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Australian (NSW) birds - update 27th Sept. 2020

HAZY
02/01/2020 16:14

My brother from Australia sent me through a lot more photos of the birdlife in his area of New South Wales;   some are same species you have already seen from his previous photos (but different shots)  and there are some new bird species we haven't seen as well.    As there are a lot of pics I will download them in batches a few at a time;   fortunately he has named the species for us which makes my life a lot easier  lol      Having seen these photos,  I think a trip to Australia is now moving up the list    ha ha !!        

You will have seen the recent news of serious and extensive bush fires currently around Australia (particularly NSW and Victoria) which has had a serious impact not only on humans, property, habitat but also the wildlife.    We were living there (but holidaying in UK) when the last devastating/fatal bush fires occurred in Victoria (Black Sunday - February 2009)  which destroyed my brother's previous residence in Victoria;    so I will start with a photo of his old house from 2009  (he had moved from there just over a year before this fire took place and after he moved to NSW)  but knowing his old house so well it was sickening to see there was nothing left of it - except the remnants of the washing machine and the bathtub.     I remember when Mike and I re-varnished the decking area for my brother which gave such superb views of the Yarra Valley beneath and there was nothing left as the fire has swept up from the valley below with such ferocity.  These fires spread so quickly you have to ensure you evacuate well in time as even a car often can't outrun the speed of these fires as they are so often accompanied by strong winds :(     

You can probably make out the view we used to have down to the Yarra Valley beneath...…   it was even more spectacular when you stood on the decking towards the back of the property.

 

Now for more pleasant memories and the New South Wales birdlife:  

I have to start with this enchanting little Wren that just made me smile when I saw it  !!        A Red-backed Fairy-wren

the always popular Kookaburra which is a member of the Kingfisher family of birds.

Dollarbird    -   it looks oddly out of proportion ! 

Blue-faced Honeyeater 

Cuckoo-shrike  

Eastern Rosella 

Eastern Spinebill 

more to come after a cuppa  !!    there will be eagles, ospreys, godwits and other amazing birds ……..

  • 03/01/2020 15:35 in reply to Noisette

    Thanks all,    I sent my brother a new 100-400mm lens and 1.4x  about  year ago and he kept to his promise to take more photos of the birds for us   !!    

    Hazel C said:
    must run in your family, fabulous photographs.

    I was a very late newcomer to photography and curse the fact I only started about 8 years ago as I lived in so many amazing countries where I could have been taking pics !     My brother is a photographer by profession, starting in local Cheshire area and then ending up on cruise ships sailing the world taking passenger photos and meeting many celebrities including Rock Hudson and "friends" who were on one of the American area cruises  (have the photo to prove it too  lol )     He started his hobby at the age of 14 years and used to develop his black and white photos at home and it all escalated from there ending up married to a lovely Aussie girl, having their family and running a photo-lab,  bringing back to life tatty old photos people brought in and taking various photos for commercial brochures, property market, etc..      I just wish we lived in the same country as I would love to travel around his area of NSW with him taking bird and wildlife photos and besides …. I miss him and the family heaps as the Aussies would say  !     Maybe once we are settled into our new place next year we can put a visit on the plans.    

    I found another couple of photos of the white-bellied Sea Eagle 

     

