The Plovers or a deleted scene from "The Birds"

For the past week I have been accomodating a pair of nesting plovers on the front lawn of the Pilot Station.

The nest is situated in a open expanse of lawns and the plovers positioned themselves with a good view in all directions to keep a look out for potential threats. They have the front lawn totally staked out in all directions including the space between the house and the boat house constant under surveillance - the back yard between the carport and the back door is the only place where one can walk without the potential dive and swoop from the non nesting plover at the time. The plovers have yellow spurs on their wings and are pretty protective - they prepare to swoop at you by lining you up whilst they are on the ground then they lift off up and high and fast and begin to come straight towards you at head height.

The nesting birds swap positions on occaision relieving each other of the nesting duties keeping the eggs warm and communicating with a high (ish) pitched stacatto squawk that usually came in threes when danger threatens.

Deluding myself into thinking I was some kind of nature photographer for a David Attenborough doco I decided on my second day of the residency that I would video the plovers on an ad hoc basis when something interesting was happening and I happened to be in the house. I have set up the tripod in the front corner study ready for any "action" that may arise. The footage is rivetting!

I have been swooped by the plovers now on four occaisions.

The first was whilst I was chatting with Jenni (my trusty project coordinator) on the front porch. It was then I learnt the hands up technique: When the plover is swooping towards you, raise hands above head or over your face. Whilst Jenni was fine with this technique, the duck and crouch instinct that I found I was suddenly practicing to be just as effective at short notice.

Both techniques are suitable when stationary yet slightly difficult with a cup of tea in your hand.

The second time I was carrying equipment from the house to the boat shed. The gap between the boat shed and the house is about 3 to 4 meters. I was wearing a red t-shirt at the time and holding a computer screen. It was my second or third trip between the buildings, and I must have appeared to the bird like some computer game character traversing within range repeatedly back and forth, something like the old super Ninetendo game Duck Shooter except I was the duck and the bird had the gun accessory included in the package! I decided that I would wear my khaki green jacket over the bright t-shirt to see if they would swoop again. Luckily this camoflage worked and all technical equipment was placed safely in the technical equipment hold.

The third time I was being shown the signal shed by Glen (gate keeper of the pilot station). The signal shed is where the marine flags were kept to signal to the boats off shore back in the days when the pilot station was operating. It is positioned in the front yard approximately 15-20 metres directly in front of the boat shed and say about 10 metres from the front right hand corner of the house. The plovers are between the house and the signal shed. The signal shed looks like a slightly larger outside dunny and its very cute with the fourty odd shelves for the signal flags still inside just waiting for each shelf to filled with a collection of items to signify a story (installation ideas maybe?). To get to the signal shed we decided to make a break for it whilst keeping a wide berth from the nesting birds. This was tempting fate, I admit, and as I was running through the clearing with my fist raised above my head to make myself slightly taller than normal I collected the swooping plover in the chest. Upon reaching the locked door of the signal shed I turned to view some of its feathers drift to the ground. Suffice to say we took an even wider berth on the way back, with a similar reaction from the birds.

The forth time was today - but in between then and today - I am slightly proud to announce that I am the "uncle" of four plover chicks. Three appeared a couple of days ago and I managed to video them staggering around the nest on Tuesday. The fourth one didn't appear until today. I was out all day from very early and arrived back home at around 4pm to find the whole plover family staking out the back yard! Now ... to get to the back door with shopping and bag in hand along with the key ready to open the back door whilst fending off swooping birds and not stepping on the chicks was not a viable option. So I calmly stamped loudly, walked sideways, keeping my eye on the plovers at all times (as they were both preparing to swoop) and thrust my bag infront of me as I stomped, making me appear like some sort of spastic crab edging around the side tree and towards the front door to safety.

It was here that I promptly discovered that none of my keys would open the front door.

Depositing the shopping for later retrieval at the front door I then edged with my bag in the more or less than effective "thrusting from the chest position" around the side tree, and again towards the back door where I was swooped by both birds whilst they too were also both trying to shepherd their flightless young in the same counterclockwise direction around the house. This major manouvre on both fronts, with me trying to defend the recently challenged front line of the back yard and them retreating with chicks running eveywhere was distressing to say the least. At one point it crossed my mind to drop everything and suggest that we all worked this out diplomatically with me quite possibly taking care of the young on the odd occasion as the mother and father looked for food perhaps or maybe put their feet up and have a rest from the constant hungry mouths. But reasoning with a plover at this stage was not to be entertained. In between more lound stamps and thrusts from my bag with the keys fumbling in my hand I finally made it to the back door and quickly let myself in. For about an hour or so afterwards from any window in the house I spied the plovers and they spied me with a certain distrust in both our eyes.

Today:
Secured an installation site in Port Macquaire for their Aquasculpture week,
Visited The Marine Museum in Port Macquiarie and inadvertantly made comments about getting ones sea legs to a one legged man - slighly embarrassing.
Interviewed on ABC radio and for local paper.
Met with local council to try and work out what second hand technology I required.

I think things are coming together in my head - but second guessing my self all the time and hoping I am going in a direction that is possible. I am looking forward to finding people to work with so I can download all of this stuff in my head and collaborate on a direction. Roll on Sunday where hopefully some people will rock up to a meet and greet me.

"Come On Feel The Illinoise" by Sufjan Stevens - top album