Wedge-tailed Eagle (juvenile)
Aquila audax
November 17th, 2022
South Morang, Victoria, Australia
Canon EOS R5
Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM lens
A juvenile Wedge-tailed Eagle perched on a branch of it's nest tree. I feel very fortunate to have witnessed this particular youngster edge further & further away from the safety of the nest & finally fledge on this day.
Tags: Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax birds bird eagle
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Metallic Starling
Aplonis metallica
January 13th, 2023
Brinsmead, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Canon EOS R5
Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM lens
One of my favourite species from Far North Queensland, the fantastic Metallic Starling.
These amazingly coloured birds migrate from New Guinea to Far North Queensland each year for the wet season to breed. They construct incredible communal nests in specific trees, with some locations housing hundreds of nests all together. As you can see in this image, the nest are built right on top of each other & can cover the whole tree, like a sprawling high-rise of Metallic Starling apartments!
As you can imagine the noise (& sometimes smell!) is something else! There are often squabbles amongst neighbouring birds & sometimes they will try & steal nesting materials from one another! It can be quite chaotic.
Amazingly, each year these birds return to the same trees they have nested in previously to breed & raise their young, before heading back to New Guinea.
Tags: Metallic Starling Aplonis metallica birds bird starling
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Red-necked Stint
Calidris ruficollis
March 4th, 2023
Killarney, Victoria, Australia
Canon EOS R5
Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM lens
A Red-necked Stint seeking refuge amongst the mountains of seaweed along one of Killarney's beaches. Can you spot its friend?
Tags: red-necked stint calidris ruficollis birds bird stint
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Beach Stone-curlew
Esacus magnirostris
June 4th, 2023
Buffalo Creek, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Canon EOS R5
Canon EF 600mm f4L IS III USM lens
Canon EF 1.4x III Extender
One of a pair of Beach Stone-curlew at Buffalo Creek. They were quite inquisitive of the weird lump laying in the sand that would occasionally shuffle like a worm in various directions.
Tags: Beach Stone-curlew Esacus magnirostris birds bird stone-curlew
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Pacific Golden Plover
Pluvialis fulva
March 5th, 2023
Port Fairy, Victoria, Australia
Canon EOS R5
Canon EF 600mm f4L IS III USM lens
I usually try to get across to Port Fairy a couple of times a year to spend some time on the local beaches with the various birds that call them home.
On this particular trip, a large group of waders had congregated around the shallows of a particular point on one of the beaches, which is comprised of thousands of large basalt rocks.
Amongst the mixed flock we found three Pacific Golden Plovers, which was the first time I'd seen them on my many trips to Port Fairy. They were reasonably confiding birds (well as far as Golden Plovers go in Victoria anyway!) & it was a lot of fun & quite challenging to photograph them as they played hide & seek amongst the slippery boulders with the waves crashing on the outer edges & intermittent showers.
Tags: Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva birds bird plover
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