Sunday 14 July 2013

Jottings from the Tropics: 14 July 2013


The pub is holding a woodchop contest. There is also a bouncy castle. It's raining. What could possibly go wrong?

— o O o — 

So there I was, sitting at the computer, pretending to work, when I heard something that sounded like rustling paper. At first, I thought it was interference on the radio. But it kept going. Also, it seemed to be coming from exactly where the radio wasn't.

The rustling was not paper, but the feathers of a pheasant coucal that had wandered into the house and couldn't find its way out again. Those of you who are familiar with pheasant coucals will know that confusion is their permanent state. They are large and (I think) handsome birds, but they are not going to win 'Avian Mastermind'.

Here is what First Dog on the Moon has to say about pheasant coucals.

I stood there, bemused, as the coucal swaggered past me. At this point, the bird realised that there was a human quite nearby, so it was probably time to make a getaway. Instead of turning around — the strategy favoured by brush turkeys — it kept going until it reached the bathroom. Unfortunately, the bathroom is a dead end.

I did, eventually, herd it out through the front door, a process that should have been accompanied by 'Yakety Sax'. Instead, it was accompanied by the bird's alarm call. (You can hear a coucal's alarm call at this site.) And although the coucal left a trail of chaos — mostly because it tried to fly — it did not poop over everything. And that puts it much higher on the favourite birds list than the minuscule white-browed scrub wren. (I'd put it at the top of the list if it would take care of the cheeky little house mouse that runs over my feet at night while I'm sitting at the computer, pretending to work.)

(No photos, I'm afraid. The bird was upset enough without having a camera shoved in its face.)

Here's Yakety Sax, so you can recreate the event in the comfort of your own house.