On Friday’s walk home I took a very short detour to the western basin development of Lake Burley Griffin as I know that cormorants and other water birds often rest on the viewing platform there. I am glad I ddi as I was in luck with an Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae). I think the first bird was probably a juvenile given the wing colouration. I stopped well short of it, as darters tend to be flighty birds and will depart quickly when I show any interest in them. This one seemed distracted as it kept looking down in the water and then behind it. Eventually, I could see what was drawing its attention, another darter, possibly an adult female given its similar colour to the first but different wing colouration. (As an aside, male darters are all black except for a white facial stripe and yellow beak.) This second bird eventually climbed onto the wharf and then onto the viewing platform, with her approach being enough to drive the first darter into the water. The second darter gave herself a good wringing of the body to get the excess water off before adopting the classic drying wings posture. I edged closer but I was still shooting from the lake’s bank across the water to the viewing platform. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a mother with a boy on a scooter approaching the end of the viewing platform and I could see the darter getting nervous. The bird turned her back and started bobbing her head, before clearing her bowels. Fortunately, the mother and son stopped short of the bird. I am not sure if the mother saw me and did not want to disturb my photography or only wanted to show her son the darter without scaring off the bird. Either way, I was happy as the bird stayed put and I realised I could get closer to the darter. So after the mother and boy left the wharf I slowly approached the darter, while trying to appear like I was looking at the water. I was able to get reasonably close without the bird taking to flight and was really happy with the results. I was also happy when the sun came out momentarily to light the area around the bird. It was just a glorious moment to get some great light, photographing a beautiful bird and just being in the moment of doing something I truly enjoy. A great start to the weekend.
