Last Friday I wasn't feeling great. I was feeling pretty sad and a bit lonely.
Still, research had to be done. I found myself out in the wheatbelt of Western Australia near Brookton, wandering around the bush looking for pollinators I wasn't finding. I'm used to days of not finding pollinators -- in fact, its the norm. Days of good pollinator action can be rare when you're first trying to locate them. But no pollinators means lots of waiting with not much to show for it.
Because I was feeling sad, I promised myself that if I hadn't found any pollinators by 4pm I would call it quits and spend the last hour of sunlight looking for rufous treecreepers at a nearby place I had seen them last year.
Perhaps it makes sense for the rufous treecreeper to be... well, rufous. The colour of the wandoo trees is truly remarkable and quite similar to the colour of the bird.
Come 4pm, no pollinators. I drove to a patch of beautiful wandoo woodland I had seen the treecreepers last year.
I got out of the car, set up my camera and walked in the direction of where I had seen them last year. Found the place, located a pair of treecreepers, and immediately one flew over and perched in the tree not 4m from where I stood. One of those rare and beautiful moments in birdwatching where everything happens exactly as imagined.
What gorgeous birds! Such incredible beauty wrapped up in a ball of bright orange feathers!
For the next hour and a half I had a magical time following several pairs of these treecreepers around. They were exceptionally obliging subjects, on the condition that I didn't make too much noise. Several times I approached to within 10m then sat quietly on the ground and they would hop past me in their constant search for grubs.
It felt to me like this was the world's way of gifting me a little bit of happiness. In the face of such beautiful little birds, all I could feel was gratitude and happiness.
I just love the colours here... and the pattern of the dead tree stump behind the bird. If only that damn stick at the front wasn't there. It's just a bit too conspicuous.