This one's got me feeling foolish again. It seems like it could only be a LG and I know how common they are, but I've never really photographed one and not seen one quite so vibrant and orange/yellow. Not seen one this close up full stop! Shy little buggers. Always thought they had darker eyes for some reason.
Down south of Adelaide, flitting in and out of the dried reeds and grass.
This is what I'm used to them looking like, also from this morning...
This was a few hundred metres away from candidate #1 and in very different habitat. Am I looking at young/mature or male/female? Different leg colour, feather colour, eye colour and neck striation but still the same bird? I've noticed the Golden Headed Cisticola is a slim possibility but not familiar with them at all!
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Mike
https://flic.kr/ps/aF4bq
Yep a Golden-headed Cisticola for the first, they are easy to get confused together. The second is a Little Grassbird and those are some nice shots of them! As far as I know the male and female Little Grassbird are the same.
Thanks! I can see why they're confused, though the colour is very different. I've never seen a cisticola around here before, and it seems they're quite rare despite being commonplace interstate. Might go back for a better shot next time the sun's out!
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Mike
https://flic.kr/ps/aF4bq
Excellent photos of the GHC!
LM
Yes, the first bird is Golden-headed Cisticola.
How did you get such clear shots of the grassbird though? I have only ever heard them, and maybe glimpsed.
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Very nice find! I had heard that they are around but have never seen one, will have to look a little closer.
Second Valley, Rapid Bay? :-)
Not nearly so far afield! It was at the onkaparinga wetlands, along one of the walking trails near river rd. Always a lively spot. Have had a bit of fun with some quails and blue billed duck there recently, too. The variety of bird life there is pretty amazing at times.
I was trying to creep up on a mistletoe bird when I came across the cisticola. It was sharing a bush with a red browed finch and some fairy wrens. Spoiled for choice really. Luckily it didn't disappear immediately so I got a decent series of shots. Waited for ages after it initially disappeared and never saw it again unfortunately.
As for those grassbird shots, they're nothing to write home about but I was sitting still for about half an hour watching them flit about in the tangled reeds and sticks. Wasn't even sure what I was looking at until that one dropped down to water level for a few seconds. Pity it was so shady and distant!
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Mike
https://flic.kr/ps/aF4bq