Bowerbirds - love-making in the love nest!

Well, today I really had a 'David Attenborough' moment in the garden.  Perhaps the Satin Bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus violaceus has become comfortable with me having my lunch nearby and coming to inspect his bower.  Or maybe he isn't as shy as he has been making out!  Anyhow, after waiting around near the bower for a while and taking some photos of the beautiful Bottlebrush flowers nearby (which I will save for another post) I sensed a little activity around the bower... sure enough, there was a female Satin Bowerbird sitting in the bower!

The male was nearby and he came closer, beginning an amazing ritual.  He made some fantastic whirring and chirping noises as he hopped about a little then stood still, fanning out his tail.  He paraded in this way very slowly around the bower, watched by the female, who occasionally lowered herself, looked around at him and inspected the bower.  A couple of times she left the bower and he re-arranged a few of the blue bottle-tops, all the while making some elaborate calls and with a very 'macho' stance!  In fact, perhaps I will name him 'Austin Bowerbird'!

Now, for the very exciting part - I captured these moments of Bowerbird passion on video!!  So I can share this amazing spectacle with you all.  In this first video you can see and hear the elaborate dance the male makes.  He then stood still and posed for a while making some quieter noises. 

The female then wandered off for a bit, so Austin Bowerbird decided perhaps he needed to make a few adjustments to the love-nest: he re-arranged a few of the blue bottle tops and then hopped off towards the female with one - perhaps a gift for her?

Finally, the moment of passion arrived! 

The Bowerbird's Bower

Yesterday I went to the gardens for lunch without my camera and I'd never been more frustrated at not having it with me... I had found the Satin Bowerbird's Ptilonorhynchus violaceus bower! I first discovered the mature male Satin Bowerbird in the gardens over a month ago now, and managed to get a picture of him for this blog in early October.  So I rushed back to the gardens as soon as I could at lunchtime today and took some pictures of this amazing structure.  It is about a foot (30cm) high and is a little hidden within some bushes.  The range of blue objects he has found to decorate it are amazing, all the same shade of blue too!  You can see a close up of a peg below.  There was also a couple of pretty yellow flowers I think he might have also put there.  Incredible.

I wonder what the Satin Bowerbird would have used before blue plastic was invented?

In my rush to get to the gardens I hadn't really noted what the weather was looking like and as soon as I had taken the pictures of the bower the heavens opened.  Its been so wet in Canberra recently, though now its heating up its starting to feel more like tropical than English rain, but there is plenty of it!  So I made a dash for a shelter nearby and ate my lunch there, amusing myself by taking pictures of raindrops falling on the shelter and on some leaves. 

Once the rain stopped I carried on wandering in the gardens.  The water dragons appeared again after the rain and nearby I noticed the huge Gymea Lily Doryanthes excelsa is starting to flower, it will be spectacular in a few days or so when it is in full bloom.  I also noticed there seems to be a new trail through the gardens that must alter weekly, called the 'In flower this week walk', what a great idea!

There was a little sign about the Aboriginal use of the Gymea flower next to it in the garden: The Gymea flowering stem grows up to 4 metres high, but it was roasted and eaten when it is only about 0.5 metres high and as thick as a man's arm.  The roots were also roasted and made into a sort of cake.  The name 'Gymea' comes from the Wodi Wodi tribe of the Illawarrra district near Sydney.  

Bowerbirds and an empty nest

An empty nest!  The baby Red Wattlebirds I've been visiting for the past couple of weeks have now flown the nest.  I was amazed at how quickly they had grown up and felt a small sense of loss, my babies are out in the big wide world!  However, I didn't have to look very far to find them both, sitting in nearby bushes waiting for their parents to come and feed them.  One of them was trying some short flights from branch to branch, climbing higher into a tree, whilst the other was happy just to sit and wait in a bush.  I bet the active one was the bigger one in the nest that was always reaching higher for food!

If I'd had a little longer this lunchtime I might have got a shot of the parents feeding these little ones, I tried a couple of times but missed the moment, they are very quick!  I guess before another week is passed they might be fending for themselves. 

I ate lunch close to where I'd first seen the male Satin Bowerbird and after I'd finished I caught a glimpse of him chasing a female through the trees.  I followed them around for a bit, then saw him sitting in a tree - once again he was proving elusive...

...However, I managed to sneak up behind him as he made off towards the female and got a couple of good pictures.  One cheeky young Crimson Rosella sidled up next to him which was quite amusing (I know it is a young Rosella as there is still a lot of green on his wings - when he is an adult this changes to blue).  On my next adventure I will try and find the Satin Bowerbird's 'bower' - here is a link to a flickr gallery of what this might look like.  I like the description from a comment on there of what a bower is: 'they aren't nests. They are dance floors, discos, if you like, for picking up girls!'  So, more like a 'love nest'! The Satin Bowerbird has a fancy for all things blue to decorate his bower.  I've heard that in Canberra milk bottle tops used to be blue, but they had to change the colour as the Bowerbirds were stealing them!

 Just as I was leaving the gardens I couldn't resist trying to get a shot of a cute little breeding male Superb Fairy-wren who was hopping along the path - for once it was quite successful.   He has a few bird rings on his feet so seems he has been part of a survey at some point.  A number of studies of fairy-wrens have been conducted in these gardens by the ANU, some details of this work can be found on Professor Cockburn's webpage at the school of Botany and Zoology. 

What a load of Wattle!

I have been away on various trips lately and so it has taken a while since my last blog for me to get around to photographing the glorious yellow blooms of the Wattle.  They are simply bursting like rays of bright sunshine across the gardens, Spring is here!  The Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha is Australia's floral emblem - you can read about its significance on the ANBG website here.  I really don't remember the Wattle looking so amazing last year, as a pom I see it as Australia's answer to the Daffodil. 

So beautiful.  As I was wandering around taking Wattle pictures I heard a strange rasping noise I'd never heard before coming from a Banksia bush.  I looked hard and worked out where the noise was coming from - a Red Wattlebird's nest!  One of the parents was nearby (not sure if it was Mum or Dad - both parents feed the young).  I didn't want to disturb the nest or frighten the chicks so I couldn't get my camera very close and used the zoom, but the nest was quite well concealed in the Banksia, despite being at eye-level!  Here are a couple of shots of the chicks (you will have to look hard amongst the leaves in the first photo) and parent on the lookout up in a tree. 

Nearby a kangaroo was grazing, he has a very friendly sort of face (not sure if it is a he but it seemed like a 'he' - no joey in sight anyhow!). 

As I was leaving the gardens I came across a new bird I hadn't seen before, always very exciting particularly in these gardens that I visit so often.  It was a Satin Bowerbird Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, and a fully mature male at that - young males may begin to acquire their adult plumage in their fifth year and are not fully 'attired' until they are seven.  His colour was gorgeous, the most beautiful deep shiny dark blue all over.  He was a bit elusive however, I spent a while chasing him round some bushes trying to get a clear shot but he wasn't co-operating and I had to get back to the office... so this is the best I managed!   Hopefully I will see him again and be able to get a better picture next time.