A handsome black bird has taken up residence in a shrub right next to the
house about 4m from my bedroom window. It has been sitting there most of
the time for the last three days sometimes making an generic 'cheep cheep'
call that is not very distinctive. Then yesterday it experimentally made a
'wurra wurra wuura' call which I recognised. I headed straight for the bird
book and there is his portrait - a male Koel. We have called him Nat of
course.

This bird is frequently heard much more than seen in east coast gardens. It
is a migratory cuckoo that mates in spring around here and winters in the
far north. The mating call, which carries for hundreds of metres, can be
given all day and night. Is the most irritating insistent crescendo of
'wooooooooop wooooooooop WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP' over and over and over again.
If he starts that in the middle of the night I am going to cut down the
shrub.

Nat is very wet and sorry for himself at the moment (it's raining yea!) and
hasn't said a thing for hours. I wonder if he could be bribed to stay
quiet, perhaps some slices of mango, a big fat grub.....

David