The coat of the Common Starling is probably the most beautiful in Winter. This is mean to be their non-breeding plumage. Personally, I think it looks better than there breeding plumage. This photograph was taken on 25 July 2024 at Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/500s f/6.3 ISO1800.
The Silvereye is one of the more common birds in Australia. I have also seen them in New Zealand. The identifying feature of the bird is obviously the white ring around the eye, hence, its name. It feeds on insects, fruits and nectar.
This photograph of a Silvereye was taken at Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-Boore on 23 July 2024. Being a small bird, it is extremely active and not easy to get a good picture. I was very fortunate to have this opportunity to take a decent photograph of the bird.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/500s f/6.3 ISO2000.
This photograph of a Tawny Frogmouth was taken on 3 July 2024 at Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore. Tawny Frogmouths can be spotted frequently at the park. I spotted this one 2 days before and it was still at the same perch when the picture was taken. The Frogmouth had a couple of other perches prior this this one.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/500s f/6.3 ISO1000.
The 2 images above are the same photograph of a White-plumed Honeyeater in Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore taken on 30 December 2023.
The one of the right has been manipulated by having the tree trunk on the edge removed. At some point in time, every photographer will be tempted to manipulate their photograph for ecstatic reasons. In this case the tree trunk might be seen to be distracting. I experimented using Adobe Photoshop’s generative fill to remove the tree trunk. I was surprise how well it has done. It has even generate rain drops in the area where the tree trunk was.
Personally, I feel that it is my job as a photograph to document the moment and tell a story about where the bird might be. While this is only an experiment, I don’t feel good about publishing a manipulated image.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/9 ISO450
Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore is quite famous for its population of Spotted Pardalotes. This picture of a female Spotted Pardalote was taken on 24 May 2024. On occasions, these Spotted Pardalotes may be joined by Striated Pardalotes. I don’t have photograph of the Striated Pardalotes that I considered decent. I will post one when I do.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO2500
This is a photograph of a resident of Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore. It was taken on 1 July 2024. We don’t see or hear it every time we were here but it does appear regularly enough.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/500s f/6.3 ISO640
This portrait of a female Golden Whistler, a resident of Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore, was taken on 21 May 2024. It is a fairly friendly bird that will usually call out to me when I am there.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO1100
The photograph is of a New Holland Honeyeater taken on 31 May 2024 at the Western Remnant of Royal Park.
This bird is one of the most common birds in Melbourne. They feed on insects and nectar. As the photograph depicts, the face of the bird has quite a bit of pollen which suggests that they act as pollinators as well.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO1100
Earlier in the year, a male Australasian Darter made Oak Street Wetland it’s temporary home. This photograph was taken on 11 March 2024. When the Darter had his back towards me, I sneaked up behind him and positioned myself close to the water’s edge. To my surprise, he started turning around. That allowed me to take this frontal photograph of the Darter. Surprisingly, he didn’t realised that I was there until I stood up to leave.
The 800mm lens caused the shot to be quite tight. A 600mm lens would have been ideal in this situation. I was also in a squatting position to take the photograph through the viewfinder. In retrospect, I should have try taking this picture using the flip screen of the camera and held it lower just above the water. However, it could make it difficult to position the Darter within the frame.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/500s f/6.3 ISO6400
About 120 Galahs was observed at the oval next to Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-Boore in the morning of 20 June 2024. The one in the photograph is a male. You can tell that it is a male by the colour of his eyes.
Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/500s f/6.3 ISO280