Maiala Again

Wompoo Fruit-Dove




 

                                                     Today I wanted to spend some time up at Mt Glorious so I could practise my flash photography. I've never been that keen on flash photography for a few reasons. In the hands of an amateur like me the shots can look a little unnatural, plus there is the added complication of deciding on settings etc. One problem I struggle with is called "steel eye". That's where the birds eye reflects the flash and the bottom half of the eye looks like its suffering from cataracts! There are two solutions: (1) you move the flash further from the camera sensor so the reflection doesn't travel into the lens; or (2) you adjust the shot in photoshop. Both remedies are a bit of  a drag in my opinion. But I have to get better with flash because I think I'm going to need it in the rainforest of Christmas Island (only two weeks away). The first bird I came across was this Wompoo Fruit dove feeding on palm fruits. Why is there a shadow on the bird's neck?






          I normally have a bit of a walk around the picnic area first because the trails are just too dark in the early morning. This time I came across a Russet-tailed Thrush out in the open. I'm always a bit tentative making the call on this one. They are very difficult to identify from Bassian Thrush which also can occur here. When you get a good picture you can use the shape of the buff tips of the upper wing coverts (I think that's what they're called). In Bassian there is a shaft in the middle making them look spear shaped.

Noisy Pitta (Juvenile)

I'm pretty sure I've photographed both species here.

       One of the first birds I found after entering the rainforest proper was a juvenile Noisy Pitta. This is the first time I've seen a juvenile. I was hoping to get a nice shot of an adult...the juvenile looked a bit scruffy! Anyway, as is usually the case with juveniles, this guy was a bit stupid and posed long enough for me to work out my exposure settings and get it nearly right. Later I came across and adult and got a record quality shot (the flash was a bit bright and washed out the colours a bit).

Noisy Pitta

    Another species I've had trouble getting decent shots of is the Australian Logrunner (probably because I shy away from using flash). For starters they're a bit hard to find sometimes, and the other thing is that they hang around in the darkest places. The good news is that when you do find them though they are often so preoccupied with scratching about you can get quite close to them.

Australian Logrunner (Male)

OK, that's on the year list.

       From Maiala I headed up to Wivenhoe Lookout to have another try at photographing Striated Thornbills. They are very common here, but getting them to stop long enough for a photo is the problem.  Most of the shots turned out a bit over-exposed but I managed to salvage them in photoshop.

Striated Thornbill

The only other species I shot here was an Eastern Spinebill. He posed nicely but when I realised he didn't have a tail I lost interest and went home.

Eastern Spinebill