Kookas Enrichment Day

"Lord, why do you punish me so? When I said I'd like to be joined at the hips, this is NOT what I meant"
Lords reply, "What? Aren't I allowed a sense of humour. Bwahahaha"

My Sisters were up for the weekend, and is customary (& most times necessary) to serve Bacon & Eggs for brekkie the next morn.  I love visits from my Sisters and so do my Kookas, as it’s one of the few times I get to eat bacon. My Kookas get the rind - Bacon Snakes.
I would normally cut it up into mini bacon snakes, but decided today to leave them long so I could tie them to the table. I thought it would give them a bit of fun, and me some good photo ops.

I like to challenge them. I think they do to.

I think I was right on both counts.

Yeah Team! Someone's had a birthday.

Button was the first in. She always is. As soon as I start to lay the Tapas Bar, she lands on the fence because she knows what’s coming. Often I shoo her off because she wants to get in before the Camera's set up, as was the case this morning. Anyway I tied two Bacon Snakes to the table, laid some grapes & some prawn heads, and waited to see what happened.
Button returned and set straight into the Bacon Snake. Grabbing a beak full, she proceeded to play a game of Tug of War. The harder she pulled the tighter the knot got. She came to standstill.

How I love Bacon Snakes.

Come here my little treat.



She could pull no harder & yet the Bacon Snake wouldn’t move an inch.
It was dug in like a brown tick on a black dog.
All she could do was maintain the pressure & growl at it.
She then applied more pressure by flapping backwards.
Still to no avail.

I've got it this time.

Another approach was required, but what could it be? After trying Tug of War for a couple of minutes, she has a moment of genius.  “If I allow some slack, then throw myself backwards, that might break this Serpent from Hells back.  

I have your measure this time serpent.

Prepare to be bested.

Success, well sort of. It moved a bit. Each time she tried she got a little further. I couldn’t wait for that last jerk that was going to release the Bacon Snake from its vice like grip, and send her cartwheeling backwards off the table.  

I should have thought this out a bit more.

This is going to get embarrassing real soon.

FINALLY. She got her reward. But her method is flawed. It takes too long and invites the others to interject.
Expecting her to fly off with her quarry to smash it up. I was shocked to see her swallow it in one piece. I suppose that’s what they do with snakes.

Ha, I knew you'd give up your demon like purchase.

Eventually.

So how do you eat such a Devil Serpent.

Piece by ever lovin piece.

Aaaahhhhhhhh,

Think I could do another one of them

So, now there’s still one Bacon Snake left and she gets stuck into that. Her flawed method had consequences. Boss, who’d been sitting atop the tree behind, chuckling away, thought it was time for a lesson. Arriving, mid “Tug of War”, he lands with one foot squarely on the knot.

Looks like you have your beak full. I'll understand if you don't answer.

But let me give you a hand, Button.

Now look closely. One claw is over the Bacon Snake Button’s got a hold of, the other two however, dug into the knot & he grabs it ½ way along the Bacon Snake. A brief stare off with his daughter, while his claws dig deeper into the knot, then he took one step backwards & let gravity do its thing. Falling from the table, his claw severed the knot, the knot unravelled, the Bacon Snake broke where he had grabbed it, and he ended up with the lions share.

"I've been watching your progress Button. And it has one big flaw"

"Yeah. What's that Dad"

"You let me help.

I LOVE Bacon Snakes"

Now Bitey (Buttons older brother) had been watching intently. He goes to St Francis of Assisi Bird School and is the smart one.

“So the knot is the weak point” he thinks.

“Although Dad’s way worked, it still took too much time.” Bitey mused. He realised that if only the top part on the knot was pulled, the knot parted. Time to undo & eat was only seconds as opposed to minutes.

Could I apply Pythagoras’s theorem or maybe Fulcrums Law?

I need to study this closely.

By Jove, I think I've got it.

THE KNOT. The knot is always the weak point.

Well that's it for this post. I hope you enjoyed the read & photos.

See you all next post

Spring

I’ve been slack in my attendance to my blog, sorry for that, but the photos & visitors continued.

Spring was interesting to say the least. Breading Season.

The whole dynamics of the Tapas Bar changed almost overnight.
The meek & bullied were now the bullies.  The world has turned upside down (or down under)

This post I’ll devote to my Red Wattlebirds. Red & Little John (turns out my naming skills aren’t too good as Little John turns out to be a girl – they all look the same to me).

Now normally they get along with all the locals. The Tapas Bar is a bit like Switzerland – the Neutral Zone.

Except for the Noisy Miners. They give Red & Little John a hard time all year long. They give everyone a hard time. That's what they do. Except the Kookas, them they leave alone. 

Well that is except for spring. Then the Wattlebirds really grow a set of wattles, and it’s safe for no one. Friend or Foe. Big or Small.
There were many arguments and luckily Headley was there to catch it all (Headley’s my GoPro camera).

