This is Screech.
For the last couple of months we've had a very diligent Tawny Frogmouth pair sitting on their nest close to the house. We've watched with anticipation and were finally rewarded by seeing a little bundle of fluff popping his head out of the nest.
Then last weekend - DRAMA - I walked outside to see a massive monitor making his way towards the Tawny tree. Screamed at hubby to come and help, we tried to avert disaster, but the monitor was way too fast for us and scaled the tree.
Mumma Tawny was very panicked, as the monitor came closer to the nest she flew off into a nearby tree. She gave me a look of absolute desperation HELP ME! (yes, she did!) but the nest/monitor were way too high for us to do anything. Hubby tried to throw things at the monitor, but I stopped him as the monitor's life is no less precious than the chicks - I didn't want to see the monitor get toppled out of the tree and hurt or killed. Plus hubby damn near hit my car with a rock. ;\
I put some eggs around the base of the tree so the monitor could see them, in a vain attempt to lure him away from the chick. We had to go out briefly, so wished the Tawnys good luck. Alas, when we came back, the nest was empty :_|
Went about our afternoon chores when suddenly I spotted baby Tawny! Sitting on the ground next to the tractor. We dropped everything, made him a makeshift nest and put it up in the tree, then caught him and put him in the nest. We saw Mumma and Pappa Tawny watching nearby.
Cut down a long story, Bubba kept jumping out of his nest over the next three days and Mumma and Pappa abandoned him, so the decision was made to bring him inside to keep him safe from both the monitors and our dogs. (our four young ones would kill him).
He will be released as soon as he can fly properly and learn to catch his own bugs (I am catching them for him at the moment). He's all puffed up and hating me in the photo, that's a good thing, we don't want him imprinting on us. He's feeding really well though (I hate you, I hate you, yum, yum, more please, I still hate you).
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!! Hagar is still with us .... :^O .... go Hagar!! ..... :-x
:^O ... I'm not silly Monsters .. I was attacked by a white rooster years ago .. he was just dreadful and used to chase anyone along the footpath who walked passed 'his house'. It got to the stage where folks used to carry sticks, large handbags, plastic bottles and anything handy to ward him off. Don't know what his name was, but we called him 'the demon' ... he was truly born of that ilk .... ๐ ... he would come running full speed down the driveway and the trick was to run faster or smack at him ... :8}
Don't know what happened to him in the end .. hopefully he became roasted ... ๐
Poor old Hagar, he might have lost his marbles .. B-)
How is Mr. Screech doing? and the camels etc?
