It had been a while since my previous visit to Nurragingy Reserve at Doonside, so I thought I should visit the park again.
I did not observe that many birds, but those I did see where quite interesting. On my previous visit I had seen a pair of Pacific Bazas. This time I saw they had a nest, and in the nest was quite a well developed chick. It looked like it was 2 or 3 weeks old. It was hard to get reasonable photos of the chick in the nest – it being shielded behind branches.
I was able however to get photos of a (or perhaps both?) parent bringing food back for the chick. Every half hour or so, a parent would return to the nest with some food. From looking at my photos, I could see that it fed the chick on a grasshopper, a caterpillar and a small lizard. The parent also would not fly straight to the nest with the food, but perch on a branch nearby, and check that things were OK before going to the nest. This would provide opportunities to get photos of the parent perched and in flight.
The chick was also making its presence known. It was often calling out – perhaps trying to gets parents attention and to signal that it demanded more food.
Here are some more photos of the Pacific Baza –
I also saw the several Kingfishers. When I arrived at the Reserve, I could hear a Sacred Kingfisher calling and I saw a flash of blue as one flew away. Later, I spotted an Azure Kingfisher, perched on a fallen tree in a pool. I moved closer and saw it was one of a pair.
One of them then dived into the water and returned to the perch with a fair sized fish. It flew off with the fish. Perhaps to a nest? These birds seemed most active in the morning – from when I arrived around 9 am to not long after 10 am.
Later, I spotted one of the Sacred Kingfishers. It had a rather large cicada in its beak.
And some of the other birds I saw –
