With new content hard to come by it seems appropriate to look back over the last 22 years and and put birds in the spotlight once again. Nothing rare, just photographs taken in the local area that hopefully show the beauty and character of the birds featured, and a little of their habitat. Cameras used started with a Nikon E5700, then a Panasonic FZ30, Nikon D90 and Nikon D7000. Images are shown in chronological order.

Rufus Fantail incubating and chicks, Freestone Creek 2006, Nikon E5700.

Powerful Owl, foothill creek 2006, Panasonic FZ30.

Chestnut Teal pair, Flooding Creek, 2006.

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, home garden, 2006, click to enlarge.

Pacific Heron, Heyfield wetlands, 2007.

To be continued.

Another example of the significant trees in Bellbird Corner Riverside Reserve is this Red Gum photographed on a grey winter’s day.

As has probably been mentioned previously, the Red Gums in the reserve are mainly Gippsland Red Gums, E. tereticornis sub-species mediana, plus a sprinkling of trees that show hints of River Red Gum, E. camaldulensis in the buds. The area is of course where the two species merge, leading to interbreeding. Buds collected beneath this tree however are classic camaldulensis, and the appearance of the tree seems to bear that out. It is massive, with a trunk circumference at chest height of 5.1 metres. About three metres above the ground the trunk gives way to a number of huge limbs climbing skyward.

Here are two more views of the other side of the tree showing the scale of these limbs. It appears too that inosculation has taken place, with limbs growing together as they have increased in size. A magnificent tree, long may it continue to thrive.