I had so much fun photographing our local birds recently that we went looking for more yesterday. We were amazed by what we found!
. . . . .
My friends Joanna and Brian live in Bristol, and are keen birdwatchers. Over the years, I’ve tried to take photos of our Australian birds to share with them, and in the process, Pete and I have developed quite a keen interest in the area as well.
Last week, Jo asked me if we had any wetlands nearby, as she loves waterbirds. So yesterday, Pete and I went to Bicentennial Park in nearby Sydney Olympic Park and strolled through the mangrove and coastal saltmarsh reserves.
The Badu Mangrove walk is swampy and muddy, and full of grey mangroves, all breathing through their snorkelly stick-like roots…
Growing alongside the path is beaded glasswort, a form of coastal succulent…
Past the mangroves are twenty hectares of remnant and regenerating coastal saltmarsh (described as “an ecological community found in the intertidal zones of estuaries and lagoons”).
We arrived at midday, and found the lake filled with birds…
There were oodles of Chestnut Teals, both males and females…
This little one was happily bathing…
An enormous Great Eastern Egret landed right by the water’s edge. He had black sooty legs and a kink in his neck which enabled him to concertina it up and down…
A small flock of Australian Pelicans were gathered in the middle of the lake. They’re quite distinctive with their black and white feathers…
A single Royal Spoonbill was fishing, by sweeping his large beak through the mud under the water…
To me, he’s an Alice in Wonderland bird…
Numerous Black-Winged Stilts were also feeding – their graceful orange legs and the rhythmic swishing of their beaks through the water had me (and my camera) entranced…
A group of Black-Fronted Dotterels, small waders with Zorro eyemasks and red and black beaks, were clustered on a rocky outcrop near the water’s edge…
The trees next to the saltmarsh were full of activity. In one small shrub, there was an entire family of Superb Fairy-Wrens. We only knew this because we spotted the bright blue male, but didn’t manage to get a photo of him…
They’re so small (13-14cm/5″) that we just pointed the camera in the right direction and hoped for the best…
In a neighbouring tree, a territorial war was being waged between a group of tiny (10cm/4″) Silvereyes (I took this photo by pointing the camera straight up above my head)…
…and the much larger Willy Wagtails. They were all moving so quickly that I couldn’t get a better photo of either of them…
Bicentennial Park is part of the Sydney Olympic Park. It adjoins the Newington Armory which we visited a couple of years ago, and it’s definitely worth popping in if you’re interested in our local flora and fauna. There have been over 180 native bird species recorded at the site (more information here), and it was a glorious way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon!
PS. The Australian Birds in Backyards website is absolutely brilliant. We didn’t recognise the Dotterels, so we went to their bird finder page and selected “medium shorebird” and “face distinctively marked” and it identified the species for us.
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Aren’t Birds Fabulous? Thankyou and Pete so much for taking us virtual birding with you today. We feel very loved. That egret is huge! I love waterfowl partly because they are easier to look at than little things darting about in the canopy or raptors silhouetted against the sky. I particularly like stilts, they pop up here sometimes from the Med along with other visitors from all over. I wonder if vagrants make it to Australia? Wonderful post ! We really enjoyed it xx
Birds are fabulous, and you’ve given us a whole new hobby, and we’re very grateful! Next time we go there, we’ll be looking for eagles! :)
What beautiful photographs Celia!
Have a super week ahead.
:-) Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy! It was nice to discover so much native fauna close by!
I like your shot of the two Stilts looking like bookends.
Thank goodness for digital photography Peter – I was able to take 300 photos and pick the best.. :)
WOW! So beautiful photographs dear Celia, you captured great images. Thank you, love, nia
Thanks Nia! I’m so glad you liked them!
I’m not very good with birds but just recently I’ve been noticing such a variety just in our yard. My favourites are the lorikeets and kookaburras.
You’re getting kookaburras in your backyard? That’s wonderful, Claire!
beautiful again celia..next time i’m in sydney i’ll have to ask my brother to take me there..he loves birds too..x
Jane, this was such a fun place to visit – I know you enjoy bushwalking, and Bicentennial Park offers an easy, low-key version.
