Last season I visited Dorrigo National Park – what a superb location, not just for bird watching, but also insects and fungi.
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The National Parks Exhibition Centre is a great starting point. Here you can watch films of the area, get information on all the walks and the wildlife, followed by a visit to their tea room for coffee and scones – not bad, eh!
So this was the start of my day in this magnificent park.
I loaded up with the minimum amount of camera gear and then set off searching for subjects in perfect weather.
I started at the top end where the going was level, the rainforest not too thick as I watched for subjects.
And there were plenty. First up was something I had not seen before moving fast through the forest – Bassian thrushes. I had to be quick (which is why I always have my camera set for the conditions) and managed to get two quick shots before they were gone. A decent start all the same.
Next up was a Brown Cuckoo dove on a log. I grabbed a shot for the record.
It was cool in the rainforest and I was glad I came prepared. I found I was spotting plenty of birds but it was hard to get clear shots – invariably one of the problems of the rainforest.
It was some time before I found my next subject, but it was worth the wait. It was a Tree Creeper with tucker in its beak. I watched it closely as it flew to an open stump. Would you believe it, up popped a female to get the food. What a find.
I set myself up for this one, making sure I had good light, 400 lens and a bit of fill flash. It turned out I had to wait some time before the male returned and I grabbed the shot. It turned out that the female was sitting on eggs so I kept well away, moving off to continue my search.
I picked a spot near a small pool for lunch, set the camera on the tripod and sat down to eat. Just then a pair of Thornbills popped in to have a bath. I took a number of shots, 400 lens, shutter priority, 2000 second 7.1 ISO 1000 flash on high speed. Then it was back to lunch.
My best find in the afternoon was a Yellow Robin feeding chicks. I spent quite a bit of time on this subject taking many flight shots. A storm was coming so it was time to call it a day.
