A Working From Home White-Faced Heron! From my home office on the back deck I was treated to a visit by this slender Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae).
He also was brave enough to pose for close-ups…
Tag: White-faced Heron
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All Over the SOP.
On a solo cycle through Sydney Olympic Park and on to Meadowbank Wharf, Brad – predictably – found some birds.
Around the southern end of Haslam’s Creek, a few families of Purple Swamphens (Porphyria porphyria) were showing their chicks the ropes. The chicks were rather cute:
One of the parents on the shore was determined to distract me away from the chicks with a display I can only refer to as “flashing his bright white arse”…
Moving onto Woo-la-ra Hill – which Bramanda have nicknamed Cisticola Hill – a few minutes listening for the distinctive call led me to a small group of Golden-headed Cisticolas (Cisticola exilis):
At Badu Wetlands, a number of juvenile Pied Stilts (Himantopus leucocephalus):
And also a photogenic Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia):
In the rapidly dropping sun, a Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) made a lovely silhouette against the diamante water:
A Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata):
A female Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus)…
…and the male. It is not widely realised how varied the male’s plumage can be as he moves in and out of his breeding phases:
In the mangroves right in the south-east corner of Homebush Bay, a juvenile White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) was working out how to forage amongst the pneumatophores. He was very unsure of where to place his feet as he browsed between these spiky aerial roots.
Heading for home, I checked in on the Magpie-lark location, but only found this male. Is he the now-fledged chick we photographed less than two months ago?
And as a final treat, a Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea) allowed me to photograph her feeding her recently fledged youngster.
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Rhodes to SOP.
After checking out the Peewee Family at Meadowbank Bridge, we rode our bicycles to Sydney Olympic Park via Rhodes. On the edge of Homebush Bay we saw an Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae).
We checked out the little thicket of casuarina trees where we had found Yellow Thornbills previously, but no luck.
Cycling around the Badu Wetlands we saw a White-faced Heron (Egreta novaehollandiae).
There was not much action at the bird hide on the northern edge of the wetlands: quite a few Pied Stilts (including some juveniles), and this female Superb Fairy-wren :
Himantopus leucocephalus 
Malurus cyaneus
At the old ship-breaking ramp, another Australasian Darter, a White-faced Heron and a number of Silver Gulls were using the old barge as a perch or a place to find wood-loving insects:
At Haslam’s Pier, we got a nice “aerial” view of a family of Black Swans (Cygnus atratus):
Bramandagram 