Who's Who at the Tapas Bar

Me & my good mate Boss. Back at the beginning.

6 years ago I was visited by a Kookaburra I named Boss. I started to feed him. While I didn’t feed him daily, he would turn up every arvo. He seemed content to just sit next to me & enjoy the last of the days light as we looked out over the reserve. We certainly felt like "Lords over all we surveyed”

The View

Me & a good mate feeling like the Lords over all we survey.

After a while he introduced me to his mate, Bashful. She was the exact opposite of Boss. She was quite timid, and even after 6 years, is not comfortable sitting on my hand to be fed. Her name, Bashful ,really suits her.

While she might be Bashful by nature, she's gregarious by attitude. I sit on my veranda with a spray bottle and on hot summer days squirt my birds. Some love it, some tolerate it, some hate it. Bashful absolutely LOVES it.

Bashful with The Gandalf look.

That's after 3 squirt bottles

After 6 months of this I got the idea of starting my blog – Brads Burras. So I went out and purchased a GoPro, to document what I hoped would quite an interesting & unusual story.
BEST DECISION I’VE EVER MADE.
My relationship with Boss grew stronger & stronger. Every year (around the 1^st of January) he would bring around his newly fledged bub for an intro, and even encouraged them up to the veranda railing to meet me.

Here's Bitey living up to his name

The 1^st year it was Bitey,

















Next year was the arrival of the twins Bully & Brave Baby,

Bully - she really was.

Brave Baby enjoying a hosing at the end of a hot summers day
He's another one that absolutely loves water.

Button

After this is Button,

My only photo of Biff, just after he fledged.

He disappeared a few days later.

Followed by Biff (I think an Eagle may have got him a month after he fledged).

















And last year’s bub was Boof. Boof & I bonded straight away, and we seem to have formed that special bond, very much like that I have with his dad, Boss.

My new bestie Boof.

Is that the look of adoration?

Something has happened to the family this year. I haven’t seen Boss & Bashful at all & I fear the worst (there was no bub this year either), Bitey left more than a year ago to find his own territory as did Bully, so all that’s left this year is Boof (she might be a girl & too young to breed), Brave Baby & Button, both poorly named boys (they don’t start to show their sex for the 1^st year or so. I’ll bet they’re great fighters with names like that)
Anyway, this relationship with Boss, & my new camera gave me the idea to put in a bird feeding station I called the Tapas Bar.
In my mind, to write an interesting blog my birds needed names & personalities. Until I started down this path, I had no idea that in fact they did have personalities. But they certainly do & it’s what helps tell them apart (they all look the bloody same to me). So everyone & everything has a name.
First I’ll start with the hardware. My 1^st GoPro is called Headley. The 2^nd is called Heidi (after Heidi Fleiss – the 1^st time I set it up, I came home to find it flat on its back & still recording – go on, look up Heidi Fleiss).

Headley GoPro

And Heidi GoPro

The birdbaths are called the Tranquillity Pool & the Wrens Splash Pool.

The Tranquillity Pool, oh yeah & Headley

The Wrens Splash Pool
This is also doubles as a fish & frog habitat

Now for the Cast of Characters.
We’ll start with the Lorikeets.

Cedrick & Daphne, the baddest birds in the whole damn town, meaner than a junkyard dog. These guys certainly add colour to the Tapas Bar in more ways than one.

Cedrick doesn't know how to take a backward step.

Even when challenged by Russel the Raven

There is only 1 bird that gives my Kookas any grief.

Now you would think the Kookas would win every fight,

But I've got to tell you it's 50/50. Cedrick won this one.

Especially when Cedrick knows a bit of Kung Foo

The next to feature daily are the beautiful ones. The Satin Bowerbirds.

Brad & Angelina, their kids Shiloh & Knox. The females & juveniles are called green birds and are very hard to separate by sex. That is until something miraculous happens at age 7. The boys reach sexual maturity and change colour to black. Knox has just started that process. Shiloh is still a few years off.

This is Brad collecting more blue things for his mansion

I say mansion because that's what it should be by now

with the 100's of rings & tops I've given him

Blue is the new Black didn't you know

Maybe one of my best photos.
I don't know how Headley caught those balls of juice squirting out?

