Silvereye
These little Silvereyes were looking irresistable as they tucked into the berries. So irresistible that I forgot to look at what the bush was, however thanks to Tattters and Ozymiles for identifying it as a Callicarpa pedunculata - 'Velvet Leaf'.
After lunch at the gardens I spent more than an hour mit Kamera wandering in beautiful autumn weather amongst the birds and bushes.
The gardens are a great hang-out for regular and itinerant birds. Some of the more famous residents are the family of White-winged Choughs that infest the outoor part of the cafe restaurant. Normally they threaten by flying onto or near your table, or swooping 10cm above your head, or lining up on a branch only a metre or two away to look disturbingly Hitchcockian. They will regularly take food from your plate if you leave the table, or even if you look away for too long. But today I had an Anzac biscuit still in my hand on the way to my mouth, when a Chough flew across the table at warp speed right between the two of us, elevation 1 foot, and grabbed the thing out of my hand. According to staff this is a new phase of the war; new measures are required. The Americans are suggesting twenty thousand more troops, I'm not sure.
Silvereye
These little Silvereyes were looking irresistable as they tucked into the berries. So irresistible that I forgot to look at what the bush was, however thanks to Tattters and Ozymiles for identifying it as a Callicarpa pedunculata - 'Velvet Leaf'.
After lunch at the gardens I spent more than an hour mit Kamera wandering in beautiful autumn weather amongst the birds and bushes.
The gardens are a great hang-out for regular and itinerant birds. Some of the more famous residents are the family of White-winged Choughs that infest the outoor part of the cafe restaurant. Normally they threaten by flying onto or near your table, or swooping 10cm above your head, or lining up on a branch only a metre or two away to look disturbingly Hitchcockian. They will regularly take food from your plate if you leave the table, or even if you look away for too long. But today I had an Anzac biscuit still in my hand on the way to my mouth, when a Chough flew across the table at warp speed right between the two of us, elevation 1 foot, and grabbed the thing out of my hand. According to staff this is a new phase of the war; new measures are required. The Americans are suggesting twenty thousand more troops, I'm not sure.