Noosa River Birds

 This post is for Wild Bird Wednesday.

I spent a delightful day yesterday taking a boat trip along the upper reaches of the Noosa River.  I have not yet had time to sort out all my photos so will leave the scenic ones until later and simply post an assortment of birds I saw along the river.  The skipper of the boat was very helpful  and moved the boat closer to any birds that he thought we would find interesting and also slowed right down.  However, I am used to taking photos by myself and taking all the time I need to get settings "just right"!  I need to get much faster at changing settings! 
We saw a number of birds using the roots and low branches along the river to roost and hide from passing river traffic.  This Australian Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) stayed still for long enough for photos.

 
We saw Ospreys, Brahminy Kites and this Whistling Kite (Milvus spenurus) at its nest.

We crossed Lake Cootharaba to get to the upper reaches of the river. There was a large group of Pelicans some distance away and an even large group of Black Swans which were just too far away for any photos.

At the far end of the lake there were huge areas of lilies growing in the shallow water. One of the other people on the boat spotted this Comb-crested Jacana (Jacana gallinacea).  Unfortunately that side of the boat was looking into the sun.  Jacanas have huge feet specially to walk around on top of vegetation floating on top of the water. 

On the way back down the river we saw this large eucalyptus tree with a most unusual assortment of birds perched in it.  I counted 8 Great Egrets, 4 White-faced Herons (the grey colored ones in the photo) and one Darter. 

The scenery along the river was magical!  The tourist promotions call this the Noosa Everglades.  More next time - as soon as I have time to sort my photos!