Tuesday, 18 October 2011

World Bird Wednesday - Silvereye

The fields and garden around our temporary home at Johanna were full of Silvereyes. These little birds – they are about 11 cm long - seem to behave more like mice than birds, excepting of course that they can fly and that’s beyond the mice I’ve known!

They would land in the tall grass or flowers and dive down to soil level and them move about inside the tangle of leaves and stems. You could tell they were still there because the plants would move about with them. They would then reappear at some random point fly off.
It’s the kind of behavior that’s has only really become possible to photograph with digital – I got a hit rate of about 1 useable image every 10 – 15 pictures (and that’s only if you extend the definition of useable!)


Anyway, they are a great little bird and they were our almost constant companions for the week. Hope you enjoy them!
You can find more birds from around the world at World Bird Wednesday.

You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.



Enjoy the birds.

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23 comments:

  1. Mimmu18 October 2011 at 22:50

    Thank you for your comment in Ida`s post!
    I agree with your words about children and photographing, their angles for instance in taking photos can be cheerful and they see such things , what I do not realize even I am a biologist too :)
    And my husband also, he has been working the biggest part of his life for saving Saimaa ringed seal(Pusa hispida saimensis), which is dying out.
    Fine little bird in your clear and beautiful photos and quite new species to me, thanks!

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  2. EG CameraGirl18 October 2011 at 23:33

    Love the name "silvereye." Some birds really are the devil to catch, aren't they?

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  3. Unknown19 October 2011 at 02:39

    Looked at them in the slide show and they're beauties!! Photographing chickadees is equally difficult. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  4. OceanoAzul.Sonhos19 October 2011 at 03:16

    magnificent birds in a beautiful landscape, they leave us quiet, thanks for sharing with us...
    oa.s

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  5. TexWisGirl19 October 2011 at 03:30

    i do love their 'silver' eye! very pretty!

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  6. Reena19 October 2011 at 06:58

    They are pretty ones ... why oh why do they just not sit still so we can photograph! LOL!

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  7. Anonymous19 October 2011 at 07:32

    What an amazing look!

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  8. theconstantwalker19 October 2011 at 08:12

    They are lovely little birds to see Stewart..thanks for sharing.

    I was so pleased you enjoyed seeing the Langdale Pikes on Friday.. a favourite walk of mine...and yes I have done Jack's Rake.

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  9. eileeninmd19 October 2011 at 08:56

    They are pretty birds and I like the eye. Great captures.

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  10. Dave19 October 2011 at 09:17

    Pretty images Stewart.

    I have seena similar species in Malaysia called Everetts White eye and also in a veryy similar setting

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  11. mick19 October 2011 at 16:09

    They are beautiful little birds but I agree - in perpetual motion!

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  12. Carole M.19 October 2011 at 20:33

    oh yes a lovely bird and beautiful photos. Good that you were able to get the 1/15 shots for your blog.

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  13. fjällripan19 October 2011 at 21:26

    Beautiful name and a beautiful bird! Very nice photos of him sitting in those lovely purple flowers, just perfect!

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  14. Inger-M19 October 2011 at 21:38

    That's a beautiful little bird! He's so well camouflaged that at first I didn't see him. Well done, your got some really nice shots!

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  15. joo19 October 2011 at 23:11

    Hi Steward, they are so sweet these little fellows:)

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  16. John @ Beans and I on the Loose19 October 2011 at 23:27

    There is no doubt as to how they came by their name. What a neat bird which would be fun to observe rustling about in the grass as you described.

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  17. Springman20 October 2011 at 01:57

    Awesome. The Silver eye is quite a bird. Could you ask for a prettier setting to take their picture in? I'm with you, three cheers for digital photography! It is helping to share the beauty of our planet in ways unimaginable! Good show Stewart!

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  18. Wenche20 October 2011 at 03:42

    Great shot :0)

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  19. Pat20 October 2011 at 04:53

    These are lovely shots of the Silvereye among the flowers!

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  20. mick20 October 2011 at 06:58

    Hi again Stewart. I think I need to do a post about kayaks and waterproof cases and cameras - soon! Short answer to your question - I took the new camera the other day but not the day before!! The kayak I use is a Viking sit-on-top. Definitely different kayaks and canoes for different situations! More on my blog hopefully next week.

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  21. Karen @ Pieces of Contentment20 October 2011 at 19:38

    They're lovely little birds aren't they. We have the odd one in our garden from time to time.

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  22. jeanlivingsimple21 October 2011 at 14:10

    They are very pretty birds. I would think they would be tough to photograph. Your shots are super, Stewart!

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  23. Sallie (FullTime-Life)23 October 2011 at 14:13

    I love this. Flying mice! (They really are cute birds.) I am way behind and will come back laterto catch up here and on your other blog).

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