While picnicking out in a new ( still to be built on) housing estate in the country yesterday I saw some lovely little birds. Due credit has to go to the developer for planting the right kind of stuff to give them both food and shelter.
Double Barred Finches
There were Brown HE everywhere in all the shrubby type trees and particularly this type of bottlebrush ? tree
it was literally buzzing loudly with bees too, and the sickly smell of the pollen made me feel quite ill actually.
Nice pic's Birdie.
Lovely little finches. Sounds like you's shared a nice day together.
That HE looks more like a White gaped HE than a Brown in my book. I don't know if you are that far North to see them.
Great shots.
Hi Reckless, thanks , we did have a great time celebrating our friend's land purchase. I always have a camera with me so I was happy to see the little finches especially.
re the ID... I have compared my original shots with pics off Ian Montgomery's birdway.com site, and no it is definitely a Brown HE. We are too far south for eh white gaped anyway, and the gape is quite different when you enlarge the two side by side.
Where are you Reckless?
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Thanks for the ID birdie.
I'm down south with Cathshane and Wampy. Most of my time birding is done in the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens.
Some great captures there birdie...
Love the finches, I have only ever seen red browed finches in the wild but am hanging out to see more. As for the honeyeater... maybe query bushbirdnerd, he is very good at identifying brown headed honeyeaters as he seems to get a lot on his property. I have only seen them at a glance.
Hey Berldo and Matty, thanks for looking and sorry Berldo, it is not a brown headed as that is a different bird entirely. I am sure it is definitely a brown HE, they are fairly common in this neck of the woods. I see them wherever I go these days, and they LOVE banksias etc down by the coast. BBN will probably drop by I guess, but you don't get the Brown HE down your way (according to Simpson and Day anyway)
I can tell you that with my ageing eyes, spotting either of these birds that day was a challenge ... I hate wearing glasses LOL, but at least once you know the sounds it gives you a fighting chance!!!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I was just looking at Ian Montgomery's site again and I'll post the link here if you are interested. He is one of the best bird photographers I have come across and has a fantastic website. I subscribe to a regular newsletter he does called "bird of the week" and I really enjoy getting a surprise bird to look at when it arrives in my in box. He includes heaps of info about them aswell.Of course he is based in Qld so much of it is local to here I guess, but he travels all over the world and Australia.
http://www.birdway.com.au/meliphagidae/brown_honeyeater/index.htm
Enjoy!!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Hi Birdie,
Thanks for posting those photos. Double-barred finches are lovely, and I've seen them only once, very briefly, so I enjoyed your photos.
I agree that it's definitely a Brown Honeyeater. I was surrounded by them when I was a child. Sweet little bird with such a loud voice!
Andy.
Hi birdie - that was a lucky find. Like Berldo I have only ever seen red-browed finches in the wild, but I think they are all beautiful. I like the shrub too - maybe it is a melaleuca - some of them have very similar flowers to bottlebrushes and many are white
Andy ... you are so right.. for a little hard to see bird they sure make a loud noise!
Berldo... thank you .. I think you are right re the plant... I knew I should know it but couldn't think of it.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Nice shots Birdie.
Hey Andy, one day when out walking in the Noosa National park at Coolum end I met this lady who showed me the White cheeked Honey Eaters that hang out there. She was a flora guru and here is a link to her website that shows the tree in question.... we are all right..Malaleuca, Callistemon, Paperbark all being the correct common names for it
http://www.noosanativeplants.com.au/plants/558/melaleuca-saligna-%28was-callistemon-salignis%29
She has written a book and was very encouraging about getting into birding etc around that area, her husband is a birder and he was with her. Funny isn't it how you meet up with people in the middle of the heathland and wonder who they will turn out to be :)
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Love the finch shots also Birdie. Thought I'd drop by, definitely not a brown headed, so I'll definitely go with the banana benders on this one.
Oxalis is not my friend
Thanks BBN.... it is little birds like that make me wish I had twenty twenty vision I can tell you :)
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Lovely photos. Well done.
Thanks Birdgirl
Sunshine Coast Queensland