15 July 2014

Birding at Myuna Bay #2

...it's all so easy to walk by a tree and not notice that a certain bird is sitting in it.  I'm so used to trying to find little birds hiding behind the tracery of branches and foliages instead!

Take this eucalypt (gum) tree; on the right side of the trunk, just before the first long branch on that side ... there's a little broken stub of a branch, and there's something perched there.  Now who would've known, so OUT THERE?!  Someone in our birding group that day spotted it; well done I say!   Shall we look a little closer at it then?

Tawny Frogmouths ..they make me smile; quirky little beings with their beak pointing to the sky trying to make out it's just another branch, and they do camouflage SO well, don't they?  

Read about (and hear), the Tawny Frogmouth on this Birds in Backyards fact-sheet here



while standing on the opposite side of the channel, over there near the top of the pine tree is a nest.

it was Whistling Kite

one sitting at the nest and the other flying overhead



stretched to the max., it appears two to the left of the trunk, and one sitting up a little higher, at right

... and while sitting in the sun with morning cuppa by the bay, Silver Gulls paddled in circles

18 comments:

Jo said...

Oh wow, just look at that Kite's nest! And the Tawny Frogmouth just begs for me to scroll up again and again to look at it. Thanks for sharing.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Hi Carole What fantastic shots at such a distance of the Kites. great shots also of the Tawny Frogmouth. Have a great week.

Irma said...

Hi Carole,
What fantastic shots of the Tawny Frogmouth, and also that Kite's nest!

eileeninmd said...

I just love the Tawny Frogmouth, what an unusual bird. And the Kite's nest is a cool sighting.. Awesome photos, Carole! Enjoy your week!

Phil Slade said...

Those Tawny Frogmouth's are just an amazing bird.Just shows that birders have to keep their eyes and ears open at all times to find the less obvious. Nice post Carole. Lovely sunshine too.

Jenny said...

I've never seen the bird with its beak pointing to the sky. Amazing. All your photos are nice. xo Jenny

Icy BC said...

Wow..great shots! It is such a joy to watch the birds.

Roy Norris said...

The Frogmouth is so unusual Carole. Its something like the Wryneck we get.
Loved the Gull shot though(sitting in the sun), but I missed out on the Tea.{:))

Bob Bushell said...

Oh yes, the Tawny Frogmouth is beautiful, my favourite.

Christian Perrin said...

Great post Carole! Love the Frogmouth, such a charismatic bird - if you can see it in the first place!

I also really liked your Kite photos, especially the one with the nesting bird and its mate circling above the pine top - your camera trigger finger chose exactly the right moment!

TexWisGirl said...

the frogmouth is just the coolest thing!!! :)

Karen said...

Somebody has good eyes! Cool shots!

Gail Dixon said...

Wow. I've never seen or heard of a Tawny Frogmouth, so this is a real treat! He does camouflage well with his surroundings. It took me a good 30 seconds to really SEE him.

Deanna said...

Oh you captured some very interesting birds. Haven't even heard of a Tawny Frogmouth, wow!!

FAB said...

The Tawny Frogmouth would certainly top my list of camouflage artists.

Brian King said...

The Frogmouths are so cool! Kind of strange, but cool.

Helma said...

Gosh how nice that the bird itself as to drop it like a branch seems hahahah .. Very good given you. I see a different picture how far that nest inside. Do you have such a large telephoto lens that you can see from that distance?

Carole M. said...

Thanks for your lovely comments everyone ... and HELMA you asked about my 'large telephoto lens' for the distance shots across the channel to the Whistling Kite's nest. My camera is a bridge-camera, or sometimes called a 'super-zoom' camera too. My sidebar notes it as SONY, DSC-HX300 and it does upto x50 = to 1200mm. I chose this for its compactness and weight advantage primarily with the ability to stretch when needed. With that advantage, the over-riding disadvantage though to an SLR with big lens, is loss of clarity - since there is no dedicated lens attached. So my photography has to be considered for record-shots, and blogging .... it still gets me out there and enjoying the fresh air and birding opportunities when I can.