Black Swamp wetlands

Today I visited the Black Swamp wetlands on the edge of Moreton Bay at Cleveland. This wetlands is amazingly situated on the edge of a busy shopping centre on a main road. The Black Swamp wetlands has now been recognised by the local Redlands Council as an area of environmental significance, as it contains a diverse range of flora and fauna. It has plenty of melaleuca (paperbark) and eucalyptus (gum) trees and is a haven for flying foxes and birds too.
This is the Australian White Ibis (above) sitting in a paperbark. These birds are fairly big, around 75cm in length, and unfortunately human behaviour has turned them into pests. They scrounge amongst the rubbish tips and even city garbage bins for food scraps.

And here we have a pair of Royal Spoonbills sitting on a nest. Their bill is a large spatula-like instrument that they use to stir up worms and grubs as they wade in the shallow water of the wetlands. The yellowish patch on the neck area of the birds appears during breeding.

EXIF: TOP - Nikon D200; Nikkor 80-400mm VR; ISO 200; 1/250 sec; f8.
BOTTOM - Nikon D200; Nikkor 80-400mm VR; ISO 400; 1/250 sec; f8.

TFF