While their relatively late arrival and, at least in my local area, much more
ko-el calling than in previous year, seemed to promise a different and quieter Koel season, events of the past couple of days seem to have turned things on their head.
After hearing my first female less than a week ago, Koel activity around my place in Rivett/Chapman over the past two days has increased significantly, with a party of at least three birds calling/disputing,
including in or near my GBS site, for much of the day.
This has consisted of a male still giving pretty much continuous and persistent
ko-el calls, and less frequently another male giving the
whoa call (the two can often be heard at the same time) accompanied by a female’s
kek kek kekking, or at least early on, a different call sounding more like a Dollarbird.
I susoect that this activity may relate to a now completed Red Wattlebird nest in a flowering plum just above eye level outside our bedroom window.
So I’ll be keeping a close eye on this, as I will be on a nest in a hakea bush at the corner of Hindmarsh Drive/Darwinia Tce in Duffy, where a similar (possibly the same) party was present yesterday morning and the female
dived into it vigorously pursued by 2 Red Wattlebirds, before very soon exiting while still being harassed.
Jack Holland
