Monday, February 9, 2015

City Waterbirds

Lake Alford Park is one of parks in Gympie. It is right beside the Bruce Highway on the south side of the city. The birds there are very much what one expects to see in a place with people all around - but not the birds that I commonly see out here on the coast. On a bright sunny day it looks quite beautiful.

When I was there last week the day was grey and cloudy. The water in the ponds looked a dirty brown color and where the trees and bushes shut out the light it was almost black I never even thought of taking a photo of the landscape - it didn't look at all appealing. I just took a quick walk around to see if there were any birds I wanted to photograph.
The trees on the islands in the center of the ponds were filled with white birds - mainly Egrets and Ibis - but none close enough to want to take photos. Then I saw this one - perched lower down and close enough for photos. It is an Intermediate Egret and one I don't often see out here.

There were the usual ducks and black swans - and lots of  Dusky Moorhens (Gallinula tenebrosa). The Dusky Moorhens all seemed to have young ones around them. I think all baby birds are "cute" but these ones are rather ugly along with it. The feathers all looked sparse and rather spiky and then there is that red patch on the top of the head!

The very tiny ones wanted to stay as close as possible to the parent.

The ones a little bit older wanted to explore on their own.

The older juveniles were a brown color and didn't have the bright red beaks that showed so clearly on the adults.
 Before I could even get back to the car it was raining again - not heavy but enough to stop my photography!

For more scenery from around the world visit Out World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday

30 comments:

  1. Great shots of the babies. They're both cute and ugly at the same time. :-)

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  2. oh, those poor moorhen chicks are so ugly they're cute. :) love the egret shot!

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  3. The 'Ugly Duckling' story springs to mind.

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  4. Have to agree with the others regarding the moorhen chicks -- definitely so ugly they're cute!! What a beautiful park!! Great post and photos as always, Mick, thanks for sharing!!

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  5. It is a pretty spot. I like the egret and the moorhens chicks are adorable to me. I love them. Great sightings.. Have a happy week!

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  6. What great photos! The fuzzy moorhens are what my grandma would have called "so ugly, they're cute!"

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  7. I really love your photos of the moorhens! Luckily for the chicks they'll be a little better looking as adults. :) The Intermediate Egret is a beauty!

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  8. These lovely birds do not live anywhere near my neck of the woods and would be a rare find. But I must say the Intermediate Egret looks very much like the herons I see often … were it not for the pure white of its feathers.

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  9. Beautiful photography of nature's gems and love the babies!

    Happy Week to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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  10. Isn't it funny how those moor hen chicks have bright red beaks which seem to disappear by the time they are juveniles, yet come back in adulthood. Nature is certainly strange and wonderful.

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  11. Those chicks are adorable!

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  12. Lovely images! We stopped here for lunch on the way up to Hervey Bay back in 2013. Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore.

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  13. That Intermediate Egret could be mistaken for a Little Egret. Until that is someone studies the books to see the Intermediate has yellowish legs with dark feet and the Little Egret the opposite - dark grey legs with bright yellow feet.

    All chicks remind me that the long time ancestors of birds are dinosaurs.

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  14. Cute moorhen chicks and the egret is so beautiful!
    Great shots!

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  15. You had a good day despite the weather! Great images of the park. Our Common Gallinule (Gallinula galleata) is very similar to the Dusky Moorhen and those tiny black fluff balls are, indeed, "so ugly they're cute". The Intermediate Egret is a beauty.

    Looks the kayak might fit into that pond ..... :)

    All the best - Wally

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  16. Oh those little ones are such lovlies and so sweet to see them~

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  17. The Egret picture is fantastic and the young so cute.

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  18. how wonderful to come so close to the moorhens. We use to have a couple here but it is impossible to get close to them.

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  19. Delightful captures Mick. I agree with your comments about the baby moorhens being cutely ugly!

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  20. Terrific captures! I think the babies are super cute!

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  21. A beautiful park and lovely shots. Those baby Moorhen are not and that pretty at this stage but cute.

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  22. Great shots of the moorhens. We have them on our dams and the babies always look like ugly ducklings compared to the ducklings themselves.

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  23. Beautiful park with such lovely birds.

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  24. Wonderful photos! Loved the baby moorhens!

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  25. Fun and different post from the usual sanctuary straits! The moorhen babies are so homely that they're cute! (I always call them moorhens, because I can spell that word.). And Egrets are always wonderful to see ... A lovely portrait.

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  26. Oops just as I hit publish I noticed that silly auto correct. Of course I meant Sandy Straits. I hope you will fix that )))

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  27. Nice shots - the moorhen chicks really are not good looking!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  28. The moorhen chicks may come close to a face only a mother could love, but it's adorable how they follow their mother so closely, and the adults are quite nice looking.

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  29. Hehe, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I'm with you on the babies!

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