Bob Goodale was the first presenter, showing a number of photographs that he had taken at Goodale Sanctuary over the summer. First up were photographs of Western Grey Kangaroos on the edge of the main lake. This was followed by a photo of a Swamp Harrier taking a drink on the shore of the lake. At one time in early January, up to 15 Yellow-billed Spoonbills were frequenting the lake at the sanctuary. This allowed Bob to get some amazing shots of them in flight, feeding and also of parents feeding young, of which Bob showed us a selection. The next series of photographs raised mixed emotions: a mother fox and two cubs (almost fully grown) ventured down onto the shore of the lake, even venturing into the water. Bob took a series of photographs of them individually, the three together and the two siblings at play. One photograph even showed the foxes in close proximity to a Spoonbill. From a naturalist’s viewpoint one was torn between admiring the beauty of the foxes and recognising that the siblings’ actions while at play were preparing them for adult life on the one hand, while on the other hand feeling sorrow knowing what impact these three animals would have on local populations of native animals. Then Bob showed us photos of a Reed Warbler, a Black-fronted Dotterel with a chick and a White Ibis. He finished his presentation with a series of photographs of insects taken during the KRMB trip to Wongan Hills last September. These were prepared for Daniel Heald to try to get them identified.

The next presenter was Colin Prickett. Colin started with a presentation entitled ‘The Dance of the Little Egret’. Two species of Egret are encountered locally: the Eastern Great Egret and the Little Egret and the presentation highlighted the different feeding styles adopted by the two species. The first slide showed an Eastern Great Egret which hunts with slow stealthy movements. The next slides showed the contrasting style of the Little Egret, which dashes around erratically, jumping up and down while flapping its wings in an attempt to disturb prey into moving from cover. The photographs were taken one morning at the Coodanup foreshore on the Peel-Harvey estuary. Following this, Colin showed a number of photographs taken during late spring and over the summer, including Crested Terns bringing sardines for their chicks at Penguin Island, migratory shorebirds at Coodanup foreshore, a Pied Oystercatcher doing battle with a Blue Swimmer Crab (the Oystercatcher won but the crab put up quite a fight); a Grey Butcherbird with a large cricket, Rainbow Bee-eaters and Fairy Terns.

Colin Prickett