A day that started and ended with a Hobby and a Butcherbird with some others in between

This morning I was up early, just before the sun broke above the surrounding hills. An Australian Hobby had caused the White-plumed Honeyeaters to send out the alarm call so I went outside to investigate. It had decided sitting on the power lines not far away was as good a place as any to greet the morning, much to the chagrin of the smaller birds around. Interestingly, one of the birds not so afraid was the Pied Butcherbird. It sat about 20 metres away and stayed there for quite some time, long enough for the sunlight to hit the hills in the background. Eventually the Hobby flew off, and the Butcherbird continued foraging and feeding on the insects in the grass below its perch for about an hour in total.

Australian Hobby

Pied Butcherbird

I spent the majority of the day in and around my mobile office and was amazed at the variety of birds that frequented this small patch. A Collared Sparrowhawk flew past at one point, Magpie Larks, Willie Wagtails, Yellow-throated Miners, Crested Pigeons and a lone Peaceful Dove that sat with the pigeons on the power lines. I was delighted to get another visit from the Red-browed Pardalote and managed a few more photos. I noticed the crown puffed up as it was making its noise.

Red-browed Pardalote

I played around in photoshop just for fun with the photo below, taking out the majority of the colour except for the bird. I actually like the adjusted one of the two.

After the work day had finished I needed to enjoy some quiet spaces and headed out to an old favourite spot. I had in my mind to take some photos of the dust settling over the road with some spectacularly coloured hills in the background. Although it didn't quite come out the way I had imagined, it was still close enough to add to this post.

Dust settles as the sunset lights up the hills

On the way to my "quiet space", I came across a pair of Major Mitchell Cockatoos by the side of the road. They didn't fly off as I was expecting and managed to get some nice close-ups.

Major Mitchell Cockatoo

Once I had arrived at my quiet place, there were only a few birds around, one of which was a Rufous Whistler chasing amoth. The original photo (the first of the two below) was "washed out" due to the sun position, but as with the Pardalote photo above, I had a bit of a play with colour and light and like the altered image better this time as well.

Rufous Whistler catching a moth

As I drove back, feeling refreshed from the hum of the day, I came across an unusual sight. The light was fading and I knew the photos wouldn't be very good, but I've added a photo showing my two original birds from the morning, although not the same two. Sitting perched on a bare tree were an Australian Hobby and a young Pied Butcherbird. The day had come full circle.

Australian Hobby and Pied Butcherbird