A little sunshine?

Today I am offering a little bit of sunshine on a cloudy/rainy day in the form of  some beautiful little birds I photographed in Hawaii.

Fresh from my camera:

 

I was on the Hilo side of the island (Hawaii) when I encountered this lovely little bird.

 

It is yellow, so must be a canary, right, well maybe?

 

But it is known as a saffron Finch in Hawaii.

 

The Saffron Finch is a small tanager, introduced to Hawaii, originating in South America.

 

 

 

 

It has a vibrant yellow body and orange crown, below is the reverse view, can you believe this little guy turned his back on me?

 

 

 

Here is the male Saffron Finch with a juvenile in the background.

 

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest...........

 

 

 

I just love the reflections.

 

They are about 5.5 to 6 inches long and they seem to be ground feeders, eating seeds and small insects. 

 

Against the grass they are well camouflaged.

 

 

 

Bath time, two juvenile Saffron Finches enjoy a puddle of water....

 

...under the watchful eye of the adult Finch.

 

 

 

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Another yellow bird, is it a Canary? No this one is a Japanese White Eye.

It has a yellow throat but the head is a green colour and the body a buff colour.

 

I caught sight of this little fellow on a Bird of Paradise plant and was able to get a few pictures before it vanished.

 

This is another introduced bird and it is a little smaller than the Saffron Finch.

It is a passerine.

 

 

"This small green passerine, introduced from Japan to the Hawaiian Islands in 1929, spread quickly to all the main islands and successfully invaded forests from sea level to the highest reaches of the mountains, rapidly becoming the most abundant and widespread passerine in the archipelago.

 

White-eyes are commonly observed throughout the islands in both urban and pristine native habitats, in small flocks gleaning insects or gathering fruit and nectar from shrubs and understory subcanopy vegetation." https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/487/articles/introduction

 

Well that is my offering of sunshine for today.

 

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New from my studio:

 

An ink and watercolour painting called "Hearts of Stone":

 

This appears darker than the original, I will have to take a better picture the next time the sun comes out!

 

 

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That's all I have for you this week, happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

 

Gillian.