Satin Flycatcher quests lead to questions of quality

Satin Flycatcher rarity (previous post) Wednesday. No-show Thursday. Three kms up road Friday. Good picture (above).

Four kms back down road Saturday. Terrible picture. No-show Sunday. Ah, the joys of birding.

So much searching and walking, walking, walking. Leave hefty 600mm lens in Troopy. Revert to tired old 100-400. Image quality plummets. Pallid Cuckoo not only pallid but lacks feather detail.

Pheasant Coucal (one of many males out these mornings but getting little reward in hunt for females) not wholly up to scratch.

And yet. And yet with care and little trick or two things needn't look too bad. So, Brown-backed Honeyeater, busy weaving material stolen from Leaden Flycatcher nest, looks better with extra touch of sharpening to eye.

More care processing colour of Jabiru and fish pays off.

But for the real deal and detail, 600mm pointing from Payet Tower up at Osprey reveals so much more, with less sharpening required, though this image needed some colour adjustments.

Lesson: quality counts - and muscles matter!

Don't have to tell these brown birds to put back into it

Busy, busy, busy. None busier these days than Brown-backed Honeyeaters.

Nesting, nesting, nesting. No birds nesting more these days than Brown-backed Honeyeaters.

Maddening, maddening, maddening. Trying to capture Brown-backed Honeyeaters in flight.

Or in sharp focus on their quivery nests at end of low, light branches or foliage. And these birds are building around a large acacia pod on a small tree totally open to view and close to much-trafficked parking area. MTC

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!

Wish I could up and fly

Flying's not just about getting from there to here: Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) cruising in to a wetlands. 

It can be aerial spotting for breakfast: Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) hovers over pasture.

A means of collecting webbing for nest-building: Brown-backed Honeyeater (Ramsayornis modestus) engages in one-sided tug-o'-war.

Or just a way to find a place to be warm and look good: Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii). 

Wish I could up and fly.