I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon chasing a reasonably large flock of Zebra Finches (about 100 birds in total) around the dunes and rocks near the Dampier beach. Every time I disturbed the flock (they appeared to be feeding) they moved a few hundred metres away and stopped again to feed. There seemed to always be one or two birds that performed “sentry” duties, perching on a nearby branch watching for danger (me in this case). If I could avoid being seen by the “sentry” finch I could generally get close enough to have a chance of taking photographs.

Has anyone else observed this behaviour?