Water Birds

Locate, Observe, Wait…Click

Shearwater – short-tailed? This bird was resting in the reef shallows after a 3-4 week migration from Alaska. Many shearwaters have washed up dead on beaches while making the journey to Victoria/Tasmania, probably through hunger and exhaustion. This “seabird wreck” was covered in the media. Images taken at Long Reef, Dee Why, Sydney.

Black-winged Stilt – foraging for water-borne insects, small crustaceans and molluscs. Images taken at Sydney Olympic Park.

Grey-tailed Tattler – catching a small crab at Long Reef, Dee Why, Sydney. These birds breed in Siberia and migrate down through Asia to Australia, an astonishing distance for a small bird.

Magpie Goose – coming into land in spectacular style at the Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle, New South Wales.

Pied Cormorant – spectacular in-flight image taken on at Long Reef, Dee Why, Sydney.

Mute Swan (UK, Cygnet) – one of three cygnets with its parents. It seemed to be very comfortable near people. Photo taken on a small lake on the outskirts of Chesterfield , UK.

Pacific Gull (immature) – standing rather proudly on the edge of a rocky point with the surf crashing behind. Photo taken at Bass Point on the Illawarra coast south of Wollongong NSW.

Purple Swamphen – finally I managed to capture images of this wading bird in flight. Usually they are seen walking over floating vegetation or among reeds at the edge of waterways.

Ruddy Turnstone – one of a small flock feeding on the reef at low tide. Photo taken at Long Reef, Dee Why, Sydney.

Little Pied Cormorant – I spotted this Little Pied Cormorant battling with a fish in the rough but shallow surf. It then clambered over rocks and waddled up the sandy beach with the fish dangling from its beak. I ran over 50m of rocks to reach the bird and the fish. The cormorant was obviously struggling to swallow the fish, which was not surprising given that the fish had splayed its spiny pectoral fins. It took several vigorous, gulping attempts by the cormorant to shake the fish into its gullet. Photo taken at Long Reef, Dee Why, Sydney.

Little Black Cormorant – vigorously bathing. Photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Crested Tern – taking off after bathing in the shallow waves. Photo taken at Fingal Beach, Port Stephens, New South Wales.

Crested Tern – one of a small flock resting on the beach and bathing in the shallow waves. Photo taken at Fingal Beach, Port Stephens, New South Wales.

Caspian Tern – the largest tern in Australia. This was a solo bird amongst a flock of Crested Terns resting on the beach and bathing in the shallow waves. Photo taken at Fingal Beach, Port Stephens, New South Wales.

Australasian Darter – Not only is it spectacular in appearance, it is a fast swimmer underwater, catches fish very effectively, is elegant in flight and also a contortionist. It seems able to twist its very long, snake-like neck in any direction, as evidenced by this series of images. Photo taken at Balmoral Beach, Sydney.

Black-fronted Dotterel – alone, foraging in the shallows at low tide. Photo taken at Bellambi Lagoon, Wollongong, New South Wales.

Kelp Gull – being chased by a smaller gull. There was a shoal of fish on the sea surface near the harbour wall which attracted several seabird species to feast. Photo taken on the breakwater at Wollongong Harbour, New South Wales.

Cattle Egret – taking off…perhaps escaping hungry chicks temporarily. Photo taken at Hunter Wetland Centre, Newcastle, New South Wales.

Cattle Egret – feeding two hungry, competitive chicks and highlighting it’s bright orange breeding season plumage. Photo taken at Hunter Wetland Centre, Newcastle, New South Wales.

Striated Heron – from a squat, hunched position while perching , they become very elegant in flight. Photo taken at Hunter Valley Wetland Centre, Newcastle, New South Wales.

Striated Heron – not often seen perching on a post like this, but rather in shallow water hunting. Photo taken at Hunter Valley Wetland Centre, Newcastle, New South Wales.

Purple Swamphen – I couldn’t quite believe how close this bird came to me as I crouched at the edge of the pond. Photo taken in Wollongong.

Great Cormorant – landed just in front of me as I was keeping a close eye on an Osprey perched in a nearby tree. Photo take in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

White-face Heron – cleverly catching small fish as they tumble down the weir. Photo take in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Striated Heron (aka Mangrove Heron and Mangrove Bittern) – hunting in the shallows and camouflaged amidst the tangle of flood debris. Photo take in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Striated Heron – hunting in the shallows. Photo take in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

White-faced Heron – catches a skink that has caught a worm. Photo take on South Beach, Wollongong.

