Wednesday, September 9, 2015

CURLEW TURNS INTO BANTAM

Soon after  the death of the second Curlew  chick, the parents began to show signs yet again of  turning broody, resuming the relentless , wondrous  cycle of life . They got about together, made   familiar  clucking sounds , tossed leaves  and  twigs  about , became very territorial . Late  each afternoon   they dashed   from the   backyard , down the side  path and  chased off  the property  the  at  times up to  15 opportunistic  other  Curlews  hopeful of  getting a  feed , which they sometimes  do  in a  scrum of  balletic leaping, fully extended wings and screeching . 
However, a slim  bird, who may have been from an earlier clutch , suddenly appeared  on  the back verandah , seeking a  feed in the afternoon.  The male from the  nesting  would chase it  away. Still it  persisted  and  came back  for  tucker , chased  about  the  yard  until   forced  to fly away .
 
One  day-there it was...another  egg, bigger than  any seen before , like a bantam's. As we once had some loveable Bantams, with names like Blondie  and Little One,  in Saddleworth, South Australia, that used  to nest at night in an apple tree  away from foxes ,  the egg  brought back memories. Then  another  large egg . From time to time the female  bird  took   time off  sitting on the  eggs to  join  the male  chase  the  other  birds  away down  the front .
 
The male also began to come to the back door  early in the morning to be fed . During the day he would stay near the  female on the eggs , drop  flat when you went near , and  hiss if  you came close. 

 Sunbirds started  to  appear in  numbers, sucking  nectar from  flowers .  Currawongs  came out  in force  , stealing  Curlew  food , dive bombing them , in turn  being  chased by angry , defensive,  much smaller birds .