Walked there y’day & @ first it was a discouraging prospect but things looked up as I approached Cygnus hide in vicinity of Finchville. There I saw a male red-browed finch carrying a tender green frond, held sideways in his beak; at first
I surmised nest-building; but then he approached a female with his gift,
which she appreciated/accepted; so he hopped on & achieved a rapid copulation (or 2?) then flew off. I’ve observed similar procedure in these finches only once before in a long life of b. watching but it was quite a thrill to witness.
Right after Cygnus I saw quite a few striated pardalotes busy scraping lerp (s?) off the youngish euc leaves. All in all the walk around the circuit yielded a surprising tally of c.20 species.
Sz
