Blog - Jacques Fortier Photography

Birds of Sydney’s Urban Parks

Continuing my trip to Sydney in October (Part 1 here). As I mentioned, I was on a work trip, so most of my bird photography was done relatively close to the CBD in the mornings and evenings.

Royal Botanic Gardens

I didn’t have a lot of success in the botanical garden. Most of the birds were common species, and I didn’t find much in the way of pretty settings. The cormorants were all up in trees on an island with no interesting background in sight. There were parrots high up in the treetops. Pretty much my whole evening went that way. There may be Powerful Owls in the park, which could make it worth a visit.

I got some nice photos of Noisy Miners in an Australian bottlebrush tree. While Noisy Miners are native to Australia, they’re considered a pest as they’ve adapted so well to human-modified habitats that they’re driving out other bird species. If you can get past that aspect, they’re funny-looking birds, fairly tolerant of humans, and constantly showing different looks as they forage for food.

Centennial Park

Centennial Park was a great park for urban bird photography. There are a variety of habitats including ponds, swamps, and stands of different trees. It’s on a light rail stop with frequent service to and from the CBD.

All of the typical water birds are present, including Australasian Grebes, various ducks, various cormorants, and Black Swans. There are also Powerful Owls and Laughing Kookaburras, but I didn’t see either in my short visits. While there are Superb Fairywrens, I found the ones at Bicentennial Park easier to photograph.

Another bird photographer was able to track down Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos at the park, but I failed in my quest. They’re apparently a bit more common in winter.

While I missed out on many of the birds I was searching for, the ponds gave me great colors in the morning light. These Pacific Black Ducks were photographed at Kensington Pond about 30 minutes after sunrise.

I also had fun shooting Welcome Swallows in a sports field. The lighting was fairly harsh and the field didn’t provide the most exciting setting. Still, it was a great place to practice photographing these speedy little birds.

If I lived in Sydney, Centennial Park would be one of my regular spots. I got decent photos with just a bit of effort. It felt like it had many treasures waiting to be unlocked by a persistent photographer.

Sydney Park

The final park I visited was Sydney Park. It’s smaller than Centennial Park, but has many of the same birds.

I photographed the Australasian Grebe and Dusky Moorhen in Guwali Wetland. There’s a fence ringing the pond, but the gates are unlocked. Most of the pond is surrounded by thick reeds, with two concrete ramps providing direct access to the water. It’s not very comfortable to lie at water’s edge, but you can get down to eye level with the birds.

The grebe kept its distance at first. Before long, it got more concerned about foraging for its mate than the weirdo with a long lens, so I got a nice shot as it swam into my section of the pond.

I saw a Buff-Banded Rail and an Australian Reed Warbler in the reeds surrounding the pond. They’re both secretive birds, and I was unable to get a good photo of either.

I really enjoyed photographing the Crested Pigeons in Sydney. They’re common birds, but much more striking than the Rock Doves we have in San Francisco. And, unlike the Rock Doves in San Francisco, Crested Pigeons are native to Australia.

November 4, 2022

Australasian Grebe, Australia, Crested Pigeon, Dusky Moorhen, Noisy Miner, Pacific Black Duck, Sydney, Welcome Swallow
Birds of Sydney’s Bicentennial Park

I took a trip to Sydney this October. This was my first time in Australia, and my first international trip since starting bird photography. It was a real treat.

I was in Sydney for work, so I spent most of my time in the city. That meant a lot of my photography was limited to locations near the central business district. Fortunately, Sydney has plenty of parks on public transit not too far from the CBD.

Sydney’s parks are especially good places to photograph waterbirds. Many of them have ponds, swamps, or other wetlands. There are plenty of other birds present as well, but with limited time I ended up gravitating towards water birds, which are relatively easy to find.

Bicentennial Park

Bicentennial Park, not to be confused with Centennial Park, is right next to Olympic Park in Sydney. This a great fantastic place to photograph birds, especially the Superb Fairywren.

This is the furthest park from the CBD that I visited. It’s easily accessible a few minutes’ walk from the Concord West station on the T9 line.

I only got to spend two mornings (one fairly jetlagged) at Bicentennial Park, so there is plenty I didn’t get to see. It’s rare that I can get results this good on an initial visit to a location, however.

Waterbird Refuge Pond

Many birding guides suggest visiting the Waterbird Refuge Pond. This is a great place to spot birds, but photography is more challenging because the refuge is fenced off. Note that the road along the south end of the pond is closed to the public, contrary to what Apple Maps will tell you.

There are a few places without fencing where it’s possible to get to water’s edge. Even here photography is challenging because the steep bank doesn’t provide a good place to sit or lie down. It’s also possible these areas will be fenced off in the future.

I was a bit disappointed, because I love stilts and was looking forward to photographing Australia’s Pied Stilt. Their distinctive kik-kik-kik calls were well in evidence, but they were not possible to photograph.

I was able to get a few decent shots of waterbirds, including of a White-Faced Heron and a Chestnut Teal.

With some patience, this could be a good spot to get waterbirds in flight. I didn’t have time to give that a try.

By far the best part of my visit to the waterbird refuge was the Superb Fairywrens. There is plenty of scrub habitat, and the water supports plenty of insects. Fairywren paradise, in other words. With a large expanse of water backed by vegetation directly behind the scrub, it’s often possible to get photos with nice clean backgrounds, if that’s a style of photography you enjoy.

