I did a nice exercise bike ride – along the Cooks River Cycleway to Tempe, then along he cycleway to Barton Park with a photoshop, then out and around Muddy Creek to Botany Bay, a visit to the Fish and Chip shop for lunch, then a ride back with another stop-off at Barton Park.
On the way out, I stopped for short break on the cycleway on the Princess Highway at Tempe to photograph a Great Egret doing some fishing. The bird seemed to be catching small shrimp like animals.
At Barton Park, I first visited the Landing Lights Wetland. There was another bird photographer there. It turned out to be Daniele, who I met there before a number of times. She pointed out a Striated Heron to me. It was lurking in the grass behind the main pool.
We both waited wth our cameras ready. It eventually moved out a bit closer.
There were also a few Black-fronted Dotterels on the mudflats.
The Striated Heron was being very cautious. It looked around and then flew off.
A Brown Goshawk made a brief appearance.
The Goshawk may have unsettled one of the White-fronted Herons.
The Striated Heron returned to its spot. Here the White-faced Heron tried to sneak past.
There were also the Dotterels to photograph.
The Striated Heron flew off again, but it soon appeared closer to us, and was starting to hunt for food. It was interesting to watch.
It did not seem to be very successful in its hunting.
Then another Brown Goshawk (a juvenile?) appeared.
The Striated Heron seemed to be concentrating on its hunting.
But it did glance up.
It made a lunge, but didn’t seem to catch anything.
It then flew and settled on a log.
It then flew off and left the area.
This had been an interesting session. I then headed off to Botany Bay for my lunch. I didn’t see any interesting birds out there, and on my way back I stopped off again at Barton Park – but by then it was a lot quieter. There were lots of small fish in the creek however.
