Nothing stick-in-the-mud about these birds

Call them slick or quick in the mud, just don't call them stick-in-the-mud. Some of the lively birds looking good as water evaporates in Townsville Common Conservation Park lately:

Comb-crested Jacana slurps up a gelatinous treat (a favourite with young Magpie Geese also).

Magpie-Lark splits time between bathing and breakfasting.

White-browed Crake ventures out from safety of bulrushes in search of grub.

Buff-banded Rail forages below tower hide (ignoring crowd of chatty birders above it).

  

Sacre bleu! Blind shots not Sacred blur

Sacred Kingfishers showing out in seasonal return to Town Common Conservation Park these days. Pair active bathing around Payets Tower this morning triggered some forget-the-viewfinder point, shoot and hope. And, wonder of wonders, a half decent result. 

Later in the morning, Australian Hobby returned to snatching dragonflies from near surface of Melaleuca viewing area lagoon. It also repeated previously seen hostility toward passing immature White-bellied Sea-Eagle, driving it away from the area. No such aggression toward mature bird perched nearby. 

Hobby launches into big bird, lunches on dragonfly

Australian Hobby gets right into the face of passing immature White-bellied Sea-Eagle in Townsville Town Common Conservation Park this morning. Bemused big bird betook itself away smartish.

Can't imagine the Hobby thought of the Sea-Eagle as competition for the dragonflies it was launching after and lunching upon. Shouldn't be crabby - because near none in the Common.

And when an intruding Brahminy Kite came along and launched itself into the water-lilied waters and flew off with talons full of weed and maybe obscured prey the Hobby took no action. But loads of action for the observer.

Need to look sharper as Kites whistle in

Whistling Kite all set to grab dead Tilapia from Townsville Town Common pool. I caught the action but got caught with slow settings because I'd been after Black Cormorants 'fishing' much closer to me and in shadow. So, after processing with Canon's DPP4 and sharpening to its full extent on 1-10 scale, the images, converted to.JPGs, got more sharpening in Gimp (which I'd use more often if the super freeware only had a worthy Raw converter. Fully sharpened picture above. Partially sharpened below, followed by extra-sharpened in sequence.

Luck catches up with Darter and Tilapia

Rarely, but every now and then, a moment of magic emerges from an amalgam of luck and readiness. The readiness is all, they say. Not so. Without luck the readiness  - vital though it is - comes to nothing. Or maybe nothing much. So, Australian Darter snatches Tilapia from duckweed-coated pool on sun-filled, still morning in Townsville Town Common Conservation Park.

Lucky to be carrying 800mm lens and camera set for fast in-flight action. Lucky to catch bird and fish lit so happily. 

But luck is fickle. Not so lucky to have bird miss head-first catch after tossing fish in air. Suddenly action too fast for auto focus and eye-capture and blurry fish is plunging to lucky longer life. 

Half your luck, some might say. Probably rightly. And perhaps the Darter was even luckier and could afford a seeming smile. The Tilapia's size may have proved an unlucky swallow. On balance, lucky me, lucky fish, lucky bird maybe.

Will burnoff, warning sign brown off croc in the Common

Saltwater Crocodile making itself at home on the freshwater side of the earth and gravel bund for walkers and cyclists in Townsville Town Common Conservation Park has sparked permanent warning sign 6km away just inside the entry gate.

Possibly slight overreaction for an animal estimated at a bit under two metres but there is some suspicion of a larger saltie in the same general 300-400m stretch - the deepest water on the north side of the bund.

Neither was likely to have been visible from midmorning today because a pre-saltie-planned burnoff of grasses on bother sides of the bund brought crackling red flames, billowing smoke and hungry kites. No threat to the croc's favoured sunning spots, half in flooded para grass and mud on norther side of the long curving pool. Even the threat of being caught unawares has greatly reduced through the burnoff of much cover on the bund. But we'll take a sneaky look tomorrow - see if the croc's browned off.  

Crimson Finches cope with problem child

Male Crimson Finch had only one thing on his mind this morning - instead of maybe six or more. Where was his youngster fresh fluttered from the nest near Payets Tower in the Townsville Town Common Conservation Park?

Question of why only one would have to take care of itself. He had to find and take care - with his partner - of young bird scrambling clumsily through the guinea grass. 

The parents whizzed here, there, everywhere. Junior clambered and started low 'chirp-chirping''. Which did the trick. Well, mostly. Parents turned up - but without food! Then off the three went to sort out some breakfast. Should not prove problem for parents usually coping with many more hungry mouths. 

Osprey gobbles Tilapia gobbet

Large red gobbet of Tilapia for male Osprey today in dead tree near recently vacated nest beside road into Town Common, Townsville. Partner vanished swiftly at my approach in long grass and tangles of fallen trees. And no sign of juvenile, only 10 days or so since it was perched above one of the pools from which today's Tilapia almost certainly came. 

Also in the area, Little Pied Cormorant, on fallen tree in fast-evaporating pool. Bird allowed uncommonly close approach - walk and talk has its merits.

Much better late than never from overdue Ospreys

Weeks after I gave up on them, pair of Eastern Ospreys have produced the goods. The two pairs of pale yellow-eyed birds at the nest with a gold-yellow-eyed juvenile suddenly on show. Why so late? Who knows, perhaps one or two eggs laid in first week or weeks on the nest failed. Maybe no laying at all in first weeks of female sitting on and fiddling with nest. Anyway, I've offered my apologies to the pair. Another humbling brush with the facts of life. Seems we're never too old to get these things wrong. Above: Juvenile, on left, obscures third bird.

Other raptors up in the air lately include Brown Goshawk, seen above at other end of the Town Common, Townsville, before tangling with Brahminy Kite. And below, Brahminy with snatch and grab on its mind.