Woronora morning

[khiemtran]

Sunday morning, and we're out for a family expedition on the Woronora...




There's lots to see out on the river. First, we find these cormorants gathered for a meeting of the Fishing Guild (or, as Liem suggested, they were all guests at wedding party for a pair of wood ducks).



If there's a rustle on the bank, it may be a curious onlooker...



The winter colours are rich in the morning light.



We saw a white shape on a tree and paddled up closer hoping it might be a white-bellied sea eagle. But it turned out to be a pied cormorant, who apparently wasn't invited to the wedding reception.



But then on the way back...



A magnificent sea eagle! You can see it's actually perched on an arborial termites nest. We think it was waiting for us to leave before starting its lunch.



Eventually, it decided to take its lunch elsewhere...

Comments

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Magnificent wildlife! What a great day.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, we were very lucky! It was especially good to be able to see the sea eagle with its freshly caught prey. They really are awesome creatures.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Very regal!

Once we were walking along the ridge of a crater lake in Mayotte and saw a dried baby eel on the ground. I think a raptor was not as lucky as your sea eagle and lost its lunch. :P

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Just imagine having an eel dropped on you as you walk along...

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

So much wildlife! Almost tempts me to take up kayaking...

That eagle is just splendid.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Kayaking really is a great way to get close to the wildlife on the river. For one thing, you can move relatively quietly when you want to, so you don't disturb your surroundings as much. Plus, you can access a lot of areas which aren't easily reachable by land. That eagle was only a few kilometres from our house, but deep inside a river valley.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That last photo--it's like a zen ink painting, just beautiful. (I'm partial to the immediately previous one, too, the sea eagle posing with his catch.)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought about it, but you're right - it does look like an ink brush painting. I was especially glad we saw the eagle this because Hsiu Lin missed out the last time we saw them (and that was when my camera battery died just before we got close).