Tuesday 29 November 2016

Out and about

During a bit of a brief walk on the weekend I came across this Purple Swamphen - or more correctly a Australasian swamphen now that the classification has been changed - stripping the seeds from single grass stalks.  This was rather good value to watch.

The bird was holding the stalk of grass lightly in its beak and then it would slide its back along the grass, removing all the seeds.  I recall doing a similar thing as a kid - although using my fingers rather than my 'beak' - to create bunches of seeds to throw at people in a rather annoying way!

Photographically these pictures were a bit of a challenge - the bird was in tall grass which kept being 'grabbed' by the auto-focus and there were strands of wire from a fence as well.  In the end the birds were scared off by a large group of cyclists!

I have included a picture of one the the chicks that was also feeding in the area - I was impressed by the size of their feet!





You can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

13 comments:

  1. What great photos and yes I also used to do that as a kid with my fingers. Your right that chick has got big feet!! Cheers Diane

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  2. Hello, great captures of the Swamphen. The little one is cute. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

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  3. Why purple?? Looks Blue to me..pretty blue as a matter of fact..Good shots!!

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  4. Well done in getting the birds in focus. Those strands of grass can wreak havoc with the focus!

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  5. Another interesting bird. The chick is really cute!

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  6. Great photos!
    They look to be cousins of our American Coots. The Coots are dark birds with enormous feet and a white shield between their eyes instead of the red of your Swamphens.
    Hope you are having a good week!

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  7. Oh, I thought the adult swamp hen was cute, but the chick has it beaten for adorability!
    Kay
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  8. nice catch and capture :) can we cook it?

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  9. Yet another change of name! Great photographs and I loved seeing the young one in the last shot.

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  10. They are good shots showing hoow they get the seeds. The baby sure does have big feet.

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  11. What a magnificent bird ~ great photography and love the baby bird and its big feet ~ thanks,

    Wishing you a Happy and Fun Week ~ ^_^

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