In-between fieldwork: New Holland Honeyeater

They. Were. Everywhere.

The study site was full of New Holland Honeyeaters (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) chattering away, zooming around, hopping from branch to branch, feeding, flying... so active! Hard to get good photos due to all the movement, but fun to watch.

Every now and then they would take a few moments to preen, but even the preening was energetic and the majority of photos came out blurred.

In-between fieldwork: Red-browed finch

Red-browed finch (Neochmia temporalis) is the most common finch around Canberra. I'd often see pairs of them in bushes during the day.

Early in the morning I would come across little groups foraging on the ground, between the grass too.

When the spring kicked-in I saw some nest-building too. It looks very funny, as the finches are rather small, but they carry super-long bits of grass. It looks like a tiny bird with a very long tail or a mini peacock struggling to fly away!