This weeks Photo of the Week was taken Monday
(January 4, 2016)
A Male Splendid Fairy-wren in Breeding Plumage
The Splendid Fairy-wren is found across much of the Australian continent from central-western New South Wales and south-western Queensland across to the coastal areas of Western Australia.
Known colloquially in Western Australia as the ‘blue wren’, male birds dressed in their breeding plumage are simply stunning and shimmer (as you can see) in the most electric shades of violet-blue, interspersed with a little turquoise and pale-blue, and a few bands of inky black feathers.
Life isn’t all glitz and glamour though, as according to Birdlife.org, males in non-breeding plumage are mostly drab brown, just like the females.
This little guy was darting about in a flurry of jaunty hops and bounces in the Serpentine National Park, possibly seeking a female hiding in the parched surrounds. He was so hard to photograph, and I know the image is a little blurry, but I still think he’s gorgeous all the same.
There are several species of fairy-wren found in Australia and I hope I get to photograph a few more.
What an electric blue! It’s a fantastic contrast to the surroundings. Did you have your shutter speed up high enough? Another trick is burst mode. I looove this one for movers.
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His colours are fantastic aren’t they? I had to be so quick I barely had time to turn the camera on 🙂
I love using burst mode too and hopefully next time we’re out walking, I’ll remember to set the camera before we leave the house.
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Got it! Sometimes I just have to take mind pictures. 😀 That’s a good idea about setting burst mode before you go. Occasionally I’ve turned it off because I got annoyed with the extra shots, but with big data cards, I’m thinking now it’s better to keep it on than not.
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I agree, but I tend to think a single shot has much better quality than any I get from a burst – on my camera anyway.
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Interesting! With our toddler, the more shots the better since most are going to be blurry… even with super high shutter speeds.
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We are just so blessed with our bird life and thank you for reminding us of that. Received a great surprise from you today and absolutely love it, thank you so much, you are very skilled and also another reminder of how blessed we Aussies are. You sound as though you are having a marvellous time, stay away from all the fires and dramas and stay safe…love to you both..Sue
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🙂 🙂 🙂 I’m so glad you received your little surprise.
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Your picture is gone. It says there’s a 404 error?
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I can see it. Try again, it might be a little bug somewhere.
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Fixed now – Thanx for the heads up 🙂
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Your picture is gone… I click on the file name and nothing appears. 😦
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Thanx Nancy,
I found the issue and just fixed it.
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I can see the bird! What a beauty! Thanks for fixing it so we could see.
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Thank you for letting me know something had gone awry. He was so gorgeous, the photo doesn’t do him justice, but I thought it was a start. I’ll keep my eye out and maybe (hopefully) get some better photos to share.
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