Yellow-faced Honeyeater

I was all ready to write this post half an hour ago, the title was up and the photographs were chosen and exported but instead of writing the first sentence I looked through the window. I often pause for a while to watch the antics at the birdbaths but today I ran for my camera as a female Rufous Whistler was taking a very leisurely bath. Only fellow-birders like us would understand the thrill of seeing something beautifully unexpected. I hear Rufous Whistlers in the bush but they rarely venture the few metres across the grass to the birdbaths. I don’t think the photographs will be worth sharing as they were taken through the window, hand-held with the tripod dangling, but hopefully she’ll come back while I’m outside tomorrow. Back to business…

I chose the shot above to start the post as it looks as though the Yellow-faced Honeyeater has just arrived at the birdbath. If you look closely you’ll see that its under feathers are wet and that it has tiny beads of water on its head and back – after seeing a Grey Fantail fall from the sky on its way to the birdbath I am always super careful to let birds drink or bathe before I photograph them.

Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are often described as ‘plain’ but I find them quite charming. I really like the bold yellow ‘go faster’ stripe beneath their deep blue eyes. I don’t always capture the forward position of a birds’ wings as it vigorously shakes itself free of water.

Here’s the next shot in the series. I’m on the far side of my patio, quite a long way from the birdbaths but despite my shutter being set to ‘silent’ this bird did glance towards me a few times.

How could this lovely species be called ‘plain’! There are 76 species of honeyeater in Australia, which is about half of the number of the worldwide Meliphagidae family. They have de-curved bills and brush-tipped tongues that are ideal for feeding on nectar, though many also eat insects.

A good news update on my wrist for regular readers: despite its awful name (giant cell tumour) the lump was benign. The incision site was progressing well until I played with toddlers on Wednesday, and got my hand stuck down the back of a radiator last night trying, unsuccessfully, to retrieve my trapped phone. Never a dull moment.

The temperature reached just over 40C here today, according to my weather station. The birds have been constantly at the bird baths with several species bathing together at the moment. I am blessed, and I hope you are too.

Happy birding, Kim

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