Managed to get to Liffey Falls over the weekend a spot that I've been meaning to go to for quite some time. Liffey Falls is in the Liffey Falls State Reserve which is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area.
Was all a little last minute and spur of the moment, which meant we were there at the worst time of day, for birding and photography that is. I don't know the exact number of recorded bird species in the area, but from what I can estimate from others' accounts, perhaps as many as 70+. We saw four species 
- SFW's, Brown & Tassie Thornbills and one lone Pink Robin. Heard many more, but yes only saw four. And while they were amongst my very favourites, three of them are not exactly hard to spot elsewhere.
All that aside, the sheer natural beauty of the place, the smells and sounds and sights, really I don't think there could be a bad time of day to be there overall to enjoy nature at her best. Definitely worth a few more visits for us!
Pink Robin (Male)
This little guy was absolutely full of himself. Quite happy to bounce around on the car, one minute admiring his own reflection, the next faking an argument with his "rival" self. He spent more time with his back end facing me, but managed to get a few shots.
.
Spent a while just before we left being entertained by a family of around eight Superb Fairy-wrens. As far as I could tell, a dominant male & female, four juvenile females, and two subs. No doubt as to who wore the pants in that family, with Dad keeping a sharp eye & voice on the youngsters for the most part.
Here are two of the littles, with Dad & Mum to follow.
Female Superb Fairy-wren Juveniles
One very round, Male Superb Fairy-wren
Female Superb Fairy-wren
Beautiful photos, all of them, Annie. That is a place I always meant to go when I lived in Tas. but somehow never got there.
Des
Seems to be the way with me too Des. Five years + here and I've barely even been anywhere. Hoping that is changing now though. So many beautiful places to see Australia wide, so little time (and money
)
West Coast Tasmania
Such beautiful photos ..... I have never seen a pink robin , and that makes me wish I lived in Tassie
Sounds like beautiful place to go for the day and even if they were the only shots you got ...wow ... I'd be very happy with seeing them in the wild like that .... I don't know how everyone manages to get so close to wrens...... they just do not stay around for me at all
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Thanks birdie! I am hearing you about Wrens, and a whole heap of other little birds, haha. My pants would be on fire if I said these ones were particularly hard to photograph though. The female, I took out of the window of my car, so my car was my hide. And the male and young ones, well, they were all pretty much going around in a rather large circular pattern, so I waited huddled in one spot for them to get back around near to me. To be honest, I think these guys were relatively easy, compared to ones I've tried to capture right in the middle of the bush (i.e. not a touristy spot) and the seaside Wrens, as I call them - sheesh, those last ones, they will not come near me!
West Coast Tasmania
No mistaking that Pink Robin Annie, he is a brilliant colour and your shots are all soooo sharp! Must get back to Tassie for a few weeks to enjoy some of the best country in Aus. What camera, lens and set up are you using to get tack sharp shots?
Beautiful photos Annie... makes me so jealous!
Just love the Pink Robin pics.
Great pics .... robin has lovely soft colours
Superb shots, all of them. Lovely
Absolutely fabulous photos! The wrens are darling...but that pink robin is just outstanding. :)
OMG how sharp are these photos ??????? My goodness that pink robin is soooo pink . We don't get them here in W.A. I think i need to update my camera or learn so different camera skills . Those wrens look as though they are well fed, that male is so round and fluffy . Outstanding photos as always Annie , keep them coming.
Kerry - Perth, Western Australia.
You're not on your own there shoop!!
Des
I used my Nikon D800 & 80-400mm lens for these shots Mitzy.
West Coast Tasmania
Thanks everyone.
Yep, he was pinker than most I've seen shoop, almost oversaturated in the "feather", as was the rainforest he was in
. Other shots I've got of these guys, a couple earlier last month, are a little paler - and some from last year are all depths of different pinks and slate greys-black. Perhaps it has something to do with their age, their different colour depths in the pinks and almost black I mean? Don't know, interesting though.
West Coast Tasmania
Would that be the 80-400 AF-S
Yes, that's the one sparrow, AF-S 80-400 G.
West Coast Tasmania
IMO the best lens in the nikon range makes the old version (which I own) look like a paper weight
Wonderful shots Annie :)
You have brought out the real character and beauty of these little birds.
The new 80-400 is certainly a great lens, besides in lower light - but the D800 (and most newer bodies) can help offset that problem. As you've shown here. Well done. :)
I have to say, after only a week, I am rather fond of the D800/80-400 combo - if it were legal I may actually consider marrying them.
. Having lots of fun though.
You're spot on with your comment re lower light Galah. This lens plays very nicely with my D7100 too, but I sometimes felt I was "stuck" on f5.6 when light was low, even with that body. That may just reflect my relative lack of experience/human error though. Having said that, I have definitely noticed a difference in low light with this combo. Above shots were taken in a fairly dim rainforest, on a rainy day and all of them were at ISO's of around 3200. Taken in RAW cropped and converted, pretty much no pp done - I think two I may have sharpened by a couple of clicks. Although they're not the smoothest/best bokeh that's more my learning curve I suspect than the gear combo, and I was still impressed as fairly big crops too. Overall, I was pretty encouraged to say the least, with handling of low light, noise, sharpness etc.
West Coast Tasmania
The bokeh will depend largely on how far away any background objects are from the subject - as you can see the quite nice blurred background on the male Fairy-wren. Often the case when these birds sit up nice and high on a shrub with nothing close behind them. :) Also the background on the first Pink Robin shot is great! But of course, we are looking more at the birds than the bg. :)
I would love a D800e (no AA filter) for these situations (not BIF though, 4fps is too slow), but will stick to the trusty D7100. Even that can be used up to ISO 3200 if you handle the exposure well. Nothing compares to a full frame body though (oneday I might be lucky to get one!). :)
Ah yes, I probably should have just stuck with saying that I was impressed at the lack of noise with a heavy crop
And yes, most definitely it is the bird at centre stage, noise (or less of it) is just a personal goal I have set for myself...along with nailing bif, and using my histogram to understand exposure better, exposing to the right and and..the list goes on...but so does the fun I guess!
West Coast Tasmania
What a very informative exchange between you, Galah and Sparrow Annie. Thank you all, I am never sure if an audience wants this level of info but to learn how to improve our photo's we have to appreciate what circumstances surrounded shot's as good as these. I also have the 80-400 "married" to my D7100 and it is a vast improvement over my previous camera combo's. However, shots like these are stil hard to get in the wild, so well done you! When I have a spare $20K I will get an 800E and fixed apeture Nikon 600mm, a couple of Converters, a macro and..... I dream a lot!