I thought I should start my photo blogs with one of my favourite parks where I have produced some of my favourite images.
As my birding hobby started during one of my hiking trips, my way of photographing birds is walking around the park/birding spots and waiting for the birds to move to a decent looking spot. So all the photos you’ll see here or anywhere in my future posts, would be of birds found in wild.
One of such parks I frequently visit is Brimbank park – located in Keilor, a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria. First I read about this park was in Birdlife Melbourne’s website http://www.birdlifemelbourne.org.au/birdingsites/ while looking for good bird watching sites closer to where I lived.
It is a fairly big park with varied landscape. Maribyrnong river passes through it as well which gives you opportunities to capture water birds, while the eucalyptus trees are full of different species of parrots depending on the season. You’ll also come across grazing Kangaroos if you manage to get to there early enough.
Throughout the park you’ll find regulars like Rainbow Lorikeets, Superb Fairy Wrens, Australian Magpies, Red rumped parrots, Noisy Miners, Magpie larks, Crested Pigeons, Willie Wagtails, Sulpher crested cockatoos, Red wattle birds and among the water birds Pacific Black Ducks, Australian Wood ducks, Eurasian coots and Dusky Moorhen.
When I fist visited this park, there was a pair of Tawny Frogmouth (photo on the left) which used to hang out on a same branch of same tree every time I visited, until that tree was chopped down by park management. After that for a while I didn’t see them, so it made me really happy when I found them on another tree nearby few months later.
Along the river, one can get best opportunities of photographing water birds. Egrets and herons can be spotted there too depending on how much water there is at the river crossing. Other water birds I have seen here are black cormorants and Australian darter, though only on rare occasions.
The advantage of river crossings along the park is that the birds are used to people walking around the area, so they are ideal spots for getting close up shot of the birds.
Where there are so many birds, you ought to find some raptors as well.
After the spring season, you’d find some new arrivals too. Last year I got the opportunity to see juveniles and baby birds of wood ducks, dusky moorhens, white plumed honey eater, grey butcher bird, pacific back ducks and welcome swallows.
So all around it’s a perfect place for bird watching, and if you’re into cycling or trail running then this place offers you plenty of opportunity to do so too. There is a cafe that’s open for most of the day and there are plenty of public toilets spread out around the park as well; which is always a bonus! The opening hours are quite long so you can get here before sunrise and can leave after sunset.
I will finish here for this blog, but this will not be my last blog for this park as I have few more photos to share from here. But I might mix it up a little next time and include some landscape photos too.
If you have read this then please let me know your thoughts and what more content should I have included (may be more photos?!). Feel free to leave me any tips to make it better. Until then happy birding!
You pics are absolutely amazing. I cannot name my favourite as there are so many. Having a hobby in such…
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Great blog Bhumit! Enjoyed it immensely! Great shots too! I love my local Botanic Gardens and photograph there often so…
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Thanks so much Nancy, I am so glad that my hobby gets me out and about.