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Antipodean adventures in Bird watching: Part 4


Where do I start?

I saw over 75 types of birds and shot hundreds (and hundreds) of photographs. So what do I include in this little blog so you, dear reader, aren’t bored to death?


Well I’ve decided to start with some of my favourites, some favourite birds and some favourite shots including some I’m actually quite proud of.

This little beauty is a Superb Fairywren which has become one of my new favourites. I had seen pictures of them, postcards, coasters… but was beginning to despair that I would ever see one, let alone take a picture of one. Of course that changed and having seen and shot one, I started to see them much more regularly.


From a new favourite to an old favourite. I have always liked birds of prey for their power and grace and for me top of the pile are the eagles, so they were high on my wish list (not just high in the sky). I got to see some and took some reasonable shots, and then on Rottnest Island got to see one of their nests although it had finished being used.


Australian bird naming was an interesting discovery not only names like the Superb Fairywren but also names like Willie Wagtail. There is something very direct and humorous in their approach.


However, when it came to naming how one bird could go from being 'sacred' to being a ‘bin chicken’ was another interesting discovery.

The Sacred Ibis as it is properly known is almost uniformly called a 'bin chicken' by all Australians who know it is as a scavenger at outdoor cafés, in bins and of your picnic if you’re not careful.



In the end, I was somewhat torn as finding their appearance both exotic but not actually that attractive. However in the right setting they can be both exotic and beautiful

But I will leave you and ibises with this a shot, one I really like

And then to prove how much I like that shot (but that my painting skills leave a lot to be desired) - here is my watercolour of the scene

So, given it's Australian birds we are talking about, there are perhaps 4 others I have to mention. The first which I did find sitting in an old gum tree and was of course the Kookaburra.


Related to our kingfishers – they are definitely their noisy cousins as I was woken up by them ‘laughing’ at 4 or 5 in the morning on numerous occasions.


Another Aussie inhabitant which could perhaps have been called a 'bin turkey' as it is larger than the Ibis but in some places as much of a scavenger and nuisance. It is the Emu.

Now they can be a strange looking birds.

What a hair-do!


Two other birds must make the list – the Corella, a cockatoo with a pinkish tinge. Another noisy bird and when congregating in the evening they really did make a racket



And what for me is another Australian classic, the Rainbow Lorikeet or Linoiini – one of the many different types of multi-coloured parrots I saw time after time, and another bird that would often flock together



These shots are included just because I personally really like them









Finally those of you who like detail, the table below I think captures all of the different types of birds I saw


A


B

Butcher Bird

- Grey

- Pied

Brush Turkey

Blackbird

Bowerbird

- Satin bowerbird

Bellbird (New Zealand Bellbird)


C

Cormorant (shag)

- Little black

- Pied/black faced

Cockatoo

- Sulphur crested

(Pied) Currawong

Coot

Common Bronzewing

Corella

Curlew

- Bush stone-curlew


D

Duck

- Australian wood

- Pacific Black

- Chestnut teal

- Mallard

Dove

- Spotted

- Crested


E

Eastern Yellow Robin

Emu

Egret

- Eastern Great

- Snowy

Eagle

- Sea


F

Fantail

- Grey

Fairywren (Superb)

Firetail (Beautiful)


G

Galah

Gull

- Pacific

- Red billed

- Black-billed

Grebe (Australian Little)

Goose

- Magpie

- Cape Barren

Gerygone (Mangrove)

(Northern) Gannet

Godwit

- Bar-tailed godwit


H

Honeyeater

- New Holland Honeyeater

- White-cheeked Honeyeater

- Singing honeyeater

- White plumed honeyeater

- Blue-faced honeyeater

Heron

- White faced

- Striated


I

Ibis

- Black headed (Malagasy sacred ibis)

- Straw necked


J


K

Kookaburra


L

Lorikeet

- Coconut (Lorilini)

- Rainbow

(Superb) Lyrebird

Lapwing

- Masked


M

Magpie

- Australian

- Lark

Miner

- Noisy

Moorhen


N


O

Oystercatcher

- Black (Sooty)

- Pied


P

Penguin (Little)

Pigeon

Pelican (Australian)

Plover

- Piping

Q


R

Rosella

- Green

- Crimson

Raven (Australian)


S

Swan

- Black

Shrikethrush

- Grey

Swamphen (Australian)

Sandpiper

Spoonbill (black-faced)

Stilt

- Black-winged

- Pied stilt

Sanderling


T

Tern

- Greater crested


U

V


W

Wattlebird

- Little

- Red

Willie Wagtail

White eye (warbling)

(Eurasian) whimbrel


X

Y

Z



And as you can see there is plenty more for another blog or two – and more 'noise' with the aptly named Noisy Miner bird to come…

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