20190518-MMPI0053 - Hardings Paddock
On Saturday 18th May 2019 I travelled to Hardings Paddock at Peak Crossing, Queensland, Australia which is around 50Km west of Brisbane CBD. Meeting my mate Daniel, we were greeted by a beautiful crisp Autumn morning, unfortunately the birds didn't until greet us until a bit later. After an hour I hadn't taken one photo, can't remember that happening before but perhaps I am becoming a bit more selective in what I capture these days. Early on we sighted the Speckled Warbler that was seen there this week, my first sighting but unfortunatley I missed getting a photo (Daniel got one). Later we were entertained by an immature male Rose Robin with a subdues pink breast colour, unfortunately the light was quite flat at that time and my photos weren't good enough to keep. A little later I returned to the car to find the amusing Grey-crowned Babblers "fighting" with their reflections in my side window, then dropping to the ground and happily celebrating their "victory" together. I thought it may have been a competitive mating situation, later someone else told me they had seen them in mating displays. I bagged a couple of decent shots of these funny chaps as they fossicked on the ground for insects, all the time keeping in touch with each other aurally with coughs and wheezes. The highlight of the day was sitting down watching Australia's smallest bird - the Weebill bouncing around and calling from a low dead tree. At around 8cm these guys are tiny, and like most tiny birds are fast! What I couldn't believe was how loud their calls and song was - for such a tiny bird, the certainly pump out some big sound! I missed heaps of shots of these little speed demons, but came away with enough good shots to keep me happy. While I had seen them before, I didn't have a photo until today, so theybecome Australian brd lifer #189 for me. All in all a bit disappointing at my technique today, missed way too many opportunities which may be due to lack of shooting of late. Still, it was a beautiful morning, met up with some birding friends and of course bagged a lifer and watched a tiny bird singing up a storm.
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