Flycatchers build on success

Where would you like to build this year, my love? Fancy a change?

Oh, I don't know, darling. That spot last year was nice, with plenty of morning sun. And a bit of shade in the afternoon.

You mean that little paperbark by the track? Just around the bend from the hide?

Yes, that would do nicely. It was fun last year sitting right over the heads of people walking by.

And they didn't notice us, most of them. Right, I'll get to work straight away. We'll wrap this up in just a few days.

Creatures of habit, all of us. None more so than a pair (male above) of Leaden Flycatchers (Myiagra rubecula) seen in Tyto today part-way through construction of their nest on a low horizontal fork.

With some bark exterior to camouflage it the nest won't be quite so obvious in another day or two. It will, however, be in view to all visitors who lift their heads a fraction. Most won't, so the birds will sit quietly on the nest and watch the walkers wander by.

Before their happy paperbark experience raising two youngsters last year, the same pair nested very low on a shaded bough and just above waist-high grasses close to another track nearby. One day, two hatchlings; the next, no hatchlings! Tree snake or tree frog, probably.

The birds wasted no time in moving 30 metres west - and two metres higher - to the paperbark. The new nest is less than a metre away from the old site. Success breeds success - and good habits!