A VERY Early Morning Bird Walk

Many of us have probably been to the early Morning Board Walks at Caw Caw, but what about the VERY early one? 
I'm talking about a 6.30am start kind of early! Well, one morning this past August, that is exactly the start we had! Personally, as a Master Naturalist, I love being able to get in to nature early. And as a wildlife photographer that early start is just as rewarding because now I can watch the subtle hues of the sunrise change, birds and animals start to awaken, and the soft light means photographic opportunities are endless.
As are the Master Naturalist opportunities! Because even though this is a bird walk, you just know Kristina is going to regale us with her knowledge of any living, and sometimes non-living, thing she can find.

Little Blue Egret changing to its adult plumage

This particular morning we were greeted with some magnificent colours of sunrise; we observed 37 species of birds and 140 individuals! Kristina later confirmed that we saw 7 more bird species than a regular bird walk she led just a morning earlier. So, the earlier birder/photographer does catch the bird catching the worm!

Or in this case catching breakfast!

Blue Grosbeak

As I mentioned, we observe much more than birds on our walk, so really this is like a 2 hour (ok, 3 hour) mini MN outing! This particular morning, frogs and toads were abundant, along with some other noisy residents!

Green Tree Frog

Freshly hatched Cicada

But yes, it's mainly about the birds, and you know these bird walks, regardless of what time they start, count as Advanced Training hours. If you'd like to join the next walk, here's the link to the CCPRC website, which is also under the Resources tab on the website.
CCPRC

Tri-Coloured Heron

Painted Bunting