Earlier in the day, I had been on the local bird survey, then headed home during some rain. But around lunchtime it stopped raining and the Sun came out, so I headed out to Barton Park to see what birds were out. I had a great afternoon.
When I arrived, things at Landing Lights Wetland seemed fairly quiet. There were the usual Teals and Stilts. Then a White-faced Heron flew in –
And in the Spring St Canal, a pair of Great Egrets were hunting. Here is one –
The Egrets moved down the canal, so I concentrated on the wetlands. Here are two of the Pied Stilts –
Then one of the Great Egrets flew in –
Then it was joined by the second.
The White-faced Heron was still around.
The hinterland was fair quiet, so I went up to the top area. I spotted a juvenile Black-shouldered Kite perched on a lamp.
I stayed to watch the Kite, waiting to see if it would take-off. Luckily I could wait in the shade of a large bush. But I was distracted by a Willie Wagtail hunting for an insect –
I looked back to see if the Kite was still there. It was, and seemed to be watching the Willie Wagtail too.
Then it took off –
It landed on a pole in the old stadium.
Then it dived down and grabbed something out of my sight. And flew up to another pole. I moved around and got closer.
It took off away from me, and I did not see it again for a while.
Meanwhile the Willie Wagtail now had a worm.
A juvenile Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike flew past –
And one of the Great Egrets flew past –
I located the Black-shouldered Kite again.
I then decided to move down to the end of the canal and look for the Osprey. No Osprey but I did spot a Striated Heron –
The tide was quite high, and I have seen them bring in quite big fish in these conditions. I sat down and waited to see how it did. These Herons are normally quite secretive and fly off if a human is near. This one is perhaps used to humans and I could remain family close to it. It seem to be concentrating on its hunting.
It suddenly dived.
It had caught a very nice fish.
The Heron climbed up the bank a bit and swallowed the fish out of my sight. It then resumed its hunting. I watched it for another 25 minutes or so. It remained focussed on the water and occasionally extended its neck, but it never pounced. It then flew off. I wonder if it is feeding young?
I then walked out to the Cooks River and scanned the banks near the airport for the Osprey. No sign of it, so I headed back to the wetlands. I saw a White-faced Heron fly in and land on the sewer vent.
But then a second Heron wanted to land there also.
The first one objected to company!
The second one flew off, but circled around and had another go.
Then had a third go.
It had been a most interesting few hours.