Isn’t this just the most wonderfully constructed bower? Good, thick walls and a perfectly shaped, oval ‘front door’. You might say Mr. S. has home construction pegged (sorry, I couldn’t resist). He is a builder extraordinaire and a credit to the community of Blackheath.
JULY 21 — I called at my friend’s compound in Memorial Park as I walked up to the village today at 1.30 pm. Surely he had started to attract some ladies?
Alas, no prospective brides were visiting, but everything was looking tickety boo.
Imagine my shock when I stopped on my way back home two hours later to find that his beautiful home had been completely trashed. Poor Mr. S was looking at the mess in dismay and to be honest I felt almost as bad as he did. For heavens sake….all that work!
What on earth had happened? Was it damage by a gambolling, unleashed dog? Perhaps it was vandalism by a larrikin, sulphur crested cockatoo?
The cockies are always prime suspects, feared by every landscaper and home constructor in the Blue Mountains.
Memorial Park was deserted, so it was unlikely to have been caused by human intervention.
THE TRUE CULPRIT
In fact, the cockies were blameless and I apologise if they were offended. It was actually an unprovoked attack from a rival bower builder. I’m afraid this sort of thing happens all too often in the avian world. Satin bowerbirds constantly steal blue treasures from each other and yes, they will destroy a neighbour’s show home without the slightest compunction. There is no way of preventing these raids as the home owner has to leave his property unattended throughout the day, to feed and gather (or steal) more courting treasures.
To his credit, poor Mr S. spent very little time bemoaning the outrage. His spirit and resilience were admirable.
I watched in awe as he commenced a rebuild in a frenzy of activity. Get those rafters back up Mate.
It occurs to me that his bower might become a regular target now. What a nightmare scenario that would be.
So would you like to see what happens when a rival builder decides to wreck a bower? A warning to the tender hearted, it’s a bit confronting. CLICK HERE
WHAT A RECONSTRUCTION EFFORT!
JULY 22 – Well I’ll be blowed. Look what Mr S has achieved in 24 hours. Almost as good as new;
Although encouraging a cycle of vandalism is probably not helpful, I’m secretly hoping my friend will get his revenge.
Well done, Mr Bowerbird. Triumph over adversity.
Yes, most impressive.
Aw shame. All that hard work….
So sad, but at least he rebuilt it very quickly.