Orange Winged Sitella

The smaller the bird, the quicker they move!

 

 A little peek of sunshine through the grey skies and the birds begin to move. And the little ones move so quickly.

I am amazed at the photographs some people get of these little animals. It is hard to even catch a glimpse of them, let alone have time to track them in the viewfinder, focus and press the shutter button before they are gone. I have so many out of focus, pictures of empty branches, twigs, leaves and rear tail feathers cluttering up my folders. I really must try harder to clear all the duds as I go.

 Orange-Winged-Sittella   Neositta chrysoptera

I was pleased to catch this little sittella a few week ago, working his way down a dead sapling. He would alight on a branch and move down as he picked at the loose bark, looking for insects.  I think this is a male, my books tell me that the female has a darker throat.  He had lots of mates in the surrounding bushes and trees and they were twittering to each other as they moved from tree to tree. It is hard to tell what they talk about.  Are they are boasting about what they have caught? Are they telling their mates to 'keep away from my tree"? Perhaps they are just happy.

This one I assume is an orange winged sittella, they are the ones we normally see in this part of Victoria. I could not see any 'orange window' on the wing, it was way to fast for me.