bower – bushboys world

Behind the facade

Published on May 18, 2020 by bushboy38 Comments

Photo for the week – 68 – Facade

He builds the walls
decorates the room
His creation for her
a place to dance
a stage to perform
Will she like what she sees
Is this the man for her
Can she see deep into his being
and find a way into
his heart
or is this a facade
a temporary construct
of a blue fantasy
beguiling
bewitching.

This is an actual Satin Bowerbird’s bower on my place. When I found this one I was just amazed at the number of blue things he had found to decorate the bower. I am not sure what the love heart came from or where many of the objects were collected as I know they weren’t from my place, except a blue peg or two perhaps.

Blue #11 – Love is Blue

Published on July 11, 2019July 10, 2019 by bushboy12 Comments

This months square challenge from Becky: Blue

The theme for July is ‘blue‘, and as always it is totally up to you how you interpret the square theme but here are Beckys suggestions for how we might stay connected on our square adventures this month.

be a ‘Bolt from the Blue’ – something unexpected or surprising
explore ‘Into the wide blue yonder‘ – sky, sea or maybe a location that is appealingly unknown and mysterious
simply be ‘Blue‘ – whether that’s azure, cobalt, sapphire, cerulean, navy, ultramarine, indigo, or turquoise
and there is an extra challenge for those of you up for it – can you manage to combine two of these, or maybe even all three?

Whatever you decide to do, please remember there is a rule if you want to part of the Square Gang and be sure your squares make into the gallery.

The Satin Bower Birds bower just down the hill from my house. It is built for love. The great scavenger found something special for the females who come to inspect his dance floor. A repost but this time it has to be square

190711_blog_challenge_blue_love_is_blue_bower_heart

The Bower is Made for Love

Published on June 22, 2019 by bushboy31 Comments

It’s time for Debbie’s Six Word Saturday

Today I have been out and about on my property cutting firewood and pulling out lots of Lantana, which is an invasive weed here. I often drop by the spot where the male Satin Bower Bird has his Bower just to see what he has collected from around the neighbourhood. The bits of blue plastic, a Satin Bower Bird favourite, are from all around as I know they are not from my place (although the blue pegs are probably from my place).

I was surprised to find that he had collected a blue heart, looks like a cooking mould, among the treasures collected to entice the girls to his Bower for love.

For Sarah’s 30 Days 30 Songs

This is the LP cover that my Mum had in her record collection. We often sat and listened to Paul Mauriat. A lovely memory

This is a full orchestral version of the song

This is May 2019

Published on June 3, 2019 by bushboy29 Comments

Here we are to have a look at my May. I didn’t take many photos to add to this post that I haven’t already shared in some of the photo challenges I contributed to in May. Again the rainfall at my place was very sparse but some of the Australian Native plants had some flowers which received a water from the dwindling water supply in my dam. I have been trying to ensure that most plants in the garden survive by a bit of water every couple of days, hoping I can harden them off for Winter. The weather has been quite warm during the day – mid twenties and the nights were in the low teens so I think some plants may be a bit confused with warm Autumn days.

I don’t think you will need supplies to have a scroll through This is May 2019

Let’s get hopping
I don’t seem to take many photos of Kangaroos, so when some were in a nearby paddock when I was out, I just had to grab a photo. This male was quite wary of my and I made sure I didn’t venture too close as he may have thought I was a threat to his female and joey

The She Oaks or Casurinas with the seed pods and hanging leaves caught my eye as I was walking on my place.
A small shower of rain and the mosses and lichens appeared
My besties place had so much rain it didn’t seem fair. It did make for some great photo opportunities. The water drops like jewels on the spiders web one morning.
One afternoon the sunset lit up everything. The Bottlebrush flowers just seem to glow

May was the last huge flowering of the lovely red Hibiscus in the garden

The sunset, a leaden sky and a red flowering gum.

The tiny Stingless Native Bees loved the Echinacea flowers. Look how full her pollen sacs are!

The little Grass Dart Butterfly was almost hidden among the flowers

The Eggfly Butterflies love the Zinnias

As did the bees
Water drops on leaves is a must photo opportunity
One foggy morning, the old shed on the property next door looked quite spooky
While walking about my place, I heard just one slight screech and the sound of crunching. I finally saw the Glossy Black Cockatoos in the She Oak enjoying a snack of seeds high up in the tree.
While further down the track, the Bowerbirds have made a new Bower decorated with blue stuff from all around the neighbourhood. Perhaps a blue peg of mine has gone missing but the rest of the treasures I don’t know where they came from.
Every afternoon at my besties, there is a fly over of Cattle Egrets and Ibis as they head off to roost
Most days the Wedged-tailed Eagles are riding the currents high in the sky
A great first for me was finding a small flock of Chestnut-breasted Mannikins as we drove down a lane near my besties. They certainly had a good selection of seeds to choose from.

Bare trees and sunset is another must try and get a photo opportunity.

Speaking of sunsets, May had so many wonderful sunsets I had to whittle down the pile into just a few. The red tinged grey clouds looked wonderful
Some sunsets were orange

Some sunsets had could formations I have never seen before. They were like lumps hanging below the other clouds

A grass seed and subset, who could resist
Sunset…….bare trees………the black and red won me over.

