Wild Emus at The Lilly Pilly Tree

[briefvisit]

I checked the dam. Found several emu feathers floating in it. Might be Dad and the chicks we saw.

And right now, GB and Consort are enjoying Cape-Weed flowers.

These are an invasive species, readers; but bear in mind that the ground-cover flowers are tiny. So the emus are still really on a 'winter diet' a fortnight into spring.

But the Cape-Weed flowers are serious nutrition. In a week, the emus' poops will be full of the little hard bit in the middle.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Female emus – certainly those commanding a territory – vocalise through the wee hours. Last night, I was lying awake, counting the foomphs of a female roosting just beyond the house-clearing. The string of vocalisations was odd, sort of drawn out. The point, though, is that I’d assumed it was GB.

Until a single vocalization, which I knew was GB, came from the other side of the clearing. So, one of the wild females besieging the clearing was challenging GB, who uttered just the single response that I heard.

At dawn, GB turned up for her bit of wheat, and the interloper came to drive her off. Consort was sort of drifting about.

A standoff ensued between GB and the wild female.

And here is GB enjoying her Dawn Drink:

https://imgur.com/6A2gSkg

The fun here, readers, is that none of these emus have any idea that they are 'at my place' or 'drinking from the bird bath.'

 

[briefvisit]

And why are Muir’s Corellas on our thread? The bush has an early-warning system, and these (utterly raucous) corellas are a part of it. They sit in the top of trees, and vocalise when they see The Old Guy From The Farmhouse trying to sneak up to a clearing in order to observe wild emus.

And in Australian slang, 'to keep cocky' means to 'to be a lookout.'

More to the point, though, is that I’ve never been so close to them. They are veeery skittish.

https://imgur.com/4uyopE8

https://imgur.com/OKNaTKM

I got the drop on them, and crept into a shed with a hole in the wall.

This species, readers, and their slightly-larger cousins, the black cockatoos, are splendidly powerful flyers.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

 

[briefvisit]

So, there were four emus here at deep dusk yesterday, GB and Consort, and two others.



Remember the ‘sandy-coloured’ emu from the bad photo a couple of days ago? Well, she was first on stage at dawn this morning – we are almost certain it’s the same bird. Her colour is remarkable.



She is a sassy female – we even wonder if she’s been here before. Here she is:

Wait!
Technical malfunction


And she turned her nose up at the wheat!



[Been to town. More notes tomorrow. There’s an intruder behind the fig tree right at this second.]

 

[briefvisit]

https://imgur.com/8np8h3M

 

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https://imgur.com/wA3cJVU

Frog lives in my bath room. Just testing IMG.

 

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Spring in The House-Clearing is a fine thing for emus GB and Consort this morning. There are no bossy older birds traipsing around.



Let’s take a second to recap The Reality of GB Emu (and Consort):

she was an undersized chick last year, here with a likewise undersized chick, surely a sibling. And somehow, after everyone else left, just GB remained.



So she is today just seventeen days into her first year ‘in the ring,’ so to speak. Her hard-wiring is telling here something something find a consort, and something something secure territory.



And she and Consort are trying to do just that, albeit months and months too early.

Several days ago, they worked as a perfect pair to drive an intruder off (many consorts just stand about like potted palms while the argy bargy goes down – though watching a competent breeding-pair in synchronized action against interlopers is a fine fine thing.)



But two days later, more powerful birds are traipsing about all over 'their' house-clearing.



SE

 

[briefvisit]

https://imgur.com/dXp2UYO

Okay: can upload a photo. Check

Cape Weed flowers now plentiful

SE

 

[Evadig]

https://imgur.com/wA3cJVU

Frog lives in my bath room. Just testing IMG.

That frog is quite colorful!

https://imgur.com/dXp2UYO

Okay: can upload a photo. Check

Cape Weed flowers now plentiful

SE

Their name is a bit funny considering that they are an invasive species for y’all .

and something something secure territory.

How much territory does an emu need?