Be careful what may be lurking in your garden … snakes, wombats, kangaroos, echidnas and other things!

Spring is such a great time for enjoying nature. The bird action is at it’s peak, with plenty of song, chatter, nest building and territorial warfare happening. New ‘migratory’ birds such as waders are arriving along the coast from the northern hemisphere and there is lots of movement of other ‘land’ bird species returning here to breed from other parts of Australia. The wetlands are pumping, the bush and heath is alive with blossom and the sky is full of invertebrate action—its feast time for birds and much energy is used and replenished—making it a great time for bird watching. So download the new bird species list and brochure (see below) and get connected with nature and our wonderful bird life—you will be surprised what you might see and hear like Olive Whistlers and Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoos.

I learnt a lesson in observing nature over the past week—don’t always take for granted what you see at first glance and look a little closer at the scenario in front of you. I had a couple of quite interesting experiences while photographing birds around the area. The first was taking shots of some colourful Eastern Rosella near one of the nesting boxes in the central creek line habitat at The Cape, and the second, while taking photographs of beautiful Double-banded Plovers at a local Hooded Plover breeding site. On both occasions, I was so focussed on getting a half decent image that I missed something special that I didn’t notice until I was processing the photos later.