Fantail

It's been a busy day today, with an early morning meeting + welcoming morning tea (for the visiting professor teaching the course I'll be tutoring this semester), and an afternoon function for the just retired professor. Following the latter, I went for a short walk around the Ilam Homestead grounds, during which time I came across two of these cheeky little guys...

Yep... Fantails! This is the first time I've actually been close enough to have a chance at getting some shots of them (though I've heard a few chattering away in the trees a few times). Notable for their large fan-shaped tails, it turns out that despite not being the best of fliers (i.e. they can't fly in a straight line for one thing; their oversized tails tend to drag them downwards an into crazy spiral loops), they're still fast enough to cause trouble for photographers trying to get some shots of them!