Yank down under volume 4: Cockatoos...finally!

[NorthernFocus]

After two pleasurable days in Merimbula, we continued on up the coast for a couple of days in Batemans Bay and surrounds. We stopped in at the Killer Whale Museum in Eden to take in the the history of whaling there. It's a fascinating tale that I won't go into. For anyone who hasn't heard of it, look it up in Wikipedia or check out killersofeden.com.

Our first morning in Batemans Bay (not counting the night spent on the way down the coast), I went out with the camera while my bride went for a run by herself. Within minutes I was sitting on a small beach shooting a couple of sulfer crested cockatoos feeding on the beach grass. Maybe one of you Ozzies can help out with a name of the big spiked seed pods in the dune grass. Well that's what they were eating. I spent about an hour with the birds and during that time no less than eight cockatoos came down to feed and at one time there were also three little corellas and two galahs, all three species being cousins. I had seen plenty of galahs on the trip to that point but they had all proven very camera shy. When the corellas came in I thought they were juvie sulfers. I retained that ignorance until I looked them up that night.

SC Cockatoos









Little corella. You can see here what everyone was feeding on.





Galah





At a beach up the coast a way we also found a few less common yellow-tailed black cockatoo. This was the best I could do with them above me in a tree.



And when we returned to our B&B, I captured the lowly purple swamp hen (aka pukeku in kiwi speak). Check out the feet on that critter.

[Ras lijji]

Lovely shots of these beautiful birds

[FrankMi]

Not only do you have a lovely set of images Dan, but also a fascinating story to go along with it AND you identify the birds by name which can really help when someone wants to find out more about them with a web search.

[Bobobird]

Ahhhh, now Peter has to better these.

Great shots, they can be quite fun to watch too.

[Wavelength]

They are all nice images

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for looking, folks. Glad you enjoyed the post. Once the birds got used to me sitting there they got comfortable and came pretty close. Every once in a while one would look at me and flare its crest (as pictured) as if to warn me. Here are a couple more shots of them eating the seed pods. It is so cool the way they use their feet like hands to lift them to their mouth to eat.

[Donald]

Great stuff, Dan. Educational as well as entertaining.

[Bobobird]

Cockatoos have a couple of warning signs.

Raised head feathers - something has caught their attention but not threatening, may take off.
All feathers tight against body and tense looking - tense, somewhat aggressive, can attack.
All feathers fluffed, wings somewhat spread out making body bigger - to warn off potential threat. If threat does not depart next stage will be swaying body left and right and very harsh loud piercing calls. They will attack if needed. This happens when they feel cornered and think escape may be difficult.
Everything relaxed - relaxed.

There Donald, some ed...

[deetheturk]

More great images Dan!

David

[Wavelength]

Nice images again

[conkerwood]

The plant you are referring to is native to most of coastal areas of Australia and is called the Hairy Spinifex or its latin name Spinifex sericeus. The part you see is actually the female flower which when pollinated dries and is blown free by the wind. But as far as my wife and I are concerned they are actually grass fairies in disguise. If you collect them when they are dry and suspend them from a fishing line outside they dance around in the wind and look fantastic, and they are hardy enough to last for a year or so. Yeah ok we are slightly mad but trust me they make fantastic outdoor decorations. Which is one of the reasons we have so many bird around our house. Moths hide in the strands of the suspended grass fairies during the daytime and the butcher birds have learned that its worth checking them out for a feed. Some nice pics by the way, particularly the last one its a great angle.

Peter

[conkerwood]

Ahhhh, now Peter has to better these.

Great shots, they can be quite fun to watch too.

Challenge accepted but these rate pretty high.

Peter

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks, Peter and Bobo, for the information. Peter, I can see you point about the spinefax being decorative looking. We saw dried out ones rolling down the beach in the wind like tumbleweed and we thought the same thing. Please note the gauntlet was not cast down by me. Though based on the quality of your other bird photos I can't wait to see some cockatoos as well.

Cockatoos have a couple of warning signs....

OK, Bobo, what's this one saying???



And it looks like the Ozzies have finally come up with a way to fight infestation by the dread dandelion.

[jprzybyla]

Beautiful birds nicely captured. Your images put Australia on my bucket list of places to go for bird photography. What a wonderful vacation.

[NorthernFocus]

...Your images put Australia on my bucket list of places to go for bird photography...

It is truly a paradise for birds. We were there 21 days and in that time only spent a few hours of dedicated bird photography. Most of the shots were just made by keeping the camera handy and shooting what we stumbled across while out and about. Then again we likely walked eight or ten miles per day.

[Bobobird]

Cool additional shots.

That one is his dog impersonation less the water.

They do that after preening or need to settle their feathers.

[FootLoose]

FWIW cockatoos are a pita. They devastate crops - I have seen them pull an ear of corn of the stalk, peel it with those dextrous feet, eat a few kernels, throw it away and pluck another ear. They will eat timber - as in timber balcony on your home, or decking. They will strip the leads from your tv antenna.

But they can be a joy to watch as they tumble through the air, seemingly performing aerobatics for their own amusement; or when they hang upside in the trees during a storm and splay their feathers to catch the rain.

[NorthernFocus]

FWIW cockatoos are a pita...

By the end of our trip, we had come to the same conclusion. Our last stop was Katoomba for three days and the area where we stayed was downright infested with them. One evening they were raucously screeching right outside our door for an hour or so. The next morning when we went outside, our rental car was littered with the fruit of a crab apple tree that the cockatoos had stripped, splitting the fruit for the seeds and discarding the fruit portion onto the hood and roof of the car. We witnessed the same thing on sidewalks around town several times during our stay. My wife and I discussed that for all their beauty and personality, cockatoos look like they would be a constant exercise in patience to live with.

[conkerwood]

Thanks, Peter and Bobo, for the information. Peter, I can see you point about the spinefax being decorative looking. We saw dried out ones rolling down the beach in the wind like tumbleweed and we thought the same thing. Please note the gauntlet was not cast down by me. Though based on the quality of your other bird photos I can't wait to see some cockatoos as well.

No gauntlet at all since we are approaching these shots from two different contexts. You took some great pics as they were happening in their natural environment. My aim at the moment is to get very very close to show all the details that photographers don't often get a chance to show unless you are photographing pet birds. But since the birds come to me I have time to prepare and set up, your task was far more challenging and in many ways more rewarding. And speaking of rewarding the pic of the cocky doing the feather shake is an absolute beauty, I love it. But because I am a bit pedantic I have to say they are not dandelions they are gazanias which have obviously gone wild from someones garden. I grow them in pots here and just like this pic the cockatoos love to come along and nip off the buds and tear them up. They don't eat them or anything they just like doing it.

BTW I have just noticed your Alaska Galleries references which I am very keen to check out. I have just returned from my trip through the Rockies and then a cruise through Alaska which has been on my bucket list for years. So I will return the compliment that you paid to my country and its wild life by posting some pics. Have to say Canada/Alaska and particularly Alaska have to be among the most stunning places I have ever been.

Catch you soon.

Peter



OK, Bobo, what's this one saying???



And it looks like the Ozzies have finally come up with a way to fight infestation by the dread dandelion.

[NorthernFocus]

That's cool, Peter. Looking forward to seeing your shots of my homeland. It's always interesting to see what catches people's attention enough to warrant a photo. Because we have so many mountains in AK, we nearly skipped visiting your Blue Mountains. That would have been a big mistake as that turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the trip. Completely different than any mountains we've seen elsewhere.

Also keen to see some closeups of the cockatoo. One thing that I love about still photography is that it reveals details and behaviors that aren't seen in any other way.