I couldn't resist going back to the gardens again on Friday to see if I could get some better pictures of the baby red wattlebirds. I had gone on Thursday without my camera and stood close by as one of the parents visited the nest and fed the babies, I was hoping I could catch that with my camera! I managed to zoom in and the babies were looking over the top of the nest this time so I could see their little beady eyes, however when mummy or daddy arrived there were just too many leaves in the way - you might be able to make out the yellow on the parent's chest in the last picture below?!
I will go back again next week and have another go, I guess they will be a little bigger then too! Lots of lovely flowers are all around the gardens, as well as the wattle of course. I took a picture of a very pretty yellow flower called Goodia lotifolia - that sounds a bit like some Latin I made up myself! This bush has a number of common names, the one on the label in the gardens was 'golden tip', which seemed very apt. Below that is Grevillea corrugata, a relatively rare Grevillea, endemic to a small region in South-western Australia near Bindoon. Philotheca 'poorinda', an unusual pretty pink cross between an Eriostemon and a Philotheca, in the background.
I also managed to get a nice shot of one of my favourite birds, a cute little Eastern Yellow Robin. I like them as they have a similar character to the Robin 'red-breast' we have in the UK: quite inquisitive and friendly, they like to sit and look at you for a while on a branch - also great for taking a photo too! However, the Eastern Yellow Robin is of the genus Eopsaltria, meaning 'dawn singer', unrelated to the European red robin, related instead to many tropical and Australian passerines including pardalotes, Fairy-wrens and honeyeaters.