It seems Red took exception to Brad, the male Satin Bowerbird, visiting the Tapas Bar.

This was a light bulb moment for me. I thought I had discovered something new. Not the fighting, as there are always squabbles at the Tapas Bar, but what happened next. Brad copped a flogging from Red and was driven off the Tranquillity Pool & onto the grass. Down there he started to mimic other birds. Crows, Black Cockatoos & Kookaburras.  The next day Shiloh the juvenile Satin Bowerbird had the same thing happen to him. He flew into the bushes and did the same thing. On both occasions the Wattlebird flew away. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. While this is all out of camera shot, the audio picked it all up. (I’ll include this at the end of the post). So I looked into it, to find this behaviour was only discovered 5 years ago in 2010. Outside of that study that recorded this, there is next to nothing on the Net of this happening due to stress. They will mimic when courting & that is well documented (which I didn’t know).

This is a snipped of that interaction.

Are you threatening me Red?

NO, not at all Brad.

I'm attacking you.

The old Saratoga Nose Hold

I don't imaging Brad is enjoying this moment.

Not one little bit.

What’s unusual is his sparing partners. He doesn’t compete for food with Bowerbirds, they eat different stuff. So why the agro? Babies maybe? I think they see these guys as being threats, although I can’t find anything on the Net to support this.

I can understand the agro with this next contender. Kit the Green Catbird. They are known for eating baby chicks & eggs. Kit is a daily visitor, so he’s had a few beatings lately. He has also learnt to fight back. And best all some of it in front of the camera.

Attacking from above seems to this guys thing.

As is the Saratoga Nose Hold

This hurt on so many levels.

His beak was hurt.  His pride was hurt. His back was about to hurt.

But most of all his ego was hurt.

But Kit's a quick learner. He was expecting an attack from above.

What Red hadn't counted on was Kit's a pretty good jumper.

That didn't stop him trying from below.......

Or pretending to be just flying past.

If you're just flying past,

You better keep going.

He even tried a sideway attack

Red tried & tried.

What stopped the fight was this.

It was a simple statement.

Fuck with me & you'll fuck with no-one else.

This next contender confirms with me that the agro directed towards the Bowerbirds isn’t about nesting sites. This is Shiloh. He’s a juvenile Satin Bowerbird (Brads lad), he turns black like his Dad @ age 7. He won’t mate before then, so he shouldn’t be a threat.

Christ, what's this about Red?

You're one of them.

Them who Red?

Them that I attack.

This being attacked rubbed against the grain.. Shiloh has seen Kit fight back so decided to take it to the next level.

Next time Red turned up he was going to take him to task. Best defence is attack, right?

This is what transpired...

SO. You think you can best me do you Red?

How do you like it now the shoe is on the other foot.

Yeah, not much as a matter of fact Shiloh.

So is this a Mexican stand-off?

Now we could fight & waste this beautiful fruit

or we could....

Seems common sense prevailed

Until he did this. Talk about poking the tiger. 

To be continued in my next post

More on other quarrels & stuff in my next post.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas & New Year.
I have a new addition to my Barra Family. The family has introduced Boof, this years baby. But much more on that later.
Here is the video on the Bowerbird mimic

https://youtu.be/kiB0iq9ODuc


See you all next time.

Buttons Diary - My first day at School

Me & Dad

My Burra Family. An Aussie family – with a difference.

We’re birds. Not just ordinary birds, but……..Kookaburras.

This is but one page from Button’s Diary.

Mum said I should take a flower
for my new teacher.

Dear Diary…. Today…..This very day…..I….Start….School

Here I sit on my bed branch, with my eyes squeezed shut.
Heaps excited & a little frightened.

Today is to be my first day at Big School. So, I’m sitting here, eyes shut, willing the dawn to be beautiful.

“Be glorious, be glorious” I pray. “Be a sign”

Slowly, ever so slowly I open my eyes…. to this.

“I knew it.

I….Just….Knew it.

Today, may be the best day of my whole short life."

I announced to the world for all to hear. KOO, KOO, KOO, KAA, KAA, KAA.

I flew downstairs for Brekkie.
“Well, good morning darling. Ready for your big day?” Mum asks. “I’ve laid out all your favourites this morning, for my special girl on her first day of Big School”
“It looks fab Mum, but I’m too excited to eat. I couldn’t eat a thing”
“That’s a pity Darling. I guess your brother Bitey will like the live meal worms I’ve prepared” quips Mum.
“Oh I might have a few of them Mum” I conceded. “They do look scrumo, I couldn’t live with myself if Bitey got fat by him eating MY meal worms”

Well it seems I didn’t even get to school today to learn my first lesson. Mum’s always saying “Slow down Button. Haste makes Waste”

Eager to eat my meal worms before Bitey, that brother of mine…ARRGGGHHH & get myself off to Big School, I knocked the whole bowl over when I jumped up. Guess I wasn’t looking.

