I spent the morning on the Cooks River – between Illawarra Road and Gough Whitlam Park. The highlight of this visit was observing the resident Sacred Kingfisher for a fair time.
When I walked down from Illawarra Road, I spotted the Kingfisher perched on a branch over the water.
It moved around a fair bit.
Some of its stances were hard to photograph –
But it seemed to like this one a lot –
It then flew downstream. I walked down slowly, but could not spot it. Here are some other birds along the river –
Little Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant
White-faced Heron
Willie Wagtail
I had heard several Orioles calling and eventually spotted one.
Olive-backed Oriole
Australian White Ibis
I then turned around and walked back upstream.
King Parrot
And the Sacred Kingfisher was back in the upstream section before Illawarra Road.
Here is has a crab –
Now it is coughing up a pellet –
And then it is time for more carbs… or rather more crabs.
The crab had escaped.
Now a stand-off with a Noisy Miner.
The Kingfisher uses its beak for defence.
But this Pelican flying upstream also had attracted trouble. A Magpie was attacking it.
Meanwhile the Sacred Kingfisher had another crab.
Down it goes…..
But perhaps not quite!
That’s better.
This time a gang of Noisy Miners assembles.
But the Kingfisher does not seem too worried.
This had been a very pleasant session on the River.