A yellow bird escapes and “mis”sing kangal feathers

This poor little honeyeater (it is not a humming bird as I first thought), is a story of lost opportunity, both photographic and cosmetic. One morning, last week, on my way to the mess I heard a fluttering in the hibiscus hedge. I grabbed my camera and investigated, taking picture as I went, as any digital photo addict would. The little guy was clearly caught. In fact there was a red tie around his leg and it was tangled in the stem of the hibiscus.

Now I have him in one hand and the camera in the other. It was too hard to free him. So I put the camera down and untied him. Well he just flew off didn’t wait to have his photo taken…. that’s gratitude for you.

Yesterday I was showing my photos of the skul tumbuna to some of the locals and they picked this photo as the authentic traditional dress for this island. His “mis” necklace is genuine shell money, and would be very expensive. They also identified that his kangal headress should have more yellow feathers. Suddenly I realized I had let them fly free! No wonder he doesn’t look happy.