Flowering:
While I photographed these plants, Beth had run off to join the others, because they had found some fairy wrens
(Malurus sp.).
Even for non-birders, fairy wrens can be spectacular. The females are usually drab, but the males have astonishingly
bright, metallic blue feathers on their bodies and heads that are so intense they burn your eyes!
They are also very active, jumpy little birds and were very challenging subjects for Beth to photograph. This kept her
busy, so I photographed the little pygmies at a leisurely pace.
Robert and Kirk deemed that the birds Beth was photographing were "superb fairy wrens". However, upon reviewing
her photography Beth later concluded that the birds were "variegated fairy wrens".
I swear, she was so focused on the correct identification of these little birds that she practically gave me a multi-slide
PowerPoint presentation when we returned to the USA.
