Owls and Orchids

image from http://www.statesymbolsusa.org –

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer.  It sings because it has a song.”  ~Chinese Proverb

There has been one constant in my “self-imposed” exile this past year, and that is the continuous play of wildlife outside my bedroom window.  Whilst the rain and floods have played havoc on the countryside, farms, roads, livestock and homes, I have been fortunate to see a parade of wildlife, well bird life visiting my garden, for which I am truly grsteful.

We have seen Masked Plovers and Pee Wee’s (Pee Wit’s), Magpies and Doves, Ibis and Purple Water hens, and a variety of ducks. I believe we have a family of ducks just started visiting and I am on the lookout to get a few pictures of the ducklings before they get much bigger. They are so cute!

However, last summer we were visited by a “Mystery Bird”.  Several of the  professional birdwatchers I spoke to were positive it was a “Pheasant Coucal”, but since I’m not certain, well I’m simply not sure.  Last week we were fortunate to see not one, but two! We have a mating pair and their colouring was much darker than last year, a beautiful russet colour.  Here are some of the photos I took then. The colour looks a little lighter than when I took the photo but you can see the intense black around his head and shoulders.

Is this our Pheasant Coucal?

Checking out the garden to see what’s around.

You can see he has a much longer tail than the usual bird.

Not taking any chances, we are fortunate the dogs next door can’t get in.

Very shy he creeps through the grass though he can fly

You can see his tail is longer than his body.

They seem to walk much more than the other birds and only take flight when they’ve been disturbed.

Hiding in the shrubbery

This is where he/she stayed for half an hour after the neighbors walked past and he took fright/flight.  Last year we saw them creeping along the fence line most often. They stayed under the shrubbery as much as possible and only ventured out if they felt safe – and unobserved.

If anyone knows what these shy birds are I would love to know.

Blessings

Susan x