24 June 2014

Western Bowerbird with video

Sighted recently, at Olive Pink Botanic Garden, Alice Springs, N.T.


Miss Olive Pink, "in 1956, at the age of 72, was successful in having the Australian Arid Regions Flora Reserve" gazetted. You can download the brochure with information of this notable woman and her determined efforts against the odds of droughts, feral grazing animals etc.


walking through this landscape, myself and another couple, had met up with a hobby photographer and his wife, carrying the big tripod and massive 600mm camouflage-covered lens on his shoulder.  Of course we chatted a while, and he mentioned to us about the bower "over that way".

and while admiring the bower with white plastic collectibles and a single quandong fruit,

I couldn't have been more amazed .. when it flew in!

the first time I've ever seen this beautiful bird.  How lucky can you get?!



just 68 seconds worth, and he was off

Fact sheet from Birds in Backyards on the Western Bowerbird


Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday

35 comments:

Dianne said...

How fortunate to capture this curious bird Carole - 68 seconds of real live footage. bravo!

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Hi Carole Well how fortunate were you!! It must have been amazing to see this bird come to its bower to inspect it. As many bloggers are having problems with not receiving others post in their dashboard, I Hope you will enjoy my slide show yesterday of Rowallane Gardens and the video today. Birding For Pleasure. Thanks for comment on Saturday.

Ana Mínguez Corella said...

Lovely pics and video .. I congratulate ..

Bob Bushell said...

Lucky you are Carole, beautiful image of the Western Bowerbird.

Irma said...

Hi Carole,
Beautiful image of Western Bowerbird.
The video is very beautiful, what a happiness that you could photograph it this bird.

TexWisGirl said...

what a beautiful speckled bird! glad you got to see him and his cache of treasures!

Lisa Gordon said...

Oh my goodness, Carole, how fortunate you were. What a sweet little one. Thank you for sharing!

Karen said...

You were there at the right time! Love these unique collecting birds!

NatureFootstep said...

how interesting to see this bird. Thanks for sharing. :)

EG CameraGirl said...

Lucky you to have been there at just the right time!

Sue (this n that) said...

What a prize post Carole! How brilliant for you to see this gorgeous bird and his bower. All the time and work he's put into the construction and adornment of it.
Love that pinky/mauve (?) fluorescence on the back of his neck.
How lucky are we that you're able to share it with us. Great video too. Thank you :D)

Brian King said...

What a cool nest and a beautiful bird!

Anonymous said...

How fortunate for you! And for us to have you capture and share the experience. Blessings!

eileeninmd said...

Awesome shots of this cool bird and its nest.. Great sighting, have a happy week!

Laura said...

Amazing video of the Western Bowerbird!!! Great job with the still photos too!
hugs, Laura

Breathtaking said...

What a great find,and super photos and vídeo. Strange fact about the male Western Bowerbird collecting white objects, and the Satin B, collecting blue objects,the clothes peg made me smile!:)

Many thanks for your visit, and comment.:)

Phil Slade said...

The bower certainly is an amazing construction, putting most other nests to shame. The bird seems totally unconcerned that you are there filming his home and his belongings.

betty-NZ said...

That was such a stroke of luck. I do wonder what s/he thinks when collecting those items. Your photos are really great!

Unknown said...

Wow, how lucky were you Carole. Certainly a beautiful bird. Well captured.

Hootin Anni said...

Amazing...and to see it for the first time is extraordinary. Wonderful video.

Seraphinas Phantasie said...

Hi Carole,
marvelous photos of this very special bird and a fantastic Video. Gorgeous !
Best regards, Synnöve

Elizabeth Edwards said...

i enjoyed the video. what amazing coloring. love all the freckles. ( :

Christian Perrin said...

How wonderful, Carole! This really is a special bird, and to see one for the first time while in the bower is very lucky!

It's interesting how the different bowerbird species show fondness for different colours. I wonder why 'white' stands out for this kind? There's plenty of other colours in the desert - why did evolution make the colour white stand out for this bird?

Looks like you are on a marvelous trip - I wish you safe travels and great photos! :)

Jeanne said...

What an interesting garden, and looks as if you and this really great little bird were interested in the same things at the same time. How serendipitios is that. Hope your day and week is the best ever Carole!!

Adam Jones said...

Super pictures of an amazing bird. Loved the video too.

Unknown said...

A beautiful bird. His bower is very interesting.

thewovenspoke said...

That is pretty awesome that you were in the right place at the right time. Great photos and video!

Ida said...

What a fascinating bird. I find it so curious as to the odd objects it collects in the bower. So cool that you got to see the bird fly into the bower as well and got some awesome photos and video.

orchid0324 said...

Isn't he an awesome bird♡♡♡ Loved to see this beautiful 'Western Bowerbird' and happy for your luck(^_^)v

Sending you Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

Gail Dixon said...

I've seen the bowerbird in a nature series DVD and they are so fascinating. How lucky for you that you were able to get him in action. Awesome post!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Carole this is just wonderful. I saw a special somewhere that mentioned this bird, but I didn't realize as much from it about their bowers as I do from this post! It must have been so exciting to have the"homeowner" fly in while you were watching. I would be ecstatic! Thanks for sharing.

A Colorful World said...

How exciting! A real treat for you, and for all of us! It's a lovely bird. I love the pink stripe on the back of its neck. The collection of plastic things reminded me of the Albatross on Midway Island when I lived there as a child. They wouldn't collect things, but if some annoying person put a light bulb or tennis ball in their nest (such a hazard, nesting on the ground!) they would try to hatch it. And Miss Olive Pink was a wonderful woman...and had a lovely name!

FAB said...

Right time, right place .. lucky you Carole to see this interesting species.

Kay said...

How lucky you were Carole to capture this bower bird. Beautiful bird. Also the Botanical Garden looks very interesting, I took a peek at their site.

Gumer Paz said...

Fascinating, Carole! I loved the video
Kisses :)