Here's today's puzzle: find the bird in the bulgaroo. Hurry up, I've done all the hard work. Stood near this spot for months off and on. And all for nothing most of the time. That, or a brief gurgle and then silence for the rest of the day.Today brought the if-onlys. If only the bird would come out to the water's edge of the bulgaroo (which I cannot identify: am told it's Scleria sp but cannot nail it down. So, bulgaroo it is. Not bulguru: the Water Chestnut.)
If only it would climb to the top of the bulgaroo. If only it would - best of all - stand openly and preen. If only I'd ID the bird? Why, it's a Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus). Today's is the first clear sighting for me since April 7. Then, I got obscured, blurry pictures of a bittern seizing a great mass of weed and unidentified prey.
One day, if only the if-onlys are aligned correctly, and fate decrees, I'll get a decent picture of little Ixo!Elsewhere, I came across two young Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena) awaiting impatiently on a bridge rail for their hard-pressed parents to meet their demands for more, more, more...
...and people think teenagers can be just a teeny bit demanding! At least they don't physically try to bite your head off.
Wonderful camouflage! I admire your patience in finding the bird.
ReplyDeleteGosh! No wonder I've never seen one
ReplyDeleteHi mick and boobook. Probably lot more L Bitterns to be seen in many parts of Oz. Big national Birds-Aus survey coming up.
ReplyDeleteHi Tony
ReplyDeleteThanks for pressing us to look. I eventually found an eye, and then it appeared. Great work.
Denis
Hi Denis: I thought it'd be fun to present a little of the problems I had in trying to find the bird in the viewfinder.
ReplyDeleteTook me long enough to spot it in the photos let alone find a real one. Well done!
ReplyDeleteWonderful Tony, wonderful!
ReplyDeleteGouldiae
I second Gouldiae's comment Tony.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you.
ReplyDelete