Amazing pictures, Celia! You are so good at getting clear and interesting photos that seem to tell stories! I love this post!
How far did you walk to get all of these pictures?
Heidi, everything has a story to tell, right? :) We probably walked about 3km (about 2 miles) all up. So not very far at all.
hehe yes those birds are a bit “alice in wonderland” lol!
Lovely pics :-)
Sandy, isn’t the spoonbill a funny looking bird? Almost comical..had me looking around for a white rabbit.. :)
Wow Celia, love this post and second heidiannie your photos are wonderful. Made your plum sauce recipe yesterday, tastes great and so easy.
Madge, I’m so glad you liked it, Pete will be chuffed when I let him know. Thanks for your email, glad to hear things are going well! x
i love the birds. The little mallard shaking a bath, the pelicans are very distinctive, white spoonbill is definitely a down the rabbit hole bird, the birds on stilts are amazing.
thank you for sharing.
Most welcome – very happy that you enjoyed them! :)
G’day! Love how you captured the moments of a bird’s life Celia, true!
They are AMAZING creatures too!
Cheers! Joanne
Joanne, there’s so much to see there! We’re going to go back often, I think!
Absolutely beautiful!!Love the graceful stilts and to me pelicans have always been magical . . . lived next to the Nerang River in Mermaid Waters, Qld quite a few years: every morning on opening the bedroom curtains some would be ‘heavily’ flying almost past my windows. Now: beaded glasswort? I could swear this looks similar to the samphire I love to get from Tassie usually for eating ?
Eha, according to Wiki it IS a type of samphire, but I’m not sure whether or not it’s edible. Or whether we’re allowed to raid national parks for food supplies, for that matter.. ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcocornia_quinqueflora
Sorry, Calia ~ I am kind’of ‘grinning’ – I would wholeheartedly agree on the National Parks side of things, but I understood samphire [or some kinds of it] were also able to be picked off the lowtide areas of our beaches of Vic, Tas and SA?????? Tastes great anyways! Mostly got my ‘recipes’ from British chefs . . . .
Could not think of Rick Stein, could I? He uses it ‘wholesale’ both in the UK and his restaurant on the South Coast.
I love willy wagtail. If I could be a bird I’d want to be one of those. Always sashaying and wiggling their bottoms. I’m sure I’d love that. :)
You’d be a good Willy Wagtail, shaking your tailfeathers.. :)
I love those black winged stilts and how can you not love pelicans? I had a close encounter with a pelican at the beach a few weeks ago. The ducks look just like the ones here in Helsinki and we have egrets in the river at Bagni di Lucca…how lucky we are to be able to see these gorgeous creatures.
Deb, I saw your pelican photos, they were amazing!
What a great day, Celia! How great to be able to see so many birds and in their natural environment. Sydney is truly blessed and an ornithologist’s dream. Thanks for sharing your photos.
John, I’m so glad you enjoyed them – it’s nice to be able to share a little bit of our city with all of you!
So beautiful, Celia! Birdwatching is a favourite of mine. xo
Liz, it’s a growing hobby for us too! xx
Beautiful pictures! The stilt birds seem aptly named. I had to smile because they sure seem to have legs as long as stilts! Beautiful birds, and such a variety! Sounds like you had a nice outing while taking pictures.
Manuela, Diane below commented that they seem to have their legs on backwards, and it’s true – their “knees” seem to bend in the wrong direction! :)
Your bird images are fantastic, Celia. And what gorgeous birds they are too. And the scenery is stunning too. I always find studying birds very relaxing xx
Charlie, it was a lovely spot to spend a couple of quiet hours. The saltmarsh lake even has its own hide for serious birdwatchers! :)
looks like a beautiful birdy day! What an amazing habitat for the thinking bird too. Paradise in the middle of the city. xx
Not quite the middle of the city, but only about 20 minutes from home for us! :)
such amazing photos Celia and you know all the names
We came home and looked them all up, Tania! Didn’t want to write a dodgy post! :D
Beautiful photos Celia dear. Aren’t the little wrens fast! They dart around like crazy, I’m amazed you got an image at all :) xox
Rebecca, there was a bit of “point and hope” as my friend Stephen refers to it. We were lucky with the last couple of shots in particular. The Fairy Wrens were just so cute!
