BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS...

Just a few of the birds that have caught my attention during my exercise walks of late...

 The spectacular azure kingfisher is one of my favourite birds.

The colour of the plumage hasn't been altered. Quite a thrill to see a flash of purple as it flies into view.

 I finally got a good shot of the eastern whipbird. I tell people it taunts me as I walk around, calling out "Ha ha, you can't see me".

 It's quite a common bird around these parts. The two part call with first the "ewwwww-whip!" and then "chew chew!" is in fact the male calling and then being answered by the female. Now that I have a good shot I'm not so bothered by the taunting...

 A black shouldered kite, looking for breakfast. They're often on this pole and sometimes it's their meal table.

The chestnut breasted mannikin is a pretty little finch.

And this finch is the red-browed finch or firetail finch, very common it seems. 

 It's a bit like I'm Pavlov's dog when it comes to the green cat bird. Aside from the caterwaul from which they get their name, they also use a high pitched 'peep' and when I hear it I'm out the door with my camera. They're hard to see in the green foliage and the 'peep' is a bit of a heads up that they are around.

 Some people confuse the female satin bower birds with green cat birds; both a greenish colour but look at the difference in the eyes.

Another favourite is the willy wagtail, happy little birds that will pose nicely and aren't scared off easily.

This is the grey fantail, very similar although smaller and that's probably why some think they are baby willy wagtail.