The Superb Fairywren caught its breakfast

Superb Fairywren (Male)

Superb Fairywren are all over the place these days. This one was found in Trin Warren Tam-boore on 10 December 2024. It looked like it is going to have its breakfast.

Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/500s f/6.3 ISO2800

A native pigeon of Australia

Crested Pigeon

Crested Pigeons are common in Australia. They can be found easily at Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore. This photograph was taken in the morning of 10 December 2024.

The day was fairly overcast. This provided a nice soft light for the photography at the field next to Trin. This particular Crested Pigeon was kind enough to pose for me.

Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/400s f/6.3 ISO1400

Little Black Cormorant in silhouette 

Little Black Cormorant

This photograph of a Little Black Cormorant in flight at the Oak Street Wetland was taken on 6 December 2024 a bit after sunrise. There wasn’t much light at the time as the cloud obscured the sun but the combination of cloud and sun resulted in a rather dramatic sky. Exposing for the sky resulted in the bird in silhouette.

Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/3200s f/6.3 ISO200

Superb Fairywren singing passionately

Superb Fairywren (Male)
Superb Fairywren (Male)

On 20 November 2024, I came across this male Superb Fairywren at Trin Warren Tam-boore singing with gusto.

The pose was excellent but there were some twigs and branches in the background. I think it contributes to tell a story of the habitat of the bird.

As an experiment, I used Adobe Photoshop to remove some objects in the background. This resulted in the second photograph.

What I feel about the alternated image is that it looks too sterile and, therefore, lacks authenticity. I think I still prefer the original photograph.

Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO450

Grey Teal looking cute

Grey Teal

Another photograph of a sweet Grey Teal at Oak Street wetland. This photograph was take on 15 November 2024.

It was taken on a close to the water surface hand-held and composed using the rear LCD of my camera an hour after sunrise.

Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO2200

Another portrait of a Pacific Black Duck

On 15 November 2024, this Pacific Black Duck came very close to me at the Oak Street Wetland. Of the native ducks, the Pacific Black Duck is probably the one that is most comfortable with human, especially if they are used to being fed.

Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO2800

Willie Wagtail at the oval

Willie Wagtail

There is almost always a Willie Wagtail at Trin Warren Tam-boore. This one was found at the oval on the morning of 14 November 2024. The Wagtails are very used to having people around. I have not met one that has a large circle of fear anywhere in Australia.

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

Buff-banded Rail foraging at Trin

Buff-banded Rail

On some occasions, we do see the Buff-banded Rail foraging at Trin Warren Tam-boore. This was the case on the morning of 10 November 2024.

At this time, only one Rail was seen. Sometimes, we can have 3 Rails out in the open. I hid behind a tree and try to look as non-threatening as I can be. I believed it knows that I was around but being a distance away, it must feel quite comfortable. As it seemed to be as ease with me looking on, I had time to remove the strap from my camera and held it low at ground level using the LCD screen of the camera to compose and focus. The result was a better photograph than my previous attempts. Due to the uneven ground, I was not able to get the background to be as clean as possible.

Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO80

Charging Pacific Black Ducks

Pacific Black Duck

This dramatic looking image was taken in the morning of 10 November 2024 at the Oak Street Wetlands within an hour of sunrise. The sky was clear and the rising sun cast a warm light onto the wetland.

While the ducks looked like they were charging toward me, this is common behavior of these ducks. They are swimming towards me expecting to be fed. Visitors to the Oak Street Wetland generally don’t feed the wildlife, these ducks must have come from a location where they are being pampered. As a rule, it is best not to feed wildlife as they need to develop the skills to feed themselves and the food people give wildlife may not be appropriate.

First: Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO450