Musk Ducks - a-splishin' and a splashin'

Biziura lobata

We took advantage of yesterdays public holiday to visit Narawntapu National Park. While most of the time was spent enjoying a BBQ and the beach we still managed to see 30 species of bird (see list below), as well as the usual kangaroos, pademelons, and wombats. A little outside the park area, we also saw an echidna. While there, we payed a visit to the lagoon bird hide. The lagoon itself is looking healthy with the water level the highest I've seen in in my limited three years of visiting this site.

The highlight for the day was having 3 male Musk ducks displaying right in front of the hide. So close in fact that I had to wait for them to move further out so I could focus on them with my camera. We also spotted one female.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Musk Duck (Male)

Splish Splash, I was takin' a bath
Long about a saturday night, yeah

Musk Duck (Female)

Rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub
Thinkin' everything was alright

Male displaying
Yes, I was a-splishin' and a splashin'
I was a-rollin' and a-strollin'
Yeah, I was a-movin' and a-groovin'...woo!

Male displaying

We was a-reelin' with the feelin'..ha!
We was a-rollin' and a-strollin'
Movin with the groovin'
Splish splash, yeah!

Male

Male - Detail of lobe

Below is a list of all 30 birds species seen at Narawntapu for the day:

1. Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)
2. Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)
3. Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea)
4. Musk Duck (Biziura lobata)
5. White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)
6. Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)
7. Australasian Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo novaehollandiae)
8. Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)
9. Tasmanian Nativehen (Tribonyx mortierii)
10. Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)
11. Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)
12. Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)
13. Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)
14. Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus)
15. Swift Tern (Thalasseus bergii)
16. Brush Bronzewing (Phaps elegans)
17. Green Rosella (Platycercus caledonicus)
18. Blue-winged Parrot (Neophema chrysostoma)
19. Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)
20. Little Wattlebird (Anthochaera chrysoptera)
21. Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla)
22. Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus)
23. Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)
24. Satin Flycatcher (Myiagra cyanoleuca)
25. Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus tasmanicus)
26. Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
27. Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
28. Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
29. Common Blackbird (Turdus merula)
30. Beautiful Firetail (Stagonopleura bella)

* Song Lyrics above from Bobby Darin's, Spish Splash

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Some Recent Photos

..... Whales Nil - Birds 7

Eight months have past since my last post and suddenly the thought occurred to me to take time out and post a few photos.

Of course I wish I could be posting photos of the Humpback whale and it's calf that put on a great show on Tuesday but unfortunately they were a little out of reach for my camera. I took my small telescope up the backyard which gave me a great view. The sun was shining on them and you could see them in great detail. They were both rolling on their backs clapping their pectoral fins, lying on their side waving, as well as breaching right out of the water, twisting in the air and crashing down on their backs. Whatever the mother did the calf seemed to copy.

Yesterday I acquired a 1.4 converter for my 400mm lens so maybe next time I'll get a few photos.

For now I'll just have to show a few bird photos that I have taken during October.

(Click on images to enlarge)

White-faced Heron - Egretta novaehollandiae

Tasmanian Nativehens with chicks - Gallinula mortierii

Superb Fairy-wren - Malurus cyaneus
(Backyard)

Dusky Woodswallow - Artamus cyanopterus

Collared Sparrowhawk - Accipter cirrhocephalus
(Backyard - Seems to have a full belly from eating our chooks)

Immature Male Pink Robin - Petroica rodinogaster


Grey (White) Goshawk - Accipiter novaehollandiae
(Backyard)

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