Chestnut-breasted beauties one and all

Sitting pretty, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax) at Mungalla Station pauses on hymenachne stem yesterday. 

The bird wasn't flying solo: about half a flock of 500 or so fills the frame. Big flocks, sometimes of almost solely immature birds, relatively common at this time. (Hymenachne, a persistent and highly invasive weed, is loved by birds and enjoyed by cattle.)