Hi All.
A noisy brawl between Pied Currawongs and Channel-billed Cuckoo early
yesterday morning had me reaching for the binoculars and witnessing a CbC
pushing a Tawny Frogmouth of its nest while two Currawongs flew about
screaming at the cuckoo. There appeared to be two white downy chicks in the
nest which was on an almost horizontal fork in a eucalypt, at eye level but
about 50m away from our verandah at Avoca Beach, NSW Central Coast. The
cuckoo seemed to be probing the nest with its huge bill, I thought it might
be trying to push the chicks out but it didn't. Instead it then hopped
briefly onto and sat on the nest then flew off.
A minute later the Frogmouth returned and settled back onto the chicks,
and stayed there most of the day, or at least was there every time I
checked.
It looked like the Channel-bill laid an egg in the Frogmouths nest.
Unfortunately I wont be around to see what happens; the vision of a
Frogmouth trying to feed a Channel-billed Cuckoo chick seems unlikely.
An hour or so later, in the small swale in a fenced-off area between
the beach and houses at the northern end of North Avoca Beach, vegetated
with low heath and a few exotics, a male Superb Fairy-wren was hopping
around with either an orange grub or small orange flower in its bill,
presenting it in turn to two plain brown members of the group, either
females or juveniles, neither of whom were interested. The male disappeared
into a bush and reappeared without the prize.
He then squatted on a metal post cap and presumably warmed his
underparts for perhaps a minute, then stood up on the post and displayed in
a way I have not seen before. There were no other birds in front of him at
the time.
He elevated his iridescent blue cheek patches so that they fanned out
sideways, reminiscent of the way some Birds of Paradise display, but on a
very miniature scale. He also elevated his blue crown, highest at the back ,
like a shield, and bowed forward a little. This was repeated several times
from different positions, no other birds were in front of him, I presume he
was practicing. His plumage was new and the blue iridescence quite
spectacular in the morning sun. No vocalisation.
An interesting
introduction to the day.
Cheers
Michael
Michael Hunter
Mulgoa Valley
50km west of Sydney Harbour Bridge
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