Tooshtoosh and Mrs Tooshtoosh Fight for a Chance to Breed

[sourland]

Thanks for the great pictures and updates.

 

[briefvisit]

Limpychick was away yesterday, and not seen yet today. Mr. and Mrs. T. have made the most of it. They've had wheat and chopped apple from me. Mrs. T. comes quite close now. And the pair has repeatedly snuck up to the lilly pilly tree right by the house.

And tag-along emu is still around.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Limpychick still away. T. and Mrs. T. here, front and centre in the house-clearing. Had their ration, and got grass and lilly pillies.

Has Limpychick gone for a desperate last-minute search for a consort?

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Limpychick away for third day. Has she bolted, looking for a last-minute consort?

Tooshtoosh and Mrs Tooshtoosh front and centre. Good rations. Now within a week of The Date.

Watching consorts become tame is so much fun. And the breeding-pairs are so vocal at this time of year.

Click on the photo, and observe Mrs. Tooshtoosh's posture. It's splendid. I wonder how old she is?

And on the left you can just see the window of a bedroom. In years past, we've crept to that window, to observe fully wild birds at the lilly pilly tree. With grass almost the only food for the wild birds at this time of year, they will go to lengths to secure the berries.

Mrs. Tooshtoosh having a dawn stretch


SE

 

[briefvisit]

Limpychick away. T. and Mrs. T. front and centre. Tag-along emus is about.

 

[briefvisit]

Limpychick away. T. and Mrs. T. here.

 

[briefvisit]

Limpychick away. T. and Mrs. T. here. Tag-along emu here.

Saw T. and Mrs. T. emerge from the bush this morning. Right by the house-clearing.

Haven't hear Mrs. T. vocalise at night.

And prepare to be disappointed, campers, because now we get to the bit where nothing happens. If T. and Mrs. T. just keep turning up, then they have failed to breed -- but still a good start for Tooshtoosh, who is in his first adult year.

Or: one morning, Mrs. T. will turn up by herself, which lets us know that T. is incubating -- but we won't know where he is.

Or: one morning, neither will turn up, and we will have no idea what is going on.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Mrs. T. now trots to get her chopped apple. And the pair talk to each other all the time --- never had observations like this. And tag-along emu isn't tagging along. It seems to be independent, sneaking up to the lilly pilly tree.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Ooooooh! I have no idea!

T. and Mrs. T. turned up in the same corner of the clearing this morning. Mrs. T. definitely likes chopped apple. No Tag-along Emu. No Limpychick.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

Still no idea. Watched Tooshtoosh at deep dusk, right by the house. He had two females with him, and all three are roosting close by now (pre dawn).

Today is calendar mid-winter.

(If anyone has read the Mating Season thread, you know that the eggs may already be laid, and hidden under damp leaves, waiting for Dad to begin the incubation

SE