Birds and the Beach

Some holiday snaps of birds and the beach taken during Christmas / New Year's holiday break.

Over the holiday period I wanted to spend time relaxing and enjoying my natural surroundings. What better way to do so than recording the beauty with my camera.

The below photos and videos show local bird-life along the Swan River in Perth, as well one of Perth's most iconic beaches, Cottesloe beach. Enjoy :-)

Along The Swan River

Australian Wood Ducks

Taken in August 2023, a massive family of Australian Wood Ducks this Spring.

Crow and a Kookaburra

Australian Raven Corvus coronoides

Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaguineae

Willy Wagtail

This is a Willy Wagtail, one of the smallest but still feistiest native birds in Australia.

I was working from home during a very hot day (38 degrees celsius) when I went outside to have a break. There was a Willy Wagtail on the railing looking at me inquisitively, chirping loudly and none too cautious.

I decided to feed it some organic rolled oats. I opened the door to come back inside where it was much cooler and this little creature flew in.

He ended up perching on my hand to peck at the oats, chirping aloud his approval. He seemed very comfortable inside, perhaps because I had my air conditioning running which kept the temperature at a comfortable 25 degrees celsius.

He didn't want to leave, but I had to usher him out anyway so I could get back to work.

Balcony Kookaburra battles

Around a week around I went to sit outside so I could enjoy a cold beverage and the view. Next to me on the floor was an Australian Hornet dragging the body of what looked to be either a Huntsman Spider or Wolf Spider. I watched this for a while and moved away once the hornet began dragging its' spider feast up the brick wall. I quickly took a video because this kind of display was typical for Australia's reputation of harboring all kinds of dangerous wildlife.

Just Aussie things part 1

Shortly after going back inside, the Kookaburra came to harass the hornet because it wanted its' spider feast for itself! That is, until juvenile Kookaburra came and started whining for food!

Juvenile kookaburra had it's spidery feed and now watches down at us from it's perch, completely satisfied.

Beautiful Day at Cottesloe Beach

The iconic Cottesloe Beach, which is only a short drive from the City Centre

I'm not much of a beach person, but I do love clambering across the rocks and groynes made from enormous granite boulders that extend into the ocean.

I also love the colours and textures that the ocean provides

There were huge mounds of seaweed deposited on the other side of the groyne separating Cottesloe Beach from South Cottesloe beach. It smelled especially bad due to there being quite a lot of dead crayfish strewn throughout the piles of seaweed

At around 10:40am, the Cottesloe Coastguard and surf lifesavers sprang into action. The loud drone of the Shark Alarm rang out over the beach, and almost everyone left the designated swim areas.

Outro

Thanks for reading and let me know whether you were able to get amongst nature during your Christmas and New Years Holiday Break!