The latest Bubba

[Tintola]

Paranoia setting in fast. P.M. sent!

[SamDavis]

Nope still no sound ....

Forget the bloody speakers, just stick your head underwater whilst saying "wa waap wawoo". Should sound just like a Wompoo. Oh, and make sure to take some photos or even a video and post them up here - that would be entertaining!

[jusdeb]

Hahaha Sam your a funny bugger

[mattymeischke]

Awesome work, T.

I know a place near you where we see them reliably on a brushbox/rainforest plateau on the North side of the Nightcap range; I am always impressed by how hard they are to spot despite their amazing colours and noisy wompooing, even when they are close.

They are the emblem of the UDDVCC (Upper Doon Doon Valley Cricket Club), an occasional social sporting club of which I am a founding member.

Are they a challenging bird to keep?
I seem to recall that the type specimen was shot near Wollongong, but they are long extinct this far South.
Would they go alright in a temperate climate?

Looking forward to progress pics.

[Tintola]

[quote="mattymeischke"]Are they a challenging bird to keep?
I seem to recall that the type specimen was shot near Wollongong, but they are long extinct this far South.
Would they go alright in a temperate climate?

Thanks Matty, They are a little more challenging than the other fruit doves requiring a bit more protein in the form of canned bean mix, chick peas and soaked, dry dog food added to their chopped fruit and veg mix.
Temperate climate seems to be ok along the coastal strip as they are not mad about extended cold and frosts. They have been kept in Sydney and Adelaide. I've been keeping them for about five years now, so far so good. I don't think they would survive in Gundaroo. T.F.C.

[quote="mattymeischke"]They are the emblem of the UDDVCC (Upper Doon Doon Valley Cricket Club), an occasional social sporting club of which I am a founding member.

I wouldn't think that "Upper Doon Doon Valley" would have enough people living there to make up a cricket team. Maybe they borrowed some players from Hooterville.

[mattymeischke]

Three resident members and other regular visitors make up the core, but random visitors are always required to make up the 22 and umpires for a game.
The square-leg umpire sits on the esky and the bowlers end ump lights the smokes.
Bloody lovely spot for a cricket ground (the UDDVCCG, of course), at about 500m altitude looking North and West over the caldera to the Border Ranges.
The address (Doon Doon Rd., Doon Doon), when read backwards, amuses some medical men among our number.

[Tintola]

Back to the original topic, here is an update on the Wompoo chick 13 days old. So far so good. Look at the size of those feet! I don't know what the tuft of pin feathers on the back of the head is all about.

Wompoo chick at 13 days.jpg

[jusdeb]

Look at the green feathers . Sure is getting prettier as it gets older .

[Tintola]

Perching already. Would normally fledge at 15 days but is slightly retarded (and I mean that in the kindest possible way) All they need at fledging are functional wings and two BIG feet.

[mattymeischke]

Beautiful.