Australian Darter

Description:

The Australian Darter, aka Australasian Darter, is a species of waterbird in the family Anhingidae. It's a large, slim bird with a long snake-like neck, sharp pointed bill, and a long and rounded tail. When swimming, its body is submerged beneath the water’s surface with only the sinuous neck protruding above, enhancing its serpentine qualities, and because of its long and slender neck, it is sometimes referred to as the "snakebird." It forages by diving to depths of about 60 cms and impaling fish with its bill. Small fish are swallowed underwater, but larger ones are brought to the surface, where they are flicked off the bill (sometimes into the air) and then swallowed head-first. Here's a previous spotting of a female doing just that: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/274...

Habitat:

Typical habitat is freshwater or brackish wetlands more than 0.5m deep with fallen trees or logs and vegetated banks; less commonly, Darters are found in sheltered saltwater or estuarine environments. This spotting was at lakes edge of Lake Manchester, a freshwater reservoir west of Brisbane. It is located in Brisbane Forest Park, an area of dense native bushland and subtropical rainforest.

Notes:

I'm very fond of natural areas where the wildlife is wary of humans. To me, that shows there has been little close human contact - no free food, no bins to raid, etc., and it all adds to the joy of being remote. I think of these things when I'm trying to take photos of birds, because there was no way I was getting close to this one. I carry a pocket camera, not the Hubble Telescope, so these modest pics are the best I could muster. But I'm happy with that. Most of the birds around this reservoir, and others nearby, are very nervous of humans. >> PS: Last Photo: How many birds can you see? I had no idea at the time I took the initial photos that the darter also had a couple of friends with him; a Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos) and an Eastern Great Egret (Ardea alba modesta) with a yellow bill (non-breeding).