Wild Bird Wednesday 248 - Spotted Owlet

We stay in India and with owls for this week's WBW.

These are pictures of Spotted Owlets from Sultanpur National Park, which is the same location as last weeks owls.

The Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) is a small owl that is widespread through out much of Asia.  This is a small owl, with a height of about 20cm.  Picking up on a comment from last week, this owl will look familiar to many people as it is in the same genus as the Little Owl and Burrowing Owl.

To ensure there is some continuity from last week's WBW there are also some more annoying sticks!

You can make all of the pictures bigger, but I would recommend doing so for the last image - if you do you can see how one of the eyes of this owl looks much mope 'open' than the other - presumably this is because owl's left eye is in shade.

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below:

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A walk on the beach

We spent Sunday wandering between Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff - we probably saw more dogs than people - and there weren't that many dogs!  Less than 2 hours from Melbourne - check out the crowds!

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

Wild Bird Wednesday 247 - Indian Scops Owl (and a very annoying stick)

We head back to India for WBW this week, with an Indian Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena) almost showing well.  This is a common enough owl in India, butI was still really pleased to see it.  This bird was roosting in a tree in Sultanpur National Park.

What was rather frustrating is that the tree was growing right next to a wall and I was unable to get a clear shot of the bird without the stick being in view.  If I moved away from the wall I had to photograph through a thicket of smaller branches.  All that being said I still like these images as they carry a sense of the reality that we face when trying to photograph birds!

The Indian Scops Owl is small by owl standards - about 25cm long - but it is one of the largest Scops Owls known.  In these pictures you can see the 'ear tufts' which are characteristic of Scops Owls.

I'm back in the saddle at work this week - catching up from a week off.  Wish me luck!

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below:

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A short stay at The Prom

Wilsons Promontory is a National Park about 3 hours east and south of Melbourne - it's one of my favourite places.  We spent a few days there in the Easter School holidays.  H and I went for an overnight walk, which was good and richly supplied with chocolate.

We we got back the whole family did some fishing and went on a few other walks - all in all it was a great time!  I did not do much photography, just messed about and had other sorts of fun!

Off on a walk!

Reflections in Sealers Creek

Morning at Sealers Cove (we camped near here)

Sealers Cove 

Sealers Cove

Crimson Rosella - taken just outside our hut

Small fish and a crazy kid

Slightly Larger fish and just as crazy a kid!

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

Wild Bird Wednesday 246 - Australasian Gannet or Tākapu (Part 2)

A couple of weeks ago I posted some images of a Australasian Gannet or Tākapu colony.

This week I am just going to post some closer images of the birds, including a pair bonding (I assume this is what it is) at a nest site.  No more text this week, just pictures!

As ever, to join in with WBW just click on the blue button below.

In a neat bit of number symmetry - this is WBW 246 and 1101 for my Photo-Gallery!

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Well, that just about covers it!

I think these signs are rather amusing - and I suspect that a lawyer would have a field day on them:  "My client was not scratching or scribing - he was in fact doodling, which was not forbidden in any of the signs, your Honour!"

Sightseeing must be dangerous in India!

These picture were taken with a smile at Agra Fort.

Wild Bird Wednesday 245 - White-Fronted Terns

White-Fronted Terns (Sterna striata) are considered to be the most common tern found in New Zealand.  Such statements always make me smile, as the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) is also found there, but its really un-common!

These White fronted terns were all photographed on the beach at Muriwai, on New Zealand's North Island,  below last week's Gannet colony.  It took me a while to sort out the exposure for these images - photographing birds on a basically black background was not easy.

Anyway, these birds were pretty active, and an incoming tide made it rather risky to lie in the beach and hope the birds got used to me being there (which is my normal tactic in these situations).

As you can see, there were some well grown young birds that were still demanding food from the adults. All in all these were great birds to watch.

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below.

Thanks for the positive comments from from last week - they really did help me put the negative contacts in perspective.  SM

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