Cooks River and Tempe Birds – 13 December 2017

I went down in the afternoon to the Cooks River at Gough Whitlam Park to see if there was any activity at the Striated Heron Nest. I didn’t see any birds in their nest, but I did spot a Striated Heron lurking near the pool.

Striated Heron

I then continued on to the Tempe Wetlands. There I spent some time watching the Willie Wagtail nest. The parents were quite busy getting food for their chicks – 

And the parents also cleared rubbish from the nest –

During this, I noticed some rather strange behaviour. One of the chicks seemed to have a stick down its throat. The parent seemed to then force the stick further down. I wonder if this is normal behaviour – perhaps to clear a blockage?

Nearby, high a tree, was the Wattlebirds and their foster Koel chick that I had seen on my previous visit –

And a few other photos from the wetlands or along the river on the ride home –