Not the daytime soapy, but a bold little chick, and the beautiful Victoria’s Riflebird.

A male Victoria’s Riflebird has been checking out the post on our pergola, and last Saturday I managed to snap him trying to attract the attention of nearby female.  He was also displaying on that post again on Wednesday, his performance was good, a female flew right over him and had a look, but the photos I took were not so great.

Then there was a missed photo opportunity on Friday morning. I went down to the cottages, I was only going to be there for a short time,  I didn’t take my camera. Yep, at the Bali cottage on the deck post, a young male was dancing away like there was no tomorrow (a riflebird that is). I think it was a young male because he was not directing his dance to anyone in particular, and then finished with a weird downward flurry. He was so into it, he didn’t notice me at all.

This little fluffball came out of the undergrowth to scratch around on the grass in the open.  Who would think this cute chick would turn into the much maligned Australian Brush Turkey. Below is an image from behind showing the new wing feathers, but still a fluffy little tail.  From what I have read on the facial colourings and feather development of the chicks, it could be about 2 weeks old.