Yabba Creek Circuit, 730 m, grade 2 walk:
This is a popular walk with families and nature lovers. As we made our way towards the suspension bridge on the Yabba Creek Circuit, a man carrying a camera with a very large lens overtook us and raced to get to the walk first. He told us that he was intent on getting a photo of an Eastern Whipbird and apparently he didn't want us ahead of him disturbing the birds! After a while he stopped on the path and was intently taking photos so we stopped a few meters back and waited for him to achieve his goal. While waiting, I spotted a male Regent Bowerbird and we managed to get some photos.
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| Regent Bowerbird, male. |
After a while, the birder came back to us and told us that he had been taking close up photos of an Eastern Yellow Robin sitting on it's nest. We were horrified because birds are easily stressed and have been known to abandon their nests if they feel uncomfortable. Of course we have learnt these things over time. If you are interested in learning more, Birdlife Australia has published an Ethical Birding Guidelines PDF that is helpful. It turns out that the birder didn't manage to get a photo of an Eastern Whipbird. After the incredulous look he gave us when we told him we had been taking photos of a Regent Bowerbird we didn't have the heart to tell him that we had in fact managed to get a couple of photos of an Eastern Whipbird as well.
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| Not the greatest photo of an Eastern Whipbird but relevant to the story. |
We often encounter goannas sunning themselves on the path.
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| Lace Monitor (goanna) |
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| Turtles and Little Pied Cormorant on Yabba Creek. |
Araucaria Circuit, 3.5 km, grade 3 walk.
An extension of the Yabba Creek Circuit which I have written about previously.
Eugenia Circuit, 2.4 km, grade 3 walk.
The first part of this walk climbs gradually to a lookout before descending again to the creek. The second half of the walk is mostly flat. We have walked this circuit many times over the years and there is always something interesting to see. This time, the highlight was seeing several active platypus moving about Yabba Creek.
I certainly wish I had the eyesight of this Grey Goshawk when viewing wildlife.
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| Grey Goshawk |
Spectacular! I love the goshawk, platypus and bowerbird pics in particular.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the photographer you met is putting too much effort in! The hardest part of wildlife photography is the planning - out in the bush, a relaxed and curious vibe gets better results in my experience! ☺
Thanks Christian. Yes, you've made a good point. Sometimes being too goal orientated leads to frustration. Our philosophy is to just get out there and look.
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