On 14 April 2025, we decided try to look for birds at a different location. Bababi Marning, also known as Cooper Street Grassland Nature Conservation Reserve. This location was host to Robins last Winter but I wasn’t aware of it until the Robins have vacated.

Since there have been many sightings for Robin in locations around Melbourne, I have decided to pay Bababi Marning a visit to find out if the Robin have arrived in this location.

Sadly, I did not observed any Robins but there were plenty of the usual birds that calls Melbourne home with the exception of Dusky Woodswallows. However, a much of Rainbow Lorikeets did caught my attention.

Many people consider these birds as a nuisance as they often feed on fruits grown in gardens. Their calls can be very annoying; perhaps second only to the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. However, they are undeniably a very beautiful bird.

I was fortunate enough that these birds in Bababi Marning posed for me. They perched on a dead tree trunk on a bank of Merri Creek. As the oppose bank of the creek was reasonably far away, there was good isolation of the subjects.

While they were reasonably tolerant of my approach, they were flapping their wings while perched as if to increase the volume of their bodies to send me a warning. They really have no cause to be alarmed because there was a ditch separating me and them. When they depart their perch, I managed to capture one of them in flight.

The Rainbow Lorikeets may not be everyone’s favourite birds but they are without doubt one of the most photo-genic animals in Australia.

First: Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO1250

Second: Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/3200s f/6.3 ISO4000

Third: Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO800