Today I’m stealing (with permission) some photos from Professor Scott Ritchie of Cairns, Australia. Scott’s IDs and captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them. (Scott’s Facebook page is here.). I’ve inserted the Latin binomials and links to the bird page.
Well, it’s my turn to post some pics from the Daintree Boatman Wildlife Cruises. Good fun with Rebecca, Jon Westaway and Eden Gray-Spence ES.
Green Pygmy Geese (Nettapus pulchellus) playing tag at Ferrero Road:
Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) searches for a prawn:
Green Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus) chills out:
Female Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis) just gives us the eye:
Bird on a stick series. Amazing how close we got to this Azure Kingfisher (Ceyx azureus):
And he showed us his “Fake eye spots” designed to instil indecision in predators sneaking up from behind:
Azure KF with spider lily:
Azure KF with mangrove pneumatophores:
Such a lovely couple!:
Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus):
Little Kingfisher (Ceyx pusillus) looking for Peter Manins:
Great-Billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana) and interesting mangrove roots:
I tried some blur shots (1/15 sec.) on Cattle Egrets (Bulbulcus sp.) at the roost tree:
Lovely photos – thank you for letting JC steal them!
How many different kingfishers are there in Australia? These are all gorgeous.
According to my Australian field guide there are 10, including the two kookaburra species. Wikipedia lists another five vagrants. Yes, they really are beautiful things. Except possibly the kookaburras, though I guess that’s a matter of opinion.
I don’t know how many kingfishers Australia has, but the list includes the Laughing Kookaburra and the Blue-winged Kookaburra, the largest kingfishers in the family. These birds prey upon terrestrial animals and insects, not aquatic life.
The laughing Kookaburra’s call is quite distinctive and used to be used in films to add ‘local colour’ to jungle scenes. I recall hearing a kookaburra in a WWII movie set on an island somewhere in the Pacific.
The Great-Billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana) and interesting mangrove roots… just amazing how it can blend in to well in such surroundings.
Nice pictures, great color. I really like the Green Tree Snake, which is spectacular.
Beautiful pictures. Love the Kingfishers.
Incredible photos. I just love those colors in the Azure King Fisher. What an incredible combination with that azure and peach color together. All the photos are really captivating.
Woa, those are cool! The blurred Egret shots are especially interesting to me since we don’t see that sort of thing very often.