Australian bird photos 2. Emu photos, Bush Stone-curlews, Olive-backed Sunbird/Yellow-bellied Sunbird, Australian White Ibis, Radjah Shelduck, Spur-winged Plovers/Masked Lapwings, Eastern Curlew, Darter, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Osprey, Figbird, Yellow Honeyeater, Butcher bird, Comb-crested Jacana, Kookaburra, Kingfisher, Black Butcherbird, Magpie Geese, White-breasted Woodswallows, Black-fronted dotterel.
“If you want to be creative,
get to know the Creator.”
Ken Duncan.
*
Some of the photos (of an eagle eating a bat) at the bottom of this page may be distressing to some.
A Blue-winged Kookaburra at Hartleys Crocodile Adventures in Australia.
*
A male Eclectus Parrot. Birdworld Kuranda. Photo: David Clode.
*
A White-faced Heron and a Black Swan, St Helens, Tasmania. Photo: David Clode.
*
A Striated heron has caught a prawn. Photo: David Clode.
*
Australian White Ibis photo:
An Australian White Ibis enjoys a shower of its own making. Freshwater lake. Photo: David Clode.
*
“Giant Step”. Comb-crested Jacana, Cattana wetlands. Photo: David Clode.
*
“Vertical take off”. Comb-crested Jacana. Cattana wetlands. Photo: David Clode.
*
Cattana Jacana, Photo: David Clode.
*
Jacana coming in to land. Mareeba Wetlands. Photo: David Clode.
*
Emu photos:
Emu at the Mareeba Wetlands. Australia’s largest bird, and the second biggest after the ostrich. Photo David Clode.
*
Emu profile. Mareeba Wetlands. Photo: David Clode.
*
Emu portrait. Mareeba Wetlands. Photo: David Clode.
*
Emu profile. Photo: David Clode.
*
Emu plumage. Photo David Clode.
*
An immature Butcherbird enjoys a bath. Photo: David Clode.
Radjah Shelduck photos:
Radjah Shelduck. Freshwater lake, Centenary lakes, Cairns.
*
Radjah Shelduck. Freshwater lake. Photo: David Clode.
*
Redjah Shelducks. Saltwater Creek, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
*
Pacific Gull. Bay of Fires, Tasmania. Photo: David Clode.
*
Metallic Starling photos:
Nest builder.
*
Metallic Starlings. Building the nest. Photo: David Clode.
*
Proud home owner.
*
High rise apartment living.
*
Noisy neighbour.
*
A parent metallic starling does some housekeeping, while the chicks (you can just make out two yellow beaks above the adult) squawk for more food.
Yellow Honeyeater photo:
Yellow Honeyeater. Freshwater Lake, Centenary lakes, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
I like the contrast between the soft, rounded bird and the angular abstract palm leaves, as well as the contrast between the cooler, bluish-grey palm leaf in the background and the warmer, yellow-green of the bird.
White-breasted Woodswallows settling in for the night:
White-breasted Woodswallows going to bed. Photo: David Clode
*
Woodswallows. Photo: David Clode.
*
Woodswallows. Photo: David Clode.
*
Woodswallows. Photo: David Clode.
Spur-winged Plover photos:
Pensive plover. Masked Lapwing or Spur-winged Plover. Cairns Esplanade mudflats. Photo: David Clode.
*
Preening plover. Photo: David Clode.
*
Spur-winged Plovers (also called Masked Lapwings), showing unusual-looking fleshy facial wattles, and spurs on wings. Centenary lakes, Cairns. David Clode.
Eastern Curlew photographs:
Strutting along the ‘nade. Eastern Curlew. Cairns Esplanade mud flats. Photo: David Clode.
It is not just people who strut along the ‘nade (Cairns Esplanade).
An Eastern Curlew catches a crab. Cairns Esplanade mud flats. Photo: David Clode.
*
A dispute over territory? Eastern Curlews, Cairns mud flats. Photo: David Clode.
An Eastern Curlew bird bath:
Eastern Curlew bathing. Cairns Esplanade mud flats. Photo: David Clode
Initial, rather ginger and tentative attempts at bathing.
Eastern Curlew bathing. Photo: David Clode.
Getting right into it. Pure bliss!
Eastern Curlew bathing. Photo: David Clode.
The head goes underwater and back up again, a few times.
Eastern Curlew bathing. Photo: David Clode.
*
Black-fronted Dotterel photo:
Black-fronted Dotterel, Cairns Esplanade mudflats. Photo: David Clode
Caspian Tern Photo:
Caspian Tern. Cairns Esplanade mudflats. Photo: David Clode.
Bar-tailed Godwit Photo:
“Walking through this mud is such a drag!”.Bar-tailed Godwit. Cairns Esplanade mudflats.
Curlew. Near Saltwater lake, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
Curlew. Notice how the pupil is contracted in the sunlight, and the pupil is dilated in the shade.
A pair of Bush Stone-curlews. Photo: David Clode.
*
A pair of Bush Stone-curlews. Photo: David Clode.
*
Curlew profile. Photo: David Clode.
*
A pair of curlews. Photo: david Clode.
*
Inquisitive curlews. Photo: David Clode.
*
Curlew portrait profile. Photo: David Clode.
