I spent an interesting two hours wandering around the Tempe Wetlands and the Tempe Reserve photographing birdlife.
Brown Goshawk
One of the more interesting encounters at the Wetlands was observing a Red Wattlebird eating a cicada it had caught –
Further along, in one of the figures I saw a family of Figbirds eating the figs –
In the middle pond, an Australian Grebe seemed to have made a nest. They make a floating nest.
Some of the other birds at the Wetlands –
I then made a circuit of Tempe Reserve. A large number of Welcome Swallows were flying high overhead. They fly far too fast to see directly what is going on, but telephone photos show they were hunting for insects, and there was a large swarm of insects high in the air.
A pair of White-faced Herons flew over –
At the Salt Marsh – there was a White-faced Heron –
And the usual Cormorants fishing in the river –
A family of Superb Fairy-wrens were playing nearby. Here is the male –
It was then almost time to leave. So I made my way back through the Wetlands. I was lucky to spot a Brown Goshawk perched in a tree. It was being harassed by a Willie Wagtail, and it eventually flew away.
As I was leaving, I saw something which I think is a type of puffball fungus. It had no attachment to the ground and had a hard outer covering. Perhaps a Schleroderma?
