Last weekend i had an extra day off and decided to make my first trip to the Capertee Valley NSW. Wow. What a place. The quality of birding there can not be overstated, the diversity of bird life was astounding. Just when you think that you can't possibly tick off any more birds it throws another one at you! I was even lucky enough to find the crown jewels of the valley - a flock of 5 Regent Honeyeaters including a healthy juvenile bird! Another highlight was a pair of Plumed Whistling Ducks which has been suggested by some staff from BirdLife that it is possibly the first confirmed sighting for the valley! Conditions were very ordinary for photography most of the weekend, overcast and glary, but here are some of the better shots from the trip.
Juvi Hooded Robin
Jacky Winter
The best photo I could manage of a Regent
Wow, it sounds awesome! I have got to get there one day. Nice shots, the Jacky Winter shot is very good.
Does look like you had a cracker day and you've gotten some great pics. Even though the Regent is not as good as you would like, I bet it still holds a fond memory. I have one of the Black-Eared Cuckoo that is crap but the memory of getting 10 new birds for the day and seeing it is still worth it.
It's funny you said the condidions were overcast and I can see that in the Regent Honeyeater shot but the first few look like there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
What an amazing experience! Sounds like there are plenty of birds and wildlife!
...Awsome photos! I love the Echidna pic by the way.
This is one place that is definitely going on my bucket list ;p
M.M.
Yeah it was a great buzz to see them. I did get a few hours of nice sunshine on the Sunday morning before it came over cloudy, which was when I got these few good shots. All in all, a great weekend's birding.
LM
Well done, LM. You got a great variety and some great shots as well. I really need to go up to the valley soon, would love to tick the Regent.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Nice shots, and seems like a place to go on my wish list :)
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Nice range of birds and animals and only 1200klm away from me! :-)
Lovely set of shots Snail
Love your photos!
Thank you for sharing them with us.
And you have answered a question I had about a bird I caught a glimpse of today at home. It flew into some young gum trees in flower and by the time I could locate it with the camera it took off. I now know I saw a regent honeyeater at our house and that excites me immensely. It is only recently that I learned the regent honeyeater has been sighted in our area but I never held any hope of seeing one.
Now for the challenge of getting a photo of it.
Happy Birding!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138588528@N02/
Wow that's fantastic news! Where do you live? If you are 100% confident that it was a Regent Honeyeater that you saw, you should report your sighting to Eremaea Birdline and an accompanying email to Mick Roderick, who works on BirdLife Australia's Regent Honeyeater recovery team. Any sighting is very significant. His email is
Also, the birds often stick around for days/weeks/months if there is a reliable source of nectar (your flowering gum trees), so keep your eyes peeled and camera at the ready. If you catch another glimpse of the bird, check straight away for the presence of any coloured bands on the bird's legs and make a note of the colours. Here is a guide
http://birdlife.org.au/documents/WB-If-you-see-a-Regent-Honeyeater.pdf
If you can ID the trees too, thats an important detail.
LM
Wow, great haul of birds and photos and very cool about the Regent Honeyeater sightings. Interesting reading about the banding system etc, too. I'd not thought too deeply into how bands are used but I can now see how useful they are for tracking movements etc. Thanks for sharing it all. I like learning a bit while appreciating the photos!
On another note, the non-bird photos are great too. Nice work getting the shot on those two. I'm ok with snakes, but when I'm out on my own they give me the willies just a bit too much to get down at ground level and take a shot like yours.
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Mike
https://flic.kr/ps/aF4bq
Quality set of photographs there Liam and some good information about the banding. I'm with detritus about the snakes though, not much chance of me getting down low while one of those is around but it has made a great shot for you.
Samford Valley Qld.
Yep! I tried it once, made a mess of the photos and later thought "Whelp, that doesn't feel like it was worth the stress!"
Maybe next time will play out differently.
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Mike
https://flic.kr/ps/aF4bq
Really like the kestrel and the 2nd cockatoo photo.
Barney.