ODIMBAR (One Day I Might Be A Raptor) was not here on 5 April 2017, but had set up his court by 14 April. From behaviour we have considered that he is newly adult-fledged, but he could be an older bird who has shifted his court. It is autumn and the courting that dominates reporting on bowerbirds is not due till spring.

As we begin this blog on 16 April 2017, we already have our hearts in our mouths, concerned that this new family member outside our suburban bedroom window will survive the competition and that his court may thrive. His day is busy: hunting, building, learning, asserting, defending, charming, singing, raucous caucusing and dancing.

And the evidence before us, of daily life, is much more complex than what one usually reads or views on Youtube, of isolated males building bowers in spring to try to entice picky females with whom their relations are fleeting. It's not like that at all here.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

every blue item gone, but flowers that bloom in the spring tra la

I have a camera out there to record the vanity of the blackbirds that spend extraordinary amounts of time dancing and pecking at their own images in mirrors, clack-clack. But the blue items of the bower and stores of them under adjacent tree, are all taken away. Bowerbirds visit briefly, but winter (and some pruning) have reduced for now the privacy of the bower pavilion space.

Rattleberry has his eyes on the scene, this early morning.


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