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 —
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For what seems a very long time I have been following two building projects here in the Blue Mountains’ village of Blackheath. I am beginning to wonder whether either of them will ever reach completion. The first of the intrepid owner builders is Mr Satin Bowerbird, of
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Warwick and Wendy Wonga from Blackheath have been using a rustic wooden ‘courting seat’ in my garden for quite a few years. These Australian native pigeons are monogamous, and mate for life. Unfortunately, their seat has begun to show signs of wear and tear. Well, they do
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June the Wonga chick was hatched completely out of season, here in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. It hasn’t been easy for the dear little one, with rain, sleet and heavy frosts to contend with. I call June ‘her‘ even though I don’t really know if that’s
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Roll up and grab your popcorn everyone. On offer is free entry to the Wongas’ unique theatrical performance. We all need some distraction in these troubled times. Australia’s native Wonga pigeons are engaging birds even when they are just pottering about, so expect something VERY special. After
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Our resident Wongas here in the Blue Mountains are acting so bizarrely. These monogamous, Australian native birds usually nest in summer, from October until January. They have a clutch of two white eggs, in a rough, twig nest built high in a tree. However, this year they
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So for the first time, our resident Wonga couple have left their chick June in a ground nursery and enjoyed a little outing together. They can’t stay away too long, because June needs regular feeds of ‘milk’. I was amused to see Mrs Wonga taking time out
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April 30 2020 – How extraordinary, today we spotted our resident Wonga couple snuggling up together whenever they weren’t foraging or feeding their most recent chick, Spirit. The Australian native pigeons mate for life and we thought they were just ‘bonding’, but no….there was a lot more
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It’s a great privilege to watch baby birds being fed. Wonga pigeons feed their chicks ‘milk’ for quite a while, even after a baby has begun to potter about foraging for solids. They are very shy birds, so to see this taking place through our kitchen window
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This is Spirit, who nearly did not make an appearance as her parents nested in a tree about to be cut down. Happily, the tree was spared. Spirit and a sibling we called Hope hatched successfully. We think a hungry fox took Hope. This a continual hazard
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