&trisbert

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We were delighted to find this White Cheeked Honeyeater apparently posing for us. I noticed that he got quite agitated when I moved toward one side of the tree. My sweetheart found the reason. There was a chick hiding behind a fallen branch on the ground. We moved back and watched the chick try to fly into the tree. He tried several times, we could see him getting weaker with each try. So I picked him up, he was so small you could make a nest for him from a matchbox tray, I placed him on a branch about shoulder high. Then watched as his parents encouraged him and led him higher into the tree. Within ten minutes we lost sight of them in the dense foliage. The adults grow to about 15 centimetres (6 inches). They feed on nectar and insects. The male will often fly over the ground picking up speed, then go straight up towards the sky calling as he goes until he runs out of flying speed when he becomes silent and fly’s back to his perch.