My Burra Family: July 2016

Looks like I’ve gone full circle.

To attract birds I put in a solar powered bird bath (the Tranquillity Pool).
What a lemon. 5 months and not one visit.

I then put a bird feeding station (the Tapas Bar) next to it.

What a success, well sort of. Birds came from everywhere to feed at the Tapas Bar, but still ignored the Tranquillity Pool.

The success of the Tapas Bar has been my main focus for the last few years.

To keep my photos interesting I move the Tapas Bar & Headley (my GoPro camera) around the backyard for different backdrops. I change the food to try to target specific birds. I’ve added flowers & petals for colour & texture..
It’s been an interesting and rewarding journey so far with a stacks of great photos.

Recently the solar system died on the Tranquillity Pool, so I removed the panels and the statue to see if I could repair. To my amazement a couple of birds came in for a bath. It turns out the statue didn’t give them enough room. Who’d of thunk it hey?

DING! A lightbulb moment.
Position Headley next to the Tapas Bar to get them swimming.
On cue Pedro the Pee Wee called in for a Wee dip. Video below.

Taking a closer look at the Saratoga Aurora

Pedro the Pee Wee is such a boy.

He loves blowing bubbles in the bath.

When he left I got another bonus. One of my Kookaburras came in for a drink. Now normally these guys don’t drink, getting enough moisture from their prey. In the 3 years the bird bath has been in, this is the 4^th or 5^th time I’ve seen this. Again, video below.

Well that was a quick result. This idea led to the next.

Place the Tapas Bar flush with the Tranquillity Pool & position Headley on the other side.

Wow, I liked what I got, but the birds were too far away. There was a bit of action this day & Headley was just that little bit too far away. The highlight today was the Judge (Crested Pigeon) coming in for a drink.

Little John joining her partner Red.

Yes I know. She was named before I knew her sex.

Mal the Miner challenging Brad.

He is a cantankerous bugger giving everyone a hard time.

But sometimes the birds have just had enough of Mal

and dish a bit back.

Turns out very few animals can drink like us humans.

Pigeons & Doves are the only birds.

This led to the next idea.

Remove the Tapas Bar, refit the far solar panel as a feeding station, and see what happens.

Mal the Noisy Miner.

If he not annoying the others, he's annoying the shit out of me.

Here he is manoeuvring the last grape to edge of the water....

So he could push it in.

While I liked the result, it still needed something.

Headley needed to get closer. Time to see if he truly is waterproof.

I paced him where the other solar panel goes (so opposite the feeding platform).

What a difference that change made.

But I felt Headley was still a little too far away. Closer is better right?

My next issue was the shape of the Tranquillity Pool and how to get Headley closer?

Headley has a mount on the bottom, so I can’t just sit him in the shallow section. What to do?

Cut a piece to potato to the right contour of the Tranquillity Pool, carve out a groove for Headley’s mount, position his lens at water level, and………………….WOW.

Now I need to play with position and time. As with the Tapas Bar, Headley & the Tranquillity Pool are now mobile.

It only took a day or so for Brad, Angelina & Shiloh, my family of Satin Bowerbirds, to become accustomed to the new set up. Brad was the first one to check it out. He and his son Shiloh have given me some great photos, but the best are of Angelina. I haven't seen her for 12 months.

It was late in the arvo, the shadow was quickly creeping across the yard as the sun slide behind the hill behind my place. On the veranda above, I stood up to go & collect Headley. As I did, Angelina flew in. The Tranquillity Pool is now in shadow as would the background in the next minute.

Just like a star, she knows how to make a grand entrance.

Angelina, timing it to the last second to get that "Just perfect" light.

Angelina is a female Satin Bowerbird.

Compare here eyes to that of Brads in the next photo.

Hers are blue

His are mauve.

This is Shiloh, Brad & Angelina's son from last year

He looks identical to his mum & will do for the next 6 years.

One of the signs of him being a male is the eyes.

He has mauve blotches around his pupil.

It had caught his attention.

Slowly the shadow was moving around the pool.

He needed to get a closer look.

Closer....

Suddenly the water boiled like lava.

He recoils and says........

Faarrk.

That's...

One...

Juicy...

Grape...

Don't you just hate it when your nose runs like a tap.

I had a treat one arvo. I thought the three Bowerbirds that visit were the only ones in the area, but this arvo a mob of juvenile male Satin Bowerbirds came in. I had recently seen a David Attenborough doco on this. These guys don’t mature & turn black until seven, so they have a lot of free time on their hands, and form gangs. This is from Birds in Backyards;

“The mature male Satin Bowerbirds are mostly solitary, but the 'green' birds are often seen in groups or quite large flocks. In winter (outside of the breeding season), birds move to more open country, and occasionally enter orchards. At this time, mature males may join the 'green' bird flocks.”

The Lorries, Cedrick & Daphne, were next. I love these guys. They add colour and drama whenever they’re around. They either like you or don’t like you, but you won’t know which until you’re face to face. See they’re a bit ‘Jekyll & Hyde’

Will he be Jekyll...

Or will he be Hyde today?

A Bird.

A Reflection.

A Shadow.

It’s rumoured the Tranquillity Pool has magic powers.
That the Pool is filled by a mystical spring.
Eat of its fruit for eternal beauty.Drink from its waters for eternal wisdom.
After watching Daphne eat the fruit, there was only one choice left for Cedrick....
He needed…no…..must drink from the Pool.
He knew he’d need the wisdom to deal with Daphne.
She was a handful now, and the way she was digging into that fruit, he could only imagine what would be coming.
He drank and drank and drank.