Birds are one of my favourite things to photograph. Not only do they come in all sorts of different shapes, sizes and colours but they're also wonderful to catch on the wing.

This gallery is going to be for some of the better photos I've taken during the years of Birds, both domestic and wild.

Bird Life

<p>There's a pair of Plovers who nest in the parkland near where I live, this is one of them</p>

Plover on patrol

<p>I love taking photos of the Cockatoos and Parrots that are part of the Australian landscape. This Galah was just having a relaxing time eating when I managed to snap them.</p>

Galah at lunch

I was looking out my window one afternoon when this Swallow decided to have a break on the next door neighbours TV antennae. I grabbed my camera and took a couple of shots. It's slightly hazy because there is a fly screen in the window I was shooting through.

Swallow on a tv antennae

Caught this Plover strutting around the gutter on a roll about

Plover in the Gutter

They always look so grump with the white stripes above their eyes looking like angry eyebrows

Willy Wagtail getting his Grump on

This lump of mud and feathers is the home of a pair of Swallows that have been nesting and raising their chicks here.

It's been here for 12 months now? So this is the second Spring it will see new chicks and Swallows.

Swallow nest going into its second spring

Being close to a rivulet we get our fair share of Water Birds, and it's nice to see an Ibis that ISN'T hanging around a garbage bin or tip.

Ibis on a Sunday walk

Is it truly headless!?

Or has it just turned around for a scratch?

Who can know!!

The Headless Swallow!

I was very happy to be able to grab this shot. The Magpie looks so disinterested in what's going on while the Peewee is appears to be setting up for a vicious dive bombing run

Peewee vs Magpie

I was watching the local air show from our street when this visitor appeared and stopped for a rest. It appeared to be watching the escapades of the really noisy and smokey birds off in the distance.

It's the first time I've seen one of these birds.

Black Winged Kite

This white faced Heron was poking around in the puddles left by a flash flood caused by a massive storm the night before.

Just hours earlier, the grass the Heron was poking around in had been under three feet of water.

White faced Heron checking out post storm pickings

The sun was out after the storm and the Sparrows were out on the hunt.

House Sparrow surveys the world

There are a number of finches that live around our house. I managed to catch this one out of my office window. The "filter" is actually the fly screen on my window

Finch in the sunlight

Captured these two as they grazed on the grass over the road. They were part of a small flock that like to hang around the area

Grazing galahs

Came across this lonely individual. They were flitting from tree to tree, obviously on alert. Couldn't see any others around

A lonely noisy miner

It was almost like spring today and there were dozens of these little Wren like birds flitting around. This one was exploring the possible opportunities presented by bitumen, but wasn't getting very far

A little wren on a big road

There were a bunch of these little birds flying around when I went for a roll. I managed to catch this female as she looked off towards the rest of the flock in the distance

Road Robin

I love these little guys. They're the size of an apricot with an attitude the size of Sydney Harbour.

Wagtail surveys his domain

I'm pretty happy with this picture. Nice, crisp and clear and awesome amounts on detail

The Noble Robin

Living near a water source means that we get to see a wide range of bird life.

This Masked Lapwing was patrolling when I came by on a roll about. I took a couple of photos and then it turned to look directly at me and cocked its head as if to say "What are you doing?"

Masked Lapwing checks out the photographer

Decided to take a roll along a different route and came across a pond that had Swamp Hens and ducks.

Couldn't get a decent photo of the Swamp Hens, but I do like this photo of a duck paddling across the pond

Duck on a pond

Spring has definitely sprung around here. Here's a Willy Wagtail strutting along the footpath, just living their life

Willy wagtail strutting along

That is if Wally was a brightly coloured finch in a field of green ;)

Seeing more of these little birds around the place (probably doesn't hurt that we have a nest above our door)

Lets play wheres Wally?

This was one of a pair of Laplace's that were scouting potential nesting spots when I came across them.

I gave them a wide berth (been swooped by them before), but got a couple of snaps.

Winged Laplace on patrol

We have several pairs of Magpie-Larks around the area, and I came across this one nosing around looking for lunch.

Magpie-Lark on the hunt

One of three images I took of these Cormorants who had stopped by a pond to have a preen.

I had to take the picture through some brush as I was unable to move any closer due to the chair, but I'm not unhappy about the result

Cormorants at rest - 1

Second in a series of three images of these Cormorants preening.

Cormorants at rest - 2

Third in the series of three photos of Cormorants preening.

Cormorants at rest - 3

This lone Lorikeet was taking advantage of the bottle brush blooms as we sat and enjoyed our boxing day lunch

Rainbow Lorikeet feeding

This is one of a pair I managed to capture when I was out on a Roll About. Feeling very lucky that I chose to take the 400mm lens 

Black Swan on a pond

One of the two swans I was able to capture. 

Black swan on a pond - no ducks

I watched these swans swimming around the pond for a little while. I know that Swans are really just Geese with delusions of grandeur but they can be very regal when they want to be

Broadside to a Swan

One of the frustrating things was I was limited on how close I could get to the pond to take photos because of the whole legs not working thing. It meant that getting photos of the two swans together was a little difficult. 

But I managed to get one

A pair of black swans

I liked the relaxed nature of two of these ducks compared to the one looking more alert

Ducks in monochrome - The Sentry

This duck was making damn sure it wasn't going to have to share its prize with any other duck.

Ducks in Monochrome - Lunch on the run

This was a flock at it's most relaxed I think. Just little groups sitting around doing their own thing because they feel safe.

Ducks in Monochrome - Just flocking things

Nothing really set them off that I could see, it was as if they simply went "Okay times up, time to move on"

Ducks in Monochrome - Off to pastures new

They are supremely odd looking birds when you look at them like this. Everything looks out of whack

Office Window Heron - Eyes on the world

This Heron was just chilling on the roof opposite my office window. Here you can see it having a yawn

Office Window Heron - Yawn

There is not a bird in the world that cannot become a borb

Office Window Heron - Borb

A grey and white bird standing on a tin roof. It has long skinny legs however it has fluffed up its feathers so that its normally sleek, slender body looks fluffy and orb like

IMG_8963.jpg

A slender grey and white bird. It has a long thin beak and is yawning wide.

IMG_8947.jpg

A thin grey and white bird looking towards the top left of the photo. It has a very thin needle like beak and its eyes bulge at the base of the beak

IMG_8965.jpg

A black and white photograph of ducks in flight. They are set against a backdrop of trees and the south coast escarpment

IMG_8800.jpg

A place for my monochrome efforts. Nothing really organised, perhaps a pattern will build itself

Life in black and white

A black and white photograh of a flock of ducks going about their day. Some are walking, some are grazing, some are just sitting around relaxing.

IMG_8811.jpg

A duck is running across a placid pond, a slice of bread gripped tightly in its beak

IMG_8850.jpg

A black and white vertical photo. In the foreground are three ducks, the furthest right is standing tall and looking towards the camera. The one in the middle is preening itself and the one to the left is just starting off to the right

IMG_8813.jpg

A pair of black swans swimming on a green pond. The one closest to the camera is looking into the water, while the one further away is looking to the left

IMG_8129.jpg

A black swan swims on a green pond. It is broadside to the camera giving an excellent view of its plumage and bright red beak