SkyWatch ~ Kingston Sunrise

While I did my morning exercises with some light weights,

the sun painted the sky a glorious gold.

A horse was grazing over the fence with just enough light for

me to have a shot at him.

A quick dash inside to change lenses and off for my walk to the

sea. Overhead a Sacred Ibis turned pink in the rising sun.

It may not be quite in focus but what can you expect when

shooting with a hand held 500mm lens?

When I return from our sojourn in the Flinders Ranges, there will be

Kingston sunsets over the sea.

world Bird Wednesday - At the Pond Again

The other day, just before our heatwave hit, I went to the pond

and fed the gander with the Sacred Ibis watching and an idle magpie

flying past.

Suddenly it seemed as though all the birds accepted me, I

walked around the side of the pond to quite close to the ibis

but they minded not at all. Oddly, the rosellas screeched no

alarm calls, nor did the blackbirds. I sat on my bench, half hidden

by a Wattle and little birds flitted all about me. First the Grey

Fantail (below) and a number of blue wrens.

The Little Grebes seemed bored and turned tail . . .

a Black Duck (right) went about it's business with an as yet

unidentified friend, no longer unidentified due too the kind

response of Stewart M, who recognised it as a Eurasian Coot.

Thank you once again Stewart.

another Fantail posed in the shade quite near me

and a Willie Wagtail checked me out and was joined by a friend

but then the most remarkable thing happened and the White-

faced Heron landed and grazed his way around the edge of the

pond. Here in the shade you can see where he gets his name.

Normally at the first sound of a human or car he would already

have taken flight.

The Ibis wandered over to have a chat with the heron and a

few ducks and after the heron left, I too walked to the other

side

where a Singing Honeyeater joined me

and showed how mean he could look flying straight at you with

that black robber mask on.

Another Grey Fantail. I was surprised that they are already here

in numbers as they normally come in February and presage the

autumn rains.

Here he is again out in the full sunlight.

It was a wonderful feeling to be so accepted only because the

gander ate out of my hand. I know my photos aren't so clever

but the experience was just great.

Our World & World Bird Wednesday - Pondlife

Sorry my posting has been rather sporadic lately, least said,

soonest mended, some skeletons are best left in the cupboard.

Haven't been anywhere much so my posts are close to home.

Another dip into the pond in our park, shooting across it hand

held, I was rather pleased with the result of my new Canon 600

with an Emron 270mm . The shot is nothing to write home about

but it is right across the pond and, to labour a phrase, a long shot.

Only when uploaded, did I notice the optional extra underneath

the platform.

Unfortunately too unfocused for a clear ID but from Stewart M's

identification of my other waterfowl, I would guess a Bush Hen.

I was amazed at the clarity I got when cropping out the Ibis

at their antics. There were many birds there that day, not just

the gander, the ducks and grebes but also a couple of cormorant

after the white-faced heron had hightailed it out of there on

hearing my approach.

The other interesting bird sighting was a pair of Emu the Prof

spotted in our little special tree woodlot at the top of our Windy

Hill paddock. That is our first sighting in over 40 years of Emu

this close to a settled area. Normally we see them in grasslands

near National Parks or Nature Reserves. There are so many

anomalies in wildlife movements this year that I wonder what

is happening.

Hope you all are having a fun and satisfying week.

World Bird Wednesday & Nature Notes - Around the Farm . . .

New boy on the block and a lifer for me, Horsefield's Bronze-

Cuckoo, Chalcites basalis, conveniently sitting on the power

line to our house. I heard the unfamiliar call and made a dive

for the camera.

Much as I like to see a new addition to our home birds, this

is one I would prefer to see elsewhere since the dear girl lays

her egg into our little Superb Blue Wren nests just when our

blue wren population has increased again and we dearly love

those cheerful streaks of blue in the garden.

I tried to get a shot at the wing that has a shimmer of green

but the bird was unobliging and did not turn around.

With warm days and rain, the weeds have grown to high heaven

but even so I spotted this Stumpy-Tail Lizard having a feed of,

and this surprised me, of all things the sharp and spicy green

seed-pods of the wild radish.

I had never before given any thought to what these creatures eat.

I am always happy when I see them in the garden since they use

the same nesting holes as snakes and if you know a lizard inhabits

a certain hole, it is unlikely that a snake does as well. Of the two

reptiles, the lizard usually manages to protect the hole.

This is only a teenager at most, isn't he/she cute?

Moving to the dam in the park, a White-faced Heron and

Wood-Duck companion sitting on the children's diving platform.

On the vantage point of one of the birches we lost in the drought,

an Adelaide Rosella poses. The beauty of my new camera is that

I have a much longer reach as these birds are notoriously shy here.

My evening walk bagged this Shrike-Thrush with it's late

supper. I really thought it was too dark for photos but the

camera surprised me

and lastly, a Sacred Ibis, again at the dam. This is the first

time in 20 years that I have spotted one on our home turf.

Who knows what I shall bag next week? As you see, I have been

exercising my new Canon EOS 600 D and am reasonably pleased

with it.

Wonder over to WORLD BIRD WEDNESDAY and Nature Notes and

check out what else is going on. Both memes are accessible from the

relevant Logos on my side bar.