ML618148726

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Notes from the time: "This... oh my goodness... this was a bird I had been fantasising about seeing for ten years. We had chased them, and lost the hunt, from Alice Springs to Goschen Reserve... and then, in the beautiful Arid Land Botanic Gardens, everything came together! I knew from religiously checking ebird that there were two females doing the rounds... and so, my emotions incredibly high, I made for the Erimophilla loop, that most beautifully sculpted of pathways. There were Honeyeaters absolutely everywhere; Singing and White Fronted especially... but then we came to a bush, a Long Leafed Erimophilla I believe... and there they were! There! Two beautiful, subtle female Pied Honeyeaters!!! They were of very quiet manner I remember well, content to slowly hop about the upper branches and preen. "Happiness" does not begin to describe my emotions at this time! And things were only going to get more extraordinary; we stayed until late evening, me barely wrenching myself away from the Pieds and Blacks... and that's when things really took off. As a beautiful sunset fell, more and more Pieds came flitting in from the surrounding wasteland... and then... there! I saw it in the air, first of all; this was the holy grail, a MALE PIED HONEYEATER!!! I ran. I ran towards the tree I could see it heading for, fluttering and swooping in a way that was remarkably like a Woodswallow, not any other Honeyeater. At first, it only sat briefly, clearly alarmed at my enthusiasm... but I tried to be patient, and was rewarded. The bird sat in the uppermost branches, the smartest creature in colour scheme and shape that I have ever seen!!!"

Technical information

Model

COOLPIX P510

ISO

100

Focal length

180 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.9

Shutter speed

1/640 sec

Dimensions

4608 pixels x 3456 pixels

Original file size

8.93 MB