Wild Bird Wednesday 364 - White- Faced Heron

I am basically going to be off line for about two weeks - so I will not be able to reply to comments - but I well get there eventually!

So, this week I have chosen to post some pictures that are mainly not birds - they are mainly plants.  I think that we can forget that birds exist in a place, in a habitat, and that a frame filling portrait can miss the context and character of the bird.

Maybe that's just an excuse for me not getting closer to this White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) at my local pond - but I really do like showing birds in the place that they are.

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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The Cats of Jakarta

You cant wander the streets of Jakarta without being aware that there are a large number of feral / stray / semi-domestic cats in the city.

They are pretty much everywhere, and I suspect that people like them!  I saw one lady passing out chicken wings to the local cats.  It was like they (the cats!) knew she was coming and had lined up!  Sadly, no photographs of the event - just memories.

So, here are some of The Cats of Jakarta.

I think this is my favourite - he was a bit of a bruiser! 

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

Wild Bird Wednesday 363 - Dusky Moorhen

I have come to believe that Jet Lag is evolution's revenge for allowing us to invent air travel.  My spirit is almost broken!

These are some pictures from a recent trip to a local pond - they show a Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa) checking out its reflection.

I am capable of no more!

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 362 - The Gathering

These Silver Gulls (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) were gathered on the wharf as we came in from the Whale Watching trip.  I rather liked the way they were lined up on the metal rails.

Just for a bit of a change, I converted one one the image to black and white - I think these pictures suit that process.

As I mentioned last week, I will be up to my eyes in work this week - but with luck I may get to see a few birds in the off work hours.  There is always hope!

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 361 - A Passing Gannet

The Australian Gannet (Morus serrator) is a pretty conspicuous bird when you are out, or around, Port Phillip.  (I learnt today that its called Port Phillip, not Port Phillip Bay - which makes no sense to me, but I must keep the pedants at bay!!)

This bird passed us on the dolphin trip, so I just had to take some pictures.

Although it does not really show it in the pictures, this bird was flying pretty fast.

I am about to be very busy for 10 days, so please be patient with me in regard to replies - and I will probably have to schedule the WBW for next week tonight as well!

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 360 - Southern Fulmar

While I was out on the ocean near Phillip Island, not seeing whales, but enjoying seeing lots of dolphins, a small pale bird started following the boat.

There had been a few gulls and terns around the boat, but this bird was not flying like either of these types of bird: too low to the water and not enough wing flaps.  There were a few Shy Albatross around as well, but even at distance you could see this bird was not large enough to be an Albatross.

Luckily, after about 10 minutes the bird came close enough to the boat for me to get a good look at it, and some (heavily cropped) pictures.

The bird was a Southern Fulmar or Antarctic Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides).  At almost any other time in the recent past finding this species would have been a real shock.  There have not be very many records in Victoria waters - and most (as far as I am aware) have been rather further off shore. According to some of my books most records on the 'mainland' coast of Australia are of bird driven ashore or 'wrecked'.

However, in recent weeks there has been a spate of records all along the Victorian coast - so it looks a much larger number of birds than normal have left Antartica and headed north.  Without the 'heads-up' that the records on social media had given I would have probably had no idea what this bird was.

As you can see its basically Silvery Grey in colour, but you can see the pale patch in the darker wing tips.  This bird flies with the same 'stiff wings' as the Fulmar from 'up north'.

All in all, a bit of a remarkable bird - and unsurprisingly, a new one for me!

As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below - and also as ever, please feel free to share the love for WBW with other bloggers!  Cheers. SM

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