Only one thing could make this scene look prettier.

The arrival of Angelina

Don't you just love her eyes

Now Shiloh's not a bird to be reckoned with.

Here he is with all his war paint on.

He & Red just don't get on.

This is Knox. He's approaching 7 years of age.

He's started that transition from a green bird to that of a black bird like his dad.

How do I know? Check his beak. Young males it should be black. Adult males it's cream

You may be thinking how do I know Shiloh’s a boy if he’s a few years off colour change? While I said they are hard to separate the sexes, it's not impossible. If you get a good look at their eyes the girls are all blue, whereas the boys have a little bit a mauve around the pupil.

See the Mauve in Shiloh's eye?

That Mauve is missing in Angelina's eye.

Girls are all blue

The next bird on the list MUST be the Red Wattlebirds.
That’s for a few reasons. Red (that’s his name BTW) the Red Wattlebird has been with me from day one when I set up the Tapas Bar. As well as visiting daily, he’s a moody character depending on the season. When its breeding season, he’s full of testosterone and ready & willing to take on the world and all that are in it (with a couple of exceptions – he won’t go near my Kookaburra family or the Cedrick & Daphne the Lorikeets). When it’s not breeding season he seems to be on every ones shit list.

Here comes Red. See how is chest is puffed up.

I wouldn't be surprised if Shiloh was hiding in the Maraya.

The other reason he has to be next on the list is what’s happened to him the last 3 years.

He has been selected as a Foster Dad by visiting Koels that come down each Oct/Nov, stay the summer, and leave late March. Koel’s are brood parasites, which means they lay their eggs in another birds nest for them to feed & raise. Then Mum, Dad & Bub all fly back to New Guinea.
So you will see Red (& his mates) again later in this post when I get to the Koels. Red selects a different mate each year and the first year it was Little John, named so because of her little wattles (again, bloody unfortunate name. I thought he was a boy until the following photo, and subsequent Koel Feeding).

Little John with her little wattles

A fairly defining moment. 

It's about now I started thinking that maybe Little John was in fact a girl.

Then last year it was Wilma the Red Wattlebird (you know like Wilma & Fred from the Flintstones, except its Wilma & Red. Get it?  Wilma & Red Bwahahaha. I kill me sometimes)

Wilma. She has no wattle at all.
Seems Red likes em young.

The other Wattlebirds that visit are the Little Wattlebirds.
These guys are the complete opposite to their cousins the Red Wattlebirds. Wallace (Wally to his friends) as such a quiet, demure bird. Capable of zero aggression. I’d love to see more of this cute little bird, but they’re one of the only birds not interested in what I serve on the Tapas Bar. They do however love a swim. If I didn’t have the Tranquillity Pool or the Wrens Splash Bar, I never see them.

Wallace (Wally to his friends) is quite an accomplished swimmer

He goes for a dip daily.

As well as being a proficient swimmer, he is also an accomplished aerobatic.

You see birds can't fly upside down.

Wallace (Wally to his friends) and his new girl friend.

She just can't take her eyes off him.

While we’re talking cousins, the Satin Bowerbirds have a cousin, the Green Catbirds.
Kit the Green Catbird found my backyard 3 years ago. This guy is an enigma to me. He lives across the road in the bush and visits for a few months every year. And not the same few months. Yet I hear him every night at dusk making his call, and less than 100 meters from my place. He LOVES the food I put up (especially the grapes), taking as much as he can fit in his beak, yet goes for months without paying a visit.

Kit is a striking looking bird.

But a real guts

No surprises here. Like his cousin Shiloh, Kit's not a big fan of Red either.

Now it’s time for the Koels.
The last few years the Reserve behind my place has been the destination for my New Guinean visitors. I won’t dwell on their story as I’ve already done a couple of posts on them. Here are links to them. Fascinating birds & worth the read.

https://bradsburras.blogspot.com/2016/02/its-summer-storm-birds-are-here.html

https://bradsburras.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-storm-birds-are-back.html

The original breeding pair I named Kath (Mum) & Kym (Dad). I was privileged as these birds rarely come down from the treetops. But I was lucky, as they took a shine to the fruit I served up at the Tapas Bar, so I was able to get photos few are able to get. They picked Red & Little John (remember my Red Wattlebirds) as Foster Parents. Kath & Kym’s offspring I called Storm. Again as Red & Little John were Tapas Bar regulars, I was afford some terrific photos of them feeding their giant baby Storm.

