Crimson Finch feed of seed fills need to breed

Female Crimson Finch feeds on roadside grass in Townsville Town Common Conservation Park. One of a few pairs lately showing signs  of impending breeding.

 

Elsewhere, White-throated Honeyeater offers happily uncluttered pose.

And Comb-crested Jacana pauses during brief time away from usual wet surrounds.

 

Luck catches up with Darter and Tilapia

Rarely, but every now and then, a moment of magic emerges from an amalgam of luck and readiness. The readiness is all, they say. Not so. Without luck the readiness  - vital though it is - comes to nothing. Or maybe nothing much. So, Australian Darter snatches Tilapia from duckweed-coated pool on sun-filled, still morning in Townsville Town Common Conservation Park.

Lucky to be carrying 800mm lens and camera set for fast in-flight action. Lucky to catch bird and fish lit so happily. 

But luck is fickle. Not so lucky to have bird miss head-first catch after tossing fish in air. Suddenly action too fast for auto focus and eye-capture and blurry fish is plunging to lucky longer life. 

Half your luck, some might say. Probably rightly. And perhaps the Darter was even luckier and could afford a seeming smile. The Tilapia's size may have proved an unlucky swallow. On balance, lucky me, lucky fish, lucky bird maybe.