Who is watching who? — David Taylor - Master Jeweller

May 2023

I spend a lot of time in the bush chasing landscape photos. Some photographers stick to one genre but I also shoot sports and wildlife. It is the latter that you usually find me taking photos of in the bush when I am not doing landscape.

It is not very often that I feel like the trees are watching me but I do know an animal that is often observing what I am doing.

Eastern Osprey, north of Ellis Beach, December 2022.

Birds often keep a very close eye on me. This stunning Eastern Osprey I first ran into at a favourite spot north of Ellis Beach about 3 years ago.

Over the years I have accumulated a lot of birds photos and I thought I would run through some recent ones just sitting in my computer.

Tawny Frogmouth, Ravenshoe, February, 2023.

While there was no doubt that the Osprey had it’s eye fixed on me and wanted me to know it, this Tawny Frogmouth is trying to appear like it is not looking at me or even exists.

This was the first photo I have taken of a Frogmouth and as I capture photos of a species of bird for the first time I create a page on my website for them.

As I get better photos of each species I add to or replace older ones. I also put information about the bird on the page because I know very little about birds….I have to look it up and my webpages help me quickly access that information.

Immature Black Swan, Wurruma Swamp, December 2022.

Very rarely does a location that I started visiting for landscape photos turns into a destination for bird photos. Wurruma Swamp however is one such place where I have spent many days waiting for the Swans to present themselves for photo opportunities with no real intent to take landscape photos.

Comb-crested Jacana, Wurruma Swamp, December 2022.

Whilst I wait for the Swans at Wurruma I can always count on the Comb-crested Jacana to entertain me as they hop along the top of the vegetation on the swamp.

Forest Kingfisher, Wurruma Swamp, December 2022.

Forest Kingfishers are another bird often found at Wurruma. I hope to one day catch some actions photos of one feeding.

On my visit to Wurruma in December 2022 many of the usual suspects were there including the Little Pied Cormorant, Intermediate Egret, Royal Spoonbill and Australasian Darter. These are birds I have previously take far better photos of over the years and those better ones go onto their page.

White-breasted Woodswallow, Wurruma Swamp, December 2022.

Even when you have taken many photos of a species like the White-breasted Woodswallow it still pays to give them some attention just in case you get some out of the normal behaviour, like four of them cuddling up to clean each other and themselves.

Black Swans, Wurruma Swamp, December 2022.

Black Swans do most of their flying at night so day time in flight photos are hard to come by. 2022 I got quite lucky with some Swans in flight photos. The better ones are on their page. They make a sound when they fly close to the water that you will never forget. On this December visit they were flying high up off in the distance with their necks distinctly extended.

I was at Wurruma on this day checking in on 4 Black Swan cygnets that were growing up very fast and I had been photographing for the previous months. On this day by the time I found them they were resting in the shade from the hot midday sun.

White-cheeked Honeyeater. Hastie’s Swamp, December 2022.

Another location that is also all about the birds is Hastie’s Swamp. I usually visit there on the way out to or from Ravenshoe and beyond. I sometimes go there also when I am not in the mood for landscapes.

The bird above I believe is a White-cheeked Honeyeater.

Hastie’s has a purpose built bird hide that allows you to photograph many of the smaller birds like the Yellow-faced Honeyeater and the Eastern Yellow Robin that are in the trees. Late December 2022 I snapped these whilst taking a break. The best photos I have ever taken of a Eastern Yellow Robin I took at Abattoir Swamp.

Plumed Whistling Duck, Hastie’s Swamp, April 2023

Every year Plumed Whistling Ducks arrive at Hastie’s in their thousands and the photos I have taken of them over the years must also be in the thousands.

I particularly love capturing them in flight but on this day in April 2023 I was too late, it was hot and they were happy cooling off in the water.

Australasian Grebe, Hastie’s Swamp, April 2023

Also at Hasties during the visit in April was another regular there the Australasian Grebe. I watched this bird as it dove for food and then would clean itself and spread its wings to dry.

Immature Australasian Grebe, Hastie’s Swamp, April 2023

There was also a young Grebe present who like its older counterpart would at times spread its wings out to dry.

Pacific Black Duck, Hastie’s Swamp, April 2023

On this day at Hastie’s all of the birds were cooling off with a swim. The Pacific Black Ducks that you see almost everywhere soon set up camp in front of me.

Even though the Pacific Black Duck is a common bird I usually keep an eye on them because you never know when you might get some unusual behaviour that will make a great photo. No luck on this day.

If you are interested you can browse through the photos of birds I have collected at this section of the website. I hope over time to capture many more for the first time and to improve the photos of the ones that are already on the site. It is a work in progress, some birds I have just one photo of that I like and others many. An interesting pastime in the bush.