Meal worms. My favourite

OH

BUGGER

 “Button, you don’t need to rush into the world. Slow down& you will find the world will come to you. Now get off to school you. Oh BTW sweetheart. KNOCK EM FOR DEAD. They are going to love you”
“Thanks Mum. You always know just the right things to say. Well. I love you. I’ll grab on orange on the way out”

Not something you see everyday

And off I went for my first day at Big School. On the way I passed Red the postman.
“Hello Red, I’m off to my first day of Big School”

“Well, young Button, this is truly a big day. Dare I say, none bigger!”

“Oh, it is Red, it is. Maybe the biggest day of my whole short life”

As I walked off, I looked back and there was Red walking up the street screeching to the Neighbours “WAKE UP STREET. THIS IS BUTTONS FIRST DAY AT BIG SCHOOL”.

I like Red, He’s funny.

Arriving at school, the first person I meet is Mrs Prendergast.
“Hi Button, I’m Mrs Prendergast. I’m your teacher. Welcome to your first day at Big School.”
I liked Mrs Prendergast. She was cool. I liked her hairstyle. Some of the other kids called her Mrs Pointergast because of it. But I liked it.

My Teacher. Mrs Prendergast

At recess, Pied, my bestest friend, came up to me in the playground.
“Who’d you get as a teacher, Button?”
“Mrs Prendergast” I replied
“Oh she’s great. I had her last year. She’s terrific. You will have so much fun with her.
Hey Button, you hungry? I asked Mum to pack a few extra cockroaches into my lunch box.”
“No, I’m fine Pied. Mum packed me some too.”

"Where’s your manners, who’s your friend Pied? Hi, I’m Cedrick the Rainbow Lorikeet & Pied’s friend and who are you?”






“Hi Cedrick, pleased to make your acquaintance. I’m Button the Kookaburra."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance Button. My. You are big” he says looking me up and down.

“And what an impressive beak you have as well”.

“

Gee, thanks Cedrick, I was worried it wasn’t big enough. Kookabuuras are supposed to have big scary beaks”

“G’day Cedrick? Who’s the new chick”

“G’day back to you Kym. This is Button the Kookaburra, Button this is Kym the Eastern Koel. I think you’ll like him, Button. He’s pretty funny. He wants to grow up to be a clown”


 “Magician! Not a clown Cedrick, a Magician! You’re always getting that wrong.”  Corrects Kym.

“What’s the difference Kym?” I asked innocently.

“The Difference? The difference is huge Button. A Clown is a buffoon. They run around in funny clothes, really big shoes & fall over a lot. That’s how they get people to laugh. Now, a Magician, well, we use magic. It’s doing the impossible that get me my laughs, Button.”
“I’ve never seen magic Kym. Please, please, will you do a trick for me?”
“Well, I don't know Button. The teachers don't like it when I do my magic”
"C'mon Kit, why not show your crown trick?" said Pied.
"Ok. Now Button I want you to look at my head. Are you focused?
"Ah ha" I replied.
"Now I want you to blink"

Shazam. He is adorned in a splendid crown.

Button laughed & laughed.

"Do another. Do another" she begged.
"Button do you know what a Griffin is?"
"Yes, mum tells me they're a mythical creature from yester year. Part bird, part horse"
"Well blink again my young friend"

The mythical Saratoga Griffin

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"
“Magic Button. Magic. I’m Kym the Magician”


Someone in the playground yelled “Bang! Stick em up. I’m the Bushranger Ned Kelly”

Most of us laughed as we knew Ned Kelly died like 100 years ago. All but one. He stuck his wings straight up.

“Who’s that Pied?” I asked.
“The guy over there with his wings up, that’s Whitey the Cockatoo, he’s a bit jumpy.”

After recess we went back into class and Mrs Prendergast was giving us a lesson on Bullying.

“Now class, I want you to give me some examples of bullying if you can?” said Mrs Prendergast.

“Miss, Miss” I said eagerly.

“Yes Button, what have you got”

“Miss, I have an older brother. He is 7. He’s always doing stuff to me.”

“Like what Button”

Like this Miss. He holds his beak over mine.

I have to smell his breath before he let's go.

And Miss,  I think Daphne the Lorikeet bullies me

when she pushes me off the balance bar.

And most of all Miss,

I hate it when they get right in my face.

“Now class, Button has given us three outstanding examples of Bullying, and I think she needs a big class thanks”

Wow, my first day of Little School and I think they all like me. They were cheering & clapping and all.

After school I was going to fly home with Kit when he suggested we might have more fun if we just hopped home. Boy we must have looked funny doing this all the way home.

Kit says he’s a Green Catbird. He also says he is part Ninja.

“What’s a Ninja?” I asked.

“Button, a Ninja can disappear in plain sight”

“I’d love to see that, Kit”

I will blend into the background which

will leave me completely...................

.............Invisible.

What a Day.
What..... A..... DAY.....

Dear Diary…. Today…..This very day…..Was....The Best Day of my whole short life.