Friday, July 10, 2009

Darter glistens in early sunshine



Australasian Darter (Anhinga novehollandiae) sunning in a paperbark island at Tyto today. Several birds active in the lagoons these days. Elsewhere, close to Ingham, I recently spotted four rapidly maturing juveniles on a big messy nest visible from the highway.


At the same Cattle Creek site, large flocks of Intermediate Egrets are thriving on the large areas of silt and mud deposited by the massive floods of January-February.


Another mud lover is the oft-unloved White Ibis. But they grow more attractive the closer one gets.

4 comments:

Denis Wilson said...

Hi Tony
Your Darter is lovely.
Your Ibis is remarkably clean (for a White Ibis. But I disagree with your principle of proximity increasing attractiveness - for that species.
having seen them scavenging rubbish bins at Taronga Park Zoo and standing on picnic tables, waiting to steal one's lunch, distance makes my heart grow fonder (of them).
Cheers
Denis

mick said...

For some reason Intermediate Egrets are the only one I haven't seen. Must be looking in the wrong places.

Tyto Tony said...

Hi Denis: Should we blame the ibises (and gulls etc) for the scavenging we create by wastefulness and littering?

Hi Mick: Egrets come and go as they please. V few Littles about up here at present.

Richard King said...

Nice male Darter! They always remind me of my chilhood and hearing them calling along to river all day.

Head up for dragonfly, head off for fish head . . .

One moment it's dragonfly trying to dance on White-bellied Sea-Eagle's head, the next it's all go for fisher's discarded fis...