Kath

Kym

And Storm their bub

I wouldn't do this. No Way. What if the kid sneezed?

The next year Storm came back to my backyard with his Mate I called Thunder, and again Red & Wilma were selected as the Foster Parents. If you haven’t already checked out my post re- The Storm Birds are Back (linked above) you should, I think you will be fascinated with my observations & photos.

Anyway, their bub I called Hoover. He was a real eating machine. He was so named as when he started to self-feed he was like a plague of locusts. He would literally “Hoover” up all the food at the Tapas Bar within minutes.

Storm mid transition stage to his adult colours.

Cedrick's met his match with Thunder.

She's from New Guinea & hasn't heard of his rep as the nasty one.

I'd rather feed this guy for a day than a week.

He was going thru a full mango a day.

It's either true love or blind faith.

Grey Butcherbirds also visit every year.

Stan the Grey Butcher bird is another regular. Named after my local Butcher when I was a kid. Back in the day when he first started coming around I didn’t know much about birds, so when he bought his young bub around I named him Pied. Another unfortunate name, as I was soon informed by members on Birds of Oz, he was in fact a Grey Butcherbird, not a Pied Butcherbird – BUGGER.

Stan's a true predator.

Here's the look that should give you the fear of God, if you were small critter

Stan's poorly named child - Pied

Bet you didn't know birds had whiskers.

And they perform exactly the same function that they do with cats.

These guys are real songsters, here is Pied singing his heart out.

https://youtu.be/L3Ag1BgD5Io

Next up are the Crested Pigeons & Spotted Doves.

I have a breeding pair of Crested Pigeons I’ve named after the lead characters in a TV show. So here is Judge John Deed & his mate Jo Mills. I have been lucky that a lot of the names I choose actually match the bird.  The crest on the pigeons reminded of a judges wig and thus their names, however what I didn’t know at the time was how close they matched the characters from the TV show. The real Judge is a soft spoken bloke, that’s a ladies man and can’t stand bullies & will not take a backward step.

Now to Judge John Deed the bird. Also a ladies man (not at all monogamous), and the only bird that stands up to Cedrick & Red (both Bullies). He’s great.

The Judge. He even wears his shadow on his chest like a badge.

Cedrick, you might know Kung Foo, But I know how to dance the "Bump"

And with that Cedrick was sent flying off the Tapas Bar

Red thought a sneak attack to take a bite out of the Judges bum was a good idea

WRONG move Red. The Judge opens his wing and..............

Then like a Venus Fly Trap, the jail doors close around him.

Look close & you can see Red tucked in there.

The Spotted Doves I’ve named Rhonda & Ketut after a series of TV commercials shown here in Australia involving an Australian girl (Rhonda) & a Balinese guy (Ketut). Spotted Doves are an introduced species from Indonesia, thus my need for an Indonesian name.

Rhonda & Ketut.

I make special flower for you today Rhonda.

You look so hot today. Like a sunrise

My Pee Wee’s are next on my list.

Pedro & Pernicious Pee Wee have been with me from the get go. They too are colourful characters, but more so Pernicious. At different times of the year she will spar with her own reflection, so is often seen attacking doors & car mirrors. Unfortunately for Headley my camera, she must also see her reflection in his lens and gives him tons of grief as she attacks him relentlessly. He’ll be asking for danger money soon.

Pedro coming in at a rate of knots with a word or 2 for Headley.

But it's Pernicious that gives Headley the hardest time.

She scares the shit out of him.

Noisy Miners must be one of Australia’s most despised birds & I love them.

They have a dreadful rep for attacking and annoying all other bird species. Driving them out of nests & taking them over, even attacking and killing other birds. I HAVE SEEN NONE OF THIS. The exact opposite as a matter of fact. Mal (yeah that’s his name btw) seems to be on everyone’s shit list. Most times, if there is a fight, it’s Mal getting the shit kicked out of him.

