2005-10-01/02 Golden Moments Part 2

Regent Honeyeater seems to prefer building its nest close to the tree canopy. That made it alot harder to spot the nest. In fact I did not see the nest but had noticed a pair keep returning to a specific spot.

In lower part of the tree, there are other birds which were also breeding by buiding nest on the same tree. These included Sacred Kingfisher, Willie Wagtail, White-plumed Honeyeater and Noisy Friarbird.


Sacried Kingfisher, taken at Warriewood Wetlands, Sydney Northern Beaches.





Willie Wagtail, taken at Maroubra.
This tame looking little bird can be very aggressive when defending its nesting territory. I have seen the pair drove away a much larger Noisy Friarbird when it wandered too close to the Wagtail's nest.







However, Regent Honeyeater does not seem to do so well in defending its nest. I had witnessed a Noisy Friarbird flew to the canopy and plucked some fine twigs to repair its nest 'down stair'.
The Regent Honeyeater become very agitated by this intruder. It flapped its wings very rapidly and dashed from one branch to another, trying to distract and scare the Noisy Friarbird. However the Noisy Friarbird was completely oblivious of this highly annoyed Regent Honeyeater, as if he knows,
"Go on jumping around, I am sure that you will never have the gut to hit me, unlike that pair of Willie Wagtail at the middle storey, they are smaller but really a pain in the neck."

That might explain why Regent Honeyeater becomes endangered as they are not as successful as other birds.

This messege is clear eventhough you are not a birdwatcher

The following four photos were taken at another spot in Capertee Valley. It was so unexpected that there were at least 4 of Regent Honeyeaters feeding the nector and two birds actually took a brief nap 5 feet above me. A curious and friendly resident came over and I had shown her the Regent Honeyeaters where she could observe it with naked eyes.

The 2 photos below are the first photos that I took in July 2005