Blue Faced Honeyeaters and marauding Noisy Miners!!

These two Blue Faced Honeyeaters – Entomyzon cyanotis – came to our garden yesterday in a great flurry and amongst raucous screeching and calling. They look like young birds who were being chased by the local vigilante native noisy miners – Manorina melanocephala. They decided to take refuge in amongst our poinciana tree. This is my only non-native tree species – just because they have a wide spreading nature and provide a lovely canopy for a cool backyard with a very small area of luscious green grass you can just lie on and think about life!.

Yesterday was not a quiet day!

Unfortunately they continued to call out and squawk and attract a great deal of attention and so the marauding mynas sent out the call across the area. When this happens you hear numerous miners calling from all around he local area.

These birds can be very aggressive and have been know to attack as a group and kill any bird – even large birds – that enter their wide reaching territory. You can see in the above photo the flurry of activity with the native miners flying around and swooping the honeyeaters.

The result – well instead of the 3-4 who had originally been chasing these poor unfortunates there came at least 12 (there are 9 in this photo!).

Fortunately for the young honeyeaters my presence taking photos was enough for the miner birds to decide to back off. I have i the past shooed then off when they have been quite a nuisance.

On the linocut front – I have become a little more ‘unstuck’ – I have a cupboard full of prints which are now dry. I have some orders to paint and send off first and then  I will get some new designs painted which is exciting!!