Satin Bowerbird in his bower

[Michael Sowden]

This Male Satin Bower Bird convienantly made his bower right behind a permanent hide I have located in the rainforest behind my house. All I had to do was cut a hole i the rear wall and sit in the hide backwards:D. The blue decoration on the ground are "treasures" used as decoration to attract the females. Considering where I live I don't know how far he must of travelled to collect the "packing tape":)

Pentax *istDS, 50-500mm @ 270mm, f8 @ 1/30th, iso 400. No flash used (spooky species:))

[John Cooper]

These bower birds make interesting subject matter Michael. The Satin blue plumage is evident on the head, and that beautiful blue eye but the rest of the body is blacked out. Flash would be required here to do justice to this bird's stunning plumage. I have often used flash with this species Michael without any adverse response, and with this one so close to your house it should be almost habituted - give it a try!

[Michael Sowden]

These bower birds make interesting subject matter Michael. The Satin blue plumage is evident on the head, and that beautiful blue eye but the rest of the body is blacked out. Flash would be required here to do justice to this bird's stunning plumage. I have often used flash with this species Michael without any adverse response, and with this one so close to your house it should be almost habituted - give it a try!

John: I totally agree with the flash suggestion, the chest of this species seems to absorb light, nothing I have tried can do their beauty justice. The whole local group of this species will even sit on my deck, but even the with smallest use of a flash will see them disappear for hours (I have tried all sorts of setups). I didn't want to disturb this bloke to much as he was trying very hard to get the ladies attention:D

[Jim Poor]

Have you tried a more constant light source? A reflector on the back of the blind, or some other light source that could be left on for a while?