The very shy and hard to find Bellbird

[gregbradley]

I have a lot of Bellbirds in my area. You hear them more than you see them. Occasionally you'll see one dart around but they usually dive deep into a bush or tree and disappear. They don't like being out in the open.

So its hard to photograph them.

I saw one fly onto a tree eating food and I could see the thin branch moving around indicating it was there. They are well camouflaged so they can be hard to spot.

They live in colonies and usually on the coastal side of bushy hills/mountains. They have one of the best calls which they sing continuously.

TEC110 Fluorite, Canon 40D.

This one was about 50-60 metres away.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/145008340

Greg.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Well done Greg. These suckers are hard to find. You hear them everywhere, but you never get to see them!

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Great shot.

[leon]

Nice shot Greg, very well camouflaged little critter, well done.

Leon

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Omaroo

Well done Greg. These suckers are hard to find. You hear them everywhere, but you never get to see them!

They were a mystery to me for a while. When I moved in to this area you hear them all the time yet I did not know what they looked like.
Occasionally you see one swooping around (they fly quite fast).
So its good to finally photo one.

Originally Posted by seeker372011

Great shot.

Thanks for that. Even when I knew one was in the tree because it was moving it took a while to spot him!

Originally Posted by leon

Nice shot Greg, very well camouflaged little critter, well done.

Leon

They sure are. Its the perfect colour scheme for where they live.

Greg.