Bimbimbie

From the window

2012-01-25T08:05:00.012+10:00

It's been raining: muchly. The creek, efficient, is running with the singular determination of a freight train keen to transport the deluge elsewhere. The frogs are in full shrieking party mode; the birds are sitting bedraggled, awaiting their turn to sing to a returning sun whilst the trees uncoil their perfumed oil and I soak it all in through my open window.

Been a long time coming

2011-12-31T16:34:00.003+10:00

I can't believe I made a start on this post way back on the 17th November but it's true I did. It's the same day our modem decided to take its last electronic gasp before expiring and sending us into the bedlam that is hilariously known as telecommunication customer service. Nicely out of that and Chloe the Rotti decided she'd rather like a little extra pampering from us and so actioned her back end to collapse. It was all a little hairy scary initially but thanks to medications and a months course of injections she's almost back to her old self :)

During my blogging lapse the Crow's eggs hatched and two chicks emerged this year. This is them early morning Christmas Day, they'd been out and about from their nest for a week at that point and just the other morning I caught sight of them on the ground by the water bowl.
Remember those photos at the end of the previous post when I asked you what you thought they were? Well two photos were of a pair of birds called Tawny Frogmouth who like to impersonate limbs of trees and amazingly good at it they are too...

See the one above this feathered one's head, that's how this one looked before it sat up.
And nothing in the hollow except sunlight playing in the shadows. The remaining photo, and one which I didn't keep in its original format was of a dragonfly which had died and was resting against the glass panel when I got up that morning.

Smiles & see you next year ;)

Nature's allsorts

2011-10-31T12:18:00.003+10:00

Red and some of the other birds I associate with the arrival of our wet weather arrived within days of each other. They brought thunderstorms and high winds and lots of calling to and fro for their partners to make ready their chosen nests. Soon the insects will be abundant and birds will be running and swooping to catch them for their demanding chicks. The air is heavy and sweet from the nectar laden flowering trees, the grass is green and thickening, the trees are swollen and upright... and this is what I've seen...

No not a giant egg but a soccer ball that had been wedged
up a tree for the past decade

noisy birds

wet birds

nest building birds

Tiny birds

Blushing pink birds

Birds supervising the restoration and resiting of feeding station
Shy turkey bird on the run
Water birds with Wallaby

Wallaby with friend
Wallaby with her joey
Wallaby want to be Hare

Possie Possum and her latest joey - 1 month older in
3rd photo and beating mum to the treats

A first for me - big thrill. Heard and seen before but never
been close enough for the camera.
I think it's a Squirrel Glider, if I'm wrong then it's a
Sugar Glider which is the smaller of the two
Honey spread upon a piece of bread is the attraction here.
Red has been back and with his partner in tow
She showed no signs of nervousness in following him over to me
so I'm thinking Red must have been happy with her nesting
and chick rearing skills from last season.

***

I've been rereading some of my favourite tales of mysterious imaginings of the spooky order and it seems my unquiet thoughts gathered and rearranged themselves in the woods for me to capture.

Tell me do, what sees you afore all shall be revealed come several turns o' the moon?

Don't ask! but looks like a devilishly good time was being had...

Hello Red

2011-10-08T17:58:00.008+10:00

It's been almost a year

I thought old Red had fallen victim to last year's floods

but it just goes to show that some visits are worth hoping for

Gleds, I trust these photos bring a smile to your dial as they did for me taking them late this afternoon when old Red stunned me with his reappearance*!*

A beak in time's eye

2011-08-23T16:15:00.004+10:00

A few days ago I had an unexpected encounter with this sulphur-crested cockatoo. If you are a regular reader here you'll know these large birds are frequent visitors, especially at this time of the year. And despite their size they can be quite wary. But not this one.
No, this splendid looker decided I might just be the sort of toy it was looking for to while away some time with. A cunning tactician of the first order too because at start of play, it knew I was in the garden without my camera.

Cockatoos aren't known for their quiet or melodious voice. Far from it, they like to screech especially when flying and probably sound much like a pterodactyl dinosaur once did. But again, not this one. This one knew how to stay quiet whilst stalking its toy.

I knew there was movement within the canopy of a tree directly behind me but that's usual around here so I hadn't looked up. But when I started moving back and forth between two garden beds I got the sense of being followed. Looking up I saw a flash of white tail fly over me, then land on the shed roof before flying back over and into the tree again. Naturally I asked "where did you come from?" wishing I'd not left my camera indoors I carried on with what I was
doing. A few minutes later it started raining twigs and leaves upon me so I yelled "Oi!" and the the beak pruning of the tree eased for a little while.
My first stand out memory of being up close to parrots was the day we had a family outing to a zoo. I'm on the right and would have been either eight or nine. I can remember hoping the colourful Macaw would be put on my shoulder, instead a 'plain' green parrot was placed there and the Macaw placed on my sister. For some reason the Macaw flew over to land on my brother he began moving forward in surprise only to be told to stay still so the photo could be taken! Look at his grimmaced smile.
Meanwhile the green one had taken to pulling on the ribbon trim at the neck of my dress. That's a forced smile I'm also wearing for the camera. I can still hear and feel that beak working against my neck.

