This was arguably the best Christmas present I got this year. I literally stumbled upon this Australian flowerpecker's nest on Christmas Day along a busy public path, though still well out of reach for the general passers by who could not even see me under my camouflage net as I sat some eight meters from the walkers. The birds set up their little, delicate and very soft nest underneath a small plant about one meter above the ground. The male and female kept bringing small insects and mistletoe berries (their prime source of food) to feed the tiny nestlings that I estimate would have been no more than a couple of days old on this day.
The Mistletoebird is Australia's only species of flowerpecker and may be quite nomadic by following fruiting mistletoe plants to keep up with the food supply, though I regularly see this species in this area. I am keeping a close watch on this small family and hope to see the fledglings emerge in a week or so as their nest time is just over 14 days.
Here the dad is checking out the scene as he perches just below the nest to ensure all is clear before entering.
30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM, EF 2x, manual focus about six meters from nest, cropped from horizontal, tripod, ISO400, f/9, 1/160, 430ex with beamer at about zero compensation.
Great find and beautiful bird. I also like the details and would remove two of the three catchlights. The BG is a bit busy but it seems there is not much you could have done about it.
Mistletoebird (male)
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