Noisy M's final quiet appearance

Noisy Miners, Tasmania and NSW (+ an Australian Magpie)

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Photographic memory: New Holland Honeyeater (20)

New Holland Honeyeater, Tasmania

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Photographic memory: Little Wattlebird

Little Wattlebird, Tasmania

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Little Wattlebird and other random images

As we steadily progress towards the final post in this bloG, I'm trying to go through all my old photos and find any images from the last year that are worth posting.

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Lewin's Honeyeater

First and only encounter: Lewin's Honeyeater, NSW

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New Holland Honeyeaters

New Holland Honeyeaters, NSW

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Photographic memory: Black-headed Honeyeater

On 25 Dec 2008, early in the morning I went to Knocklofty for a walk. I knew there wouldn't be many people and the birds would do their usual morning routines. I spotted some rarer species that day, but didn't get many good photos. A series of such is this busy Black-headed Honeyeater feeding its two newly-fledged chicks. They didn't really pay much attention to me, but no matter how I tried to move around, there were always leaves and branches between them and the lens...

Black-headed Honeyeater, Tasmania

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The window

The apartment I live in at the moment is on the fifth floor, but the building is on a hill. That's why the view out of the window is quite spectacular. During clear days I can even see the silhouettes of Blue Mountains, or at least that's what I think they are.
I don't feed birds too often, but every now and then when I realize that there is excess in the supply of bananas, grapes or oranges, I get helpers on board.

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Noisy M -- brave, aggresive and loud!

We all know that Noisy Miners are sociable, brave, territorial and aggressive. But how brave exactly? Photos like this one show something more than the standard 'squeak! squeak!'-and-fly-away behavior. This little bird was chasing two big Ravens high in the sky and for a long distance. I can only speculate on whether the Ravens had previously threatened or raided Noisy M's nest, but it is a fact that agility, braveness and support among family/community members make them a very successful species.

Noisy Miner attacking a pair of Australian Ravens, NSW

I wish I had more time to just watch the sky with a camera in hands. A lot of interesting action is going on there all the time. I also wish this image had less noise. Tried to remove some of it, but with very limited success...

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Three predators

Three different birds in one afternoon decided to demonstrate how they catch and eat their prey. All this only a couple of meters away from me and the camera. At times I thought that somehow I have become invisible.

above: Noisy Miner, Sydney

There are quite many images in the Heron series, but unfortunately he caught the fish facing away from the camera. I could have asked for a second take, I guess...

above: White-faced Heron, Sydney

By the time this Kookaburra caught her worm the sun was very low and the light was insufficient. I had to lower the shutter speed to get decent exposure and the moving parts got blurry. Still, I decided to publish the last image as it shows certain expression.

above: Laughing Kookaburra, Sydney

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More Brushes :D

The wildlife photographer should be always ready to use unexpected opportunities. I was looking at a group of White Cockatoos, having the camera set for ultra bright high-contrast targets, when this curious Little Wattlebird came close to inspect me. It was very unexpected, but apparently my reaction has been quite adequate as I got some nice crisp correctly-exposed images. As you know with Wattlebirds, they never stay long in one place, so it was all very quick. The nicest surprise was the second photo, illustrating the end of the inspection. The focus is just right and the moment is beautifully frozen.

Little Wattlebird, Tasmania

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Brush Wattlebirds

According to my field guide there is difference between Brush and Little Wattlebirds. Little have red eyes. I have never seen Little and, I guess, some Tasmanian bloggers call the Brush Wattlebird a Little Wattlebird by mistake.

Brush Wattlebird, Tasmania

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[edit - 19 Feb 2009] My curiosity was triggered by Gouldiae's comment below, so I decided to do some research online about the name of this and the other Wattlebird. Here is what Wikipedia says on the matter: "The Little Wattlebird (Anthochaera chrysoptera), also known as the Brush Wattlebird, is a honeyeater, a passerine bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in coastal and sub-coastal south-eastern Australia. It was formerly lumped with the Western Wattlebird (Anthochaera lunulata), which is restricted to Western Australia."
In my field guide (Slater Field Guide) the Anthochaera chrysoptera is called Brush Wattlebird, while the Anthochaera lunulata is called Little Wattlebird. I think my field guide is wrong in this case, so my argument at the beginning of the post is wrong too.
Little and Brush are the same, while there is a separate species called Western Wattlebird which has the red eye. I found a good photo illustrating this.

I needed a macro lens!

I was hiding under a shelter from the drizzle while trying to photograph a Magpie. My bag was on a bench next to me when suddenly I realized a sticky beak was around :D LOL, it was too close for my telephoto lens to get a good focus. And I didn't have time to step back.

Noisy (I should say nosy!) Miner, Tasmania

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Yellow-throated Honeyeater

There were some beautiful small birds among the Wallabies yesterday. This Yellow-throated Honeyeater was curious to investigate what the cameras were and came quite close to have a look.

Yellow-throated Honeyeater, Tasmania

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Yellow Wattlebird

Even though they are quite common here, Yellow Wattlebirds are so restless and hard to photograph that I have to live with photos like the two below if I want to have some of them 'visit' this blog. I just haven't had luck with them at all :( The first picture shows a young bird looking at its mum and the second one shows the mum just finished feeding it - all from the wrong angle.

Yellow Wattlebird, Tasmania

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