Wild Bird Wednesday 153 - Magpie

This is the second of three Wild Bird Wednesday's that I need to organise before I head off for work related travel.   So, although the familiar blue button will appear at the bottom of the page - the posts themselves will be rather briefer than normal!

These birds are Magpies from the UK.  Many birds have this name, but this one is Pica pica - the only crow in the UK that is not basically back or grey.

These shots were taken last year on Hampstead Heath on the first day of a wonderful month back in the UK.  These distinct, clever and noisy birds were constant companions of mine as a kid and it was nice to see them again so soon after getting off the plane.

And now its your turn to join in - click on the blue button to link your blog to WBW - and while my visit may not be swift, I'll get to you in the end, even if you have been already waiting a week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wild Bird Wednesday 152 - Hoary Headed Grebe

This is the first of three Wild Bird Wednesday's that I need to organise before I head off for work related travel.   So, although the familiar blue button will appear at the bottom of the page - the posts themselves will be rather briefer than normal!

These rather splendid little birds are Hoary Headed Grebes, Poliocephalus poliocephalus (and no, I have not developed a stutter!).  For those of you in the UK, they are about the same size as a Little Grebe, and for those of you in the USA its about the same size as a Pied Billed Grebe.

These birds were all loafing about on coastal pools on Phillip Island, Victoria.

And now its your turn to join in - click on the blue button to link your blog to WBW - and while my visit may not be swift, I'll get to you in the end! SM

An InLinkz Link-up

Jakarta Bay Fishing Boat

By the time this post hits the airwaves (so to speak) I will be well into more work related travel - and as per normal I have no idea when (or if) I will get to have a look at my blog.  It's so annoying how things like work get in the way of important things - like life!!

This is one of the many fishing boats that we encountered while we travelled out to the fish traps.

You can find more pictures from around the world here at Our World Tuesday.  SM

Jakarta Bay Dawn Sky

To visit the Friagtebirds featured in the last post, my journey started at 4.30 am!  Even then the streets had a good deal of traffic on them.

I'm trying to track down the exact location we ended up at, but the Sun was not that far over the horizon when the boat left the beach.

A combination of early morning sea haze, pollution and a low Sun provided some rather interesting colours.

You can see more skies from around the world at Sky Watch Friday.  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 151 - Christmas Island Frigatebird

Despite a rather hectic schedule in Jakarta, I did manage to get about 3/4 of a days birding in.  As has become my habit when I travel for work I tacked on a days leave to the start of the trip, so at least I can have one day to have a loom around.

Luckily I was able to make contact with a local birder who acted as my guide, interpreter and identification coach - the local currency does not have a high value on the world markets, but paying over 3 million anythings was a bit of a shock!  (That is until I did the back 'translation' into Australian $ and it all made a bit more sense!)

Part of the day involved a very early start to take a boat out to some fish traps in the Bay of Jakarta, to the north of the city.  These fish traps are basically just large curtains that trap fish on the fall and rise of the tides.  It's no surprise that these places attract birds!

And the birds we were hoping to see were there in abundance - Frigatebirds of three species.  As I have mentioned before the light was shocking, the birds flighty and the boat less than stable - under these circumstances I am rather surprised I managed to get any images at all.

As far as I am aware these birds are all Christmas Island Frigatebirds (Fregata andrewsi). These birds are about 100cm from beak to forked tail tip and have a wingspan of over 200cm.  In other words they are big.  There was constant squabbling going on between the birds and it was a real thrill to be sitting in amongst the best part of 200 of these birds.

(Brief up date to one of the images - its a Juvenile  Lesser Frigatebird)

Frigatebirds on the fish traps

Juvenile  Lesser Frigatebird 

The birds with the red pouch under the beak are males, the others are females and juveniles.  It may not be very scientific - but when they sit with their beaks out to one side they remind me of the vultures from Bugs Bunny!

Now it's over to you - click the blue button and off you go.  I have not caught up from last week yet, and I am back on the road in a few days - so, good things will come to those that wait!  SM

An InLinkz Link-up

Jakarta

Due to the wonders of Social Media, some of you may have noticed I was in Jakarta, Indonesia, last week.

I was working with a group of teachers on the development of assessment materials - all good stuff really, even if the language barrier was sometimes rather too high.

For most of the week I was indoors - and for much of the time I did manage to get outdoors there was a heavy haze of some sort in the air.  Both factors rather limit photography.

Here are three image that sum up my week!

Evening sky from my hotel window

Water Buffalo, north of Jakarta

Workshop participants - and some (almost) bald guy!

You can find more pictures from around the world here at Our World Tuesday.  SM