Whilst in Bright at the weekend, I was watching my dogs cool off in the river at Porpunkah and noticed a flurry of activity on the far bank. I thought it was birds fighting at first, then (after squinting a while) I realised it was a group of Welcome Swallow chicks sitting on a branch being fed on the wing by Mum. Now bearing in mind there was about 5 chicks who she fed in turn every 5 minutes or so and it was 29 degrees...she was working pretty hard.
So, never one to pass up an opportunity I waded into the river up to my waist with my camera mounted on a monopod, with quite a strong current threatening to whisk me away from the slippy rocks and over the waterfall, this was my reward...
Thier behaviour was fascinating, I had my camera focused on them waiting for the 'feeding frenzy' and even though I couldn't see her I knew when she was in thier view, they switched from quietly sunning and preening themselves to this screeching, demanding, wide-open-beaked group of chicks, ME, ME, ME!!
I must have been in the water for about an hour, and all this activity going on oblivious to kids playing, shouting, dogs barking, people swimming etc etc. I'm guessing a few people said 'hey look at the crazy woman in the water taking pictures' ..probably right ...I came out and found I had a very sick,waterlogged mobile phone in my shorts pocket, ah well... no pain no gain!
and one more
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best
Beautiful Hev, well done. You are obviously a very dedicated birder. Like you , I am always amazed at how their little lives just carry on in the trees oblivious to our hustle and bustle. I think I should get a monopod. Half the problems I have are from camera/lens movement. ( and impatience)
Cheers
birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
What a fabulous set of images, thank you for sharing, and sacrificing your mobile in the getting thereof and what a commitment to getting the shot, you are legend in my books …
Sometimes I do wonder how people can be so completely oblivious to the noise and energy and sometimes the drama of young fledglings. I like that quote from somewhere (might have been Sean Dooley’s -The Big Twitch) that “bird watching is 4/5ths listening”.
Cheers!
VJ
Thanks Birdie, I use my monopod a lot, and I think the more I've used it the quicker I've got at setting it up, I've found it a real bonus for me and my shaky hands....especially when attached to two naughty kelpies!
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best
Hey Vern, thanks for that...a legend eh? I like that!
The book you mentioned... I now have it on order from the library, thanks for the tip:)
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best
Great shots, great story. Thanks for sharing.
Ed Townsville NQ
Awesome shots Hev. Well done indeed and thanks for sharing the story with us as well. As for the monopod birdie i made my own solid monopod from the bottom half of an old surf fishing rod and the thread from the bottom end of a broken tripod from the op shop. I use the head off my tripod on that. A bit unconventional but so was the price and the birds don't care how DIY it looks.
See Yez
Trev
Top stuff Hev, really nice shots.
As for the phone, hmmmm I won't say to much as thats something I would do....lol.
Hi Amateur, just uploaded these again to flickr, and the mobile phone fate is explained!!
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best