Common bronzewing calling

To me a little sense of mystery surrounds my sightings of Common bronzewing.
It was a few years of birdwatching before I even identified one. I must have seen or heard them before my birding existence - I was in their domain after all. It is probable that unless you're some sort of "birder" seeing a bronzewing does not even register in one's consciousness.

Common bronzewing (male)
at Hochkins Reserve, North Croydon

Mysterious because having not been aware of them before, they then "appear" in the parks of suburbs in which I live and work.
I identified the bird a few times before I ever heard them call. Then one day I heard it - the booming but soft and deep resonating repeated "oom". I couldn't see the bird, I didn't even know it was a bird. I remember a woman passed. I explained and queried. She heard also and declared "Owl!" (I wish). Eventually I worked it out.

Common bronzewing - the female colouring
Blackburn Lake

Mysterious because on the one hand they are elusive and yet not. In a place I regularly pass I will make a single unexpected sighting and then not again for many, many months. Yet their call can be readily heard over 100m away and once heard they can usually be tracked down - what a give away! Also they are just as likely to frequent the picnic spots of forested areas, wandering calmly through the car park - they even visit the bird feeder in my father-in-law's suburban deck!

I remember enjoying watching this bird at the car park at Badger Creek Weir and was able to record some video of it calling (perhaps would have been better if the camera wasn't set to a fixed focal point just beyond the bird).

Having also seen a male bird display from a distance I know I would also enjoy a closer view of that fanned tail .... and perhaps a few shots.

Anyway .... now for the Brush & Flock bronzewing varieties!!