All posts,  The Bush

Mysterious feathered friend…

We had a strange visitor on our deck this morning…  not of the human variety (although the deck is quite used to strange humans) but another feathered creature…

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He was perched uncertainly on the back of a timber chair, staring at his reflection in our kitchen window…

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He was really astonishingly beautiful… not quite mature, we suspect.

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With a beak a little like a kingfisher or kookaburra…

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Long, strong talons perfect for grabbing prey and feathered legs (see following pics) not unlike a wedgetail eagle

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Dash has a little mate visiting – they were both enormously curious.

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Luckily the bird was calm enough not to freak out when each tried to stroke his tail feathers…

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Although I am not certain he enjoyed the attention.

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He seems to be saying “Which is the right way OUT of here please!”

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And despite encouragement from our resident critter tamers (Lachie and Cal) to stay and eat steakettes, he was soon on his way up, up and away.

Hours have been spent pouring over online bird catalogues but we are no closer to knowing the breed of our handsome feathered friend.

The closest guess we came up with was a Swamp Harrier.  But the yellow doesn’t seem as apparent on anything we find…

Anyone out there know? Please share in comments!

🙂

BB

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