Bird on a wire, and other places for ornithology – Day 2, part 2

[Disclaimer/confession: I have taken advantage of the rather large number of pixels in my camera and the relatively fewer pixels needed for the screen, and cropped a few of the photos to show some key things a bit bigger than they were in camera.]

The day had begun overcast and mizzly and this little swallow made a nice silhouette on the wire outside our cottage.

In the afternoon, after touring around north of St Helens, we headed to the southern side of the bay and enjoyed some of the sights, with birds being an ongoing feature. When I first stopped here, it was just to take a shot of this jetty, but I soon noticed a nearby pelican.

The pelican was fishing, and I was surprised at how very quickly he/she plunged its head into the water in search of fish.

The really cool thing, though, was to see a seagull land on the back of the pelican, perhaps hopeful of some food as well, before taking off after realising that the pelican was not in the mood to share (I’m probably reading too much into what was observed!).

I love the colouration of the eyes and beak here.

Further along the coast we came across a flotilla of swans (the Australian swans are black for those who might be wondering), two parents (only one shown below) and five partly grown cygnets. I also fluked a nice shot of a humble seagull.

Out towards St Helens Point there are some fantastic dunes, and the sun broke through the clouds and lit them up. We found a few caches in the area, with the most surprising one being infested with more lady beetles than I have ever before seen in one place.

As we returned back to St Helens for a fish-and-chip tea by the bay there were some lovely cloud and light effects over the bay and nearby jetty where some children were playing.