I spent my morning at Herdsman Lake. It is a wonderful island of nature in the middle of our busy city with an incredible array of birdlife. I always find something interesting going on to photograph. Spent an hour and a half there this morning and this is what I saw.
As I pulled up I spotted a Great Egret, one of my absolute favourites. His was fishing in the shallows so I followed him along until he flew up into a small tree.
I managed to get quite close and found a spot in the thick Kikuyu grass where I could sit and watch. Before long a flock of Corellas appeared and a few of them landed in the tree with my Egret. The quiet, tall, elegant Egret made a great contrast to the cheeky Corellas who shattered the peace with their noisy playful antics. They actually seemed to delight in annoying the Egret.
Unable to find any peace, the Egret gave up and flew off. Shortly after the Corellas took off in a massive flock squawking and swooping each other.
As I stood up to leave I noticed a little Willy Wag tail watching me from a nearby branch. He had inquisitive eyes and we spent a few minutes trying to read each others mind. I was distracted by a beautiful red dragonfly landing on a stick in front of me. I took a few shots and then drove around to the Wildlife Centre.
As I walked around the corner I frightened an Ibis which took off giving me a lovely shot.
A Great Egret came in and landed on the roof of the Wildlife Centre. He stood tall and surveyed the situation below before unfurling his magnificent wings and taking off.
I walked along the board walk into the paper bark swamp hoping to see a Goshawk from the nest there I was watching before Xmas. No Goshawks but a Brown Falcon and a pair of Swamp Harriers in the distance. Too far for any good shots.
A wonderful green and yellow dragonfly caught my attention and I spent about ten minutes trying to focus, difficult because he was constantly on the move. Finally the lens grabbed him and I got a few shots.
A little Grebe popped up right in front of me. We both got a fright and he paddled away as fast as he could.
Time to go so I head back to the carpark and frighten a Nankeen Night Heron out of its secluded spot. It lands on the boardwalk railing and then flies into an overhead tree. It is very dark in the swamp but I get some shots which I have managed to lighten on the computer. An hour and a half well spent!!
