Beaches & Islands

Birds

Plover with Two Chicks: A plover protecting it's two young chicks that have just recently hatched.

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Angry Magpie: For some reason this Magpie has an angry look in its eye!

Baby Plover: My family refer to the Plover chicks as “Fluff Balls”. Every breeding season the Plovers nest and their little babies walk through the yard. This one is having a drink from a nearby rainwater gutter on the street. Look out for cars mate!

Black Cockatoo Incoming: A small flock of Black Cockatoos were circulating in the backyard and I was lucky to grab some great shots as they flew overhead.

Black Cockatoo Landing: A small flock of Black Cockatoos were circulating in the backyard and I was lucky to grab some great shots as they flew overhead, with this one coming in to land.

Brown Honeyeater Acacia: A Brown Honeyeater, doing what its namesake suggests and eating some pollen from the flowering Acacia trees in my backyard as we come into spring.

Corella: The Little Corella is quite common locally and sometimes called the Bare-Eyed or Blue-Eyed Cockatoo. They don’t squawk quite as much as a full size Sulfur Crest though, so there’s that…

Corellas In Flight: Two Corellas flying in formation.

Crow In Flight: I don’t really find Crows interesting - they’re actually annoying scavengers but they can be graceful in flight, so there’s that.

Galah Stretching: Galahs go crazy over the seeds falling from some nearby trees. This one seems very content…

Galahs Feeding: A large flock of Galahs having an afternoon snack at the local Cricket Grounds.

Magpie Feeding His Child: A Magpie father feeds his juvenile a nice juicy bug. You can always tell the juvenile Magpies with their greyish feathers but also their incessant yapping (children of most animal seem to be good at saying…‘feed me, feed me…’) and the pure white nape (back of their neck) is the giveaway for a Male Magpie. Nice to see Magpie fathers stepping up and feeding the kids.

Magpie Taking Off: I have an affinity for Magpies. They’re very misunderstood birds in Australia, which many hating them when they swoop as you walk or ride past their nests beside roadways and parks. They have generational learning meaning at some point in the past in their family tree, one of them was treated badly by a human and now they’ve learned to hate humans. We have some that regularly visit us in our yard and they come up to us very close and are very chatty and friendly. This one is just launching from a fenceline.

Manorina Melanocephala on a Fence: “Manorina Melanocephala” are most commonly called Noisy Miners. This once wasn’t being particularly noisy, just sitting on the fence.

Osprey Nesting: Osprey’s are one of those beautiful coastal birds, often confused with Eagles they only hunt fish and have a smaller, flatter bill compared to an Eagle. I spotted this beauty when I was waiting for my sons soccer game to start. Nesting high on a lighting tower and carrying another large grass stem for their nest.

PeeWee Up Close: PeeWee up close.

Trio of Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos: I love Black Cockatoos and the Yellow-tails are just beautiful! I was lucky to grab three of them as they flew overhead during a game of cricket, in the usual V-like formation (or half of one) you’d expect more from ducks.

Willie Wagtail: Always just called these jumpy little birds “Wagtails” but their full colloquial name is actually a “Willie Wagtail”. They jump around a lot and use their longer tails to keep balance. It’s mesmerising to watch.

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