Day 69 of lockdown. I decided to do another bike ride down the Cooks River and then to Barton Park.
I didn’t see too much along the first bit of the ride down to Gough Whitlam Park. I sopped one Sacred Kingfisher along the way.
At Gough Whitlam Park I saw one Striated Heron on the island. Probably guarding their nest site.
This part of Gough Whitlam Park near the Billabong looks like it was an Aboriginal midden. There are certainly lots of shell fragments on the ground. I don’t know how much modification took place when the park was landscaped.
I then continued on to Landing Lights Wetland at Barton Park. It was reasonable quiet compared to my previous visit. Here is a Great Egret –
The Pied Stilts seemed a lot more placid. Perhaps they are now paired up for the breeding season?
Here is a Little Egret.
I looked around for raptors – but could not spot any. It was quiet up at the higher level. Down where the cycleway crosses the Spring Street Canal, I bumped into fellow bird photographer, Daniele. She had spotted a Striated Heron hunting for fish.
I printed my camera towards the bird. It seemed oblivious to us. Perhaps it was getting food to feed a chick?
At one point it flew off. But Danielle spotted it circle around and land in some nearby mangroves. Perhaps that was where it had a nest?
It soon re-emerged and resumed its hunting.
When it gets a fish, it swings it back and forth rapidly to stun it.
Its amazing to watch them lunge with their stretchy neck.
Here you can see small fish above the birds head. It must have jumped out of the water in shock.
But the one that jumped out was not the one the bird was after. It seldom missed a fish once it struck.
I then left and started riding home. On the way, I stopped off to photograph a Pied Cormorant with a fish at Cahill Park.
A Little Egret flew past.
At Gough Whitlam Park, I spotted a Striated Heron perched in the mangroves near the river.