Great Cormorant and Freshwater Turtle – face-off which started with the cormorant harassing the turtle by biting its legs, rear and shell and ended in resignation to co-habiting the log.

Sooty Oystercatcher – endangered species; photo taken near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Great Egret – having caught a large skink. Photo taken near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Black-winged Stilt – photo taken at Sydney Olympic Park.

Great Egrett – I had been watching this bird wading and fishing for a while when it suddenly took off as a result of several people walking noisily past. I was very lucky to be in a perfect light position to capture these four, almost full-frame images, over about 1 second as the egrett flew past me and landed in the creek behind me.

Great Egrett – photo series taken near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Magpie Goose – a rare species in NSW with the population having been nurtured by the Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle, where this photo was taken.

Black Swan – showing off its spectacular wingspan. Photo taken at Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle.

Black Swan juvenile (probably offspring of previous bird image) – also showing off its spectacular wingspan. Photo taken at Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle.

Pied Cormorant – portrait taken in late afternoon sunlight as the bird was relaxing on a large rock at low tide. Photo taken at Long Reef, Dee Why, Sydney

Striated Heron (probably a juvenile) – in its rather hunched and compact form hunting on the lakeside. Photo taken near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Striated Heron (probably a juvenile) – at take-off transforming into an elegant, long-necked, broad-winged bird. Photo taken near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Australian Ibis – at the moment of taking off. Photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Pied Cormorant – having caught a Leatherjacket by the spike on its head, from which there was no escape. Photos taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Australian Ibis – exploring a Long-necked Turtle climbing up the face of the weir. Photos taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

White-faced Heron – just after taking off. The river water in the background was coloured brown and heavily laden with silt and soil after torrential, flooding rain. Photos taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Australasian Darter – highly skilled at catching fish using its spear-like beak. Photos taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Sooty Oystercatcher – an all-black bird with a prominent red beak, red eye-rings and pink legs. It can be seen during low tide times foraging amongst rocks and seaweed. Photos were taken in on the coast near Wollongong, New South Wales where it is declared endangered.

White-faced Heron – A portrait taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Great Egrett – A portrait taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Great Cormorant – A portrait taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Great Cormorant – Photo taken on Lane Cove River, Sydney.

Dusky Moorhen – with one of its very young chicks. Photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Dusky Moorhen Chick – Photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Little Pied Cormorant – yawning, or perhaps just stretching (?). Photo taken near Wollongong, NSW.

Nankeen Night Heron – showing off its mating season plumes. There should be three plumes but only two are visible. Photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Little Black Cormorant – with wings hanging out to dry. Photo taken in lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Australian Wood Duck (male and female) – both performed a wing-flapping display during courting/mating behaviour. Photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Australian Ibis – coming into land. Photo taken at Burns Bay Oval, Lane Cove, Sydney.

Crested Tern – preparing to take off. Photo taken at Balmoral Beach, Mosman, Sydney.

Little Pied Cormorant – In full, low flight against the back-drop of a turbulent sea. Photos above and below taken on various occasions near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Little Pied Cormorants

Little Pied Cormorant – drying its wings in the wind.

Little Pied Cormorant – readying itself to face the ocean.

Little Pied Cormorant – taking off against a background of multi-coloured seaweed on the rocks.

Little Pied Cormorant – fishing in shallow surf.

Little Pied Cormorant – very sleepy. The fishing must have been tiring. Photo taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Dusky Moorhen and Chicks – I’ve been able to observe two families of these birds at close quarters. They are living near a busy river path, so are used to having a lot of people around. The adults are very attentive to the chicks, constantly feeding them green weed, “duck diving” for fodder and chasing them around. At this age the chicks wave their tiny wing buds as they approach the parent for food. Their feet are large relative to the size of their bodies, so on land they are slightly awkward. Occasionally, the chicks literally get under the feet of the adult, or are flicked into the air when they duck dive. From time to time there seems to be some tough love supplied as the parent grabs the chick by the head in its beak – no harm done!

