As it was my birthday on Friday I managed to get the day off and go birding with my mum. I have wanted to get the Baillon's Crake thats been spotted at North Lakes as well as the leucistic Purple Swamp Hens. The weather was a bit ordinary but still managed to get some nice pics. We searched for about an hour for the Ballion's and was just about to give up when I spotted a guy with a decent lens. I asked him what he was chasing and he told me the Baillon's Crake. I said good luck with that I have been searching for an hour with no luck. He said he had already found it. He was kind enough to show me where. It came out of hiding and wasn' bothered by us at all. He then showed me where the leucistic Purple Swamp Hens were and a few other good spots around North Lakes. I was very pleased to bump into him as he was very helpful and also does a lot of posting on Eremaea. Anyway here are some pics for the morning. Sorry its a bit photo heavy again.
Baillon's Crake - I didn't realise how small these guys were.
Purple Swamp Hen with Leucisim
Normal Purple Swamp Hens
My new best photo of a Azure Kingfisher
Cygnet Triplets
Magpie Geese - I call this one Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil & See no Evil
Little Black Cormorant - Typical Pose
Catch of the day - Australasian Grebe
Double Bar Finch
Welcome Swallow
Wow! Some great shots there and some new species as well.
Samford Valley Qld.
Great set. Nice setting for the Purple swamp hens.
Dave
Sydney
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12185187@N00/
I reckon had you have been able to shoot at eye level with the swamphens in the pink flowers, that would be a winning image in my opinion. That's really a standout!
Nice shots. That reminds me, I should go for a wander down to Metroplex Wetlands and see if the magpie geese are back this year. There was a flock of up to 100 of them down there about this time last year.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Thanks Akos. Unfortunately there was a lot of high grass in front of them so that was as low as I could get from that side.
Maybe next time I'll try to walk around and find a better spot to get down low. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks to the others for your comments. I usually don't take shots of swamp hens any more but this one had such a nice setting to it, I couldn't resist.
Well Devster, get in the water then! Don't be afraid to get wet to get THE shot mate!
Perspective makes ALL the difference! That photo setting has huge potential IMO! For sure.
Great set of photos Devster, love that Crake.
Agree with Akos, Get in the Water!!! :-) :-)
Great set of birds Devster. Some stunning shots in there
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
I agree Rick. In fact if I'd been with him, I would have waited until he was waist deep and then handed my camera to him from the bank so he could get a couple of shots for me as well. No point in the two of us getting wet!
Samford Valley Qld.
whoa, great job. look great!
All excellent photos devster and you stayed dry !!! You don't want to get all wet and dirty when you are out with your mum on your birthday.
Thats a real beauty of the azure kingfisher. Very cute one of the cygnets. I always wondered what the little grebes are after when they go diving - now i know.
Nice work Devster and the spot looks like a beauty, i would bring my fishing waders next time ;)
Link to my Flickr Account
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14869355@N07/
Lol thanks guys. Reflex I was going to invite you next time and give you my camera. lol. It's quite a popular spot for joggers, walkers and most importantly birds!
WD is right I had my mum there and she would have been embarressed. (Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) I do need to get off my butt and build my water hide though.
Thanks again.
Awesome photos. Love the leucistic Swamphen.