Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds
Photographed by | Michael Hamel-Green on Wed 12th May, 2021 and uploaded on Mon 17th May, 2021 . | ||||||||||||||||||
Resolution | 1800x1106 | ||||||||||||||||||
Viewed | 648 | ||||||||||||||||||
ID | 46290 | ||||||||||||||||||
Comment | One of the great pleasures for a newcomer to birdwatching is being inducted into the bird secrets of a particular site by a far more experienced birdwatcher. I have been visiting Royal Park Wetlands many times over the past two years, but rarely saw a Pardalote and never an Eastern Spinebill. On a recent visit there, I happened to meet a fellow Birdlife member and contributor to the Birdlife photography site. I had never met him before but had very much appreciated his posted photos. He generously showed me some productive places around Royal Park that, needless to say, I had never looked twice at before. One place he showed me was south of the Wetlands, close to the railway cutting (now the secret is out), where, if I looked carefully for movement amongst the foliage, I might see Eastern Spinebills. He went on to show me, also close to the cutting, another place where Spotted Pardalotes were accustomed to gather, convenient embankment nesting tunnels not too far away. Of course, neither Spinebills nor Pardalotes were in evidence at the time he was showing me. But a few days later I went back to the same spot again, concealed myself amongst some shrubbery nearby, and was delighted to find myself amidst a group of Pardalotes zinging to and fro, and two equally manic Spinebills, all moving around so quickly as to be challenging to photograph. The Spinebills, unfortunately, did not stay around long enough to capture a good image. Nor, for the most part, did the Pardalotes. However, this Pardalote, perhaps not noticing me, stopped to perch right in front of me. Caught in the morning sun, the Pardalote was looking upwards, perhaps nervously keeping an eye on the assertive Red Wattlebirds making their presence felt in the vicinity. From its strikingly bold plumage and yellow chin, he would seem to be a male, member of the Punctatus clan. Pardalote is Greek for “spotted”, hence their name. The attire of this very spotted male, spangled from head to tail with brilliant tiny white fans, streaks, and sequins, is certainly eye-catching. He would no doubt do well in the Eurovision Song Contest fashion stakes, although his somewhat limited vocal repertoire, mainly a repeated monotonous “s-wit peewip”, might let him down. | ||||||||||||||||||
Equipment | Nikon Z7ii, Nikon 300mm PF f4, TC 1.4, focal length 420mm, ISO 1250, 1/640th f5.6. Monopod. | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Royal Park Wetlands, Parkville, Victoria | ||||||||||||||||||
Keywords | male, adult | ||||||||||||||||||
You already have an outstanding request to download this image for non-commercial purposes. You may cancel this request by clicking on the button below and waiting for confirmation that your request has been noted. When you have selected all the images that you require, go to 'My Download Requests' (under Photo Gallery) and submit your request by clicking 'Edit/Submit' and filling out the details. You will be advised of the result by email. Note that cookies MUST be enabled for this to work. | |||||||||||||||||||
You may request download of this image for non-commercial purposes. A request that meets the usage rights of this image will be automatically approved; a request that does not meet the usage rights will be refused, but may (at the Download Manager's discretion) be referred to the photographer. The usage rights of this image are: Any non-commercial use by any requestor, including personal use. For further details of image usage rights, see here. Request the image by clicking on the button below and waiting for confirmation that your request has been noted. When you have selected all the images that you require, go to 'My Download Requests' (under Photo Gallery) and submit your request by clicking 'Edit/Submit' and filling out the details. You will be advised of the result by email. Note that cookies MUST be enabled for this to work. | |||||||||||||||||||
COMPUTED.html: width="1800" height="1106" COMPUTED.Height: 1106 COMPUTED.Width: 1800 COMPUTED.IsColor: Not printable COMPUTED.ByteOrderMotorola: Not printable COMPUTED.ApertureFNumber: f/5.6 COMPUTED.Thumbnail.FileType: Not printable COMPUTED.Thumbnail.MimeType: image/jpeg IFD0.Make: NIKON CORPORATION IFD0.Model: NIKON Z 7_2 IFD0.XResolution: 5000/centimeters IFD0.YResolution: 5000/centimeters IFD0.ResolutionUnit: centimeters IFD0.Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 10.2 (Macintosh) IFD0.DateTime: 2021:05:16 14:00:51 IFD0.Exif_IFD_Pointer: Not printable EXIF.ExposureTime: 1/640 EXIF.FNumber: F5.6 EXIF.ExposureProgram: Aperture priority EXIF.ISOSpeedRatings: 1250 EXIF.UndefinedTag:0x8830: Not printable EXIF.UndefinedTag:0x8832: 1250 EXIF.ExifVersion: 0231 EXIF.DateTimeOriginal: 2021:05:12 12:56:42 EXIF.DateTimeDigitized: 2021:05:12 12:56:42 EXIF.UndefinedTag:0x9010: +10:00 EXIF.UndefinedTag:0x9011: +11:00 EXIF.UndefinedTag:0x9012: +11:00 EXIF.ShutterSpeedValue: 9.321928 EXIF.ApertureValue: F5.0 EXIF.ExposureBiasValue: 0.33333333333333 EXIF.MeteringMode: CenterWeightedAverage EXIF.LightSource: unknown EXIF.Flash: Flash did not fire. EXIF.FocalLength: 420mm EXIF.SubSecTimeOriginal: 41 EXIF.SubSecTimeDigitized: 41 EXIF.ColorSpace: Not printable EXIF.FocalPlaneXResolution: 2301.3246154785 EXIF.FocalPlaneYResolution: 2301.3246154785 EXIF.FocalPlaneResolutionUnit: Not printable EXIF.SensingMethod: Not printable EXIF.FileSource: DSC EXIF.SceneType: Not printable EXIF.CFAPattern: Not printable EXIF.CustomRendered: Not printable EXIF.ExposureMode: Automatic Exposure EXIF.WhiteBalance: Automatic White Balance EXIF.FocalLengthIn35mmFilm: 420 EXIF.SceneCaptureType: Unknown EXIF.GainControl: Not printable EXIF.Contrast: Not printable EXIF.Saturation: Not printable EXIF.Sharpness: Not printable EXIF.SubjectDistanceRange: Not printable EXIF.UndefinedTag:0xA431: 7400275 EXIF.UndefinedTag:0xA432: Not printable EXIF.UndefinedTag:0xA434: VR 300mm f/4E | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The easiest way to contact us is by emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Our People page, in the About Us section, contains email links to each of the committee members.
Copyright © BirdLife Photography 2016-23. Website design and programming by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Website Administrator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..