With wet weather affecting so many areas, including a new creek running through my place that deserves a name, I’ll share a wet bird that I photographed in the Mallee a couple of weeks ago.
1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 800
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400 L IS USM EXT
At 1/2000th of a second I was able to capture some droplets flying from this butcherbird as it vigorously shook itself after bathing. They have a beautiful song, similar in tone to their magpie relatives, but they are named for their somewhat gruesome habit of impaling prey on spiky branches or wedging them in the forks of trees. It’s surprising how well they can shake their feathers dry. They are dapper looking birds with their black and white feathers punctuated with a clear brown eye. Their bills are lethal weapons that they use to capture and eat a range of food including small birds, nestlings, reptiles, insects and some fruit. If you look closely you’ll see the hook on the upper bill, more obvious is the two-tone bill which is usually described as black and grey though I often think it looks more grey/blue when the reflection of the sky is at its clearest.
Although it’s something I’ve known for years, and witnessed fairly often, I still find it a bit unpleasant to think about how many birds eat birds. I’m happy that the butcherbird above could supplement its diet with figs! You may have noted the white patch between the bill and the eye, this dainty dot is called a loral spot.
The great Aussie Bird Count starts in a couple of days, running from 17-23 October. It’s fun, it’s easy and it’s super important. If you’ve never given it a go I highly recommend searching for it or using this link to find out more: Aussie Bird Count There’s a FAQ page which answers just about every question anyone could think of.
My thoughts are with everyone impacted by the floods, and with the four eaglets I saw this week – how difficult it must be for them in their exposed nests.
Happy birding, Kim
PS I’ve been overwhelmed and pretty thrilled by the response to my interview with Thomas Doerig for his Birding Today podcast – it’s fantastic that so many people are interested in ethical birding and bird photography. I’m so glad I finally plucked up the courage to have a chat about it. I’ve just tried unsuccessfully to embed a page showing a range of Thomas’ interviews, instead I’ll share mine again but you can get to the others that way too. Here it is again, just in case you missed it 🙂
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~ Facebook group  Ethical Bird Photography
I feel for everything impacted by the incessant rain and the floods.
Love the wet butcherbird you captured and agree, I would describe that bill colour as a delicate blue. Coincidentally I featured a very wet bird in my last Sunday Selections too.
Of course people are saluting your ethical approach to your photography. We NEED ethics more and more. In everything.
I don’t know how I missed your beaut post, I just zoomed over to check it out. I think you’re right about ethics, and if we can explain it in a fun, non-judgemental way I think that helps too. I don’t think many people actually mean to cause harm.