Blog Archives
Powerful Owl and its dinner
A few weeks ago I spotted a Powerful Owl roosting high on a branch in Manly Dam Reserve. (Blogged.) I’ve seen the bird in exactly the same spot a couple of times since then.
The owl was there again today, so I snapped a few shots. Only when I looked at the photos on my computer did I spot the poor little possum (already demised) that is grasped in the owl’s claws.
Common name: Powerful Owl
Scientific name: Ninox strenua
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 14 September 2014
Season: Spring
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’50.2″S 151°14’54.5″E
King Parrot in spring splendour
This splendid King Parrot is perched high in a tree. Only the power of my Canon zoom brought it into clear sight.
Another shot, after the bird moved to shadier spot:
Common name: Australian King Parrot
Scientific name: Alisterus scapularis
Approximate length: 44 cm
Date spotted: 14 September 2014
Season: Spring
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’50.2″S, 151°14’54.5″E
Kookaburra bookends
This pretty pair of kookaburras perched outside my window yesterday morning.
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 13 September 2014
Season: Spring
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’07.9″S, 151°15’27.5″E
Powerful Owl roosting
While walking through the bush this morning, I spotted some tell-tale white splatters on the ferns lining the path. I looked up into the trees, and sure enough there was a Powerful Owl high above my head.
The zoom in this short video shows how high up the owl was. You’ll also hear the kookaburras laughing and a couple of cockatoos scolding. The owl doesn’t do much except swivel its head.
Here’s a still shot of the owl gazing into the distance:
Spotted!
Still watching…
Dozing:
A view from the front:
And the view of the owl without my camera’s super zoom:
Common name: Powerful Owl
Scientific name: Ninox strenua
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 27 July 2014
Season: Winter
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°46’50.2″S 151°14’54.5″E
A King Parrot comes to call
This Australian King Parrot dropped in for a visit this afternoon. He hung around for a while, exploring the trees around our house and making his piercing whistle, “Eeeeeep”. King Parrots are fairly large birds, bigger and more dramatic in appearance than the Rainbow Lorikeets we see more often.
This was my first view of the bird, before I zoomed in with the camera:
He moved to another tree:
Where I got a shot of his back too:
Common name: Australian King Parrot
Scientific name: Alisterus scapularis
Approximate length: 44 cm
Date spotted: 30 April 2014
Season: Autumn
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Approximate latitude/longitude: 33°44’15.2″S, 151°18’44.1″E
Pelicans at Long Reef Headland, NSW
Pelicans are huge birds who look wise in a goofy way. A number of them hang out at Long Reef Headland, NSW, Australia.
Posing in front of a breaking wave:
It’s odd to see such huge birds perched on lamp posts. I wonder if the engineers who designed the lamp posts catered for such a weight?
How many pelicans can you fit on a lamp post?
Zooming in:
Common name: Australian Pelican
Scientific name: Pelecanus conspicillatus
Approximate length: 170 cm
Approximate wingspan: 2.5m
Date spotted: 23 March 2014
Season: Late Summer
Location: Long Reef Headland, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°44’15.2″S, 151°18’44.1″E
Finishing up with an atmospheric shot of Long Reef, showing a fisherman, a ship, and some birds:
White-Faced Heron at Long Reef Headland, NSW
A White-Faced Heron tiptoes across the bizarre landscape of Long Reef Headland on the New South Wales coast of Australia. The bird shakes the seaweed with its toes, dislodging worms and small fish which it then eats.
Here’s a still photo:
Common name: White-Faced Heron
Scientific name: Ardea novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 70 cm
Date spotted: 23 March 2014
Season: Late Summer
Location: Long Reef Headland, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°44’15.2″S, 151°18’44.1″E
You silly galah
“You silly galah!” That’s what Australians say, usually affectionately, when someone makes a gaffe or does something daft. A galah is actually a beautiful bird, grey with a deep pink chest, and a funny little crest on its head. I spotted a tree full of them this morning, chirping away at each other in that funny voice of theirs.
Common name: Galah
Scientific name: Cacatua roseicapilla
Approximate length: 38 cm
Date spotted: 27 January 2014
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Vale, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: -33° 46.791′, 151° 15.744′
Here’s a still photo of them:
Spotted a Sparrowhawk near Manly Dam
It took me a while to identify this bird. I’ve decided it’s a Collared Sparrowhawk. Other candidates were a Brown Goshawk and a Peregrine Falcon. I’ve spent a while poring over my bird book, and decided that this bird doesn’t have a light enough front collar to be a Peregrine Falcon. Deciding between the Goshawk and the Sparrowhawk was even more difficult. Close examination reveals that this bird has middle toes that are longer than the other toes, which qualifies it to be the Sparrowhawk.
Common name: Collared Sparrowhawk
Scientific name: Accipiter cirrhocephalus
Approximate length: 30-40 cm, wing span 55-80cm
Date spotted: 25 December 2013
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: -33° 46.608′, 151° 15.268′
Here’s a still of the same bird. What a fierce gaze!
This one shows the barred plumage on the bird’s chest, and the long middle toe:
Swamphens and Moorhens at Manly Dam
Purple Swamphens and Dusky Moorhens look similar, but are quite easy to tell apart once you’ve seen them together. Purple Swamphens are altogether showier: bigger, with brighter colours, and a more confident way of tackling the world. Dusky moorhens are smaller, and move in short dashes, accompanied by a lot of jerking of the head and tail. They almost seem to apologise for their presence. The Purple Swamphen’s beak is entirely red, whereas the Dusky Moorhen has a yellow tip to its beak.
I spotted both birds on the same patch of water at Manly Dam. First, a Purple Swamphen:
Here’s a close-up of those amazing feet, shot when the bird obligingly came up on shore close by me:
Common name: Purple Swamphen
Scientific name: Porphyrio porphyrio
Approximate length: 50 cm
Date spotted: 29 December 2013
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: -33.776626,151.246762
Next, a Dusky Moorhen:
Here’s a nice still of the moorhen sharing the shot with a water lily:
Common name: Dusky Moorhen
Scientific name: Gallinula tenebrosa
Approximate length: 40 cm
Date spotted: 29 December 2013
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: -33.776626,151.246762
Sydney Birder 