An Evolving Idea

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.

Mal takes on all.

Well almost all.

Cedrick scares the shit out of him

Mal giving Cedrick some room.

Seems Judge John Deed isn't to keen on Mal either.

Now, this puts Cedrick in an unusual position.

Him & the Judge don't normally get on.

My Enemies enemy. Therefore you must be my friend.

And an unlikely friendship started.

Cedrick, from the wrong side of the tracks, mates with a Judge

Others in Cedrick's crew completely misread the situation.

Coming to Cedrick's defence wasn't his brightest move.

The Judge flew off, which left him on a collision course with Cedrick

Now Cedrick doesn't suffer fools lightly.

As he would find out.

Still a work in progress, but I’m getting there.

To see what happens next, you’ll have to come back next post.

See you then…..Hopefully.

Here is Pedro's dip.

https://youtu.be/mkuSTjPqZMU

And my dinking Kooka
https://youtu.be/qwnP5UXZjLA

Don't forget the fighting lorries
https://youtu.be/YRGaIDW9L9w

A Cantankerous Bunch

There has been a bit of action of late at the Tapas Bar. The Noisy Miners have been a real pain in the arse, hassling all that visit.
Well it got me thinking of who fights with who. So I started going thru old photos and that’s how I came up with the title.
It seems birds, and I mean all birds, are Cantankerous. And non-discriminate.
They are so much like us.  They fight between species. They fight between partners. They fight between siblings.
Neighbourhood Harmony.
It has however, given me many amusing & sometimes wow moments.
Here are but a few;

Brotherly Love

I'd thought I'd start with my family of Burras, because they are the least likely to fight, yet they do on occasion.

These are my gentle giants. They're big with an equally impressive beak, capable of eating a lot of the Tapas Bar visitors. And it’s for that reason they’re given their space.

But sometimes fuses are short between the siblings and, more rarely, another species gets in their space. With the other species it usually by mistake and they regret their mistake very quickly & retreat. That is except for Cedrick & Daphne the Lorries. They don’t take a backward step.

This is Button, last years fledgling.

Now her older sister Bully is supposed to feed her,

But has decided to eat all the treats instead.

Button's had enough & nails her.

Biting the Hand that feeds you.

Mr Kookaburra, I must warn you......

I'm a red belt in Keet Kung Foo.....

The opposite of my gentle giants are the Lorries. These guys really are pugilists. The true bullies of the Tapas Bar. They will take on all and sundry. Very few get over the top of a Lorrie. My Burras are probably only 50/50, maybe.

The others, well, they know they have taken on a mouthful.  

However, recently there has been a bird that has had enough of the Lorries attitude and decided to give a bit back. And a most unlikely bird at that. The Judge John Deed (a Crested Pigeon) has a novel way to deal with them. He bumps them off the Tapas Bar with his bum. It’s was a hoot to watch (check out the video at the end of this blog).

Brave Baby is about to regret landing at the Tapas Bar.

Daphne is no mood to share.

"YOU"

"What?"

"I DON'T LIKE YOU"

"Why?"

"IT'S YOUR LOOKS"

"But I look just like you?"

NOW YOU DON'T.........

Cedrick has small bird syndrome.

The bigger the bird, the bigger his heart.

Photographic evidence of Evolution.

12 months ago Cedrick's was kicking the Judges arse.

12 months later....

If you've got the rump.....

Then do the bump.....

Red & Little John, a pair of Red Wattlebirds that have been regulars since the get-go, are a strange pair. They’re either instigating or copping a flogging.  Like the Lorries, all are fair game, except for my Burra’s, them they leave alone. These guys are fairly predictable. Breeding time increases their aggression, and for good reason. They lay an egg. Unfortunately for the Wattlebirds, this is what some have been waiting for. Kit the Green Catbird LOVES a fresh egg for breakfast. Kath & Kym, a pair of Koels, fly down from New Guinea each year looking for a Foster Family to raise their chick. They will eat a Wattlebird egg and replace with one of their own for the Wattlebirds raise as their own.

When you're feeding a bub the size of Goliath

I can understand where the aggression comes from.

I'd be pissed too if I had to feed a kid like this.

So I can understand the aggression towards Catbirds & Koels, but they don’t like Brad the Satin Bowerbird as well. Although not known for eating eggs, Brad is related to Kit the Green Catbird. Both are Bowerbirds. So I think maybe they are eggs thieves. Certainly the Wattlebirds give him the same treatment as Kit.

Some fights they win, some they lose.

"You Don't Scare Me, Red"

"What about now"

The Saratoga Sleeper hold

"Want to try that again Red?, Go on I dare you"

Mistake! Big Mistake!

Huge!!

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not a Catbird. I'm a Bowerbird"

"Just what I'd expect a Catbird to say."

NO!!!!!!!!

NOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Not... the... Saratoga... Sleeper... hold.........

So I’ll end this post, as it started, with those bloody Miners.  For the last month they have been dreadful. The Wattlebirds are driven away on approach, as are the Bowerbirds. The Lorikeets have only just started to re-frequent the Tapas Bar, and the Miners have left them alone so far, but early days.

And they say birds can't fly upside down.

Mal the Noisy Miner is getting the name of.......

Saratoga's worst Mozzie.

I’m telling you Bitey. It’s got worse.
They’re giving everyone a hard time. OK, almost everyone. They’re scared shitless of you guys.
They are even harassing the Judge over there & he doesn’t suffer fools gladly.
So we came up with a plan.
You eat them. Start with Mal. Make it look like an accident. You accidently tripped as you flew in and as you yelled your warning to Mal, that Noisiest of Miners, he jumps up straight into your mouth, like that Jonah & the Whale story.
The Judge said he would see that as “Death by Misadventure” even if it takes 10 or 20 smacks to get him down.

Thanks for getting so far. Here a few videos to send you off with a smile. See you next time.

Crested Pigeon disco dancing

https://youtu.be/pun2AmKtDRA

A Saratoga Haka

https://youtu.be/MQHXhCUOGho

Payback's a Beach

https://youtu.be/RiycOIIHgLE