Ever seen a pink robin?

[pietillidie]

I can't believe I only noticed this little beauty for the first time today when I did a search to compare robins. Apparently, it's from Southeastern Australia.

Anyone ever seen one? Tannin?


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_robin

[stui magpie]

Nope, never seen a bird like that.

[Tannin]

Have I seen a Pink Robin, PTID?

Why yes! In fact, we have them on the property. At least I saw a pair down by the creek in about December last year. Whether they were just passing through, seasonal visitors, or actually live here all year round, I don't know. For some reason, we seldom go down to the creek - which is a bit silly as it's nice and cool and shady. I must go and poke around there a bit more often.

All of the other Tasmanian robin species are common here and you don't have to go outside to see them, just look out the window: Flame and Dusky are seasonal but mostly around somewhere, Scarletts all year long.

But let's go back to 2013 and my most memorable Pink Robin encounter. I was living in Ballarat back then but visiting northern Tasmania and had driven up to Liffey Falls for the day, hoping to find some of the local specialties such as Tasmanian Thornbill, Bassian Thrush, Scrubtit, and of course Pink Robin.

It was a terrible day, cold and wet and foggy. My backup plan, if the light didn't play nice, was to don hat, Dryzabone, tripod and gumboots, and look for a nice rainforest scene - given a tripod and a time exposure, rainforest works pretty well on cloudy and even rainy days - better than sunny days actually because the light is nice and even. (You get wet and uncomfortable mucking about trying to keep the rain spots off your lenses though.)

By the time I got there, it was raining steadily. But I stumbled off, carrying the big lens and two tripods. I had no luck with the birds. The small ones were too quick for me - birding in rainforest with fill-flash takes time and thornbills don't give you any - and there was no sign of the Pink Robins I really wanted to meet.

All I got for my trouble was a few not-very-good landscapes. And cold. And wet.

Eventually I went back to the car park and made a cuppa to warm me up. By this time I'd spent four or five hours looking for birds and achieved nothing. Photographic trips are like that: you get good days and bad days. No point getting upset about it, you just have a cup of tea and try again. Sooner or later, your luck always changes.

But the rain got heavier and heavier, with no let-up in sight.

So I sat there in the driver's seat where it was at least vaguely dry, drinking my tea and thinking about the elusive Pink Robin I'd set my heart on, when the chap in the picture below turned up.

I couldn't get out of the car and fetch my best birding camera out of the boot, of course - robins tend to be quite forgiving, but they have their limits and he'd have spooked for sure.

I had the 7D and 100-400 on the seat beside me, but they was useless too - the old Mark 1 100-400 had a two metre minimum focus distance, and the 7D was never any good at high ISO, and at f/5.6 the 100-400 is way too slow for birds in gloomy wet rainforest anyway.

But I did have my landscape cameras handy in the footwell, so I gave it a go.

This, I think, is the only time I ever used the 5D II (with its low pixel density and truly horrible autofocus system) for birding, and it's certainly the only time I've ever used a little lens like a 24-105 for it!

As you can see, the result was fair rathr than great. Just the same, sitting there in the pouring rain while the Pink Robin hopped around on my mirrors was memorable.



Here is the female, this one from near Mt Roland in 2010.




And here is a rather flawed shot at Liffey Falls again, taken from a bad angle, but with the proper equipment this time.



The shot you provided first is better posed, of course, but whoever did the raw conversion or post-processing on it should surrender his or her driving licence 'coz we are talking seriously colourblind! (Compare with my top one - washed out by being too close to the flash but accurate enough, or the bottom one, which is correct.)

[David]

Great photos (and story), Tannin! It's a cute and beautifully-coloured bird, that's for sure.

[think positive]

I’m so $�$%^%%$ jealous right now Tannin!

[Tannin]

^ No reason to be, Jo. You do wonderful work of your own, which I admire.

[stui magpie]

Nice story.

I get a variety of small colourful birds which I assume are Finches up in Toc. They're about the sizeof a canary.

Are these robins much bigger?

[Tannin]

Similar, probably a little tubbier. What colour are your colourful ones?

[stui magpie]

There's one in particular which has a couple of shades of blue, one very vibrant like electric blue. Can't recall the others.

[think positive]

[Tannin]

You'd be very welcome Jo.

Stui, that will be a male Splendid Fairy-wren. Similar to the familiar "blue wren" seen in most of temperate southern Australia (Melbourne included) but even bluer, with two different shades.

Why they don't get a clue on the names committee I'll never know. We have (among others) the Superb-Fairy-wren (the "blue wren" just mentioned), the Splendid Fairy-wren (the one you are seeing in Toc, also common around Sydney, and in mallee and scrubland anywhere it's fairly dry), and the Lovely Fairy-wren (FNQ). Why not change the names such that our Superb becomes the Blue Fairy-wren and your Splendid becomes the Very Blue-Fairy-wren? It would save a lot of confusion.

Here is your Splendid Fairy-wren:

[stui magpie]

Yep, that looks like him. Cute and very fast. They flit around in one of the garden beds, playing chasey in one shrub.

[What'sinaname]

Crispy skin robin.....yum!

[watt price tully]

Beautiful photos Tannin. Stunning.

[Jezza]

That's a beautiful looking bird.

Great photos, Tannin.