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Capture: Going Walkabout in Sydney

408 Responses

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  • Lilith __, in reply to Julie Cross,

    Common names are such a tangle, eh! Latin binomials are more reliable, although occasionally subject to change....

    I'm pretty sure I've seen video of spurwings fighting with their spurs. Very strange!

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs,

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    Birds are almost as hard as dogs to snap with my point and shoot.
    Birds and Kite on Sunday.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs,

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    And I was amazed I got anything resembling a picture of these orange billed, one-Legged creatures who seemed completely unpeturbed by the Tamaki Drive passersby.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Julie Cross, in reply to Nora Leggs,

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    point and shoot

    my stalking technique is improving (not my framing though). These little old dudes were cruising along until I got too close and they veered away. I think they are Little Corellas - can't see their beaks too well and there are a few types of corellas.

    Australia • Since Nov 2011 • 120 posts Report Reply

  • Julie Cross,

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    white faced heron... in a peaceful spot amidst the mangroves

    Australia • Since Nov 2011 • 120 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs, in reply to Julie Cross,

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    Little Corellas

    They look like Cheeky Fellas : ) Looks like you have a lot of interesting bird life to stalk over there.
    Stumbled on this bird in Kew Gardens, not too bothered by us people. Have used the hand-held-scanner for this one (i.e. point-and-shoot aimed at photo album.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Julie Cross, in reply to Nora Leggs,

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    this bird in Kew Gardens

    what a beauty!

    we have commoners too. Aussie birds are pretty but they tend to have very harsh and sometimes disturbing calls (like whips and whistles and shrieks) - not much of that gorgeous birdsong that fills the bush back home - something I still miss.

    Australia • Since Nov 2011 • 120 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs, in reply to Julie Cross,

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    Nice line up : )
    These feathered flowers are easier to catch...

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh,

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    Not in Sydney, no flowers or birds....

    Venus transit observers. I don't know how they hoped to see anything through the thick haze that enveloped Beijing today, but they seemed very happy and excited.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    O! birds, birds & flowery things that could be bird appurtanances... er, something-

    spurwing plovers self-introduced into southern ANZ in the 1940s as did other OZ birds earlier- kotuku in the 18th century; tauhou/waxeyes in the late 1890s; sulphur-crested cockatoos in the 1950s...

    storms mainly bring them over- like the moths I noccucaisionally find, storm-wrecked against my windows-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Julie Cross,

    Aussie birds are pretty but they tend to have very harsh and sometimes disturbing calls (like whips and whistles and shrieks) - not much of that gorgeous birdsong that fills the bush back home - something I still miss.

    Oz birdsong - "Like a chipmunk throwing up" as a Canadian of my acquaintance once put it. It's hard to beat any of the butcherbirds for gorgeous morning birdsong, though from my experience they only stay resident for a week or two before moving on.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs,

    they seemed very happy and excited

    Just the sense of occasion then? Or maybe they were actually viewing birds and flowery things?

    hard to beat any of the butcherbirds for gorgeous morning birdsong

    Cool & Confident Butcherbird, liked the human-song that went with it : )

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Nora Leggs,

    Cool & Confident Butcherbird

    I used to enjoy John Dengate, who'd answer Sydney listeners' questions about backyard wildlife on ABC radio. When a caller asked why the butcherbird that had taken to showing up at his backyard bird feeding station didn't make a meal of the other birds - because butcherbirds occasionally do that - he was told to "just keep feeding him."

    A standard feature of Dengate's radio sessions would be the caller who'd been blessed with a "marsupial" visitor, only to have their hopes dashed with "It's a rat."
    "But they sit up on their hind legs!"
    "It's a rat."
    "They climb trees . . ."
    "It's a rat."
    "They have the cutest little faces . . ."
    "DEFINITELY a rat."

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Nora Leggs,

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    And I was amazed I got anything resembling a picture of these orange billed, one-Legged creatures who seemed completely unpeturbed by the Tamaki Drive passersby.

    I've shown them before but here they are again. I found out they are called Variable Oyster Catchers and they hide beaks and legs under wings to keep warm hence the one leg etc.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    Thanks Sofie, now I can see them more clearly : ) Looks like the darker one may be a bit more advanced, sitting down to keep both legs warm at once!

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Julie Cross, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    gorgeous morning birdsong

    Thanks Joe, that made my morning cup of tea all the more memorable, like fatty was in my garden! I found this amazing recording which is middle of the night and one beautiful solo songstress... truly beautiful but I can definitely say I have not heard one Butcherbird in the wild yet. Maybe we have the wrong trees.

    http://www.listeningearth.com.au/blog/a-beautiful-nature-sound-recording-pied-butcherbirds-in-the-australian-outback

    Australia • Since Nov 2011 • 120 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Julie Cross,

    Many thanks for that Julie. Until 2003 I lived ten years in a top floor unit high on the North Sydney side of Anderson Park in Neutral Bay. The enormous variety of birdlife there was some compensation for the lack of garden space.

    Butcherbirds would turn up occasionally and stay around for a week or two. Their song wasn't dissimilar from that gorgeous soundfile you've linked to. When they sing there's no mistaking them for anything else. From the best look I got at one I guessed it to be a grey butcherbird. Like a smaller magpie crossed with a kingfisher when seen perching.

    Unlike those phenomenal rarities like the flock of black cockatoos that once wheeled over the harbour, or the pair of peregrine falcons that moved into the area for a couple of weeks, the butcherbirds' visits didn't appear to be connected with anything like bushfires. They just seemed to show up as it suited them.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Nora Leggs,

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    Birds are almost as hard as dogs to snap

    Yep. They almost tease.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs,

    Ooh and they are fast those swallows, well snapped : )

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Nora Leggs,

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    Ooh and they are fast those swallows,

    Aye. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs,

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    This was the only way I could catch a swallow - seems he wants to go walkabout too.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    Variable Oyster Catchers

    Variable oyster-catchers are very cool. If you see them feeding on a beach they seem to tap-dance in and out of the water in time with the waves. And if you see two together they usually synchronise their steps.

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Lilith __,

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    Variable oyster-catchers are very cool.

    I was impressed. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

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    Then this wee guy was prancing today. Fantails, acrobats. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Nora Leggs,

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    These waxeyes (?) were all over this plant till I pointed my camera at them...

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 2700 posts Report Reply

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