Bill Bailey, the British comedian, musician, author and avid birdwatcher, once remarked, that as birders and bird photographers, we all gain hugely from time spent in the company of our feathered friends. Whether you take bird pics with a lot of fancy gear or just on your phone, bird pics will always make you smile.
We too hope that the birds featured in the galleries on this website will indeed make you smile.
The thought behind the galleries is to show birds in their environment and how they use time and space, not just present them as a series of nice-looking profiles as one would see in a bird guide for instance.
Birds are far more than just a pretty face. They differ in shape, size, colour, song and in behaviour and, behavioral characteristics differ between and within species. While anthropomorphising animal behaviour has its critics, it is difficult not to do so when one observes affection between pairs of long lived and monogamous Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos (Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Gallery) or witnessing the belligerence of a Satin Bowerbird on the edge of a water-bath hurling expletives at others waiting their turn to bathe (Bird Bath Gallery).
The individual galleries feature birds without distracting text. Where information such as the identification of a particular species is required, this is added to the duplicate image in the Full Gallery.
The website is not static and galleries will be added on a regular basis. There are a reported 263 bird species that may be found in the Southern Highlands so the website will not lapse due to lack of content.
We and many others in Bundanoon and surrounding villages enjoy the beauty and antics of the birds on our doorstep. Hopefully, the birds in the galleries will add to that enjoyment.
Trevor and Jacqui Vale
