Getting close to Mangrove Robins usually means getting gumboots out of the old Troopy and - after clumping along for a bit - getting into the muddy habitat they're most at home in. At home with, among others, mozzies and midges and myriad webs festooning foliage.
At home, but seldom welcoming intruders. They let the Brown Honeyeaters and Mangrove Gerygones dart about the outer mangroves while they stay tucked away, often for long spells without any of their rather mournful calls.
So, it's a happy morning when time and, importantly, tide and chance play their parts and two or three birds for some reason overcome all natural caution and come forward close to the stranger in their midst. Not, perhaps, once in a lifetime event, but certainly a memory to enjoy for a lifetime.