Pied Cormorant – I watched this beautiful bird closely for 30 mins. Eventually, it caught this large fish in the middle of a popular beach swimming area. The time from surfacing to swallowing was about 10 seconds only! It then put on a show of wing-flapping in the water. Not sure whether this was to help with swallowing, a “dance”, or to dry its wings before taking off again, which it did, just skimming the rail of the jetty. The second sequence shows a Pied Cormorant catching and restraining a Leatherjacket by the spike on its head, from which there was no escape. Photo series taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Pied Cormorant – out fishing…entree sized. Photo taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Pied Cormorant – fishing…for lunch. Photo taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Pied Cormorant – fishing…for the main course during a tussle that lasted 10 minutes. This fish was so big the cormorant couldn’t lift it vertically and eventually had to let it go. Photo taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Australasian Darter (Male) – out fishing. A very magestic bird, one of my favourites, although tricky to take photographs of due to the slender shape of its head and neck (…camera focusing), along the speed of head movement when fishing (…shutter speed). Photo sequence taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Australasian Darter

Australasian Darter (Male) – drying its wings after fishing. Photo taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Australasian Darter (Male) – drying its wings and preening after fishing. Photo taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Australasian Darter (Female?) – Such an elegant bird. Photo taken near Mosman, Sydney.

Eastern Great Egrett – some profile images of flight, face, feathers, feet and fishing. Photos above and below taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney and near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Eastern Great Egrett – while watching this bird for a couple of hours, it caught several sizeable fish from the shallow creek.

Eastern Great Egrett

Eastern Great Egrett – eye to eye.

Eastern Great Egrett – with feathers ruffled in the strong wind.

Eastern Great Egrett – showing the benefits of a long neck.

White Faced Heron – Photos above taken at low tide in the rock pools of a beach and a nearby water-logged playing field; just north of Wollongong.

Australian Pelican – Photos above and below taken near Wollongong.

Australian Pelican – making a spectacular spot landing.

Australian Pelican – fighting to retain fish remains provided by local fishermen.

Australian Pelican

Australian Pelicans – sitting on the lights waiting for fishermen to return with their catch.

Crested Tern – bath-time on the beach. Photo sequence taken near Mosman, Sydney.

The Aerobatics and Aquabatics of the Crested Tern – During a 2-3 week period this bay was full of “bait” fish. This attracted several species of seabird and larger fish. These photos show some of the remarkable attributes of the Crested Tern: high-speed, elegant soaring flight; targeting fish from 10-15m above the sea; stopping in flight; vertical diving into shallow water sometimes; submerging; vigorous sub-surface take-offs and catching more than one fish in their beaks…high energy feeding again and again. Interestingly, at the start of the dive the bird’s feet point skywards and then seawards just before entry. Photos taken on different occasions near Mosman, Sydney.

Masked Lapwing / Spur-winged Plover – this pair was inseparable and seemingly in synch, each mirroring the other. The final picture in the series shows the yellow spur on the wing. Photos taken on a popular beach near Mosman, Sydney.

Sooty Oystercatcher (endangered) – Photos above and below taken near Wollongong.

Royal Spoonbill – photos taken near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Royal Spoonbill

Little Black Cormorants – photos taken near Mosman and Farm Cove, Sydney, as well as near Wollongong. The bird with its eyes closed, standing on one leg, with the other dangling behind looks so relaxed gazing into the warm, early-morning sunshine.

Surf Drama with Little Black Cormorant – This was one of four birds that landed in the rough surf in the shallows of a rising tide. I captured this short photo series over just two or three seconds. It was only later as I was reviewing the images that I realised the bird had caught a fish, was being overtaken by the surf between rocks and yet still managed to escape…with the fish! Photos taken near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Little Black Cormorant – Nesting behaviour near Sydney central business district.

Silver Gull – butter wouldn’t melt in this bird’s mouth. Photos take near Wollongong, New South Wales.

…or would it…nought to ballistic.

Silver Gull – caught with a thin film of seawater covering its head, whilst vigorously bathing in a rock pool at Balmoral Beach, Mosman, Sydney.

Silver Gull – colourful refractions captured whilst vigorously bathing at Balmoral Beach, Mosman, Sydney.

Great Cormorant – photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Striated Heron (rufous morph) – photo taken in Riverview, Lane Cove, Sydney.

Pacific Black Duck – with its beak submerged foraging in the puddles on the water-logged playing field. Photo taken in Riverview, Lane Cove, Sydney.

Australian Wood Duck (female) – with its family of gorgeous ducklings. Photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Australian Wood Duck (both parents) – defending the family of ducklings snuggled under the mother from a too-close approach by a brush turkey. Photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Australian Wood Ducklings – photo taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.

Ibis (Australian White) – photo taken near Wollongong, New South wales.

Australian White Ibis – with the local playing fields water-logged and the ground very soft, several Ibis landed to forage for food. I was surprised how far they could drill their beaks into the ground, particularly with their heads inverted.