree on my way to the meet up

Photographing at Red Hill Nature Reserve on Tuesday evening, 18 December 2018 - Gang-gangs and Tawny Frogmouths

Jon Steinbeck December 25, 2018

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.

A Yellow-rumped Thornbill looking for food

Photographing at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve on Tuesday, 18 December 2018 - Honeyeaters and a Rufous Whistler

Jon Steinbeck December 24, 2018

I am on a break at present, so I thought it would be nice during the school holidays to take my son for a walk in the ever lovely Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. I wanted to visit again to photograph and I thought it would a lovely way to spend a morning. I was not wrong, as the weather was glorious and the wildlife was out and about. I did not plan to finish one of the walks, just follow the trail to a point where we felt we had gone far enough, then turnaround. It can be frustrating for a non-photographer to walk with somebody who always wants to stop to take photographs but my son was very patient. We saw so much birdlife, although it was not always easy to capture birds moving fast through shrubs and trees. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Photographing at the Australian National Botanic Gardens on Sunday, 16 December 2018 - A male Satin Bowerbird and bower

Jon Steinbeck December 23, 2018

I was really fortunate to meet a wonderful person on the ‘Understanding Birds’ course who also works as a volunteer guide at the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG). She offered to take some of us to see a few of the special bird sites at the ANBG, in particular the bower of a Satin Bowerbird. I could not spend long with group but I really appreciated the opportunity to have a walk around the ANBG with someone who could point out where to go to look at birds. I hope you enjoy the photos below.

A White-winged Chough alert to danger from above

Photographing at Red Hill Nature Reserve on Monday, 17 December 2018 - Gang-gangs, Choughs, a Goshawk and some interesting insects

Jon Steinbeck December 20, 2018

As I had been away on Saturday I could not do my usual walk on Red Hill Nature Reserve. I was also busy on Sunday morning at ANBG with a group from the course I attended looking at some things there, I will post about that soon. I am writing this post out of order so I can get my photos up on Canberra Nature Map. This post is not just about my morning walk but, as I was walking to Deakin later in the day, I took my camera with me then as well. It was a very full day with a number of Gang-gangs, bowerbirds, the Brown Goshawk and photographing some insects. I really enjoyed myself and I hope you like the photographs.

Photographing around Nielsen Park and Vaucluse House on Saturday, 15 December 2018 - Sooty Oystercatchers in Sydney

Jon Steinbeck December 19, 2018

I was back in Sydney for a brief stay but I did have time to head out to Nielsen Park and then Vaucluse House to see what birds I could find on an overcast Sydney Saturday morning. While the lighting was not great I was really happy to photograph my first Sooty Oystercatchers, and in Sydney Harbour, amazing! Seeing them made me really happy as they are such beautiful birds even though they are simply coloured and they are also so distinct, you cannot confuse them for other birds. I saw some other very typical birds for the area and I practiced some macro photography with an orb weaver. All said, a really great morning for a day which looked so challenging from a photographic perspective. 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.

Two Sulphur-crested Cockatoos drinking from the wetlands remnants

Photographing at Mulligans Flat Woodland Reserve on Sunday, 2 December 2018 - Pardalotes and a Jacky Dragon

Jon Steinbeck December 11, 2018

I returned to Mulligans Flat Woodland Reserve for more photography, determined I would have enough time to get down to the wetlands in the south. I had been warned the wetlands were very dry, a mere remnant of what they normally are. When I finally arrived at the wetlands, on a very windy morning, I realised just how much they had dried out, with only a long, narrow pond remaining behind the dam wall. I was a little disappointed but if I had not gone I would not have found out about the Floodplain Mussel, which had a number of shells on the drying dam banks. I also did manage to photograph some lovely birds.

The male Gang-gang Cockatoo emerging from the tree hollow

Photographing at Red Hill Nature Reserve on Sunday, 9 December 2018 - Gang-gangs in hollows and nesting Rainbow Lorikeets

Jon Steinbeck December 10, 2018

Usually I walk around Red Hill Nature Reserve early on a Saturday morning but as I was out on Saturday with an ANU Continuing Education course I was attending, I visited Red Hill on Sunday morning instead. (I will write more about the course very shortly, especially our field trip to Mulligans Flat.) I varied my route ever so slightly this morning, as I try to do regularly, which allowed me to see a few more birds than I would have seen on my usual path. Red Hill is such a treasure so close to where I live, it is always worth going for a walk. I hope you enjoy these 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.