Australian Birds

Oh goodie a birthday swim!!!

Oh those babies are so cute. It always amazed me that those babies look just like miniature versions of the parents. Not like Mallards that looks so different.

oh my goodness.. I loved these pictures! Thanks for sharing..

Awww darling little things. Aren't they sweet?

Back from a glorious swim to celebrate Mrs Ed's happy birthday today/tomorrow/the 13th. The main beaches were so crowded I went to one where I sometimes go snorkeling. The shoreline has a string of Silver Gulls.

I took my little point and shoot in swimming with me.

The water is so clear, looks like a nice spot for swimming. Did you take any pictures of the fishes and the reef?

It was lovely in, Burn. The water is still quite cold, which is refreshing when the temperature is so hot. Burn I didn't snorkel today, so didn't see any fish. Felt a couple of stingers, though.

Here's a small group of Silver Gulls.

Edited to make sense.

This message was edited Dec 13, 2009 11:48 AM

Hi everyone. Boy have I got a lot of catching up to do. Mike and I spent from mid-October through mid-November visiting Australia and New Zealand. By the time we got home, unpacked and settled, Thanksgiving was here. And now, Christmas is just around the corner. Ever since we got home, I've been spending most of my free time editing the photos from my trip; so I thought I'd contribute to this thread with some of the bird photo I took in Australia.

At first, I though this one was a magpie; but it's actually a Butcher Bird

(sorry ... had to fix a few typos!)

This message was edited Dec 13, 2009 1:46 AM

Here's a picture of the Australian Magpie.

Sticking with the black & white theme, here's a Magpie Lark.

And, one more b&w ... the beautiful Australian Pelican.

And, another shot of an Australian Pelican.

Last one of the pelican ... here's a whole flock of them.

Now, for one last b&w bird ... the Australian Ibis.

Just so you don't think all of the birds in Australia are black & white, here's a very colorful, male Rose-Crowned Fruit Dove.

And another colorful one ... the Rainbow Lorikeet. These guys are beautiful; but you wouldn't believe how noisy they can be.

This Galah was looking at me as if to say, "Hey, are you taking my picture?" One of the other ladies in out tour group owns a few cockatoos. She told me that these guys sell for about $2000 each in the US. One morning, I counted 20 of them on the ground and thought to myself, "There's $40K worth of birds!" It was truly unbelievable being in an area where they were wild and free.

Here's a Silver Gull. We saw them just about everywhere in Australia except for the Outback.

Here's one ... a Crested Pigeon ... that we only saw in the Outback.

Here's a Masked Lapwing. I had only seen them at the zoo, so it was exciting to seem them in the wild. Incidentally, I didn't realize that there was a northern and eastern form of the Masked Lapwing. This one is the northern form.

Next, we have the eastern form of the Masked Lapwing. Notice the black around its neck that the northern form didn't have.

Here's an Eastern Reef Egret. I had never seen a black egret before; but we saw a lot of at Green Island, which is a small island in the Great Barrier Reef.

This thread already has a few pictures of these guys... the Australian Brush Turkey; but I thought I'd add mine too.

Here's a Buff-Banded Rail. We saw a lot of them at Green Island too.

Here's a White-Necked Heron (They were formerly called Pacific Herons)

And here's another heron ... a Rufous Night Heron

Here's a pair of Black-Necked Storks, called Jabiru.

Next, here's a pair of Magpie Geese.

Oops, I should have included this one ... a Royal Spoonbill ... with my other B&W birds.

oh, here's another black & white .... a cute little Willie Wagtail.

I'm pretty sure that this one is a Flame Robin; but the Scarlet Robin looks very similar. It sure was a pretty little birds and doesn't look anything like our American Robin.

Here are a few Australian Ringneck Parrots that were just sitting in a tree at our hotel in Alice Springs.

Here's a whole tree full of Little Corellas.

And, here's just one Little Corella all by itself.

This one is a Torresian Imperial Pigeon.

This one is a Comb-Cested Jacana. It is also called a Lily Trotter because it walks around on the water lily pads.

(Oops, more typos to fix. One day I may learn how to type ... LOL)

This message was edited Dec 13, 2009 2:39 AM

This one is a Spiny-Cheeked Honeyeater

Here's another honeyeater; but this one is a Yellow-Throated Honeyeater

From the size of this one, I believe it's an Australian Raven.

Here's a Common Myna. I just love the yellow around its eye; but they are considered pest bird in Australia.

Also, thanks Margaret for helping me identify it. The photo in the Australian Bird Guide shows it as being much more of a red-brown color.

Well, that's all of the Australian birds I've got. Hopefully, I finish editing the New Zealand birds and get them posted soon. In all, I saw about 85 different species of birds and most of them are new additions to my life list. It really was a great trip; but the flight was a killer.