    Red-browed Firetail 

  • 03/01/2020 16:07
    What an amazing variety of colourful birds, Hazel, and your brother has captured them so well. Once you've settled in to your new apartment you must surely make plans for a visit, not just to see the birds but your family as well.
    It's interesting to see that some birds are ubiquitous; namely the Turnstone and Bar-tailed Godwit. I think I've also seen Richard's Pipit in Europe but I can't remember where
    I think my favourite has to be the Bee-eater - sensational looking little bird.
  • 03/01/2020 16:20
    Beautiful extras Hazy, I'm glad to see the Spotted Turtledove is over there hopefully doing better than over here. I will have to second TJ in voting for the Rainbow Bee-eater - I could only imagine such colour in one bird.
  • 03/01/2020 16:38
    Thanks all, he gets some amazing birds and wildlife in his large garden including that a large Lace Monitor lizard I put up on the forum a few months ago which was searching for birds eggs; the only creatures I'm not so fond of are the many venomous snakes - the next door neighbour to my brother had a death Adder on their doorstep a couple of years back ! Was always a bit wary of snakes when I moved to Australia so I visited an event at a local shopping mall where a snake wrangler had lots of different species on view (venom removed !) so we could handle them ! Even after the event I still wasn't a fan of them and it did little to allay my fear although I guess we just got used to spiders and snakes when I resided there and didn't think much about them; always had to remember to shake boots out for spiders and never put our hand into shrubs without checking first !
  • 03/01/2020 16:45 in reply to TeeJay
    Unknown said:
    I think I've also seen Richard's Pipit in Europe but I can't remember where

    Maybe it was Portugal or Spain  Tony.        

    Unknown said:
    I think my favourite has to be the Bee-eater - sensational looking little bird.

    Mine too !      I think these are summer migrants from China that he sees.  

  • 03/01/2020 17:56

    We get them (Pipit de Richard) around here from during the winter (september to april) although I've not seen one. They are quite rare, bigger than the usual pipits I think.

  • 03/01/2020 21:59

    Hope your brother and his family remain safe from the fires. That is a fabulous collection of birds, Hazel--thanks ever so much to your brother for taking the photos and to you for taking the time to post them for the rest of us! Thanks especially for the birds of prey and particularly for the Osprey pics--lol! As for the fish, it is always wise to carry a snack with you as a fall back if you should begin to feel a bit peckish. The Brolga is one of the Cranes which is listed as of Least Concern, but the Australian fires may well change that. See here for the entry for them on the International Crane Foundation's website: www.savingcranes.org/.../. That excellent organisation is involved in Crane conservation all over the world. The Masked Lapwing looks as though it has investigated the bottom of a tin of yellow paint and the Oystercatcher looks like it has sunburnt legs! I also love the Spotted Turtle Dove. Anyone living in or near Hampshire can see Sacred Ibis at the Hawk Conservancy Trust (I know, they are not birds of prey but they are used in the summer season finale of their 'Wings of Africa' demonstrations).

  • 04/01/2020 07:47
    Thanks Hazel, hope you get to see a Richard's Pipit in France one day
    and Ann, thank you for the Crane Foundation site link; I hope the more endangered species of Australia have not been impacted too seriously after the all the fires but very worrying that so much habitat for birds/wildlife has been lost displacing a lot of animals. Guess only time will tell if numbers recover; it is horrible to think of creatures like the Koala that would not have been able to escape as their instinct would be to climb higher in the tree and curl up into a ball :( doesn't bear thinking about the devastation and hope people around the world can contribute to assisting the recovery process for all the wildlife as I'm sure Australia will need all the aid it can get. If this is a sign of the future and climate change then politicians and citizens around the globe will have to put actions/remedies on fast forward if we are to survive for centuries to come.
  • 04/01/2020 16:47
    Thank you Hazel, and your brother for the beautiful photographs. It is lovely to see all hot different species from another country, and beautiful they are. I hope your family will be safe from this horrid fires that are raging in Australia. It is so sad to see and hear about, also the terrible loss of all the wildlife.
  • 04/01/2020 17:31
    Thanks CL and Bob, the current bushfires in some of the small towns mentioned on the news in Victoria are in places we are very familiar with as they are areas we had visited when coastal fishing so can picture the small towns they are talking about; it's hard to take in the news and photos coming out of NSW and Victoria - it's devastating to say the least but Aussies are a very stoical nation and battle on despite the challenges. Everyone living in Aussie are encouraged to have a fire or cyclone evacuation plan in case of such events as these days you can never predict where catastrophe can occur and both cyclones and bushfires are faster than you could ever imagine when they spread. Thankfully my brother and family seem to be unaffected in their area although they have had to be on standby to evacuate a couple of times during the last month. The main problem is the general lack of normal rainfall that they should get making the ground a tinderbox.