A Great Egret walked through the water, paralleling a row of damp, black oyster bags that sat across the water’s surface. The bird was advancing slowly until it jabbed forward with its yellow beak and one of its wings half-opened to balance it. Withdrawing its head from the water a pipefish wiggled hard, trying to escape. The egret climbed onto the oyster bags and carefully readjusted the pipefish in its beak through a couple of rapid openings and closings, before swallowing the fish. Whereupon the egret returned to patrolling along the top of the bags. I was able to witness the whole encounter from just a few metres away where I was sitting in my kayak on a lovely Spring morning on Wagonga Inlet in Narooma. The inlet is coming alive with a lot of birds and other creatures. I spent a fair bit of time paddling around the inlet enjoying some beautiful mornings and wonderful encounters with birds. I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.
More of this story is on my blog at https://birdsincanberra.com/blog/2023/10/23/egrets-and-sea-eagles-some-constants-of-spring-narooma-nsw-spring-2023
Great Egret catching a pipefish among the oyster lines
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 125, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Great Egret catching the pipefish
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 125, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Great Egret stalking through sea grass
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/500 SEC])
White-bellied Sea-eagle perched on a boating speed sign
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 241mm, f/14 and 1/500 SEC])
White-bellied Sea-eagle perched on an oyster farm pole
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 400mm, f/14.0 and 1/500 SEC])
White-bellied Sea-eagle perched in an eucalyptus tree
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Australasian Darter drying its wings
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Little Pied Cormorant
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Juvenile Australian White Ibis on the bank of Punkally Creek
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 500, 271mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Superb Fairy-wren male in a casuarina tree
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/9.0 and 1/640 SEC])
Old wooden pylon in Hobbs Bay
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 500, 110mm, f/7.1 and 1/400 SEC])
Four Laughing Kookaburras perched in a dead tree in Clarks Bay
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Striated Heron in the shadows
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 500, 400mm, f/13 and 1/500 SEC])
Tau Emerald flying above the water of Clarks Bay
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 400mm, f/11 and 1/1000 SEC])
Pied Oystercatchers on the shore of Lewis Island
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 400mm, f/14 and 1/400 SEC])
Water skink hunting in a garden
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/7.1 and 1/640 SEC])
Chiton (Ischnochiton elongatus) on a rock in a rock pool
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 250, 100mm, f/10 and 1/100 SEC] in an Aquatech Elite II sport housing and PD-130 Lens Port)
Striped Paper Bubble (Hydatina physis)
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/10 and 1/100 SEC] in an Aquatech Elite II sport housing and PD-130 Lens Port)
Cowrie (Erronea xanthodon) in a rock pool
(Canon EOS 7D Mk II with a Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/10 and 1/100 SEC] in an Aquatech Elite II sport housing and PD-130 Lens Port)
Wedge-tailed Eagle soaring over Mimosa Vineyards
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 400mm, f/13 and 1/500 SEC])
Firewood Banksia
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 148mm, f/13 and 1/320 SEC])
Rock on Cuttagee Beach
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 100mm, f/13 and 1/320 SEC])
Silver Gulls on Cuttagee Beach
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 400mm, f/13 and 1/640 SEC])
Newly moulted Variegated Shore Crab top with its discarded skin below
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 1000, 135mm, f/13 and 1/320 SEC])
Narooma and the wider NSW South Coast continue to fascinate me and provide wonderful subjects to photograph. The subjects can be a majestic White-bellied Sea Eagle perched so close to me on a sign or a small Variegated Shore Crab trying to hide while its shell hardens. They are all interesting and allow me to experiment different aspects of the natural world that is going about its business all the time while we live our lives nearby. I feel enriched by viewing these animals undertaking behaviours that I have read about or seen in documentaries and then I am experiencing them live in front of me. We are so fortunate to live in a place where we can still see so much nature around us.
Thanks for reading this post and thanks also for looking at my photos. I hope you come back again to read more about some of the wonderful natural things that the south coast of New South Wales has on offer. All the best until the next post.
