Two lovely ladies found me secreted at the end of a secluded boardwalk on Phillip Island. We had a pleasant chat about Norway and Greece and about the Swamp Wallabies bounding around us but theirs wasn’t the chat I was waiting for. I’d been there for a couple of hours and decided to wait for one more species before leaving the hide, and eventually it arrived: a White-fronted Chat.
White-fronted Chat (female) (Epthianura albifrons)
Canon 7D, 100-400mm L IS USM, AE priority f/5.6, handheld, natural light
Although White-fronted Chats often hang out in small flocks this female was alone. I find her markings quite exquisite with the soft brown of her eye highlighting the same colour in her plumage and her dark necklace adding a distinguished, genteel look. She bathed in a small emphemeral pond, preening and splashing. I coudn’t get good shots of bathtime without disturbing her – I’d rather miss the shot and keep the memories.
Then a New Holland Honeyeater visited a banksia about three metres from where I was sitting on the boardwalk planks, leaning against the wall of the hide. It hopped from bloom to bloom gathering nectar with its brush-tipped tongue.
New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) – a quick safety check.
Canon 7D, 100-400mm L IS USM, AE priority f/5.6, handheld, natural light
New Holland Honeyeater – assessing the nectar supply.
New Holland Honeyeater – feeding on banksia nectar.
New Holland Honeyeater – posing on a banksia seedpod.
Canon 7D, 100-400mm L IS USM, AE priority f/5.6, handheld, natural light
Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)
Canon 7D, 100-400mm L IS USM, AE priority f/5.6, handheld, natural light
While I was busy watching the birds the Swamp Wallabies were busy watching me. Sometimes when I tiptoe along a boardwalk a wallaby will suddenly appear and bound away. They blend in with their surroundings so well that they are often surprisingly difficult to see.
Happy birding, Kim
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