This little bird is called a Pardalote (or Spotted Pardalote). He had dug his tunnel in the embankment at the front of my carport and busied himself bringing bits and pieces in for the nest. As I pulled the car into the carport each day, the Pardalote sat and watched, unfazed by how close I was. Then, one day when I was working in the garage next door, the Pardalote came in and sat on the end of a piece of timber I was working on; only about 600mm from where I stood.
He had obviously become used to me being around, and wasn't worried at all. I took advantage of this and set up the camera in the carport, and was able to get a series of photos of him coming and going to the nest with his "makings".
This photograph has been manipulated to take most of the colour out of the background, except for the green in the leaf, and the rich colours of the bird himself. Just getting familiar with a few of the Photoshop functions, but there is a world of fun to be had with this program, and the one I use now, the baby brother Photoshop Elements.