OK here we are at the end. See I told you it was a short month compared to the mammoth efforts you ave gone through in previous months.
Thanks for taking time to have a look at my world.
Did you have a favourite photo?

Anticipation

Published on May 30, 2019 by bushboy6 Comments

The word prompt from Sue: Anticipation

So many bananas so little time

The Satin Bowerbirds display hoping to attract a female

The anticipation of some yummy nectar

Thief

Published on March 27, 2019 by bushboy12 Comments

The Ragtag Daily Prompt Wednesday: Thief

At my place I have Satin Bowerbirds. They build a bower where the males try to attract a female with decorations. These decorations are mainly things blue. Now-a-days the blue items they gather are mainly plastic. I think some of the pegs may be mine but I have no idea where the rest of the treasures came from.

The males like to visit other bowers and become the thief of others treasures. Here is my video of The Bowerbird Burglar. It is a few minutes long so I hope you have time.

Birds Around My Neighbourhood

Published on March 10, 2019 by bushboy29 Comments

Two photo challenges caught my eye today.

Lens-artists: Around the Neighbourhood

Jenns: Feathered Friends

Come for a quick walk around my neighbourhood. There is my dead end gravel road which is about three kilometers long which has an intersection with another gravel road which is paved about sixteen kilometers from my place. It goes from the highway to a long way away, perhaps fifty kilometers.

Lets get going.

The Noisy Friarbird will often let others know we are about

Listen for a chip chip and look at the tree trunks to see a White-throated Treecreeper scouring the bark for an insect or two

The lovely face of a Blue-faced Honeyeater

You might hear the wings of the Eastern Spinebill before you see one zoom past

The Pied Butcherbirds song will fill the forest as we walk along

We may see a Jackie Winter sitting on a fence

Lovely little Eastern Yellow Robins will be chip chip chipping seemingly endlessly

Of course the familiar sounds of Kookaburras will resound around the bush

Small Brown Honeyeaters will be silently having a snack on a Bottlebrush

A flash of colour and a Spotted Pardelote will fly by

A Forest Kingfisher, a sudden flash like a blue jewel, as he flies through the bush

The unmistakable squawking of Rainbow Lorikeets as they argue about whose branch it is will get your attention

The beautiful song of a Rufous Whistler will kep you spell bound for ages

A whistle, a flash of red, the smallest honeyeater is unmistakable in the bush

High in the tree, the resident Square-tailed Kite will keep an eye on you

While overhead it’s mate will soar
Up the road a bit, some Crimson Rosellas have a snack on the horses feed

What’s that chatter chatter chatter? I hear you say. The Grey-crowned Babblers walk about the forest floor snacking on unsuspecting insects talking about their day

More jewels in the sky as the Rainbow Bee-eaters gather

Another remarkable song and bright yellow of the Golden Whistler will make you stop and listen

Musk Lorikeets can be seen as they feast on the nectar of Pink Euodias

The largest bird of prey, a Wedged-tailed Eagle on the lookout for an unsuspecting wallaby or animal, will sit silent until we get to close

A bit more whistling heralds that we are near some King Parrots

A strange metallic sound draws our attention to the iridescent and distinctive tail shape of the wonderfully named Spangled Drongo

A Satin Bowerbird who is similarly coloured to a Drongo will be in the bush sometimes finding food

or finding sticks or blue stuff to decorate and construct his Bower

Thanks for dropping by and having a bit of a walk around my neighbourhood. I hope you had a good time.

The Satin Bowerbird

Published on September 6, 2018September 20, 2018 by bushboy15 Comments

As I mentioned in last months This is August, I lamented the fact that the photo of the male Satin Bowerbird didn’t really do it justice. Luckily he came back when the sun was out and he shone in all his glory. Enjoy.

The purple eye is also a treat.

What once was a blue colour turns black at times

This is why he is called a Satin Bowerbird

The blue cascades down his back

The female has her own special look

The green may not shimmer in the light but the markings are lovely

Here is one of the bowers on my place. This is where some fancy dancing takes place with so many bits of blue scattered about for decoration.

My video in the garden of a young Bowerbird decorating a practice bower with a lot of song and dance

Thursdays Special: Pick a Word February

Published on February 3, 2018March 6, 2018 by bushboy10 Comments

Again Paula has supplied five great words to find a photo match in this my favourite photo challenge Pick a Word

Innate

2018-02-03 17.29.37

Protuberant

2018-02-03 17.26.39

Rectangular

2018-02-03 17.20.51

Interspersed

2018-02-03 17.19.36

Fluorescent

2018-02-03 17.24.47

jupiter-najnajnoviji-e1459776822782

This is October: Part Four

Published on November 9, 2017November 9, 2017 by bushboy4 Comments

Of course Part Four would have to be the birds of October.

On the Queensland expedition we came across a huge flock of Cormorants and Pelicans on the edge of Somerset Dam.

On a bit of a chilly day the Cormorants were a bit sleepy in Ballina.

So were the Pelicans

The Satin Bowerbird has been busy collecting his blue bits and pieces to decorate his Bower. This is the fifth year this Bower has been used in the bush at my place.

Of course who could forget Brendan the Bush Turkey. Here he is on his mound he has built for the females to lay their eggs in. The mound is about 2 meters tall. Brendan does a great job of raking the leaves.