A visit to Adelaide to see the (kids) & grandkids prior to Xmas presented the final set of 2017 bird photos to share. I stayed with a team mate from my rugby days and he has a neat garden befitting someone who has a garden maintenance business. So these are a few shots captured during my stay that feature the variety of birds attracted to his suburban backyard.
Continuing the theme of the striking colours offered by black birds is the first image of the common blackbird. The yellow beak and ring around the eye are delightful.
Yes, the birdbath! A ubiquitous garden feature and in this place, a definate attraction. This first one is a sparrow that has enjoyed a solitary bath and looks rather forlorn after a good shaking. Soon after, the new holland honeyeaters appeared ... first one, then two ... then, well, you can see LOTS and I managed to snap a shot when something in the trees to their right had clearly aught their attention!
Here I found a sparrow in a more natural setting, perched high in the foliage and similarly a silvereye, though among bare branches more than the heavier foliage.
These next two are wonderful shots of the new holland honeyeater savouring the delights of a white agapanthus flower head. The first one highlighting another example of the lightness and acrobatic ability as they leverage their environment; the second undoubtedly highlighting just how their lightness prevents them interfering with the fragility of their environment. The contrast with our harsh built environment is stark.
And finally, despite the previous note of our harsh built environment, the beauty and serene pose of the spotted turtle dove manages to make that harshness look like it has an important role to play!
And so ends a sharing of examples of the wonderful breadth of birds I was privileged to sight and photograph across 2017. It should not be a surprise that I was looking forward t more of the same for 2018 and the years beyond.
