I decided to return to Tallow Creek at Suffolk Park in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. A previous visit of a couple of hours photographing around sunset resulted in a number of close ups of interesting birds and some very good evening lighting (Link to “Tallow Creek at Suffolk Park “). The walkway to the bridge that crosses the creek takes you through creek-side reed beds for close ups of reed birds and finches. The sporadic trees provide for close ups with clear space behind that give a nice blur to the background of the photo. This latest trip proved equally fruitful with the photos below.
The Beach Stone-curlew is seen in New South Wales from the Manning River northwards. However sightings are rare and the species is now regarded as critically endangered.
Photographed from the Tallow Creek bridge, a Little Pied Cormorant attests to the food available in the “Intermittently Closed and Open Lagoon” that the creek flows into. The category “Intermittently Closed and Open Lagoon” refers to the outlet to the sea which at times is closed for months.
Welcome Swallows and Tree Martins flutter constantly across the water of the lagoon. They often rest in a small tree at the end of the bridge; this provides a convenient place to photograph them.
A Tree Martin, possible a younger bird?
A small bird in another tree turned out to be a Striated Pardalote, another bird seen regularly at the lagoon. The heavy black marking across the eye and red spot on the wing indicates it could be of the northern Striated Pardalote race, the so called Black-headed Pardalote.
It was a surprise to see this young Mistletoebird, evidently another bird frequently seen at this site.
This Brown Thornbill was feeding in the middle branches of a medium sized tree.
I was pleased to see that the White-breasted Woodswallows sighted on the previous visit were still around. I counted fifteen birds present in total, similar to previous.
This Golden-headed Cisticola chose a helpful tree branch to pose for this photo.
The White-cheeked Honeyeater is common in the area, supplanting the New Holland Honeyeaters seen further south.
A Darter stretches out over a re-habilitated sewerage treatment pond close to Tallow Creek.