FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER, CLICK HERE.

August 26 2018 – A second chapter in the life of Mr S. Bowerbird of  Memorial Park, Blackheath.

It had been raining all day, converting many bottle caps in the bower  to miniature swimming pools. Poor Mr B.  was kept busy emptying them out. No wonder he was looking a bit aggrieved.

Male Satin Bowerbird.

Not happy, Man!

Whenever the rain eased he concentrated on more property maintenance….just never ending.

 

Satin bowerbirds

I’ll add this stick.

Satin bowerbird adding to bower

Just here should do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one stage he hopped to a branch  above the bower and stood  up as straight as he could. Tall dark and handsome dear ladies, that’s indisputable.

Satin bowerbird standing tall.

Look at me!!

It seems the pose worked a bit of magic, because when he least expected it, an  alluring visitor approached!

 

Courting satin bowerbirds

Well hello….can I come in?

Finally spotted her. Time to prance about and show off those treasures, mate. They’re better than etchings

Satin bowerbird displaying

Like these young lady? Come  a little bit closer….

Here is a YouTube video of courtship ritual. Well worth watching.

Oh my word, I think she was impressed. Let’s hope the bower itself will live up to her expectations after all that effort.

Pair of satin bowerbirds.

Those walls don’t look too bad.

Female bowerbird.

Oh dear, I think she’s leaving.

All too soon she wandered off. It remains to be seen whether she judges it worthwhile to return.

August 27 2018

Today we woke to a true Mountain mist, so thick it was difficult to see more than a few metres. How would Mr Bowerbird be coping?  Despite the gloom I decided  to walk up and check. Also, I wanted to try a little experiment. It has been said that these birds really dislike the colour red. I knotted a couple of short pieces of red ribbon and while he was briefly absent I added them to his treasures.

Red treasures added to bowerbird's bower.

Let’s see what happens.

He arrived home a couple of minutes later and, oh my word, the ribbon lasted about five seconds.

 

Satin bowerbird removing hated red object from his bower.

Where did this abominable object  come from?

By this time the mist was so full of moisture I was worried about my camera. I decided not to wait around to see if his lady friend (or any new prospects) might turn up.

It was not only my mischievous red ribbon that had been summarily rejected. This bottle top was obviously judged too dirty for such a magnificent bower.

Rejected bowerbird's treasure...too dirty.

Just not up to an exacting standard!

 

August 30 2018 

Oh yes, the lady returned.

 

Satin bowerbird pair

A wedding bower?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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