*
In this photo of a curlew, the light from the sun has entered the bird’s eye on the left, passed through as if through the side of a magnifying glass, and focused in a point on the right of the bird’s eye. Photo: David Clode.
*
Bush-stone Curlew, green background. Cairns cemetery. Photo: David Clode.
Who is a pretty girl then?
*
Budh-stone Curlew chick. Photo: David Clode
*
Beach Stone Curlew. Yorkeys, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
*
Beach Stone Curlew. Photo; David Clode.
*
Superb Lyrebird photos:
Superb Lyrebird. Sherbrooke Forest, Victoria Australia. Photo: David Clode.
Lyrebird, Victoria.
Lyrebird tail.
Kookaburra photos:
Kookaburra. Photo: David Clode.
*
Kookaburra – palm frond background. Photo: David Clode.
The palm frond in the background provides interesting bokeh, emphasising the bird.
Kookaburra eye. Photo: David Clode.
*
Kookaburra. Saltwater creek, Cairns.
*
Kookaburra, Kuranda. Photo: David Clode.
*
Kookaburra, Kuranda. Photo: David Clode.
*
A kookaburra being harassed by a willie wagtail.
*
Blue-winged Kookaburra. Mareeba Wetlands. Photo: David Clode.
Kingfisher photos:
A Mangrove Kingfisher? (also called Collared Kingfisher), or a Forest Kingfisher? Saltwater Creek. Photo: David Clode.
*
Kingfisher. Photo: David Clode.
*
Little kingfisher photos below. The smallest kingfisher in Australia.
Little Kingfisher. Photo: David Clode.
*
Little Kingfisher. Freshwater Lake, Cairns, Australia. David Clode.
*
Black Butcherbird photos:
Black Butcherbird. Freshwater lake, Cairns.
*
Black butcherbird.
Magpie Goose photos:
A Magpie goose (or Pied goose) eats grass, Freshwater lake, Centenary lakes, Cairns.
*
“Changing of the guard”. Magpie Geese. Freshwater Lake. Photo: David Clode.
*
The male flies up to land on the nest. Photo: David Clode.
*
The male lands on the nest. Photo: David Clode.A magpie goose strikes an undignified pose while collecting algae from the bottom of a lake. Photo: Freshwater lake, Cairns, David Clode.
*
Flying Magpie Goose. Photo: David Clode.
*
A magpie goose makes repairs to the nest after a storm. Photo: David Clode
*
Nutmeg Mannikin photo:
Nutmeg Mannikins eating seeds, Cairns cemetery. Also called Spice Finches, this species is introduced from South Asia. Photo: David Clode
*
Olive-backed Sunbird photos:
Female Olive-backed Sunbird, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
*
A male Yellow-bellied Sunbird takes a bath. Photo: David Clode.
*
A female sunbird preens herself after bathing. Photo: David Clode.
*
Female Olive-backed Sunbird (or Yellow-bellied Sunbird). The bird is upside down, not the photo. Photo: David Clode.
*
A female sunbird drinks nectar from a heliconia flower. Photo: David Clode.
Darter photos (or Anhinga):
A Darter with a fish it has caught. Freshwater Lake, Centenary Lakes, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
*
A darter swallowing a tilapia fish it has caught. Freshwater lake, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
*
A Darter dries its wings between fishing trips. Freshwater lake. Photo: David Clode.
*
Darter, Freshwater lake, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
*
A condescending Darter bothers to look down at the photographer. Freshwater Lake. Photo: David Clode.
Birds of prey photos:
Some of the photos below show birds of prey catching or eating their prey and may be upsetting to some viewers.
Grey Goshawk. Cairns Cemetery. Photo: David Clode.
*
An Osprey is starting to build a nest. Originally, a pair of ospreys built their nest on the top of the Cairns Ambulance Station communications tower, and the nest was interfering with the signals. This structure was placed on top of the tower for the nest. The ospreys carried on without batting an eyelid. Photo: David Clode.
*
Osprey, Cattana wetlands, Cairns, Australia.
*
White-bellied Sea Eagle. Bat colony, Aplin Street, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
*
White-bellied Sea Eagle, Cairns. Photo: David Clode.
*
A Spur-winged plover dive bombs a White-bellied sea eagle, while a fruitbat tries to get some sleep. Near Cairns City Library. Photo: David Clode.
*
At about 6.30pm 17/01/16 I was lucky to be able to see and photograph a White-bellied sea eagle which caught and ate a Spectacled Flying-fox (or Fruit-bat). Animals which are attacked by predators are usually killed quickly, or go into an extreme state of shock, and don’t feel anything.
Sea eagle. Photo: David Clode.
*
Eagle portrait. Photo: David Clode.
*
Sea eagle with Spectacled Flying-fox prey. Photo: David Clode.
*
Eagle and bat. Front lawn of the Cairns City Library. Photo: David Clode.
*
Sea eagle and Flying-fox. Photo: David Clode.
*
Eagle and bat. David Clode.
*
The eagle doesn’t waste anything. Photo: David Clode.
*
Figbird photos:
An immature male figbird eating fruit.
*
An Orange-footed Scrubfowl scratches in the leaf litter for food. Photo: David Clode
*
See also “Photos Birds 1” and “Photos Parrots”. Hopefully, more to come.
Green Treefrog Litoria caerulea. Photo: David Clode.
For more frog photos, see “Australian Wildlife Photos” at:
