Hi Guys!
I'm home again from a 2 and a bit weeks holiday into NSW. So it might take a bit of time to go through my photos to get them up.
Had an amazing time. Saw some country that I have never seen before, which was great!
Anyway to kick things off with me, we saw the new year in at the Goobangs National Park, which is just out of Parkes, NSW.
2 lifers here, plus saw a Tawny Frogmouth fly at dusk which was neat!
1. Spotted Harrier (Lifer)
2. Superb Parrot (Lifer)
3. Noisy Friarbird
4. Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike
5. Blue-faced Honeyeater
6. Tawny Frogmouth
When then spent a couple of days at Dubbo, biked around the Zoo, while looking at the Elephants I noticed a Sacred Kingfisher had a nest in the middle of a dead tree in their space, so it was double delight watching them as well.
7. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
8. Sacred Kingfisher
9. Superb Fairy-wren
10. Yellow-throated Miner
Wow Abby, some fantastic birds in that lot, a few lifers for me! The Superb Fairy-wren is just georgeus, and the Sacred Kingfisher shows some nice habitat. Than you.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks Dale.
From Dubbo we headed to Coonabarabran for a couple of nights.
Got another 2 lifers here. A Red-winged Parrot. What a treat!
11. Red-winged Parrot (Lifer)
12. Inland Thornbill (Lifer)
13. Common Bronzewing
14. Rainbow Lorikeet
15. Grey-crowned Babbler
Plus a couple of non bird photos. :)
So many great photos, love hearing about your trip, only a teeny bit jealous!! :)
The Superb Parrot and Yellow-throated Miner are really super, and the Red-winged Parrot is just FABulous!! And what an amazing capture of the Common Bronzewing - love have you've caught the iridescence on the wings, brilliant!!
Can't wait to see more...I just know there are more to come!!
Thanks for sharing, Abby. Never heard or seen of the red-winged parrot - beautiful!
Thanks Danika and Michael.
We stayed a night at Cobar. Did a walk around a lake there and picked up some more lifers!
16. Little Friarbird
17. Rainbow Bee-eater
18. Australian Raven
19. Diamond Dove (Lifer)
20. Crimson Chat (Lifer)
21. Southern Whiteface (no factsheet)
22. White-browed Woodswallow (Lifer)
23. Crested Pigeon
24. Black-fronted Dotterel
25. Mistletoebird
26. Great Crested Grebe
27. Willie Wagtail
28. Whiskered Tern
29. Striped Honeyeater (Lifer)
30. Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
31. Spotted Bowerbird (Lifer, and no fact sheet)
32. Peaceful Dove
33. Fairy Martin
34. Tree Martin
After Cobar we headed to Lake Cargelligo, spent a couple of days here. Worth a trip if anyone is considering going there.
It was still rather wet from the floods, so it would be interesting going back another time.
The following are from the Wastewater Treatment Ponds. Plus an added bonus we saw while driving to Lake Cargelligo.
35. Black Swan
36. Australasian Grebe
37. Australian Reed-Warbler
38. Black-winged Stilt
39. Singing Honeyeater
40. Hardhead
41. Australasian Shoveler
42. Pink-eared Duck
43. Blue-billed Duck
44. Little Grassbird
45. Variegated Fairy-wren
Wow, Abby, what a great trip and start to the year. I've been awaiting your posts as I noted a couple on ABID. I love that Willie Wagtail shot but so many others as well. This looks to be an exciting year as we all get out again.
Thanks Sue, I quite liked how the Willie Wagtail shot came out too. I'm slowly getting through my photos. It sure is easier going through a day trip worth of photos than a couple of weeks. Thanks for your tips in Lake Cargelligo, really enjoyed our time there.
The following are from Chat Alley and The Weir at Lake Cargelligo and a friends farm which happened to be near the Weir!
46. White-fronted Chat
47. Grey Butcherbird
48. Grey Teal
49. Australasian Darter
50. Latham's Snipe
51. Straw-necked Ibis
52. Plumed Whistling-Duck (Lifer)
53. Zebra Finch (Lifer)
54. Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (No Factsheet)
55. Australasian Pipit
56. Horsfield's Bushlark (Lifer)
57. Glossy Ibis (Lifer)
58. Apostlebird
59. White-faced Heron
60. Yellow-billed Spoonbill
61. White-winged Triller (Lifer)
62. Yellow Thornbill
63. Red-capped Robin
64. White-necked Heron
65. Black Kite (Lifer)
66. Brown Falcon
67. White-winged Fairy-wren (Lifer)
68. Brown Songlark
Agh, I think I need to check in more often, sooooo many birds, so many great photos. It's too hard to choose a favourite, so I will go with the snake - Eastern Brown I presume? Colouring could be a Copperhead, but not sure.
So at this rate, 600 is on the cards, or will you run out of birds?
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Great selection again, Abby. Pleased my tips were of use. How nice to get so many lifers! I love the Brown Songlark... typical stance. Also love the Yellow-billed Spoonbill. Wow, 68 already!
I think your Great Cormorant is actually an Australasian Darter. That broad white stripe is quite distinctive. As this is the first time you have seen one this year then I suggest just editing the post and re-naming it so the numbering stays the same.