I just scratched the surface of what’s possible here. Fairywrens have such fun interactive behaviors, there’s a variety of different trees, and they’re constantly bouncing around giving you different looks.

I also heard a red wattlebird (listen for the sound of a poorly lubricated hinge), but did not get a good photograph. There were a few Red-Browed Finches, but I only managed a so-so photo.

Badu Mangroves

I suspect I picked the wrong time to visit the Badu Mangroves. It was close to noon when I arrived, the tide was out, and I didn’t see or hear any birds during my walk along the boardwalk.

West-Side Wetlands

The wetlands just to the west of the Badu Mangroves were great. I’m not sure if they have a name. They’re across Bennelong Parkway from the Australian College of Physical Education.

Here again the banks are fairly steep, so it’s not easy to get down at eye level with the water birds. It is possible with a bit of contortion. There are a bunch of paths weaving in and around ponds of varying sizes. I could have happily spent a few days just in this section of the park.

With the sun directly overhead the light was somewhat harsh despite the clouds. Still, this was a promising location with better light.

Birds I saw in the wetlands included Australasian Grebe, Black Swan, Willy Wagtail, and Australasian Swamphen (formerly the Purple Swamphen). These are all common birds, but the location showed them off well. The swans appeared to be mating.

Lake Belvedere

Lake Belvedere hosts a variety of cormorants, including Little Pied Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, and Pied Cormorant. It’s also a good place to photograph white ibises in a slightly more natural environment than the bins they inhabit elsewhere in the city. As is typical, the cormorants were roosting on island, so I wasn’t able to get good photos of them.

November 3, 2022

Australasian Grebe, Australia, Black Swan, Chestnut Teal, Superb Fairywren, Sydney, White-Faced Heron, Willy Wagtail
October in Point Reyes

I took a friend to see Point Reyes this weekend. It was a gloriously cloudy day allowing for good photography all day long.

We were aiming for variety, so these are just some quick snapshots from the day.

October 2, 2022

Coyote, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Great Horned Owl, North Bay, Point Reyes, Red-Tailed Hawk, River Otter, Tule Elk
Coyote at Fort Mason Community Garden

I headed to the Fort Mason Community Garden this evening to make videos of hummingbirds. There were just a few other people there: a garden member trimming a shrub, and a woman taking a walk with a toddler. I’d just gotten set up to film a hummingbird perched on a succulent when I heard the call: “Coyote! Coyote! Coyote!”

Sure enough, there was a coyote in the garden.

While they aren’t an everyday sight, Coyotes are firmly established in San Francisco. As of 2021, there were at least 15 Coyote territories in San Francisco. Each territory supports a family consisting of a breeding pair, yearlings, and the current litter. Fort Mason is on the western side of a territory stretching east through North Beach to the Ferry Building.

I’ve previously seen coyotes sleeping in the garden. There are some nice shady spots to nap sheltered from the urban life outside the garden walls. It looks like the fresh batch of straw bedding was piquing the coyote’s interest.

The coyote didn’t stay long. Maybe it was looking for a completely undisturbed nap. Soon enough, it was back on its feet and slipping through the fence to some hilly lawns where humans of San Franciscan gather to watch the sunset on warm days.

It seems the coyote had similar designs. It picked out a spot on top of a hill and hunkered down for a bit.

With all the people around, the coyote didn’t get particularly comfortable here either.

Watching people’s reactions to the coyote was almost as interesting as watching the coyote itself. You don’t expect to see a coyote in a park in the middle of the day. Many people didn’t notice until the coyote came within ten feet. Phone cameras were being wielded all over the place. A boy sat down for a pensive contemplation of the coyote.

Pet owners also had a mix of reactions. Some quickly gathered up their dogs (the right move). One walked up to the coyote, lapdog in tow (bad idea).

The coyote felt threatened by a large dog being walked towards it, and starting moving in to warn off the intruder. Bystanders suggested that dog and walker take a different route.

Eventually, the coyote had enough and headed for the exit. At this point its main priority was just getting out of there, whether or not there were people in the way. It wasn’t being aggressive; it just stopped caring about the humans cluttering the park, walking within feet of them as it headed towards a brushy hillside.

When I last saw the coyote, it was headed down a hill towards Off The Grid Fort Mason.

September 16, 2022

Coyote, Fort Mason, Fort Mason Community Garden, San Francisco
Moss Landing State Wildlife Area

September 4, 2022

Monterey Bay, Moss Landing, Moss Landing State Wildlife Area
Palace of Fine Arts in the Morning

On sunny mornings the reflection of the Palace of Fine Arts creates a stunning backdrop for the black-crowned night herons that roost nearby.

This morning was the start of a brutal heatwave with record-setting temperatures across the Bay Area. In a city where summer days often call for a jacket at midday, I was already sweating at 8 am. The birds also did not appear to be enjoying the heat. Night herons kept arriving at the lagoon to bathe. Some perched with their feet in the water, while others stood more than chest-deep.

So many birds were arriving that there were slicks of bird droppings in places (I’ve done my best to edit some of this out in the other photos).

This location get amazing light on those rare days when the early morning light isn’t covered by the San Francisco fog.

September 3, 2022

Black-Crowned Night Heron, San Francisco, SF Palace of Fine Arts