Kookaburra

*

I was walking over the hill
this afternoon
and noticed this sign
at a block of holiday apartments

and sure enough
right out the front
I saw this...
I am pretty sure
I know who it is...
Do You?

Another friendly kookaburra

who laughs



just like this...



Happy Days
everyone




*

The Queen's Bath

Just around the corner

from where I am living 

in Princeville Kauai

is a steep path

that descends to the ocean

Daily dozens of car loads of tourists

come to bathe

in the Queen's Bath

Curious, I thought it was time

I took a look at the Queen's bath

so early one morning

I made my way 

down the red dirt track

passing little waterfalls

tumbling over lava rock boulders

that made their way into small pools

but hardly what you would call

a regal bath

and finally emerging at the ocean

mindful of the fact

that it was almost a year to the day

that I broke my left ankle

I decided not to clamber over 

the rugged lava rock

in search of royal ablutions

but it appears that in the past

others have taken 

greater risks than me

so I returned up the pathway

under the pandanus trees

and following the call 

of little brown birds

I walked along the bluff

above the ocean

hoping I could see what it was 

that enticed the holiday makers

down onto the hot black rocks

I could not see much 

other than the brown nameless birds

and the plainer coloured females

and then I noticed that I was in 

Wedge-tailed Shearwater territory

I skirted a patch of cactus

and almost fell down a hole

the Shearwaters nest in burrows

up to two feet long

that the birds make

in the cliff top

They are a dusky brown bird

with white breast feathers, 

thin wings, a hooked bill

and wedge shaped tail

They lay a single egg in June 

and take turns at incubation stints

The father does the honours first 

while the mother goes to sea to fish

for about 10 days at a time

Hawaii Information Image

The chick hatches after 50 days

and initially is fed stomach oil then solids

At 3.5 months the parents stop feeding the chick

For two weeks they go without food

testing their wings and learning to fly

When they have all their adult feathers they fledge

and go off to to sea

to find their own food

the neighbourhood dogs are a problem

in this colony

The birds cannot stand upright on their legs

and have difficulty moving about on land

The Hawaiian name 

for the Wedge-tailed Shearwater is ua'u kani

which means calling or moaning sea bird/petrel

due to their long oooo-errr call

I cautiously return to the ascending path

grateful that it is a dry day

and the red dirt is not slippery clay-mud

through the jungle

and home

No, this is not my house

but I love the gardens...

and proceeded to look up Mr Google

for pictures of the Queen's Bath

which does look rather enticing 

on a calm day

but the sea is unpredictable

and the waves 

can come crashing through

I think I'll do my swimming

in the safety of Hanalei Bay

*

King of the Castle

*

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...

*

A Soiree

A Soiree

I stopped the car

to say hello to Ruffles

and Mr Smooth Top

who were dining on the nature strip

with a Corella

 

the corella was a little shy

and retreated to a tree

Corellas are mid size cockatoos

with a blue eye ring

and pink colouration

between the eyes and beak

Like the pink galah

he is a social bird

who enjoys noisy flocks

Wikimedia commons

The corella has a pale crest

unlike the Suphur Crested Cockatoo

seen above

 

Wikimedia commons

who is very flamboyant

A neighbour saw me

talking with the birds

and came across to chat

and invited me to come over

for a drink before sunset

to a little soiree

a special soiree - 

a birdie sort of soiree

 

Now listen here

and I will tell you of the

other guests...

 

My brother Cheeky Corella

 

and sister Cora Corella

enjoying the wild bird seed

in the sunset glow

 

and down there on the beach

waiting very patiently

 

is the Giant Egret

called Eggy

 

who is a little skittish

but will return

in time for nibbles

 

and then we have

the white faced heron

or as he is also known

the Blue Crane

 

from high on his perch

the heron is watching

with keen interest

the dispensing of nibbles

 

don't forget me

I'll come down

if you neglect me...

and he catches a lump of meat

on the wing

 

the cabana roof

has been freshly painted

and while we sit

in the setting sun

sipping our wines

the heron scuffled

and shuffled above

losing his grip

 on the slippery

surface

 

and here come

the cheeky butcher birds

who will eat

out of your hand

 

with some of their youngsters

still a pale brown in colour

 

so welcome all

to our little soiree

 

and what would a sunset soiree be

without a crow...

Welcome to you too

Mr Torresian

*