Varied Sittella

I made up my mind early in the week I was going out this weekend and damnit I was going out no matter what the weather did. So, 6am this morning I leave home in the rain and fog to meet a friend at Scheyville National Park with the intention of photographing Rose Robin and/or Speckled Warbler though that was not to be as the weather was terrible and neither species were interested in having their photos taken. We moved on in search of a more willing participant only to be pushed back to the visitors center by heavy rain.

While waiting for the rain to stop we were entertained by several White-throated Treecreeper, Grey Shrike-thrush and Golden Whistler so it wasn’t all bad.

After the rain cleared we headed out in search of more target species though today they were around but not to be photographed. After trying several locations and missing all photo opertunities we decided to try for Varied Sittella.. Great idea! They were much more intrested in getting their photo taken and dispite the rough weather I managed to get quite a few photos of them I’m happy with. After the Sittella moved on we spotted some Brown-headed Honeyeater but again they would not come close enough for a photo. Leaving Longneck we made our way to Mitchell Park, getting there we found the gates locked and no access for seemingly no reason?? That was a dissapointment so, with that it was time to head home.

On my way back up the mountians I took a detour though Pitt Town Bottoms as there is ALWAYS a good showing of raptors and today was no

Peregrine Falcon

exception with Nankeen Kestrel, Black-shouldered Kite, Swamp Harrier as well as quite a few Australian Hobby all hunting along the road-side or watching from the powerlines. From Windsor I always drive along Cornwallis Road to Richmond and today it was a little quiet. Saw a bunch of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike but startled them before I could manage a photo. There were also Golden-headed Cisticola calling from the grass along almost the entire length of the road.

To finish the day I called into Castlereagh Nature Reserve as I had seen reports of Speckled Warbler there also. A short walk into the reserve proved today just wasn’t my day. Thinking it’s time to head home I took a break (nature called) and to my complete suprise right in front of me sat a Peregrine Falcon and to my amasement he sat and let me take a few photos before leaving.

How is the new camera I hear you asking?

Short answer = AWESOME!

It’s a very nice upgrade even form the 40D. The poor lighting really pushed the camera to it’s limits and I must say I am more then pleased with the results. ISO noise shows a little more than the 40D but I was expecting that seeing it’s a 50% megapixel increase. Most impressive of all was the autofocus, using the Canon EF 2x II Extender on my EF 300mm f/2.8 lens yeilded perfect focus every time, even in the terrible light today the lens barely hunted and once locked on was sensational. In good light I would say this combo focuses as fast as the 40D would when using the Canon EF 1.4x II Extender. Stay tuned for a detailed report on the 50D.

That’s about all I have time for right now, till next time.

Cheers.

P.S Be sure to check my gallery for todays photos.

I also must apologise for not having a whole lot to say (type) lately, life is chaos this time of the year with both work and home taking over. It’s great to finally be on holidays for a few weeks of relaxing with my camera in the bush.

Recent Trips:

I’ve spent a few hours round the Cattai area over the last month or so mostly to visit the Rainbow Bee-eaters but also trying to find one of my favourite species – Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) and just yesterday I managed a great encounter with an extremely friendly male, YAY!

I spent some time in Murphy’s Glen last weekend and managed to see my very first Beautiful Firetail (Stagonopleura bella) I was most pleased to have seen this species so close to home and I’m planning a trip back there in the coming weeks to try an photograph this rarely seen little bird.

Future Trips:

To start off 2009 I am making the trip back to the wonderful Capertee valley with some friends to spend at least one night, this is such a fantastic place to visit I really am excited to be going. So look out for new images in the future.

That’s all I have time for right now, though I’ll be back with a full report on my Capertee trip early next year.

Cheers
Craig.

The morning started with setting up the hide and attracting half a dozen Eastern Spinebill then a single Scarlet Honeyeater chased them away. Thankfully I managed a few photos that I am resonably happy with. After that we were visited by a few friendly Brown Thornbill and a very inquisitive Eastern Yellow Robin. Not long after we moved the hide to a new location where we were again visited by more Eastern Spinebill and another Eastern Yellow Robin. I was waiting for a male Golden Whistler but only the female showed up (for a very short time) and not interested in having a photo taken.

We moved the hide for a final time and on the way stunbled onto a pair nesting Spotted Pardalote. These are one of my favorite little birds and the male was not worried by us at all, he was most obliging and posed for many very nice photographs. After setting the hide up we found a pair (or three?) of Grey Shrike-thrush though they didn’t seem to want their photo taken and stayed just out of reach of the zoom the whole time.

Mitchell Park is a beautiful place and has a very diverse range of forrest attracting a large amount of birdlife. For those of you wanting to see a large variety of bird in one place with great amenities highly recommended.

That’s all for now.

Craig.