Top 5 Great Birding Moments

Red Capped Robin

Red Capped Robin

Over the years I have had many occasions when I have experienced what I have called Great Birding Moments. These are reasonably frequent here in Australia because we have such a wonderful range of very colourful birds to observe. The above photo of the stunningly beautiful Red Capped Robin took quite a deal of effort to obtain. This male bird was quite happy flitting around in an orchard looking for his lunch. I tried for about twenty minutes to zoom in on where he was sitting. Actually, this species very rarely sits for very long; they are always very active. Eventually he became so curious about my antics that he took pity on me and landed – ever so briefly – on a branch no more than about two metres away. Patience was definitely a virtue that day – and it scored me a great photograph. (Click on the photo to enlarge the image).

Great Birding Moments

On this blog I have written a series of articles called Great Birding Moments, all of them similar to the one mentioned above. Some of them – most of them actually – resulted in some amazing photos. Others are examples of being in the right place at the right time and with a camera at the ready. Still other examples are as a result of patient waiting or a deliberate policy to seek out a particular bird.

For new readers of this blog I have selected what I consider my Top 5 Great Birding Moments:

Great Birding Moment #5 – Crested Pigeon (click to view)

Crested Pigeons are resident in our garden here in South Australia. At first glance they seem quite a dull grey colour, but up close the iridescent colours on their wings shines brilliantly in the sun light.

Great Birding Moment #6 – New Holland Honeyeater (click to view)

New Holland Honeyeaters are also a resident species in our garden. They are noisy, gregarious and can be bossy towards other bird species. We enjoy watching them bathing in the bird baths we have in the garden.

Great Birding Moment #10 Noisy Miners (click to view)

Noisy Miners are another Australian species of Honeyeaters. In some parts of the country they are very common but we rarely have them in our garden. The photo featured in this article was taken in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. The photos illustrate that it was another case of being in the right place at the right time with a camera at the ready.

Great Birding Moments #13 Sulphur Crested Cockatoos (click to view)

This series of photos was as a result of a chance encounter with a small flock of Cockatoos in some street trees in suburban Adelaide. I had just left my wife in the nearby Burnside Hospital for an operation, drove around the corner and there they were. They made no attempt to fly away as I came to within a few metres of the tree they were in.

Great Birding Moments # 26 Red Browed Finch (click to view)

This birding moment was not hard to get. It was taken inside a walk-through aviary at the Cleland Wildlife Park near Adelaide, South Australia. What is special about this birding moment is the fact that the photo turned out so beautifully. It just illustrates one of the truly beautiful finches that we have here in Australia. Some people are lucky enough to have this species in their garden.

More Great Birding Moments

If you enjoyed looking at these articles you can access the whole list of Great Birding Moments here. To see more bird photos go to my photo gallery here.

Special Note: This article was written especially for the Top 5 Group Writing Project being conducted on ProBlogger being run by Darren Rowse.

UPDATE: I written two more articles inspired by Darren’s writing project. On my writing blog I have written an article called “Top 5 Writing Hints” and on my travel blog I have written about my “Top 5 Scenery Photos.”

Update: this photo above – and many other photos featured on this site – can now be purchased on a range of merchandise such as T-shirts, aprons, wall plaques, clocks and mugs. Go to my Trevor’s Photos site here.

 

52 Responses to “Top 5 Great Birding Moments”

  1. […] Darren Rowse on his ProBlogger site has challenged his readers yet again with his Top 5 Group Writing Project. This time around there is a single prize of $1001 to some lucky contributor to the project. This writing project has inspired me to write this article on what I consider to be five top writing hints. This post will NOT be entered in Darren’s writing project; my entry on a totally different topic has been posted on my Birding Blog here. […]

  2. John says:

    I think this one would be at the top (or close) for me.

  3. […] Rowse on his blog ProBlogger. This article is NOT an entry in the project; my entry can be found here on Trevor’s Birding. UPDATE: I have also written an article called Top 5 Writing Hints on my blog called Trevor’s […]

  4. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  5. Theda K. says:

    I’ve always wanted to go to Australia…now you’ve given me another reason.

    I’m a birder here in the U.S., and it’s nice to find a fellow birder. I’m actually planning to write some articles too. Now I have someone to link to who has some authority.

    Let me know if you’re ever planning a trip to the U.S. My favorite birds are in Michigan (where I grew up), but I’m learning to love the Arizona birds now.

  6. Trevor says:

    Hi there Theda – welcome to my birding blog. I have not yet had the pleasure of birding in the U.S. but would love to visit one day. Actually there are many countries I would love to visit for all sorts of reasons, not just for the chance of seeing new birds.

    You’d love going birding here in Australia. The next best thing is vicariously through my blogs (check out my travel blog too).

  7. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  8. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  9. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  10. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel  (all over Australia) […]

  11. James Pegram says:

    Those were hot, I love birds. Great shots Trevor.

  12. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  13. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  14. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel  (all over Australia) […]

  15. Trevor says:

    Thanks for visiting James.

  16. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  17. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

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  20. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

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  25. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  26. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  27. […] A chance encounter with a small flock of Cockatoos, […]

  28. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

  29. […] A chance encounter with a small flock of Cockatoos, […]

  30. Trevor says:

    Update: this photo above – and many other photos featured on this site – can now be purchased on a range of merchandise such as T-shirts, aprons, wall plaques, clocks and mugs. Go to my Trevor’s Photos site here: http://www.zazzle.com.au/trevorsphotos

  31. […] Top 5 Great Birding Moments by Trevor Hampel […]

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