Well, I finally made it out of lockdown this weekend, and following some tips from local birders I went in search of Scarlet Honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta) at Bushy Park, about 25 minutes from my house. You can tell what kind of year I (we) have had since COVID arrived in that this is about the longest journey I have been able to do in many months!
I was helped out by two birders on site who pointed me in the right direction to find the birds - although I think I may have found them anyway as they were calling loudly and feeding on flowering bushes - ie behaving in the way the field guides say they do! (This is a novelty)
The Scarlet Honeyeater is 9 to 11 centimetres (3.5 to 4.3 in) long, and is the smallest honeyeater in Australia. It also flies rapidly, spends a lot of its time with its head in flowers and generally spends most of its time inside bushes, rather than on the nicely illuminated flowers on the edge of the bushes!
In other words, I did not get a lot of 'keepers' in the photographic sense.
This is a pretty unusual bird for my part of the world, and this year there have been a much higher number of sightings than usual. This species does move south in spring/ summer, but this year it seems to have come much further south (and in greater numbers) than normal. This is good news for me, but maybe not good news for the bird.
These pictures look much better larger - so please click away.
(Also, is anybody having problems uploading images from their computer to Blogger?)
It feels great to be able to post some current birds, and to have a chance to restore some form of normal service! So, as ever, stay safe and link up with WBW.
Wonderful birds, Stewart. If ever I make it back to Melbourne, (hope springs eternal) I shall expect you to show it to me!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous looking bird Stewart. I'm glad you were able to venture out. I guess your lockdown rules are more stringent than mine here in Connecticut US. Although I've been avoiding going onto trails due to other people not following the mask, etc. rules, so I haven't gotten many bird photos this year either. :-(
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute bird indeed!
ReplyDeleteHope all is well with you, Stewart...stay safe!
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteOh that is a beaut!!! Almost sunbird/hummingbird like... well done for getting at least these shots.
As for uploading; the new interface does go against the logic a bit at ties, and they seem to have made things more difficult rather than easier (which it kinda was before). Just persevere, Stewart mate - this lot came out good! YAM xx
Stewart, what are those blossoms they are attracted to? They, like the bird are beautiful and now here everything is turning brown getting ready for Winter...:)jp
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat for you! I'm glad you are out and about again. Little birds seem to be flittering around all the time whereas larger ones move more slowly. Take care.
ReplyDeleteGlad you have been unlocked now! This is a beautiful bird seen from your first outing out. Thanks for hosting, stay safe adn have a great week ahead
ReplyDeleteBeautiful bird..love the colors..very showy..Take advantage of your freedom, we may be about to lose ours again..It's bad here..It just hit one of the neighboring nursing homes that has been virus free til now..Over 100 cases and 9 deaths.. There are still people out there who say it's a hoax. Very sad
ReplyDeleteA handsome if not shy bird! The scarlet head is pretty.
ReplyDeleteHandsome birds and you got nice shots despite their elusive behavior. Their color is almost the same as that of the flowers. Yes, when Blogger changed the procedure I found out when I tried to load my blog, which I normally prepared offline and use HTML code to embed the images from my FLICKR collection. Of course it did not work and I was flummoxed! Almost gave up but actually can go quickly, still preparing offline but placing the FLICKR "image address" at in the text document. Then I upload and simply cut and past the image addresses into the dropdown image loader and it goes quite rapidly despite requiring a few extra steps. I like that the images now are displayed as a slide show at the bottom of the pages if you click on the images. Before, this linked back to the FLICKR collection which often was not relevant to the blog content. Also, the display on my iPhone looks cleaner now.
ReplyDeleteStunningly beautiful bird and great photos.
ReplyDeleteRe blogger I can download photos OK but I just hate everything else about it!! Not sure when we ae coming out of lockdown - date to be announced!
Take care and stay safe. Diane
Hi good afternoon . All right? I want to present my Blogger on culture, travel and tourism. I would like to invite you to follow my Blogger. I'm the follower number 328.
ReplyDeletehttps://viagenspelobrasilerio.blogspot.com/2020/11/museu-casa-rui-barbosa-parte-iv-rio-de.html?m=1
Thank you Stewart. Smashing bird! Blogger has hiccuped a few times, but always seems to right itself. Mine is a file shot from the San Francisco Bay area. Keep safe
ReplyDeleteHello Stewart
ReplyDeletebeautiful pictures again, not so easy to put the focus in the branches, done great
stay healthy
Greetings Frank
Gorgeous bird! I can upload just fine, but formatting is a challenge. Fortunately I am pretty good at HTML so I can go in and position my pictures without losing the links.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful bird and images ... Good weekend Stewart
ReplyDeleteIt’s a wonderful bird to welcome you back to birding in real life/real time! I know it has been hard for you (your whole country) but you have done it right. Over here too many people are following our current bad leadership and I am afraid it might be too late for us to recover completely.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a bright bird! Very nice photographs, Stewart.
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear you were able to get out and about for awhile. Hope it soon becomes normal for us all.