Graceful Honeyeater chips in nicely

Hard to get open shots of ever busy Graceful Honeyeaters (Meliphaga gracilis), a handful of which have begun sounding again in Tyto.

Best view for long time came today as bird foraged, mainly on insect-ravaged corkwood leaves. Oft-repeated 'chip' call identifies Gracefuls from very similar Yellow-spotteds.

But not all the 'chips' fall from Gracefuls. Northern Fantail (Rhipidura rufiventris) also can go for long spells on one maddeningly similar note. Pity, because it means the fantail less often breaks into one of the most cheerfully sweet songs heard in the wetlands.

Sweet scarcely describes the sound of any flycatcher. Above female Leaden Flycatcher (Myiagra rubecula) rasped away near the site of the Shining Flycatcher nest this week. Didn't seem to bother the nest builders, specially the male, which is lately doing much sitting.

Update: Comb-crested Jacana eggs OK. No sign of the two lots of four Jacana juveniles. Probably safe in inaccessible parts of lagoon system.