Order: Falconiformes. Family: Accipitridae – hawks, eagles, buzzards, harriers, kites and Old World vultures Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans) Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus) Brahminy More »
Saturday Night Live. Last night I went out to the second Japanese Cultural Night at the Ski-jo up the road(Furano, Hokkaido, Japan). The last one was a few weeks ago so I More »
Skiing at the Furano Zone. I woke up this morning an looked out the window and there was about ten centimeters of fresh snow on the cars. Which was a very good More »
Arrived in Furano. I am so tired. My eyelids are drooping and my shoulders feel like the weight of the world is upon them. My head feels heavy and I am almost More »
Best Bird of 2010 I saw a post on 10,000 birds about the best bird of 2010 so I was curious as to what defines the “best” bird of the year. I More »
2010 Looking Back Well here we go again. Another year bites the dust. I can remember doing my Overview of 2009 just like it was yesterday. The new year of 2010 started More »
South America I flew into Buenos Aries from Sydney after a horrendous 14 hour flight. It took me a few days to readjust my body clock. Meanwhile I was really enjoying going More »
More Surfing and Birds at Chicama, Peru. This morning after my surf at Chicama, I saw an Egret down on the rocks below the hostel. I had seen a couple of them More »
El Chaco Birding. El chaco is the town and port at the entrance to Paracas Nature Reserve in Southern Peru. This morning after I arrived here, I went for a walk along More »
Copacabana and Isla del Sol, Bolivia. The Puna Teal is found on the Andean altiplano. Its Chilean name is Pato puna. They have a black cap that extends to below the eyes. More »
Hirafu Niseko.
Tonight I went down the road to the Rail Jam, which was skiing and snowboarding on a rail. Park tricks.
Big Crash.
sliding
Snowboarding park trick
skier park trick
Riding the rail
skier
Some Megalaima.
These are some Barbets that I found a couple of years ago on my trip to South-east Asia. Megalaima is a genus of Asian barbets (family Megalaimidae). The name means ‘large throat’, from the Greek mega (‘large, great’) and laimos (‘throat’). There are 24 species in this genus
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Blue-eared Barbet (Megalaima australis).
Bokor Hill, near Kampot in Southern Cambodia. August 2012.
Flame-fronted Barbet (Megalaima armillaris baliensis).
baliensis sub-species. Bedugul Botanic Gardens, Bali, Indonesia. April 2012.
Lineated Barbet (Megalaima lineata)
Record shot only. Ranong, South Thailand. June 2012.
Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) .
Ayutthaya, Thailand. June 2012.
male Red-throated Barbet (Megalaima mystacophanos).
Phang Nga , south Thailand. June 2012.
Hirafu.
Yesterday the sun came out again. No new snow.
Super Ridge
Kutchan
Looking towards Kutchan from up the top of Hirafu.
The peak at Hirafu
Hirafu Peak
A Sunny Day.
Today it was a sunny day for a change. No new snow but at least the sun was out for a while. The wind was a bit chilly up the top of the mountain but down below it was ok. I took a few photos on my point and shoot. This was last night.
Kayoko
Sean and Mark
We took the hooded chair up to the top, then Ace number 4 and traversed across to Annupuri.
Looking towards Niseko Village
We did a few runs down below the quad chair. Then up the Annupuri Gondola to the top of the hill.
Annupuri
Then traverse back to Hirafu.
Annupuri tree.
2014 in Review.
2014 was a pretty quiet year for photography for me. But here it is.
Annapuri piste
This one was taken at Lake Burrill on the South Coast of New South Wales.
Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo
Taken at Manilla on way to Borah Creek.
Brown Quail (Coturnix ypsilophora).
And this one at Borah Creek, west of Tamworth, NSW.
Red-winged Parrot
Forster, NSW. At the end of the Tuncurry breakwater.
Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator)
Narranderah Common, Riverina area, NSW.
Superb Parrot (Polytelis swainsonii).
Jack’s Creek, Cocoparra National Park, near Griffith, Riverina area, NSW.
Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens).
Griffith Area Birds.
Here are some birds that I photographed on the shores of Lake Wyangan, near Griffith, in New South Wales.
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus).
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes)
Galah (Eolophus roseicapillus).
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
This is a baby. See the white around the beak.
Lake Wyangan Birds
Australian Hobby (Falco longipennis)
Swamp Harrier ( Circus approximans)
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus)
Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae)
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes)
Galah (Eolophus roseicapillus)
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
Cocoparra National Park.
Part two of my weekend trip to Cocoparra National Park. These first few are my remainders from Woolshed Flat. I got some decent shots of Southern Whiteface.
Southern Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis)
This one had a grasshopper and was bringing it into a hollow of a tree. Not sure if there was a nest in there or not.
Southern Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis)
The White-winged Choughs had a nice mud nest and the whole mob of them were screeching at me and trying to divert me from the nest.
White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanorhamphus)
The next morning I went to a water-hole but only seen a Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata) and a pair of Bar-shouldered Dove come down to have a drink.
Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia humeralis)
On the way back out I saw a Blue Bonnet fly up from the side of the road.
Blue Bonnet (Northiella haematogaster)
Kangaroo
Goanna
Cocoparra National Park.
I spent the weekend at Cocoparra National Park, about thirty kilometers from Griffith, in the Riverina region of New South Wales. It was relatively dry with no water in any of the creeks.
Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens)
female Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens)
I think this is a tick but I just cannot remember. doh! This was up the gorge at Jack’s Creek.
White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus)
At Woolshed Flat, just near my camp.
Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala)
I thought these were Yellow-throated but no. Wrong again.
Speckled Warbler (Pyrrholaemus sagittatus)
I did not expect to see these on the ground. They were feeding in the grass with they Yellow-rumped Thornbills.
Jacky Winter (Microeca fascinans)
Lots of these around.
Brown-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus brevirostris)
Not sure if I have seen these before.
Cocoparra bird list
Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens)
White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus)
Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala)
Speckled Warbler (Pyrrholaemus sagittatus)
Jacky Winter (Microeca fascinans)
Brown-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus brevirostris)
White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanorhamphus)
Olive-backed Oriole
White-eared Honeyeater (Lichenostomus leucotis)
Southern Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis)
Yellow-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa)
Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris)
White-plumed Honeyeater (Lichenostomus penicillatus)
Australian Ringneck
Peewee
Murrumbidgee Area.
I found this lizard under some bark along the Murrumbidgee River near the Euroley Bridge. I think it is some kind of gecko but have no idea which one. edit: Thanks to Aaron and Marlene for the ID. 
It was a Marbled Gecko (Christinus marmoratus).
Marbled Gecko (Christinus marmoratus).
Marbled Gecko (Christinus marmoratus).
Australian Ringneck ( Barnardius zonarius barnardi)
Half moon.
Central West, NSW.
Here are some photos from my Lumix point and shoot. It is a very cheap camera and handy for taking touristy scenery shots. It fits in the pocket and I just leave it on Automatic and press the button when I see something on my walks.
Gum Swamp
This is Gum Swamp at Forbes. There are a few White-bellied Sea-eagles nesting out in the middle in a big tree.
Lake Wyangan panorama.
The panorama feature on the Lumix is quite handy. I use this the most.
Lake Wyangan
No wind, blue skies. Late afternoon glass-off. The wake-boarders loved it!
Canola Field
I love the colour of the canola fields. I cannot stop taking photos of them. The yellow and blue are complementary colours as well. Bonus!
