Party hats

It’s not just humans that are wearing party hats at this time of year.

 

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New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae)
1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 800

 

New Holland Honeyeaters are entirely black and white apart from a large yellow wing patch and subtle yellow sides to their tails.  They only wear orange party hats when they’ve been dipping into tubular blossoms where their heads are dabbed, at every dip, by pollen rich anthers atop long stamens.

Bird photography is awesome in the way it enables the bird to stand out against its background. This small honeyeater, 18cm/20g, was practically invisible as it searched for nectar, especially as it moved so quickly and was lost among the blossoms and the background foliage.

Wishing you a 2017 filled with birdsong,

Happy birding

Kim

 

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