Wet weather and the clapping of wings suggested I had birds feeding in the yard.
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I was right with a number of Eastern Spinebills feeding on the nectar in my front garden.
They were darting about, hovering like humming birds, but the weather was very wet so I had to find some way to photograph them from my veranda.
The Eastern Spinebill is one of the smallest honeyeaters and without doubt one of the most active.
It is often seen darting about after insects but it feeds primarily on nectar. Its favourite flowers include banksias and eucalypts, but it specialises in taking nectar from tubular flowers. Its long, thin, gently curved bill is ideally suited for this.
The Eastern Spinebill is an exceptionally tame bird, as was the case with the birds in my yard. I would only be five metes from them but it made little difference - they just continued to feed.
In flight the clapping of their wings immediately draws your attention.
They are found all along the east coast.
Sharing the same bus for a feed was a group of Silver Eyes.
They would drop in and go as quickly as they came. I took a few images of the Silver Eyes, but the real challenge was to get the Spinebills in flight while feeding – a difficult task due to the low light.
I decided to try high speed flash. My veranda was covered in and dry, but the use of a tripod was of no use as the birds would hover for a few seconds at each bloom, then move on.
I would have to be very quick focusing on them or be too late. This happened many times – just a touch too late.
![SMALL BUT VERY FAST: The Eastern Spinebill is one of the smallest honeyeaters but very fast and a challenge to photograph. SMALL BUT VERY FAST: The Eastern Spinebill is one of the smallest honeyeaters but very fast and a challenge to photograph.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Q9r3V9AUcqpAGD3DNsaA9W/d77d193b-49bb-46d2-a051-273da91c4076.jpg/r0_16_2020_1122_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The method I eventually used with some success was with the 400mm stabilised lens, hand held, with the ISO at 5000 to keep my shutter speed high – around 1/2000th of a second.
The Eastern Spinebill's nest is a small cup of twigs, grass and bark, combined with hair and spider's web, built in a tree fork, generally between 1 and 5 metres from the ground.
Only the female builds the nest and incubates the eggs, but both parents feed the young when they hatch.
The Eastern Spinebill is most easily recognised by its very long, fine, down-curved beak and energetic flight, during which its white outer tail feathers are prominent.
It is around 15 centimetres long, and has a distinctive black, white and chestnut plumage, and a red eye.
Breeding season is from August to December, with one or two broods raised.
A point of interest. Since the wet weather, the birds are active early morning before the light gets up. A few come in after that, but nothing like the numbers we had during the wet.