TWITCHER. BIRD-NERD. ORNITHOLOGIST.
This is a gallery which is going to grow, in size if not popularity. I am happy to come out proud and say I don’t mind a good twitch. A pair of bins and a walk in the bush can turn up many feathered surprises. Or none.
The colour, sounds, manner, variety of our feathered companions, from tiny finches to great birds of prey, can liven up a day in the park, the city or the hills.
Regrettably, my species identification is appalling.
An Indian roller, named so for its mating dance.
Guinea fowl. Funny looking critters, which, sorry, also taste good.
A pair of Indian rollers.
Masaai Mara National Park, Kenya.
The strangely named secretary bird, Maasai Mara, Kenya.
A pair of crested storks, Maasai Mara.
Grey heron, Maasai Mara, Kenya. Likes to stand still and pretend there is nobody there.
Crimson rosellas, at Siingapore's excellent bird park.
A steppe eagle flies over the ruins of ancients Sauran, Kazakhstan.
Nomads steal the chicks from the nest and raise them as hunters, developing incredibly close bonds.
Kyrgyzstan, World Nomad Games. Gold medal winners in the eagle hunting
Heron, Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysia.
Also on the Kinabatangan, comorants (unless they are darters?).
Narawntapu National Park, on Tasmania's north coast, pied oystercatchers getting a meal.
In Western Australia's Nambung National Park, home of the Pinnacles, a galah.
A gull on the beach on Queensland, Australia's Gold Coast.
A very lucky cassowary sighting, at Etty Bay, 100km south of Cairns, Australia. Was walking along the beach with family when (s)he just wandered out and right past us.
Walk-in aviary, Healesville Sanctuary, Melbourne, Australia.
Walk-in aviary at Healesville Sanctuary, Melbourne, Australia.
Yellow wattle bird, the largest honey-eater species, in suburban Melbourne.
Up close and personal at Kennett River, Victoria, a king parrot.
Cockatoo, Kooyoora State Park, Victoria, Australia.
Kookaburras are actually a specie of kingfisher.
The spotted parladote is one of the smaller Australia birds, so how I managed to get this shot in Heathcote, Victoria...
In the north-west corner of Victoria, Australia, corellas.
A half dozen emus roamed freely through our camp at Little Desert National Park, in Victoria.
Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. Rainbow bee-eater.
White-faced heron at Leliyn (Edith Falls) part of Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park, in Australia's Northern Territory.
At the main campgrund in Nitmiluk NP, Australia, a blue-faced honeyeater is one of many friends waiting.
Spinefex pigeon, Uluru, central Australia.
Zebra finch, Kata Tjuta walk, central Australia.
White plumed honey-eater, Kata Tjuta, central Australia.
Australian ring neck parrot, Ormiston Gorge, west of Aice Springs.
Spinifex pigeons play a game!
Surveying the aird Namibia landscape, a Black-chested Snake-Eagle.
Flamingos on the Luderitz Peninsula, Namibia, feed in the shallow lagoon.
An ostrich stretches its legs across the open plain in the Namib Rand National Park, Namibia.
A yellow breasted robin, in the forest near Warburton, on Melbourne's edge.