Glasswort and samphire are the same. There are varieties all over the world. Glasswort, as a name came from burning the plant to produce soda ash for glass making.
I love the birds. Teals always look so smug with their chins tucked in to their chests! Beautiful photos.
Pat, thank you! Nice to know the history of the glasswort name!
Hiya – on a completely different subject – I have finally made your greek yoghurt, but the comments page had closed. I just wanted to tell you that it was the best greek yoghurt I’ve ever tasted! Better than any I’ve bought, and it’s decades since I’ve been in an authentic greek restaurant, but I think it also tops them!
thankyou so much!
Lorelle, so pleased to hear that! We make a couple of litres every week – it’s just so easy and cheap!
Awesome photos Celia! My favorite are the Egret and the Stilits. Sounds like a perfect place to visit for the afternoon. It amazes me how many different kinds of birds there are in the world, most of which I’ve never seen. Thank you for sharing your birding outing!!
Hi Mel, how’s it going? Hope you’re well. We’re going out looking for eagles next – when I get photos of them, I’ll share!
Thank you SOOOOO much for these, Celia. Next time I am back in Sydney I will most definitely go out to the park. I have taken the ferry up river every time I could but never visited the Olympic park. You made me homesick (in a good way).
Joanne, homesick in a good way is wonderful. We’ve been in Sydney all our lives, but this is only the second time I’ve visited Bicentennial Park, and the first time I’ve gone specifically to look at birds! But we’ll definitely be going again!
Terrific photos Celia. You are right about the spoonbills…they are very comical looking and would be perfect in the cast of Alice in Wonderland. When I lived in Key Largo, Florida, I occasionally saw spoonbills but the ones there had bright pink feathers like flamingos.
Karen, pink spoonbills! Now *that’s* an Alice bird, surely!
So true!
Such fantastic photography Celia – you’ve got a great eye. I love those stilt birds – it looks like they have their legs on backwards. We have egrets here too & they are really amazing to watch, especially when they fly.
Diane, it’s funny how their legs do that, isn’t it? The egret was enormous, and he landed right in front of us. They have no fear at all!
I’ve never seen an egret that close but our hummingbirds have no fear at all. Their feeder is over our deck by the barbeque grill & when my husband’s out there, they’re dive bombing him going for the feeder. We call them the little sugar heads.
Wonderful photos! The egret looks so elegant!
Thank you! He was – he fluffed up his wings and stretched his body up, then concertinaed it down again – it was amazing to watch him change shape.
What amazing birds! You are so clever to have taken such wonderful pictures of them Celia. I want to visit Australia.
And I thought the vegetation looked like samphire too, especially when you mentioned salt marshes – remember having very muddy fun in Welsh salt-marshes collecting samphire to cook.
Andrea, I’ve never seen it growing anywhere else nearby, so it was interesting to see it there. We thought it was samphire as well when we saw it, but were thrown by the glasswort name – then came home and looked it up and saw they were one and the same! :)
Oh wow! You saw such beautiful and amazing things. :-) The beaded glasswort is lovely. :-)
Thank you! It’s such an interesting plant, isn’t it, we hadn’t seen it before..
Excuse me a minute while I quietly pat myself on the back Celia- I just recognised samphire in your pic (before reading of course!) and am having a proud moment :-)
Brydie, we saw it, thought it was samphire, read the label, thought we were wrong, then came home and looked it up, and realised we were right all along. :D
Adelaide is going through a wet land craze recently. In our area they are turning mangrove filled creek lines into beautiful indigenous wet lands. Hopefully we should start to see more birds.
Jason, that’s nice, but I hope they keep some of the mangrove areas too, they’re really interesting as well!
What lovely photos – thanks so much for sharing them!!
What an array of different special birds,…lovely cool pics of them too. 😀