Taking some of it with a grain of . . . grain

Fancy a bit of grain for brekkie? Not true grain, but digital noise from cranking up sensor speed to capture action.

Can't freeze birds without much more expensive gear, but it's fun trying.

Immature Brown Honeyeater took plunge several times yesterday in the Common.

Fast settings also slowed passing Striated Pardalotes. Plural? Second bird tucked away, bottom right.

And Black-chinned Honeyeater, another species not so often seen.

White-necked Heron usually to be seen. Not so easy to catch victim of swift strike.

Common Tree Snake not a rare sighting, but not seen one looped so tightly on twigs before.

Enough grain, here's my favourite recent Crimson Finch. Never tire of this species.

Serving up honeyeaters after sweet spell of tennis

Pinched nerve in back meant more tennis watching than birdwatching last week and the equivalent of honey eating with a bit of comfort food. So seems only fair to give a few other honeyeaters their due. Brown-backeds so busy building nests (still) it's surprising the best of today is simply a bird on a branch. 

Lots more going on with Yellow Honeyeater from a week or so back. Young bird showing taste for the unfortunately named Stinking Passion Flower. Perhaps others can sniff a pong but it's always escaped me.

Brown Honeyeaters singing away in greater numbers over the past fortnight. Bird above is from much closer to home: parking area garden outside my retirement unit. 

Bonus thrown in: small monitor (Yellow-spotted or Goulds) posing between breaks in scratching at some scent in the lawn beside my patio the other day. Welcome sight also near patio, Bush Stone-curlews (parents plus midsized junior) but they're much less welcome midnight screamers. So no picture for them!

Brown Honeyeater spans saga of the footbridges

Few people know that the dominant bird species in Tyto these days, the Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta), is a keen student of human behaviour and a student of folly and lover of drollery. Here is one bird's story:

The man drives a white ute. Not a you-beaut ute, a workaday ute. All the men drive white utes. They drive along the grass track and look for things to do.

Some months ago a man saw a thing to do. He stared at a wooden footbridge. It was showing cracks in some planks.

The man drove away. Another man drove by a month later. He saw the cracks too. He drove away.

Some months later a man drove up to a footbridge. He stared at the cracks. He drove on and stared at another footbridge. And then another.

He got a spray can and put a white mark on some cracked planks. He did all four bridges that have wooden planks.

Several months later another man came. He stared at the white marks. He got out of his white ute and marched on to one bridge. He stomped on the most cracked plank. One end fell to the dirt just below. He went away.

Later, another man in a white ute came and put up two signs saying the bridge was closed.

A month later a man came with a white ute and new planks. He took out the spray-marked planks on three bridges and screwed in new planks. He did not do the fourth bridge. He took away one sign.

We suppose another man will come for the other sign.

Honeyeater doesn't give a fig for fruit trend

Looks like Macleay's Honeyeater (Xanthotis macleayanus) lost way and ended up in drying wetland habitat, but bird grabbed prey from planting in the Jourama Falls camping area yesterday. Seldom seen so many honeyeaters active in the area. Most were feeding on newly ripened cluster figs. Much interest also shown in boiled red capsicum cast away by departed campers. Doesn't take lot of imagination to see links between extreme dryness generally being experienced this year and a strong preference among birds for moist feed.

With preferred feeding growth not doing so well, Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) takes to bottlebrush flowers  hanging over parking spots at Tyto Wetlands entry. Air has been full of their sharp high calls lately. Conditions would seem against much breeding as materials for their soft woven 'baby bootee' nests have dried up.

Dry? I'll say, says Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta). More than bone dry. This is shell dry with freshwater mussel sitting beside disappearing front lagoon in Tyto. Water rats and Nankeen Herons leave the shells along the lagoon banks, neatly gathered (rats) or scattered (herons).

Brown bottler on bottlebrush

Caught Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) in bottler reaction to flash while feeding with other honeyeaters on bottlebrush in Tyto today.

White-throated Honeyeater (Melithreptus albogularis) took no notice of bright light.

Yellow Honeyeaters (Lichenostomus flavus) wouldn't sit still today but one previously posed prettily on lotus.   
Click pix to enlarge