A lot more Pardalotus

Well, not to be deterred from my mission to photograph pardalotes, I headed out on the bike once again today. My first stop was at the same spot near the new Breakwater bridge that I managed to take the shots in my previous post. Immediately I was able to hear Spotted Pardalotes and headed towards the calls. I soon sighted my quarry who as usual proved impossible to photograph.
Unsuccessful, I headed over to the riverbank where I thought I'd seen them before. I spotted a likely candidate, however on closer inspection I discovered I had found myself a single Silvereye who didn't hang around for long. Almost immediately I saw another small bird hopping amongst the foliage. Light body, black wings with white markings, short beak...a pardalote? Well, yes, but not of the spotted variety.


 Striated Pardalote at Breakwater

 Firstly, this little guy was much more obliging than his spotted cousins and happily posed for some shots and was then joined by another who was equally as obliging. Both had yellow markings on their brow and chin, the white markings on the wings were stripes, not spots and the rest of their plumage was predominantly pale grey.


Pair of Striated Pardalotes at Breakwater

A pair of Striated Pardalotes it would appear. Their colours weren't as well developed as some photos I've seen so they may have been juvenile and were probably from a nest in the riverbank near the tree in which I found them. This is the one and only time I have seen the striated variety of pardalote but will certainly be keeping a close eye out for more.
They didn't hang around for an encore performance and I wandered off again in search of the spotted type.
Back on my bike, I headed upriver and on the Highton side once again, found the same little family of Spotted Pardalotes I'd seen one day last week.

Juvenile Spotted Pardalotes near Princes Bridge

This time, they were down amongst the rushes at the water's edge, which made photography a little easier, but of course,they still contrived to have at least one stalk between me and them most of the time. I have read that one of the common names for the Spotted Pardalote is the "Headache Bird". The name apparently derives from their often incessant three-note call (one low then two high notes). I am beginning to suspect however, that they were given the label not for their calling, but by someone attempting to take a decent photograph!

Spotted Pardalote near Princes Bridge

Having said that, the above two photos are probably the pick of today's bunch and still don't really show the amazing colours of the adult males, so I guess it is back to the drawingboard and a few more laps on the bike.

Spotting Pardalotes...

...is easier said than done!
About a week ago I noticed that there were a number of points around the Barwon through Geelong where I could hear Spotted Pardalotes. I think I had heard them previously but been unable to discover who was calling. This time I spotted them (excuse the pun) and have since seen them on several other occasions and in various places - always in gum trees where they like to hide.
So, I can hear them and - if I'm careful - I can see them, but photographing them? That's an entirely different matter. They are so small and so quick to flit about and usually high up in the trees that photos are rather tricky. However, I have persisted over the last several days (and clocked up quite a few extra kms on the bike in the process which is not a bad thing) and now have a few less than perfect photos to show for my efforts.

Spotted Pardalote grooming

In fact, were it not for one little bird who felt the need to spend at least five minutes sitting still and grooming itself, I would still have little more to show for my efforts than a variety of close up shots of gum leaves and a few blurry, vaguely bird-like images.

Spotted Pardalote at Breakwater

These successful shots were taken near the new Breakwater bridge on Thursday, but I have also seen them on the Highton side of the river in several places between the Princes Bridge and Queen's Park where in addition to the issues I mentioned above, lighting seems to be tricky too.

On this part of the river I seem to be attracting quite a bit of interest. One passerby knew exactly what I was up to and even asked if I'd seen the pardalotes. "As a matter of fact..." I said and took the opportunity for some shameless promotion of my blog!

Further upriver, I was asked several times if I had spotted a koala. No, and I must say, I have never seen one anywhere along the river, although I have heard them calling once or twice up at Lake Elizabeth.

Spotted Pardalote at Breakwater

So far, these are the best shots I've managed to grab. I am hoping to do a few more laps of the track and will hopefully find another obliging specimen who has the good grace to sit still on a suitably low branch with no obscuring leaves and no back lighting!