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Sunday, 5 May 2013

Mary Glen

During our last stay at Mary Glen we spent some time down at the waterhole watching a variety of birds, including this Darter. It is hard to gauge its' size if only seen in the water, but when sitting on a stump or in a tree, you can get a better idea; 85-90cm with a wingspan of 1.2m. We also saw a number of Australasian Grebe and Hardhead. 
Australasian Darter (Anhinga melanogaster)(Male)

The Australasian Darter is sometimes called Snake Bird because of the way it holds it long neck while roosting & feeding.

 Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae)

Hardhead (Aythya australis)(Male) 

Kandanga Creek
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19 comments:

  1. mick6 May 2013 at 15:58

    Great photos. There are so many birds up the valley and in the hills that I never have a chance to see! The color of the water is beautiful especially behind the duck.

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  2. Hootin Anni8 May 2013 at 06:46

    Hmmmm, I've been called a hardhead myself. LOL

    Love the 'darter'---what we in America call Anhinga. I'll never forget seeing one for the very first time. Love the grebes too.

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  3. eileeninmd8 May 2013 at 07:10

    Your Darter is just like our Anhinga! They also remind me of our Cormorants. Great birds and photos, Neil!

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  4. TexWisGirl8 May 2013 at 07:21

    awesome shots of the 'snake bird!'

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  5. Brian King8 May 2013 at 08:27

    It does look like a snake! Wonderful photos!

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  6. Karen8 May 2013 at 08:41

    It does resemble a snake, amazing.
    Lovely shots.

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  7. Carole M.8 May 2013 at 11:04

    that looks like a great spot to visit; lovely photographs. I love the darters too...

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  8. Karen8 May 2013 at 11:09

    That Darter is one cool looking bird!

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  9. Indrani8 May 2013 at 15:09

    Beautiful ones. I see some of them here in a bird sanctuary.

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  10. Rajesh8 May 2013 at 17:14

    Wonderful shots of birds. It is a delight to look at them.

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  11. Stewart M8 May 2013 at 18:48

    I think that the last two Australasian Grebe shots of mine are of birds that are a little more used to people than most. They were taken in a lake in central Perth, next to a freeway and a bike path!!

    Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW

    Stewart M - Melbourne

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  12. Unknown8 May 2013 at 20:13

    Enjoyed your post. I'll never forget watching a darter moving underwater once. A very accomplished underwater swimmer and predator!

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  13. Arija8 May 2013 at 20:28

    Hi Neil, I finally got a shot of the Australasian Grebe with the elusive green flash on it's wing. It really is deceptive how large the darts are.

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  14. Unknown8 May 2013 at 21:31

    Great series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  15. Sallie (FullTime-Life)9 May 2013 at 02:40

    Great selection of birds. The darter (snake bird) reminds me of our anhinga. You have to scroll back on my blog to last week to see any birds -- I'm missing in action this week.

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  16. Unknown9 May 2013 at 18:31

    The snake bird is very interesting.

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  17. Wally Jones10 May 2013 at 01:27

    I really liked this post, Neil!
    Our local darter, the Anhinga, is very abundant here and I love watching them fish.
    The creek looks very inviting to explore!

    Have a good weekend. - Wally

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  18. HansHB10 May 2013 at 06:47

    Great post for WBW!

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  19. EG CameraGirl11 May 2013 at 01:26

    The snake bird reminds me a lot of our double-created cormorant. But I have never seen an anhinga mentioned by Anni.

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