We were sent some stunning macro photos taken recently by Dominic and Daphne Gonzalvez of a ‘Blue Banded Bee’. We thought they were brilliant so wanted to share them with the world.

The Blue Banded Bee (Amegilla cingulata) is an Australian native bee. They perform a special type of pollination called ‘buzz polliantion’ (read more here). The bee in the photos in the Rose Garden in Centennial Park, and was zeroing in on some nectar from a blue salvia.

Enough of the lead in, check out these fantastic photos!

The Blue Banded Bee on approach…by the way, five bands is a male, four bands a female. So our little friend is definitely a ‘she’!

Our little friend’s sense of anticipation is on display – that’s her tongue hanging out!

Reaching her target, our bee takes a big drink of nectar from the blue salvia…

From the other angle she is clearly enjoying a long drink!

Thanks Dominic and Daphne, another brilliant effort, and thanks for sharing!

If you love their photos, there are even more great photos on their blog.

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Taken a great photo in Centennial Parklands? Why not share them with us on Facebook, Twitter or email them to us. You may well be our next ‘Photo of the Week’!

On the photography front, we have two great photography-related events coming up for you to enjoy:

• Peter Solness Night Magic Workshop: Painting with Light (12 April)
• Peter Solness Night Magic Workshop: Hidden Treasures (19 April)
• Head On Photo Festival (17 May to 23 June)

Recently, a group of enthusiastic ‘early-birders’ took on the challenge of our summer Birdwatcher’s Breakfast – and weren’t disappointed with what they spotted. 33 species of bird in 90 minutes!

Our chief birdwatching tour guide, Trevor Waller, gave us a few little insights into the latest adventure (and later lists all of the species spotted on the walk!):

We vary things a lot on our birdwatching tours, and this time our first stop was Musgrave Pond where we had great spotting scope views of the three main water fowl species (Eurasian Coot, Dusky Moorhen and Purple Swamphen) found in the Parklands. Early mornings are the best time to be out spotting these birds at play – and we weren’t disappointed with a passing visit by some Pacific Black Ducks, Grey Teals and an Australasian Grebe which were feeding nearby.

After spending a few moments with ducks and Black Swans on One More Shot Pond, we dodged around some early morning fitness fanatics in the Park and headed to Willow Pond. Here we saw a number of Great Cormorants, some of which were showing their white flank spot (meaning that they are still in breeding plumage).

After visiting Duck Pond to see the Pied Cormorants we made our way to the Centennial Parklands Learning Centre (via a close encounter with a Laughing Kookaburra!) for some breakfast, where we watched Figbirds flying through the trees above us.

Trevor Waller on the Spotter Scope at Duck Pond

Can we spot 125 bird species in the 125th anniversary year?

We are about to launch a Centennial Park 125th Anniversary challenge, with Trevor and his birdwatching adventurers giving us a great start.

  >>  Challenge: can we spot 125 species of birds in 2013?

Records kept by the late Ern Hoskin identified more than 140 species of birds in Centennial Park (here is a link to Ern’s Bird List).

We will shortly announce how you can participate and how to log your sightings.

The next guided walk would be a great opportunity!

Our next guided birdwatching tour will be a special “International Dawn Chorus Walk” on Sunday 5 May 2013. Book in now!

So, what did they spot on this walk?

In no particular order:

• Australasian Grebe
• Eurasian Coot
• Dusky Moorhen
• Purple Swamphen
• Little Black Cormorant
• Little Pied Cormorant
• Great Cormorant
• Pied Cormorant
• Australasian Darter
• Great Egret
• White-faced Heron
• Masked Lapwing
• Welcome Swallow
• Figbird
• Eastern Koel
• Long-billed Corella
• Australian White Ibis
• Black Swan
• Hardhead
• Pacific Black Duck
• Grey Teal
• Magpie-Lark
• Australian Magpie
• Australian Raven
• Crested Pigeon
• Rainbow Lorikeet
• Silver Gull
• Willie Wagtail
• Noisy Miner
• Common Myna
• Common Starling
• Pied Currawong
• Laughing Kookaburra

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Birdwatching is actually a great, fun, relaxing (and at times, entertaining) way of spending some time in Centennial Parklands. While we would love you to join us on one of our tours, if you wanted to do some birdwatching yourself then here’s a few tips!