Good lord Abby, you had one heck of a trip! What an amazing collection of birds and photos :) I *love* the pics of the Sacred Kingfisher and the Stilts on the wing, and I'm agog at the variety of birds I've never seen or (in some cases) even heard of. But what got me jealous was your Little Grassbird, a bird I hear everywhere but can never see. Well done :)
Thanks everyone, yep we had a great trip. Don't know what the rest of the year will hold for interstate trips, as I really would love to get back to NZ to see family in the next school holidays. (Holidays for us happen only really over school holidays)
Hahaha Dale, I would be happy with 200 birds :o)
The next selection of birds are from Hay to Balranald. Got to see a few Emus while we were driving which was neat.
69. Emu
70. Black Falcon (Lifer)
71. Crimson Rosella
72. Nankeen Kestrel
73. Blue Bonnet
74. Whistling Kite
75. Cockatiel (Lifer)
It was only when I was looking through my photos that I realised that I got a shot of the Cockatiels. I thought it might of been them flying, so rather excited to see that I got a clear photo of them.
A couple of added extras, saw the Green frogs at Lake Cargelligo. And just liked the shot of the Kingfisher.
Another wow, Abby. I love the (Yellow) Crimson Rosella, it is wonderful to see the variety in the sub-species and some nice BIF shots. I also like the bonus frogs and dragonfly. A very successful trip!
Housekeeping; thanks for changing the ID of 49 to Australasian Darter; could you just update the ID of the photo itself to the same please? If you hover over it, the name still comes up as Great Cormorant.
Our second last stop was at Terrick Terrick back in Victoria. Love this for a little bush stop. Found a little waterhole that the birds were drinking from, that was neat to watch.
76. Red-rumped Parrot
77. Brown-headed Honeyeater
78. White-plumed Honeyeater
79. Brown Treecreeper
80. Hooded Robin
81. Diamond Firetail
82. Yellow-rumped Thornbill
83. Dusky Woodswallow
84. Wedge-tailed Eagle
85. Australian Ringneck
I have included a couple of shots of the Australian Ringnecks (Mallee race) throughout our trip.
Love the shot of the Red-rumped Parrot landing and great shots of the Wedge-tailed Eagle. I'll have to check this spot out sometime.
Thanks Sue. Yep worth a visit.
Hopefully this will be my last post from the trip, will have to go through all my photos again to double check I haven't missed any birds.
So we had a couple of nights again at Glenrowan Tourist Caravan Park, and to my excitement I saw the Turquoise Parrot again, and got some better shots.
86. House Sparrow
87. Yellow-faced Honeyeater
88. Red Wattlebird
89. Grey Fantail
90. Turquoise Parrot
91. New Holland Honeyeater
92. Eastern Spinebill
93. White-winged Chough
Amazing love all your parrots and rosellas. Wedgetailed Eagles is another that likes to avoid me. Your Crimson Rosella (Yellow) wouls almost pass as a Tasmanian endemic Green Rosella.
Loving all you photos, keep them coming thanks.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Another great set, Abby. I especially love the Turquoise Parrot and the extra frog/toad (anyone know what species?). You are welll on the way considering we are still in January and you have 11 months to boost that total!
Very inspiring Abby! Some great spots for so many species. I wonder how many shots a day you take at places like Lake Cargelligo, must be mind-boggling going through them.
Far out Abby, you've blown us all out of the water!! You're absolutely killing it after that trip!!! :)
So many amazing birds, so many cool places that you've been, so awesome to see the results, I hope you're super happy with your lens upgrade for this trip! I can see it has helped you get some really great shots.
I still can't get over the Latham's Snipe just standing up there on a log in the open, and the Turquoise Parrot is just stunning!
As for your 100 other birds, just wow as Sue has said! Love all of them! Thanks for sharing :)
So how many lifers is it so far for 2022???
Thanks everyone. I did take my laptop with me, so I tried to everyday go through them at the end of the day so it wasn't such a big task when I got home.
I have found 2 more to add.
94. White-breasted Woodswallow.
95. Little Eagle (Lifer)
So I think that makes 19 Lifers on that trip!
Not sure what has happened, Abby but the photos are not showing on BiB. Did you post them as usual using the Image link icon (4th box) or have you used the link icon (3rd box) instead?
A great total ... 19 lifers in one trip is amazing.
I'm glad you asked Sue! haha I'm trying to figure how to link the image from Flickr. I usually just upload them via the attachment section, but was checking out whether the link from Flickr would be better..
Sooo how exactly do you link it directly from Flickr???
Go to the image in Flickr, right click the download arrow and copy the download link at Medium or Large. Then come to BiB, 4th box from the left has 2 icons and the first is Image. Click that and paste your link into the URL window followed by OK. That should do it.
Thanks Sue! Finally got it.
Love those Woodswalows, and the Little Eagle woul d be new for me. Lots of lifers for me in your collection so far.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Lovely photos, Abby... glad you got it to work.
