Striated Thornbills

STRIATED THORNBILL Arcanthiza-lineata

Once again a cold winters morning after a good frost.

These thornbills were very active amongst small eucalypts, picking away at whatever they could find on the leaves. There are plenty of lerps on the trees about here, perhaps that is what was attracting them.










These birds were on the slopes of Mt Piper, about ten kilometres to the north of Kilmore. Mt Piper is a nature reserve, in most parts, heavily timmbered. But around the edges where the reserve meets the farmland, it  is more open and a good haven for little brown birds. Here grows a mixture of small black wattles, cassinia scrub, blackberry bushes and small euclaypts and there is always plenty of early morning sunshine here between the trees.





 


Being a little more open it is difficult to get very close to these mouse sized birds. They move in groups of up to a dozen, so there is always one of them acting as the lookout, ready to raise the alarm.










They move very quickly, rarely remaining in one place for more than a few seconds. In and out of the leaves they fly, perching for a just a few  moments to see that all is safe, before darting back in amongst the foliage. This makes it quite quite difficult to get a clean picture of them.