One of the most wide-spread of our smaller birds is the 12cm long Silvereye.
There are small colour differences between the ones that live in Western Australia to the Tasmanian form and the Eastern Australia members.
Even those that are in the Eastern group have different greenish and yellowish feathers on different parts of the body. One thing that is common to them all is a white ring around each eye.
I first found the nest of a Silvereye when I was teaching at a small school in a Central Queensland country area. It was in amongst a row of bushes off to the side of a dirt road and no more than waist high.
I set up a hide and one of the photos I took is the illustration here. At most times, Silvereyes live in small groups, but sometimes flocks can be very large. However, I didn’t see any other Silvereyes when I photographing at this nest.
On another occasion, I went with a small group of fellow photographers on a weekend to Lady Elliot Island. Silvereyes were all around our cabins, in and out of the nearby bushes and landing on the table we had on the verandah.
When one of our members left a part-eaten apple on the table, we saw from inside, about 20 Silvereyes land on the table and begin to squabble over the apple.
We took some photos of the birds and one of the group hastily set up his tripod. He had just got it ready when another member returned from the beach, wiped the apple off the table before putting his camera case there.
The one with the tripod couldn’t believe what had just happened and the rest of us tried not to laugh.
