Courtship dance of the Crested Pigeon

Crested Pigeon

On 28 February 2025, a couple of Crested Pigeon was seen performance a courtship ritual at Trin Warren Tam-boore.

I was fortunate enough to have captured this action as a photograph.

Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO8000

More pictures of Galahs

Galah (Female)
Galah (Female)

These photographs were taken at the oval next to Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore on 14 December 2024.

It was a reasonably cloudy morning but the harsh sun shone through the cloud, creating a less than soft light on the Galahs. Still diffused but slightly harsh.

I was lucky enough to be able to get a photograph of a Galah with its crest up. This does happen often.

First: Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO90

Second: Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO140

The Galahs are back

Galah (Male)
Galah (Female)

After a few weeks of absence, it looked like the Galahs are back at Royal Park Trin Warren Tam-boore. These photographs were taken on 11 December 2024.

The first image was taken at the oval next to Trin while the second was taken at the Skink Habitat.

While a common bird, they are quite pretty and add colour to the city park on a dull summer day. Their calls are not as rough as the Sulfur-crested Cockatoo but I wouldn’t described them as particularly musical. The way to identify the sex of the Galah is the colour of their eyes. The males have dark brown eyes while the females have pink eyes.

First: Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/800s f/6.3 ISO220

Second: Nikon Z 9, Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S @ 1/640s f/6.3 ISO140

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

A flower beetle in our backyard

Mordella

On a cloudy morning of 22 November 2024, I spotted a flower beetle of the genius Mordella. I am unable to identify the specific species of this beetle. The iNaturalist Seek mobile app was only able identify the genius.

This is the first time I have seen this beetle. It disappeared the next day.

The photograph was taken with the Nikon Z 105mm macro lens with a Roynox DCR-250 and a flash diffused by a newly acquired Cynustech diffuser.

Nikon Z8, NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S, Rayox DCR-250, Nikon SB-910, Cynustech Diffuser @ 1/200s f/22 ISO400

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