David Ongley exhibition Creatures of Flight at The Village Kitchen, Kurrajong

This is Mr Ongley’s first fully-fledged photography exhibition, after he resigned from a job in IT twelve months ago to take-up a career in ‘twitching’.

The Penrith resident set off in his car for six weeks, driving up to Cape Tribulation in far north Queensland for inspiration. Here, he snapped many endangered species.

“Crawling through a crocodile-infested estuary near Rockhampton was a highlight,” he said.

“It was there I managed to photograph the critically endangered Capricorn Yellow Chat, of which there are estimated to be only a thousand birds remaining.”

Mr Ongley’s exhibition includes birds photographed at Pitt Town Lagoon, Castlereagh and Mulgoa Nature Reserves, Blue Gum Swamp in the Blue Mountains National Park, and Gulguer Nature Reserve at Greendale.

He has snapped various rare specimens during his travels up and down the east coast, including southern emu-wrens in Barren Grounds Nature Reserve on the South Coast, critically-endangered swift parrots and spotted pardalotes on Bruny Island in Tasmania, critically-endangered regent honeyeaters, diamond firetails and hooded robins in Capertee Valley near Lithgow.

“I’ve selected my favourite photos and all of them have been framed by me, in beautiful recycled timber,” he said.

“I’ve also tried to share the excitement of the moment of how, when and where each photo was taken.”