mistletoebird

LOL The Mistletoebird came back to give me another try, at least there was no glass in the way. Gorgeous isn''t he.

At the end of the first day of the festival we headed further down the peninsula to stay with some friends, John and Dora, who are very knowledgeable about the birds to be seen in their area. And what an amazing property they have too. One of the first birds I saw there was a Mistletoebird as...

Desperately I was trying to attract Hans' attention, but he was deep in concentration on something else and I couldn't get through to him!!! For there are the waterhole was this stunning Mistletoebird. A first for me of course and, it turned out, a first sighting at the waterhole.... and he...

Tomorrow we're off to Lady Elliott Island in the Great Barrier Reef for a few days.

I was also able to crop a bit closer on this shot of the Mistletoe bird. This is a female, btw, plain grey but with a red/pink undertail as an ID giveaway detail. The males are more striking. In addition to a bright red/pink undertail, they have bright red throats, a black belly stripe, and...

Back to Australian birds, and my best shot to date of a Mistletoebird.

Rapt to finally get a decent photo of one of these little beauties

Showing the glossy blue-black of back and wings

Showing the dark central streak

Part of an image trio... Different day, but she's again hard at work... and this is what he's up to. He's carefully placed a branch between himself & his mrs! I'm sure he's diligently watching out for predators :) Oh what a tough day it must have been.

Part of an image trio... she's working very hard to collect white threads from the palm for nesting, and holding some in her claws too.

Part of an image trio... she's assessing "which way home", or maybe wondering where "mr" is?

At last a picture of a Mistletoebird at eye-level!

Not the easiest bird to photograph as this is the usual view you get of them!

Finally got close to one of these guys. They have a bright red throat and metallic blue back so i've been trying to get a good shot at one for a while now :)

I can't do these little guys justice, they're just too small and quick for me :/

I was waiting to catch out a Golden Whistler when this little chap darted into this tree to my right. I was so stunned by the brilliance of his 'red' color that I fumbled with the camera and another golden opportunity was lost. The leaves kept throwing the AF out. I should have switched to...

Here is his better half.Feeding on Dwarf umbrella tree berries.