A spotted intruder

It was the voice that drew my attention. A single little peep. What could it be? I couldn't place it at all.

Luckily the bird was in a small shrub next to the house and it soon revealed itself as it broke cover to attack its reflection in the window. Aha! A male Spotted Pardalote. Over the next two days the bird regularly returned to the same spot to attack the 'intruder'.

Spotted Pardalote

I wasn't surprised  to see a Spotted Pardalote, but I was surprised to see the yellow rump of the race xanthopyus. Morcombe's field guide says it "is found in sandplain mallee and drier open woodland". So why was it in damp sclerophyll forest east of Heywood in western Victoria? And if it was nesting where did it find a suitable spot on moist green grassy paddocks of  dairy farm with not a sandy bank or sandy ground within cooee?

Spotted Pardalote. Note yellow rump that indicates that it is Pardalotus punctatus race xanthopygus.