Budegewoi - A Second Shot

Rose Robin - male (Petroica rosea)

I went back to Budgewoi Board Walk to see if I could spot the little Southern Emu-wrens. Of course I was not going to be disappointed if the Rose Robin turned up again either. The Rose Robin did not disappoint and even acted as though it was pleased to see me. This time I used a higher shutter speed and did not rely on the Programmed mode. I lost a lot of photographs because the shutter speed was too low, even with vibration reduction active. The photos were a lot sharper this time and I have quite a few good photos to choose from.

I spent a lot of time sitting around and waiting for the Emu-wrens. I finally resorted to playing their call in the area where we had seen signs of them the day before. It wasn't long before I noticed the grass stalks moving every now and then. For a split second I saw the long wispy tail with a dark blob hidden by the grass, and that was it. Now I know why they are so hard to see. They spend most of their time well hidden by the grass. To make it more difficult, their calls are faint and very insect-like.

I think that the only way to photograph emu-wrens is to sit patiently where they are known to be active and wait patiently for one to make a mistake and hope up on a branch. I am sure that I will waste a lot more time before I get a photograph of one.

While I was waiting patiently for the Emu-wrens I checked on the Golden Orb Spider I had observed on the previous day. She was still there and the male was behind her as before. I wish I could observe their behaviour more. I thought that the male visitation was brief and fatal, but it looks like courtship is stretched out over days. I will follow this one up next time I visit!