*
King of the Castle
My friend and I
return after our whale walking
to her home in the rain forest
and entering the bush
we take a short cut
across the neighbour's yard
where we notice
something odd...
a large area of garden
under the trees
has been cleared of mulch
the irrigation pipes exposed...
and over here
in this section
a huge mound
of leaf litter
and ground cover
banking up
around the palms
and here we have the culprit
the king of his very own castle
the very industrious brush turkey
the male bush (or brush) turkey
has been very busy
readying his nursery
for it is his job
to scratch and flick
scratch and flick
until he has a home fit
for the incubation
of 16-24 eggs
of which he then is responsible
for maintaining the climate control
the optimum temperature
for hatching is 33-35*C
Father will add to
or remove coverage
as need be
according to his beak thermometer's readings
which are taken
several times a day
the mounds can be 1.5 m high
and about 4m wide
and the same site
will be used
year after year
as he scratches and flicks
his yellow wattle
swirls around his neck
the wattle increases in size
and brightness
at breeding time
I wrote about the bush turkeys here
including information
about an albino turkey chick
spotted in town last spring....
the owner of this property
has been told
it is an offense
to remove the nest
and reclaim his garden...
We'll leave this busy bush turkey
to his focused
scratch and flick
scratch and flick
he has a schedule to meet...
*
