Peek-a-boo Silvereye

Silvereyes are cute little characters with a distinctive ring of white feathers around their eyes and a weedy little contact call.

 

Silvereye 3.16 2 - Kim Wormald

Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 1600

 

The image above made me smile with the thought that soon the equivalent of an entire fig would be inside this tiny bird. Silvereyes are about 11cm in length and they weigh about 11 grams.

 

Silvereye - 3.16 3 - Kim Wormald

Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
1/1250, f/7.1, ISO 1600

 

The Silvereye in the image above interests me because of the grey feathers on its head. I have over a thousand images of Silvereyes but none show so much grey on the head. Presumably it’s a young bird but I have images of younger Silvereyes with fully green heads – if anyone can clarify this I’d be grateful. This is another time when I wish I owned HANZAB (Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds) and could look up the different colour variations of the species across Australia.

 

 

Silvereye 3.16 - Kim Wormald

Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 1600

 

Silvereyes are remarkably agile and remarkably fast. They flit from fig to fig as another bird arrives to take their place. Watching them feed reminds me of watching Zebra Finch drink at desert rock pools where they take turns to move down to the water in an almost orderly fashion.

Happy birding, Kim

 

Update on the Victorian duck shooting season

A dedicated group of rescuers scouted around Lake Toolondo, near Horsham, during the Easter weekend. They took 9 wounded birds to receive veterinary care and found a further 86 birds that had been left to rot, including 18 endangered Freckled Duck, 27 protected Eurasian Coot and 21 protected Blue-winged Shovelers. CADS is launching a Supreme Court challenge in an attempt to have Lake Toolondo closed to shooting for the remainder of the season to protect the 11 Freckled Duck found by the department to be still living at the wetlands. Freckled Duck are one of the world’s rarest waterbirds – will anyone be held accountable for the 18 that were shot?

Ongoing effort continues in the hopes of quickly clarifying the issue of illegal hunting at the Western Treatment Plant, a Ramsar site of international significance.

Individual landholders continue to deal with incursions on their properties by shooters, with shooting around their properties, shot birds and discarded rubbish.

If you’d like to add your voice to thousands of other compassionate environmentalists please contact your MP and/or add your name to (and share) these petitions:

Ban Duck Shooting – ALV petition to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, currently has 18,000 signatures – up 1,000 during the past week
Ban Recreational Duck Shooting – AA petition to add Victoria to the list of states that have already imposed a ban, currently has 41,000 signatures – up 1,000 during the past week

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