I spent the day at the Northern Beaches at various venues – Rat Park, Warriewood Wetlands, Irrawong Reserve and then finished at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve.
Here are some photos –
Rat Park at Warriewood
Walking to the park from the bus stop, I could see an Osprey below the nest feeding on a fish.
And, walking back a bit, I could see an Osprey above sitting in the nest. Probably sitting on eggs. It looks like there male is on the nest and the female is eating the fish below on the cross bar.
On my last visit to Rat Park, I didn’t see any birds at the nest, so it is good to see both of them there now.
Also at the park, were a number of Galahs.
And a huge flock of Pied Cormorants flew past overhead.
I ddi not see any of the Kestrels I often see there.
Warriewood Wetlands and Irrawong Reserve.
I walked up to Warriewood Wetlands and then to Irrawong Reserve., where I walked to the waterfall, and I walked back the same way, visiting the same section of Warriewood Wetlands.
Laughing Kookaburra – eating prey.
Little Wattlebird
Bell Miner
Brown Thornbill
Weebill
Eastern Yellow Robin
Yellow Thornbill
Brown Gerygone
Yellow Thornbill
Rose Robin
Golden Whistler
Eastern Yellow Robin
White-browed Scrubwren
Eastern Yellow Robin
When I left, I walked down Mullet Creek to Pittwater Road. I was on the lookout for the Black Bittern, but had no luck.
Long Reef
At the lookout, I spotted a Nankeen Kestrel hunting over the golf course.
I had lunch at the lookout. I was watching for Osprey, but didn’t not see any here this visit.
On the rock platform, I saw a White-faced Heron flying past.
It was low tide, so I walked out on the rock platform. The Crested Terns were very active with their mating.
Nearby where a few Ruddy Turnstones –
Back to the Crested Terns. They were still busy!
Also on the platform, a Great Cormorant –
I then looked for and found some more migratory birds. There were quite a few Red-necked Stints –
Amongst them were two Double-banded Plovers. Here is one –
This White-faced Heron was admiring its own reflection –
And to finish, some Sooty Oystercatchers –
Hi David, Great photos as always. I have a Canon DSLR 100d. I’m currently using a medium sized Canon zoom lens. However, I’m currently in the market for a super telephoto lens so that I don’t have to make a fuss with the zoom as I photograph birds from far away. I’m looking for something mid-market, around AU $400. I found a LensCoat LCN600IIBK Nikon 600 AFS II Lens Cover in black on soundstore Australia. here is the link:
https://soundstores.net/products/lenscoat-lcn600iibk-nikon-600-afs-ii-lens-cover-lens-cover-black-black?variant=42063535603865
I don’t know if this might be a bargain regret thing, but I’ve decided to consult an expert (you). It is Nikon, but I think it is compliable with my Canon camera. The 100d is canons smallest DSLR and it may look quite ridiculous. But as long as it works. If all checks out, are there any accessories I need to use it on my Neewer tripod? If there is anything else I might need to know, please don’t hesitate. Thanks!
Hello Noah. I am not an expert on different sorts of gear for photography. But – a “lenscoat” is not a lens, but simply a protective cover for a telephoto lens that helps to prevent a telephoto lens from being scuffed. Super telephoto lenses that are used for bird photography are very expensive – especially prime lenses (that is not zoom lenses) – often costing $10,000 to $20,000. Most people, like myself, use cheaper zoom lenses. For bird photography, I would use a focal length of 300mm or longer. A lot of people use a 100-400mm zoom. But better is a zoom that goes up to 600 mm. I use a Sony 200 – 600 mm zoom and find it generally satisfactory. But I sometimes use a much smaller and lighter 70 – 350 mm zoom. I think a Canon 100d is quite a good camera – it is a small and very light body with a pretty good sensor. The autofocus may have difficulty with flying birds, but should be OK for perched birds. If you want a telephoto prime lens then a CANON EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM Telephoto Prime Lens is good – but expect to pay over $1000.
Thanks David!
I had a feeling that it wasn’t a real lens. I just couldn’t find out for sure. Mabey a telephoto lens isn’t something I can afford right now but those canon zoom lenses seem like something I could work towards. I really appreciate it! Also, the main thing I’m looking to photograph right now are Aussie Parrots. Do you know any good spots within a two hour drive from SYD that may be good for that? I hear the swift parrots are around this year as there is a gathering of them in Pilliga. Thanks for the info!
You could consider a second hand telephoto lens – either a zoom or prime lens.Parrots – I would look at the eBird lists. See https://ebird.org/australia/hotspots You can zoom into to various sites around Sydney and see what birds are recorded or look for a particular species and see where it has been recorded recently. I have photographed Swift Parrots at Mt Annan Botanic Gardens – but they are probably not there now.
Hi David. Thanks. I have been looking at telephoto lenses on ebay and found one that seems alright. It is a Kelda 500mm F/8 Super Telephoto Lens for Nikon Canon all DSLR Camera + T Mount and according to some reviews kelda is an ok brand. It just seems to be just a bit too cheap. Last weekend I went to Mt Annan botanic gardens and have been to the area where people have seen Swift parrots. There were only some very loud bell minors, Eastern rosellas and very noisy Sulphur-crested cockatoos. The amount of swift parrots left has dropped drastically. A few years ago there were 2000 but now an estimate of 750 is much more likely. Devastating, but still better than the 30 OBS left.
I would steer away from lesser known brands. If it is cheap then it is very unlikely to be any good. Also – it would be manual focus, and so quite difficult to use in many circumstances. And you would probably have to buy an adapter to use it on your camera. Note that Nikon and Canon have quite different mounts which are not compatible.
There was one that was a little more expensive that came with an adapter ring but I couldn’t tell for sure on the cheaper one. I think you’re right sticking to the bigger, more reliable brands like nikon and canon. I did find on ebay a canon EOS EF Fit 500mm 810mm F/8 Super Telephoto Lens 600D 650D 3000D 4000D.
It is about $220 AUD, so it is pretty cheap but also Canon. There are also a number of these telephoto lens on ebay. I am currently using a 55-250mm zoom lens that works adequately but for bird photography something larger is needed.
aaah, wait… Those are all manual focus.
Hi Noah, if you want to begin bird photography with a small budget, I would recommend trying the long zoom compact cameras like Canon SX60 or Nikon P900. They are generally cheaper and user friendly. Just my two dimes. My personal experience is I would not want to try the cheap lens, they don’t really work. Cheers.