Steve Happ Photography Ramblings and dissertations

Gillards Beach.

This is the second part of my photos from my trip to the beach. I did not have time to process them all yesterday so here they are in an extra bonus post.

Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)

Grey Butcherbird

Eastern Whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus)

On the fence right near my camp. This Eastern Whipbird, with three of his mates hung around my camp for a couple of days.

Eastern Whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus)

This is front on showing the chest. He looks a bit angry bird.

Eastern Whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus)

This one has got no tail. I have no idea why or how.

Mogareeka.

I Headed down the mountain to the beach for some rest from the cold of the snow. There was not much sun but it was nice for a change. Tathra is about twenty kilometers from Bega, on the south coast of New South Wales.

Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)

Kianinny Bay

Kianinny Bay is a very protected anchorage and boat ramp in Tathra. The water was crystal clear and there were a bunch of Silver Gulls and an Eastern Reef Egret, Grey Morph, hanging around where the fishermen were cleaning their catches.

Red-browed Finch (Neochmia phaeton)

Eastern Reef Egret (Egretta sacra) (Grey Morph)

Gillards Beach, Mimosa Rocks National Park.

Further north is Gillards Beach in Mimosa Rocks National Park. It is an isolated beach with some excellent camping sites right on the beach. I spent two nights here and had a very restful time. There were lots of macropods around, mainly small Swamp Wallabies and a few Eastern Grey Kangaroo.

Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)

The Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) is also called the Black Wallaby or Black-tailed Wallaby. They have a distribution along most of the east coast of Australia.

Eastern Yellow Robin

Eastern Whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus) 3983

The Eastern Whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus) has an olive-green back, a black crest, long, broad tail with bold white cheeks to sides of neck. Normally they are very shy and are very hard to spot. But there were four of them around my camp and they would move around scattering leaves and not showing the least interest in me, except to bite me on the toe at one stage. One of them had a truncated tail, and I could not work out the reason for this.

Tathra bird list

Pied Oystercatcher
Australian Pelican
Great Egret
Silver Gull
White-faced Heron
Crested Tern
Rainbow Lorikeet
Australian Raven
Little Wattlebird
White-backed Magpie
Magpie-lark
Chestnut Teal
Australian White Ibis
Pied Cormorant
Red-browed Finch
Superb Fairy-wren
Eastern Yellow Robin
Eastern Reef Egret (Egretta sacra) (Grey Morph)
Great Cormorant
New Holland Honeyeater
Eastern Whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus)
White-browed Scrubwren
Grey Butcherbird
Black Swan
Eurasian Coot
Black-fronted Dotterel

Kosciusko National Park.

Sawpit Creek is 1200 meters above sea level in Montane forested area. It is at a boundary between wet and dry sclerophyll forests. This is an area where snow falls but does not last.

White-eared Honeyeater (Lichenostomus leucotis)

The White-eared Honeyeater has a conspicuous white ear patch with a black face, chin and throat. They have bright olive-green upperparts and a yellowish-green abdomen (Simpson and Day).

Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)

The Pied Currawong has a hooked bill and yellow eyes. There is a prominent white patch on the wings. In the picnic areas around the national park, they have taken to stealing food from travellers. They stole a cheese sandwich from me. As soon as you turn your back on them, they are at your table, looking for anything to eat.

Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

Last night, at Thredbo Diggings camp, I managed a shot of a Brushtail Possum in the tree. They too, like to steal food from the campers at the picnic areas.

Sawpit Creek birds

Pied Currawong
Superb Fairy-wren
Crimson Robin
Australian Raven
White-backed Magpie
White-eared Honeyeater