The Birds of Canberra

Below is 6 Photographs, which were very hard to obtain. My wife and I were out with our camera's at a nature reserve in Canberra.

We were just below Black Mountain when we looked up and saw these Eagles. We got into the car and drove up Black Mountain to get a closer look. We saw them above us but we had to track them off the beaten track, down the side of the mountain on foot. These Wedege Tailed Eagles are a very Majestic bird of prey, but in saying that they are also very shy and would normally take flight if they caught sight of us.

This was not the case, The first 4 Photo's are the Female and the last 2 are the male. The female sat in that tree while we walked around for 35 Minutes and then the male came in for a look. He was only there for about 5 Minutes and then they both flew off.

Below next 4 Pics are a Swan and Duck sharing a pond and bathing.

The next 2 below are Pics of two resident Pelicans, not unusual you say, well it is when we live 300KM inland from the coast.

Below are 2 Pics of a bird called a Masked Lapwing. The first pic is the male who was warding us off with threating sounds, upon taking the 2nd pic after he moved, we noticed his mate was nesting and he was in protection mode. In the second pic, the male is on the right and the nesting female on the right.

Below is a pic of a Crow who joined us as we were having a cuppa at an outdoor coffee shop by the lake.

This pic below is a Magpie Lark, he also joind us with our cuppa.

These 2 birds below were taken in our front garden and are Galah's.

Below is a pic of a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo landing in our front garden.

The next 3 photo's below are of Magpie Geese, taken at Black Flats Pond in our Namadgi Nature Park.

The 2 Pics below are of what we call a New Holland Honeyeater, they are a nectar bird, not sure what their real name is, but we have lots of them here.

Below are 5 photos taken at several locations in Canberra. They are of our iconic Kookaburra's, a member of the Kingfisher family, these guy's always seem to have something to laugh about.

Below is a Pic of a Purple Swamp Hen, this shot was taken in Canberra at our Lake burley Griffen.

The 2 photo's below are of a Noisy Miner Bird, also which are quite common in other countries.

Below is a pic of a White Faced Heron taken at one of Canberra's wetland reserves.

The next 3 photo's below are the Australian White Ibis, also taken at one of Canberra's wetland reserves.

The 2 photo's below are of Australia's iconic Magpie, these pics were taken in my front garden and Yes they are residents, they visit everyday, sing for us and when they have their young, they bring them to us to meet.

These birds, during nesting are very aggressive and swoop down at people to scare them away from their nest. Some people have been seriously injured by these birds. Just a quick note, we have befriended our family of Magpies for over 10 years, we don't know why but they are not aggressive or swoop us.

The 2 pics below are of a Mulga Parrot, I captured these parrots in 2 seperate surroundings, by the water and in a tree.

The 2 pic's below are of the Eastern Rosella, photo's were taken at a Canberra public park.

Below are 2 Photo's of the Crimson Rosella, these photo's were taken in Canberra at our local nature reserve. These birds can be found in abundance where we live.

The 2 photo's below are of a Red-browed Finch, taken at a Canberra wetland reserve.

Below are 2 photo's of what we think.....is a Heron, not sure which one but I managed to hide in the long grass to get these shots and more before he spotted me and flew off.

I think these 2 cute pics below, everybody knows. They are Cygnets (baby swans). these shots were taken at a local wetland reserve in Canberra.

Below is an Intermediate Egret, very lucky to get this shot as they are Endangered in Victoria and rare in South Australia, so we were very lucky. This shot was taken in our local wetland reserve (think he was just visiting).

The 2 shots below are of the Great Cormorant, we have these birds everywhere there is water in Canberra.

Below is a shot of a Willie-wagtail in flight (lucky shot)

Below are 2 photos of a Flame Robin, makes very pretty sounds. A little bird with a huge voice.

Below is a tiny and very fast little bird which is called a Silvereye.

Below are 2 photo's of a waterbird called a Darter, the beak and neck say's it all.

Below is or what I think is a Grey Shrike-Thrush, caught this photo only by chance as I was shooting for wetland birds.

Below is a photo of the Pied Cormorant taken in one of Canberra's Lakes.

Below is a ground level photo of a Whit-Browed Scrubwren in our Botanic Gardens.

Below is a photo of an Eastern Spinebill, A Nectar Gathering bird.

Only know this one below as a Weebill, have to be quick to photograph them as they hardly ever stay still.

This little one below is an Eastern Yellow Robin, he stood so still for me.

Below is a Red Wattle Bird, loves our native flowers.

This rather interesting bird below is a Noisy Friarbird, the top part of his head a neck has no feathers. Another name for them is Old leatherhead.

The bird below is a Hooded Robin, they make a beautiful sound.

Below is a photo of a Superb Fairy-wren, these little guys are so bright and are very hard to miss when they are hopping along on the ground.

Below is a photo of a Grey Fantail, these little guys flit around and are hardly still enough to get a good shot. They also have a huge voice and sing beautiful.

This photo below is an Australian Reed Warbler, we have been told by local Bird watchers that it is very rare to get a photo of these very tiny birds. We had a feeling they were hard to capture as this is the first and only shots we have taken, after 2 years of visiting their habitat.

Below is a photo taken of a White-Throated Treecreeper, captured the bird moving from one tree to another. This photo was also taken at our Botanic Gardens.