Today we have some lovely bird photos from Scott Ritchie of Cairns, Australia. Scott’s captions are indented and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Scott’s Facebook page, full of great photos, is here. (Photos used with permission.)
Social media, including Facebook, gets quite a bit of negative press these days. I get that. But one of the great values of social media is that it can put you in contact with people who can really help you out. In Sept. 2025, I started posting bird photos from my Western Australia trip. I was contacted by John Edmond, who lives in Perth. Last year, I met John in Cairns on our regular Tuesday AM bird walk, and then showed him some local birds along the Cairns Esplanade. John loves a twitch, and was especially happy to see Nordy, Nordmann’s Greenshank.
So John reached out on FB and offered to take me for a day’s birding in Perth. We had a great time and I particularly liked touring around Herdsman Lake. Here are some of my favourite images from that day’s birding.
The Pink-eared Duck [Malacorhynchus membranaceus] is one of my favourite birds. I was lucky to get nice close images of this bird. If you’re wondering about the name, look carefully at the head. You can just see a little bit of pink behind his eye. Personally, I’d name it the Zebra-breasted Duck.
And another. The flaps along the bill are used to help funnel microbe-rich water into their mouth.
The Great Crested Grebe [Podiceps cristatus] is another amazing bird. I just love the hairdo and the neck feathers during breeding season. Interestingly, this bird is found in wetlands from Asia Europe, Africa, and Australia. This is one of the grebes that does a upright mating dance that you may have seen on TV:
So am I gonna get lucky tonight? Let me think about it:
JAC: Here’s a YouTube video I found of the mating dance of this species. Don’t miss any of it!
I love the raking light on this stunning bird:
The Australian Shelduck [Tadorna tadornoides] during breeding season. The female is the one with the spectacles. It’s obvious she’s the only one with a good sense to wear glasses:
I like these this couple out for an evening promenade in the quiet water:
Herdman Lake like has more than water birds. This pair of Tawny Frogmouths [Podargus strigoides] are a bit of an institution there. People come around looking for these interesting, well camouflaged birds. See me if you can:
Australian Reed Warbler [Acrocephalus australis] was regularly heard singing in the rushes. Lovely calls—the sound of the Aussie wetlands:
At an earlier stop, I was happy to see the Western Spinebill [Acanthorhynchus superciliosus]. It’s not the world’s best shot, but it’s still beautiful bird and I hope to get better views of it in the future:
And finally, I’ll leave off this WA tour with a robin, a male Scarlet Robin [Petroica boodang]. Robins are so cute and they sit nicely for the camera, not jumping around like some crazy caffeinated gym rat like so many birds do. Speaking which I’m off for a coffee and a workout to work off some of the pounds I put on this trip:
Amazing pictures. Thanks!
The Tawny Frogmouth has a cartoonish signature countenance like many other animals that come to mind – never heard of them –
Yeah, love the “raking light” – great expression!
Great photos! Thank you for introduction to the Pink-eared Duck. For once, I think the female Australian Shelduck is prettier than the male during breeding season.
Fantastic!
I haven’t done a statistical analysis, but my sense is that the wildlife pictures shown here are biased toward birds. Why would that be? Is is because they’re colorful? Abundant? Diverse (lots of material)? Works of art (Check out the Great Crested Grebe.)? The right size (smaller than a gorilla, bigger than a gnat)? That they’re dinosaurs, and every kid loves dinosaurs? Or is it that you can sit on your porch and they come to you?
Inquiring (or is it enquiring?) minds need to know!
Nice photos, thanks!
That Grebe is just the greatest!