Silvereyes

Last Saturday I spent about an hour or so working in the vegetable garden. Several plots needed digging. During the very necessary rest periods – I’m not as gardening fit as I should be – I sat on a garden chair watching the local birds as I recovered.

My attention was drawn to several small greenish birds foraging nearby, some ten or so metres away. Of course the camera and binoculars were not at hand. I’d left them in the house.

At first I thought they were Thornbills, perhaps Yellow Thornbills which we get occasionally in our garden. I tried to creep closer but they retreated to a bushy tree. At no time did they call so they were not being at all co-operative. I was about three metres away when they took flight. As they flew off they both called often.

Silvereyes.

Silvereyes are a common, widespread species in eastern, south-eastern, southern and south-western Australia. They are not present in the inland or northern parts of the country. While they are common in many parts of their range, they are infrequent visitors to our garden and always a delight to see when they do visit.

Perhaps they are more common visitors to our garden than I think. My experience with them here is that they are very quiet. This is not my experience of them elsewhere where they can be noisy little chatterers.