And remember…if you love the birds, please don’t feed them! We understand that visitors enjoy feeding the birds, however it is not healthy for Centennial Parklands birds, particularly breads and other non-natural food products. As such, we request that you do not feed the birds.

Last week we put together a free tour to see the Tawny Frogmouth family in Centennial Park

In true form, our friends Dominic and Daphne have put together a great summary of the tour…from the point of the main stars of the show:

• See our Tawny Frogmouths on the recent tour

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Did you join us on the tour? Did you enjoy this little adventure into the feathery world of our favourite resident family? Tell us about it here.

This week is National Bird Week across Australia. We turn our attentions to something that has gone from quirky pastime to a serious, global undertaking – twitching…otherwise known as birdwatching!

So, what exactly is birdwatching?

Some think that birdwatching is the ‘trainspotting’ of the feathered world. Not true! Birdwatching is the observation of birds for recreational activity. It can involve observing with the naked eye, or by the use of binoculars or other equipment. Despite the name, birdwatching also includes an aural element of listening for bird sounds.

How long have people been birdwatching?

In 2011 we were visited by a group of Swedish birdwatchers on a ‘bird tour down under’

Wikipedia claims the term ‘birdwatching’ was first used in 1901, however people have been at it a long time prior to that. There are some indications that the activity now known as birdwatching was occurring as far back as the late 1700′s.

In Australia a regular group of ornithologists began meeting regularly in 1896. The Australasian Ornithologists Union was established in 1901. The organisation still exists today, known as Birdlife Australia.

What do you need to know when birdwatching in Centennial Parklands?

Birdwatching in Centennial Parklands can be a very rewarding pastime. Not only does the birdlife change on a regular / seasonal basis, but for the more serious it is possible to follow the lifecycle of species such as swans, coots, swamphens and moorhens as they breed.

For the amateur birdwatcher, here’s our top three tips:

• Walk slowly and stop often
• Listen and wait for birds to come to you, don’t try to get too close
• Visit early in the morning

Want more tips? We have a  detailed list of tips on our website.

To help you further, we’ve also compiled comprehensive details on the most popular spots to visit and what you will likely see throughout the Parklands.

Want to ‘dip your toe in’ to see what it’s all about?

Trevor Waller has been leading the Birdwatcher’s Breakfasts since the summer of 1999-2000

We run regular birdwatching tours called a Birdwatcher’s Breakfast. The next one is on Sunday 18 November 2012, so book in now.

They are led by our chief twitcher, Trevor Waller, who is heading towards 12 years running these tours.

Find out more about the Birdwatcher’s Breakfast here:

• Wondering what a Birdwatcher’s Breakfast is like?
• ‘Noisy Miner moment’ turns birdwatching into a passion

It’s even competitive!

Birdwatching is not just a passive recreational pursuit – every year there are events called ‘Twitchathons‘! Many of these happen in October each year, and you can find out your nearest one here.

And, before you ask, yes of course…

The twitchers are on Twitter! Sean Dooley, editor of Australian Birdlife Magazine, tweets regularly under @Twitchathon

- posted by Craig Easdown

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Are you a birdwatcher? Do you have your own bird list? How many have you spotted so far?

Are they fitting Ibis prosthetics recently?

Ummm…those artificial wings don’t seem to be too effective!

Oh wait…

Oh…they’re not actually artificial wings…

Perhaps he escaped a nearby RSL Club Raffle?

Hmm…maybe not.

We may, though, be third time lucky in guessing it’s part of the Australian White Ibis research program.

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Want to know more about the program? Here’s the excerpt from the Royal Botanic Garden website. Don’t forget to report any sightings of tagged ibis…

Excerpt from: www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au