Australia - Sunset and the Kookaburra

As Jo and I walked up the hill to our Flat from the Rottnest Ferry Terminal the sun was sinking low in the horizon. It was going to be a spectacular sunset. I hurried Jo up the hill so I could grab my camera and hike up to the Submarine Memorial behind our flat for some pics.

HDR

As the sun dipped into the Indian Ocean I though about how the list of things we wanted to do in Australia was filling up with checkmarks. One of the checks still missing was seeing a Kookaburra. Everyone spoke of them as if they were as common as crows, but other than a brief encounter in Kings Park I hadn't seen one yet. Most of the wildlife in WA is Crepuscular, meaning they're most active at sunrise and sunset. This would be my opportunity.

Camera in hand I ran down the hill, jumped off an 8 foot rock wall, crossed the street below, and sprinted up the stairs to the 5th floor of our building. Don had told me if I made a "bl'l'l'l'l" sound the local Kookaburras would come and eat steak right out of my hand. I didn't have any steak, but I found some bacon.

I walked out the end of the 5th floor balcony, bacon in hand, and made the noise. Before I was done making the noise I noticed a dark figure with a distinctive beak outline perched on a TV antenna extending from the roof of the building next door. It gracefully swooped down and landed on the laundry shed below. I laid a few strips of bacon down on the ledge and backed off. She took in the situation for a minute, then flew up and landed on the rail. Finally after days of neck wrenching searching a Kookaburra! It was a Laughing Kookaburra, common in Fremantle. She sidled over to the brick ledge and snapped up a piece of bacon. Then she whipped her beak against the brick. It made the sound of a oyster shell against rock. She repeated behavior a few more times and swallowed the bacon by pointing her beak to the sky. Fish are the Kookaburra's primary diet and they do this to kill the prey.

It was getting dark and my pictures were getting blurry so I switched on the flash. As soon as it fired she flew back to the laundry roof. I could hardly blame her, but as soon as I retreated a little she came right back. She got used to my presence, but never let me get too close. Then for no reason she abruptly flew back to the tower where I saw another dark figure was perched.

They stood on the antenna together in a conversational pose until I made the noise again. This time the new bird flew down. He was much more comfortable with me and demonstrated the same beak-slapping technique as he ate. He didn't care for the flash, but never left when I fired it. Eventually he let me get within an arms reach. I picked a piece of bacon in my hand and spoke gently as I reached out my hand. He looked at it apprehensively for a moment then went in for the kill. I was worried that I might get a finger bit off, but I figured hey that's a chance you take when you feed wild animals by hand! He snapped the bacon out of my fingers with surgical precision without even grazing my skin.

We hung out for a bit and then he flew back to his mate on the TV antenna. They paused for a moment as if saying goodbye and flew off in the fading twilight.