The Dichotomy of the Tapas Bar.

Birds & Flowers. Food & Fights. The Tapas Bar has it all.

Spring is here and the birds & bees are doing their thing.
Flowers are blooming & Birds are mating. This all bodes well for some good photos.

This time last year the Tapas Bar had a new visitor. A Little Wattlebird. I named him Wallace (Wally to his friends). He had chosen to build a nest in the Murraya bush above the Tranquillity Pool. At the time I also had a regular visitor to the Tapas Bar & that was Kit the Green Catbird. Unfortunately for Wallace (Wally to his friends), Kit loves eggs so Wallace (Wally to his friends) never to got to see his progeny born.

Well he has turned up again, and this year I haven’t seen Kit for months. He might be more successful this year, so here’s hoping.

This is Wallace (Wally to his friends)

He's a Little Wattlebird

& a cute little critter at that.

The rice & fruit isn't his cup of tea,

but he does like a bit of Jasmin nectar.

Wallace (Wally to his friends) as been inspecting a nesting site

in the Murraya in the background.

My family of Kookaburras look forward to Sunday. Chook day. They get the left overs if I’ve had a BBQ chicken during the week. These guys are great for recycling. They love all the things we leave. They will eat all of the carcass including the bones. The stuffing I toss, but the rest goes to them.

"Button, would you like a little bit of chicken?"

"PUCK NO! I want a piece this big."

Bitey seems pleased with his chicken bone.

And showing his appreciation

he strokes my face with his wing.

Bully is moulting and lost her tail feathers which are only just starting to grow back.

Bitey being Bitey.

And when he bites me, he gets a good throttling.

Do you reckon he bites me on purpose?

Like Wallace (Wally to his friends), Stan the Grey Butcher bird has returned. Last year he introduced me to Pied his son. I’m looking forward to this year’s bub.

This is Stan the Grey Butcherbird.

Stan & Mal eyeing off each other.

Mal best be careful.

Stan eats small birds.

The Tapas Bar is forming a Barbershop Quartet. I'm going to name it… Tree Birds plus One.

We’re looking for auditions for the following roles.

Lead: This bird’s role is to carry the tune.

Shiloh has quite a pretty song when he's not hissing at he others.

Tenor: Needs to harmonize above the lead. The part is often sung in falsetto, which is of a softer quality.

Mal can do soft.

Not often, but he can.

Baritone: Completes the chord with a medium voice

Red fills that bill perfectly.

Bass: Always sings and harmonizes the lowest notes

The master of mimic, Brad was the obvious choice.

Now the Tapas Bar wouldn’t be the Tapas Bar without a few blues.

Going thru my photos, there seems to be one common denominator. Mal the Noisy Miner.

He seems to be giving it to, or copping it from, just about everyone. He really lives a stressful life.

How could a cute little guy like Mal be a pugilist?

He can't understand why Red would be pissed off with him standing on his beak.

Normally Mal doesn't hassle Brad.

And that's because Brad doesn't suffer fools lightly.

I'm surprised he's taking on Shiloh as well.

Both Brad & Shiloh are 3 times as big.

But it doesn't deter him.

Big heart....

Small brain..

Brads had enough of this shit.

It's about time to put Mal in his place.

Pedro the Pee Wee chimed in.

He never misses an opportunity.

The other one that seems to get into the thick of it is Red. He & Shiloh have been blueing for a while now. It’s not a species thing as Red gets on OK with Brad (Shiloh’s dad), so I’m guessing it’s a personality thing.

MOVE RED!!!

The Tapas Bar is mine.

MAKE ME!!!

OK. I will

And again and again.

After copping a pizzling from Shiloh

Red was looking for someone to take out his rage.

Mal was the right bird at the wrong time.

Poor Mal

I did say normally these guys get on.

But on occasion......

All this fighting and mating makes for a hungry bird.

And this is where the title of this blog makes sense.

Dichotomy: A dichotomy is a contrast between two things. When there are two ideas, especially two opposed ideas — like war and peace, or love and hate — you have a dichotomy.

I hope you enjoyed this post. It might be a while before my next post as I'm booked in for a spot of cancer surgery that will have me laid up for a month or two. Fret not as I'm as tough as a mallee bull and will see you all soon.