Australian Birds: the Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang)

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Another of my challenges was this tiny robin. I spend some debating exactly what kind of red-breasted robin he was, but I finally went with Petroica boodang. If it's one of the others, please let me know. This little guy was extremely hard to photograph.

I first saw him sitting on my back fence. He kept swooping off it, and then coming back to perch. I got a pretty good look at him, and he didn't seem to mind me watching him.

 

He even turned his head so we could see that distinctive white crown above his brow.
 

A week later, he moved to the cherry or plum tree out back. This time I got to take pictures of his front view. I have never seen a little bird so red!


This time, he wasn't so sure about the camera. Camera's are noisy. This time, he took a good look at me.


He kept flying down to the grass, probably in pursuit of a slater or millipede. This is one shot of him taking off from the branch. It's the only clear shot I got.


He moved around the tree a bit...


...but finally settled in the crook of some very thin branches. I let him be.





Location: Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

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