On a recent journey to the Northeast of Tasmania we visited Freycinet Peninsula and the Bay of Fires Conservation Park. We have an interest in bird watching and having visited this region on previous occasions and always thrilled with the number of bird species to be seen and photographed – one of the inspirations for our most recent visit.
In the Bay of Fires we camped at Sloop Reef, a bush site selected late in the evening. We arrived well after the birds had roosted for the day and had no idea that we had chosen a such a great location for photographing the number of birds that we did… that is, until the next morning!
Our morning alarm was a melodious harmony of birdsong, encouraging us to rise early, get our cameras out and enjoy the opportunity to observe and photograph our feathered visitors during their morning foraging activities (although I’m pretty sure that we were their visitors!). That morning, we observed and recorded 14 species of birds at this one site alone –
1. Green Rosella
2. Laughing Kookaburra
3. Superb Fairy-wren
4. Silvereye
5. Grey Fantail
6. Tasmanian Thornbill
7. Eastern Spinebill
8. Yellow-throated Honeyeater
9. New Holland Honeyeater
10. Strong-billed Honeyeater
11. Grey Shrike-thrush
12. Yellow Wattlebird
13. Flame Robin
14. Beautiful Firetail
We have seen many of the above listed species at other locations too – on this journey at Policeman’s Point, Eddystone Point, Binalong Bay and Freycinet Peninsula where we also observed the following as well –
15. Great Cormorant
16. Little Pied Cormorant
17. Australian Pelican
18. Kelp Gull
19. Pacific Gull
20. White-faced heron
21. Baird’s Sandpiper
22. Australian Pied Oystercatcher
23. Sooty Oystercatcher
24. Hooded Plover
Up until recently we haven’t kept a formal list of sightings so there are likely many birds omitted from our list so far. We now keep a record of the birds we see on each journey so our future sightings will have us regularly updating our list.
It’s important to be patient when photographing birds – they will likely fly away if you get too close or move around too much. Sit and wait quietly until they get closer to you – and often they will.
Capturing a moment in time is always a fantastic result – in flight, catching food, feeding chicks – you can never always plan for these shots in the wild so there will always be an element of luck while photographing birds.