Backyard Zoology · 8 February 2019
2019-02-08T09:08:41+11:00
https://www.facebook.com/backyardzoology/posts/pfbid02mfnS18pgS8skYKAZPmQdVeq1WP62t6SHLt5RfSqT3oFPAWJtwWxgVCB1QBnJmaFpl

I should have posted this yesterday. I even had a pun all ready to go - sun's out, tongues out. Good huh?! But I was feeling a tad rubbish yesterday so after my walk I headed to bed. Which is great, right? Self care and all that. But you know what happens if you don't post when you should? The damn weather changes and now it's cloudy and I'm just not feeling my pun anymore 😂😂😂 #writerlife

So imagine that this has just happened, and I'm still all sweaty from my walk, and I'm not actually typing this after sleeping in, still in my pyjamas, not a walk in sight. Have to admit, yesterday, despite feeling like crap, was a good day. My cockatoo photo came third in the WIRES photo comp - thank you SO much to all who voted - AND I got to photograph my nemesis: the Golden-Headed Cisticola. 

I kind of love these birds. They are small and this really lovely golden colour that looks super soft and just gorgeous in the sunlight. But boy do they have a big voice! And an equally big attitude. I hear them as soon as I hit the track. They have this series of calls, this weird buzzing, followed by a normal sounding chirp ending and this loud, almost alarm call, sound. And during breeding season they pretty much don't shut up. They call as they're flying overhead and then diving dramatically down towards the long grass. They call from where they are perched, on strands of tall grass, from tree branches, from deep within the grass itself. Great for when you are wanting to take photos of them as it makes them super easy to find. Except more often than not, they call from the top of super high trees, far from the reach of my lens. Bloody frustrating. 

But two lovely birds decided to spend a bit of time having a yell from a nearby tree - not close, and surrounded by knee high grass that I didn't want to bash through - but closer than usual. So I grabbed the opportunity to get a few photos while I could. The males have the beautiful golden cap that spikes up as they call during breeding season and he was singing his heart out. And then just like that they took off for higher ground, grabbing at insects, and reminding me, from the very top of the furtherest away tree, that I could look, but not photograph.

Golden-Headed Cisticola
Sandon Point