Hi everyone
Apologies for not getting this topic up yesterday but we are ready to go now. Its the start of summer - so lets see photos under the theme of 'hot, hot, hot'. It might be birds trying to stay cool, or looking hot, it could be dry conditions. I will leave it up to you!
Hot and dry conditions in Qld, that covers just about every photograph for the last four months!
This juvenille Blue-faced Honey eater didn't appear altogether happy with me for some unknown reason.
Samford Valley Qld.
This guy was trying to cool down the other day at Mudgee.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
I thought when they did that they were sunbaking! Wouldn't it just go in the shade to cool down?
Eastern Spinebill cooling off at bird bath
enjoying the shade whist doing some home cleaning.
Female Satin Bowerbird grabs a bit of shade whilst scavenging for morsels of food at the picnic area.
Samford Valley Qld.
This Honey Eater was keeping cool in a shade tree while feeding her young.
Rob.
Very nice Whistling Duck. I missed one of these in the back yard today. Dont see them very often in Albury.
Rob.
wow- purple eye...never noticed before.
great shot
Thanks Robwill - yours is a great photo of the BF honeyeater. I have not seen one of those.
It reached 42.8 degrees Celsius the day I took this photograph and this bird was sitting on her one egg. It must have been uncomfortable.
Samford Valley Qld.
Thanks Whistling Duck. They are common in this area especially at the kids parks where they are well fed. This one was in the tree in my backyard feeding baby. Here is junior BF honey eater.
by robwill4, on Flickr
Rob.
Is that at the carpark at Walk about creek?
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
It was suggested i post one of my shots of Galahs having a sprinkle, so here it is!
Another pic of a Crow, panting in the heat, on the road at Barclay Highway, stinking hot!
No it was on Mt Glorious road, only about 100 metres from the Caltex.
Samford Valley Qld.
Apologies for the poor quaility of the picture, after all the splendid posts above, but I wondered if anybody might be able to shed some light on it.
It was certainly a hot day - some years ago now - and it first I thought the poor old maggie might be ill. I often see them wandering about with open beaks in hot weather, but it was unusual to see it apparently asleep out in the open, on the ground, and with what looked like an odd head position. I took several quick snaps through the window, and in one you could see what looked like a membrane or eyelid of some kind across the eye. But it also looked 'asleep' even when the eye appeared open. After several minutes in that position it stood up and flew off, apparently refreshed.
It does look hot though..
Magpie's do some strange things Chris - many times I've had them just lying flat in the sun on hot days then getting up and wandering around the front yard and in the bird bath. Once a parent was pecking at a juvenile that was also lying on the ground. Curious.
Yes, that's true. :-) The magpies that live in this area have been a constant source of pleasure to us for over our 27 years here. Very confident, full of character, friendly, nosey even, and such a wonderful range of song and 'conversation'. Watching the way they order their lives, organise their pecking order, post sentries, interact with other birds, etc is always worth watching, even though we've seen it hundreds of times before.
I took this one yesterday, having a drink. Hot? Well the magpie seemed to think so.
As usual, the water was being flicked up in the air in order to catch some in the beak. What looked like a plentiful spray of water drops was being tossed up At least I could see it, but my timing was obviously off as the camera failed to spot it - except for this picture which did catch a modest couple of spots! Maybe I need to (heaven forbid!) Read The Instructions in the manual and find out how to do bursts. Should catch something in one of them... So much to learn. Which, of course, is where half the fun is...