Wow Abby what a fantastic start to the year you've had! I love all the non bird photos too, the snake in particular, really love seeing snakes and awesome to be able to get a photo. The ones around me slither off too quickly most of the time.
19 lifers in less than a month, that's epic!!
Well done, such an incredible effort to photograph so many birds while you were away and to process so many images both then and now!
Your head must be exploding with all the new species!
You've put in a formidable start for us to catch up with...
Just brilliant. Nice pick up on the Cockatiels, the eagles are all wonderful, but that Chough, oh my!
Thanks everyone. Had a great time!
Now I'm home, so have to visit all the local places.
Had a short walk at the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail last week. Will go back no doubt, probably once my son goes to school.
96. Red-browed Finch
97. Rufous Whistler
Saw this on the side of the track, first time seeing a snake at the Aqueduct Trail.
Then did a little bit of backyard shooting.
98. Long-billed Corella
99. Little Corella
100. Galah
Then just adding this one of a Rainbow Lorikeet, since I quite like it. :)
Wonderful, Abby... I love the portraits from home especially the Long-billed Corella. You have certainly set a cracking pace!
Thanks Sue.
Went and saw some friends down on Phillip Island, the camera came just in case!
101. Musk Lorikeet
102. Cape Barren Goose
Lovely shots, Abby.. love them all. I had a look back at your photos from early last year and your photography has really come along... well done.
Wow Abby, some great photos.Your snake is a Copperhead.
Loving all your photos, thanks.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Holey Moley, turn my back for a week or two and look what happened!
Fabulous set of photos Abby - what a wonderful trip. And as Sue says, your photographs are amazing, a really big improvement - nice! Hard for me to pull out a favourite from 100 birds (!) but youve found and captured some very cool birds of prey. Love all the parrots, especially the Red-winged and Turquoise. Probably woudl most like to see a Snipe though - have never seen one sitting still, have only ever flushed a couple and never managed to ID them properly. So many great birds here :-)
Thanks guys, much appreciated!
Superb parrot portraits, Abby. Lovely details and light.
Love your backyard portraits, so amazing to have such a variety of parrots visiting you, they really are loving your set up there!
What a lovely Rufous Whistler from the aqueduct too! Glad I haven't seen that snake up there, but a great shot :)
On Australia Day, had an wonderful day exploring some of the Western Treatment Plant with Danika and our hubbys.
Wow, this will be a place I need to go back to.
Got a couple more lifers.
103. Common Greenshank (Lifer, unfortunately this one was only noticed when looking over the photos at the end of the day, so I take it that I need to go back)
104. Royal Spoonbill
105. Golden-headed Cisticola - there were a lot of these.
106. Brown Quail (Lifer - was so neat to see a little family of these, sorry photos are a tad fuzzy)
107. Brolga (First time I've seen these since taking up birding, I use to see them a bit when I lived in South West Victoria)
108. Australian Pelican
109. Little Pied Cormorant
110. Black-tailed Godwit (Lifer - no fact sheet)
111. Chestnut Teal
112. Australian Shelduck (There were lots of these here)
113. Musk Duck
114. Red-neck Stint
115. Sharp-taild Sandpiper
116. Swamp Harrier
A couple of extra photos, just because. :)
Just gotta get to the WTP one day, some excellent photos there Abby. I like them all, but particularly to dragonfly type insect, that is just superb. Thanks.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Awesome shots Abby, you sure made the most of the day out at the WTP :) I can see certain similarities to my photos, and some improvements making me wish I posted first! Glad you enjoyed it despite the heat!
Wow, Abby... I just get Alex updated and missed yours. Wonderful set of shots especially love the Pelican series and the Black-tailed Godwits.
The Pelican photos are amazing Abby :) and the shore birds too. That souful extra shot of the Stilt is beautiful.
Some lovely shots Abby! The pelican sequence is really cool, LOVE your stilt isolated on the mirror water. Thanks for posting all those Black-tailed Godwits too - really useful seeing that under-wing and in-flight shots, you can really see the difference to the Bar-tailed there (I'm still looking for a Black-tailed :-) And the damselfly shot is great too :-)
Today, Danika and I went to Wilson's Reserve, Ivanhoe (about 10kms from Melbourne CBD)
I had seen on facebook that there were some sightings of the Azure Kingfisher, so I thought I would try my luck since I have never seen one before. And low and behold we were lucky, we got to see it twice. Watched it fished. What an amazing time!
117. Azure Kingfisher (Lifer!!)
118. Purple Swamphen
119. Magpie-lark
120. Pacific Black Duck
Oh, lovely photos of the Azure Kingfisher, and what a great sighting! You really took advantage - that profile photo is stunning!
Love the Azure, have only seen once, boy they are pretty, and I did not realize how small they are. Bonus to score another lifer, and so close to home. I bet you will go back for another look if you get the chance. I would be ther almost every day!
Your turing out some top quality shots, you must be happy so far.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Beautiful photos Abby, what a gorgeous little bird and the rest are great also. I do like the duckling with green beads on its beak!
What a gorgeous little duckling! And the Azure Kingfisher is stunning, I have never seen one. The treatment plant seems like a great spot, I also love the dragon fly pic :-)
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