Celibate and Sane: At last - Decent Photos of a Male and Female Stormbird (Common Koel)

December 17, 2010

At last - Decent Photos of a Male and Female Stormbird (Common Koel)

The common koel or stormbirds as we locals call them, have continued to prove elusive for me when it comes to photography. They often rest in the large tree out behind our back porch, calling out to others, but will hide way in the rear if the tree, behind branches and leaves. In fact, if they are out in the open, when they see me coming out of the back door with my camera, I swear they scuttle off behind foliage and branches so that I can't get a decent photo. This has been going on for months now and has been quite frustrating.

What's particularly difficult is that the males are so black that even if I manage to snap a photo, their plumage is too difficult to identify any kind of detail and they simply look like a black blob amongst the shadows of the tree.

During some recent heavy rain I spotted a female stormbird, trying to keep dry in the palm tree next door and snapped a few reasonable photos. I've had considerable difficulty obtaining a photo of a female, and was delighted to snap this one.

Common Koel - juvenile female
(Eudynamys scolopacea)

Recently just prior to a storm, we noticed several male stormbirds flying around and I heard one calling from a palm tree near our front verandah. Grabbing my camera I was able to snap a number of photos using my flash which enabled me to get some detail of the male's black plumage as well as its intensely red eyes.

Common Koel - male
(Eudynamys scolopacea)

Finally, after months and months of endeavour, I now have photos of both a male and a female common koel.

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Personal Quotes from Vicki-S

"Occasionally I find my breakfast a little bitter, and sometimes it's difficult to chew and swallow; though at other times it's sweet, but it’s very satisfying and always sustains me. My most important meal of the day, is feasting on God’s Word and drinking up His presence."

I love me, because God loves me. It's not that God doesn't see my flaws, they are like blazing torches in His eyes, but rather that He sees past my imperfections and still loves me. And who am I to argue with the perfect God that I am worthwhile, that I am worthy of love, and that He accepts me and wants me to be His child, His beloved daughter? When I understood this, I began to accept and embrace His version and His vision of me, and not the world's.

"The silent treatment and sulking are simply two other weapons in the arsenal of the manipulator."

"Often people use the metaphor of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon to describe how we can grow from difficult experiences, but what they don't mention is the fact that at first we start off as an ugly caterpillar."

"We so often just get caught up in trying to just get through each day, that we forget to pause and be thankful for the fresh one that is presented anew and untouched each morning."

"Contrary to what we might think, forgiveness isn't so much about healing our relationship with that other person, but about healing our own broken heart."

"The purpose of school reunions is to show off how much you've achieved in life, to laugh at the once popular kids who've aged more quickly than you; and to wince at the guy who was a bully in school and who aptly became a policeman."

"I've found in many organisations where volunteers are needed, including the modern-day church, that 80% of its people sit back and let everyone else do most of the work, then there's the 10% who actually make the place run, and the remaining 10% just like to whinge about the 10% doing the work, especially about how they could do it better."

"When traced back to its source, every sin, every despicable act, and every war was motivated by someone's selfishness."

"I do not want to think of man, for that would distract me from God. But if I focus on God, I cannot help but think of my fellow man, and each day God keeps the scales balanced so that I have enough within me to do both."

"Overcoming depression isn’t about changing ones attitude, or just ‘getting on’ with things, it’s like removing one’s personal black shroud one thread at a time, with ones teeth.”