Mal & the rest of his clan.

That's Mal on the edge of the Tranquillity holding council.

Unfortunately Shiloh & Mal don't get on so well.

These boots are made for walking
And that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

Ducks, Bloody Ducks are the next on my list.

J Edgar the Mallard. Didn’t he nearly have an appointment with the baking-dish? He nearly shut down the Tapas Bar. “Hoover” the name, was already taken, so that’s how he got to be called J Edgar, but that’s what he did to the Tapas Bar. Hoover up all its contents. It would take him less than 2 minutes to clean up all the food on offer. He had to be stopped. Luckily for him he eluded me a number of times that I had tried to trap him, and then, just as luckily for him, he stopped visiting the Tapas Bar.

J Edgar, did you know you have a drooling food problem?

He's not one to share. Even with his own kind.

J Edgar hoovering up all he can see.....

Then taking a relaxing swim in the Tranquillity Pool.

My next visitor rarely visits, but often enough to deserve a name and that’s my resident Willy Wagtail.

Billy, the Willy Willy Wagtail. He eats very small insects, so nothing I serve up interests him, and he usually gets all his moisture from the prey he eats, so doesn’t drink a lot of water. But on occasion he does visit the Tranquillity Pool. He is such a small bird, but his heart is as big as a lions. When Bruiser the Sea Eagle is around, he’s the first one to take the attack to him. Billy’s wing span is 6 inches. Bruiser’s is 6 feet.

Russel copping an earful from Billy

Check out his aerobatics in slow motion
https://youtu.be/Lo9IYIzY1Hs

The newest member to the Tapas Bar crowd is the Raven.

I hope Russel will now be a regular. He’s raising a family just down the reserve a few 100 meters, and discovered the Tapas Bar a few months ago, when he was raising his 2 kids. His introduction to the Tapas Bar has been a bit of a baptism by fire. Every one seems to hate him except for Me & Headley.

Russel giving Headley his best "Steely-eyed" look,

Cedrick giving Russel his best "Steely-eyed" look.

Storm giving Russel his best "Steely-eyed" look.

To finish off, we have Magpies, Sea Eagles, Rats & what I believe is the world’s ugliest bird, the Brush Turkey.

Bonaparte & Josephine the Magpies have turned up a couple of times recently. These guys are real smart & such characters. I can’t tell how much I want these guys to become regulars.

Can't you see Bonaparte walking along, hands behind his back, inspecting his fleet

Now for the exact opposite of the Magpies, I DON’T WANT TO SEE THESE TWO AGAIN.

Remy the Rat made a daring visit to the Tapas Bar. I can’t say I’m surprised with all the food that’s always on offer, but I was surprised he did it in broad daylight, when this is a Kookaburras Backyard.

I think I smell food. Any Kookaburras around?????????

I can’t tell you how I prayed for one to turn up right now & claim this little sucker right in front of Headley. NOT A BLOODY KOOKABURRA IN SIGHT!!!!!

Nup. No Kookaburras. I might just grab me a feed.

Another unwanted guest was this guy Dyson (named after the vacuum cleaner). He closed the Tapas Bar for 5 days while he was around. I didn’t want to encourage him, as like J Edgar the Mallard, it took him seconds to eat everything.

Only a Mother could love that face.

He soon moved on thank God. Here’s a funny video of Dyson.

https://youtu.be/2B-Cwy6Z1O4

Now the last bird I will never get a good photo of, but he keeps everyone on their toes as he circles above. Meet Bruiser the Sea Eagle.

Bruiser the Bouncer. He keeps everyone in order.

And with that, my Who’s Who of the Tapas Bar is finished. However, this is a work in progress, and I’m sure as word gets out, my list of regulars will grow.

So, if you’ve stayed till the end, thanks and a small gift from Boss & Myself

 

See you all next time

If you enjoyed this post, here's a link to my latest post;

https://bradsburras.blogspot.com/2021/05/cedrick-nasty-lorikeet.html