satin bowerbird pair (almost)

[avkomp]

quite a lot of rain recently so not venturing far between downfalls.
saw more than I expected overall.
this is only the 2nd time I have seen a male satin bowerbird looking like this. first time cleared off with no pix, but not this time.
almost fully satin now but a few remaining bits of the green on him, similar to the female behind him.
until adult hood male and females very alike and green but male has a light coloured bill.
both keep the brilliant eye colour.
d5 600f4 tc17(1000mm) 1/400 f8 iso 1600 best part of full frame.

[Isac]

I've never seen one before (that I know of), probably because they are endemic to the eastern side of the country. They have that metallic sheen similar to crows.
More space in front?

[avkomp]

See a lot of bowerbirds down here and lots up the blue mountains. Always fully green or metallic blue. Knew they changed of cos but hadn't seen the process.
more in front is a hard one. I not have any unless canvas added. Then we lose some of the female unless some taken off top or even add some there too
Decisions decisions

[Isac]

You can only do what you can mate! good to get this one at 1000mm.

[wigz]

Interesting shot Stephen. I've never seen one in transition before, but I only see them if I go up into the mountains. Good work getting the female also.

[avkomp]

female in the background just happened to be there. to be honest, not sure I even saw her at that stage. just keen to get a clear pic of the male.
with 1000mm on you not have a particularly wide field of view

[avkomp]

reckon we have found his bower too.
or someones bower anyhow.
after the rain stopped we walking along the side of the creek to see any damage and stuff.
a bit of blue was seen under a bush so went to check it out as bowerbirds are quite fond of blue stuff.
it turned out to be a bit of blue plastic which we assumed was put or dropped there by a bowerbird. about 2 ft away there was a bower..
think it is likely this guys one cos I left a blue bottle top at the bird bath and he was seen flying off with it in the right direciton.
not sure I have an angle on the bower for pix though, which is a shame.
the bower we found last year was in heavy cover and no chance of a shot there either,
last years on took 2 weeks of grid searching to find, so getting this one almost by accident is a plus.
read that immatures can build practice bowers too. hopefully this is the real thing.
might have to take a sneaky look to see if he has done more work at it.
edit: perhaps an angle available thru brush. not in the clear though
and he has added maybe 10 bits of blue stuff since the weekend. thru binos I saw 2 blue bottle tops including one that I saw him flying away with the other day.
some blue cardboard and maybe bits of blue icecream container. looking more and more like an operational and not practice bower

[Isac]

Great story Stephen. You'll just have to keep hoping that it comes out in the open when you're nearby.

[avkomp]

update, it seems I have some sort of shot thru the bushes, need to be laying in the dirt though. may or may not be worth it.
hopefully there will be some bower action.

[Isac]

Well built nest mate. Looks like you have a pretty good spot to catch the action.

[avkomp]

this is not a nest. Is where the male advertises his services. Good bower with good decorations brings the ladies in.

[Isac]

I guess I was right though in one way. It's the males "Love Nest". If I could have done that back in the sixties, things may have been different. Imagine luring in the "ladies" with just a few blue bottle tops!! Probably get the the high society ladies with some extras like: Something OLD, something NEW, something BORROWED, something BLUE. Could be good lyrics for song