Wild Bird Wednesday 304 - Crimson Rosella

It's another photo essay this week - although there is some sign of relaxation on the horizon!

These birds are Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) and it's not hard to see where that common name came from!

These bird were regular, if rather timid, visitors to the house we rented in Halls Gap, in the Grampians a few week ago.  This is where a long lens is very useful.  I managed to get a pictures of these birds on a couple of mornings, but I may have to leave some for a later date.

These guys are adults, and they really are these colours!

As ever, to link to WBW just click on the blue button below!  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 303 - Galah

It been a very, very busy week - so this week's WBW is rather more of a photo-essay than anything else.

These birds are Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla) which were feeding on a sports oval.  The bird with the grey looking head is a young bird.

As ever, to link to WBW just click on the blue button below!  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 302 - Emu

The Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is Australia's second largest bird, standing between 1.5 and 2m tall and weighing in at 26-50kg!  By any standards that's a large bird.

Being a flightless bird it can run at about 50km per hour and is a surprisingly good swimmer.  (The bit about swimming is taken from the books, not my own observation).

These birds were in a damp paddock near Halls Gaps, and being an inquisitive sort of bird they eventually came so close to me that I could no longer focus the lens on them.

I rather like the two head only shots, not just because they are sharp, but because they include a fly in each picture!  In may even be the same fly!

As ever, to link to WBW just click on the blue button below!  SM

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Eastern Grey Kangaroo

These Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) were loafing about on the football oval at Halls Gap in the Grampians.  They gather there in (surprisingly) large numbers most days and are a bit of a tourist attraction really.

These are the most abundant - some would say over abundant - in my neck of the woods.  In some places where they are fed by tourists, they can become rather aggressive, especially when they are trying to get food.  As with many other wild animals, some people seem to forget that they are wild and not zoo animals.  A number of people have been hurt by this type of 'roo - slashed with the claws on the back legs. As you can see from the pictures, these claws are not small!

More pictures from around the world at Our World Tuesday.  SM