Saturday 11 May 2013

The Birds of Lake Macquarie 2

On my recent trip to Lake Macquarie we of course saw lots of fabulous birds.

Pelicans of course. Pelecanus conspicillatus. I love the sight of such massive birds sitting on street lights.

They don't seem to think that they look preposterous...
even though they do.
It helps to take a photographer on a walk too

There were lots of herons and egrets about. It was only going through the photos that I realised we had seen two different egrets! All looking spiffy in their breeding plumage. 
Little Egret. Egretta garzetta.

Great Egret. Ardea alba

Great Egret. Ardea alba

We saw many white faced herons too. Egretta novaehollandaie


I think the Noisy Miners could see themselves in the reflection!
They perched themselves on the car door every day
and scrabbled about on the roof.
They've never done that before

I've show you some birds at Lake Macquarie before.

 Today is World Migratory Bird Day, an important day to think about ecological impacts on the estimated 50 billion birds that set off on their own extraordinary journeys. 


The image quality improves markedly when you click on a photo and look at it with the lightbox. 

Saturday Snapshot, is a wonderful weekly meme from at home with books
at

19 comments:

  1. Martha Eskuchen11 May 2013 at 12:01

    More great bird photos! The first photo brought a smile but I love the full-on shot too (third one down). Good photos.

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  2. Brona11 May 2013 at 13:25

    Your bird shots are inspirational Louise. Such lovely close-ups.

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  3. Anonymous11 May 2013 at 16:39

    Amazing photos. They're so beautiful. I can't tell the Egret from the Heron.

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  4. Louise11 May 2013 at 17:37

    Martha- I love those particular pictures too.

    Thanks Brona.

    Arti- I suspect that it's the little egret and great egret that you have trouble distinguishing- the two big white birds. I do too. The little egret has two plumes coming from the back of his head- which you can just see in my picture in lightbox view. An easier distinction is his black bill. The great egret has a much longer neck, that always has quite a prominent kink in it. There is also an intermediate egret which is quite similar to the great egret- they have somewhat subtle differences in the colouring on their faces. I thought one of my great egrets was an intermediate for a while... I pored over the pictures in my bird book, and checked them up online too before being somewhat confident in my identifications.

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  5. Anonymous11 May 2013 at 19:40

    really beautiful and interseting shots. your clarity is spectacular! I've always wanted to take up birding, too. :) -beth

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  6. Paulita 11 May 2013 at 20:50

    Great bird photos and thanks for identifying them too. I'd be wondering all the time if you hadn't.Here's Mine

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  7. Laurel-Rain Snow11 May 2013 at 22:15

    Impressive shots! The birds are so elegant....

    Thanks for sharing...and here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

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  8. Melissa O.11 May 2013 at 22:31

    Wow, y'all got some amazing shots of birds on your walk! Thanks for stopping by my Saturday Snapshot post, too!

    ~ Melissa @ Melissa's Bookshelf

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  9. Unknown11 May 2013 at 23:06

    Oh, to see these lovely creatures up close! Thanks for sharing. :)

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  10. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz11 May 2013 at 23:20

    Love these. You are right; the pelicans looks preposterous. But, then again, pelicans always look preposterous. :-)

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  11. Sheila (Bookjourney)12 May 2013 at 03:41

    Love the great bird pics!

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  12. Christine Harding12 May 2013 at 04:08

    The egrets are so beautiful. I know I've said it before, but they are such elegant birds. My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/JyyYT

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  13. Alyce12 May 2013 at 04:42

    My favorites are the egrets and herons, but pelicans are a lot of fun to watch too! Great photos!

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  14. Bonnie12 May 2013 at 07:48

    I think Pelicans are beautiful...love the photos!

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  15. Unknown12 May 2013 at 22:14

    I just love birds! Your photos are lovely, Louise!

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  16. Esme13 May 2013 at 00:03

    The beaks on the birds are remarkable. I looked into breakfast at Meurice when I was in Paris-the reviews were not overwhelming-one person said that the breakfast egg was an egg with chips out of a bag. Based on the reviews and that I caught a bug when I was there and had some serious stomach issues(how unfair is that when you are in Paris) all I wanted to do was eat, I passed on the breakfast.

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  17. Lmkazmierczak13 May 2013 at 07:41

    Rather whimsical! Love your bird finds♫ Happy Sunday.

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  18. Ali13 May 2013 at 08:06

    These are great! I love the pelicans on the lights and the little bird on the edge of the car, especially.

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  19. Leslie (Under My Apple Tree)13 May 2013 at 16:21

    I've seen lots of gulls sitting on street lights but never a Pelican. They do look a bit preposterous up there! And when those Herons and Egrets fly they look almost prehistoric.

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Thank you for commenting.