And it's that memory that came quickly to mind when the sulphur-crested cockatoo decided to swoop down to the ground and walk on up to me the other morning. It came right up and rubbed its head against my leg. Wish I'd a photo of that moment, I know what thoughts were running through my head: it's not going to climb up my leg is it? (they use their beak to climb up tree trunks) ...maybe someone's lost their pet? ...does it want to be rescued and returned to wherever, how am I going to do that? ...why haven't I got my camera? So I told it to stay where it was and I'd go get some apple and my camera. When I came back it was by the back door and had been joined by another which thankfully stayed put on the tree stump.
The apple was enjoyed and I got to keep my fingers for camera clicking. After the apple was finished it flew to the roof and we watched each other for a little while before its friend called and away they flew together ...

The Fear

2011-08-22T11:28:00.003+10:00

The Norns (Arthur Rackman)

...Help the aged
‘cause one day you’ll be older too
you might need someone to pull you thru’...

Singing along to the just audible radio, Frankie pushed back his chair and crossed his outstretched legs admiring his latest Adidas trainers as he did so. “So what do you say lads; are you with me or not?”

The five figures sat hunched over the table staring at the proposal Frankie had just dropped on them. They glanced sideways at one another not quite believing what they had just heard.

Jim was the first to look directly at Frankie. “Christ. He is. He’s bloody serious. Hah! Well yeah, count me in; I’m not missing this.”

Frankie raised a scarred eyebrow at the others, “What have we got to lose lads? How many times these past months have we muttered if only?” He leaned forward jabbing his finger on the sheet of paper “This is the if only that we’ve been dreaming of. It’s ours for the taking and it’s time we took with both hands.”

Five heads nodded in single agreement.

“But what about the girls?” Asked Vic

Frankie grinned then gestured for the waitress. “Where do you think I got that proposal? The girls are already in. They just needed me to sell it to you lot - they knew it would be quicker than them having to work on us individually.”

...In the meantime we try
try to forget that nothing lasts for ever...

“Ok my loves, what can I get you?” asked the waitress, playfully covering her ears at Frankie’s off-key singing.

***

Six months earlier, Frankie and his friends, had gathered to pay their last respects at Mike’s graveside. As his casket was lowered into the ground all eyes took in what had been placed on top of the casket. The police had found Mike’s favourite runners beneath the bed of one of the suspects arrested in relation to Mike’s bungled mugging. Mike had been hit from behind. His assailants soon discovered Mike had neither watch, wallet nor phone to steal so they’d stripped him of his runners before angrily hitting him again, and again with the lump of wood.

Mike’s distraught family had voiced their concerns with the lads, begging them not to train alone. They’d pleaded with the lads families too. Insisting a watchful eye be kept on them over the coming weeks; depression was something easily hidden within their age group.

All of Mike’s friends had had similar childhoods: disrupted schooling, absent fathers, mothers living on their nerve ends. But all knew and respected fear, it was what had kept them together; that and their love of running.

***

Senior scientist, Doctor Valerie Moor, was on the cusp of a major breakthrough. One so large, it would catapult PharmaKopeia International into pole position of a brand new Global Market. She and her dedicated team, were in the final stage of clinical trials which would see the culmination of twenty years extensive research finally come to fruition.

She dropped her ipod into its dock, turning the volume up high: Pulp were the lunchtime radio guests at Back to Back and they were belting out The Fear.

...the sound of loneliness turned up to ten...

On the wall, above her desk, hung a framed print of The Norns, a birth gift received from her maternal grandmother. A small gilt plaque with the inscribed line ‘The woman who deliberates is lost’ had been added to the frame twenty years ago. It was said The Norns would visit each new born child to weave its personal web of fate and destiny. Not all webs weaved by the three sisters would be favourable or long lived. But, save for a little loose tension here and there, baby Valerie’s web had been spun from golden thread.

... oh baby here comes the fear again
the end is near again
a monkey’s built a house on your back ...

Valerie Moor was about to lob a stone so hard that state and church would shatter back in to the shifting sands from which they had been built. A reformation. An old order was about to be re-born and lads like Frankie would be its catalyst.

(to be continued...fear willing)

My offering to the current Muse at The Tenth Daughter of Memory
go here to read other offerings

Rehearsing With Gods

2011-08-03T09:38:00.005+10:00

The front page of today’s Oz News leads with the following account:

The organisers of this year’s Carbon Footprint Festival have been forced to pull their latest production...

A Taxing Time of it

Their star Puppet, Ms Earth, has been the victim of ongoing systematic vitriol at the hands of her trusted team of manipulators. Failure to work as a professional co-ordinated team has resulted in Ms Earth sustaining career threatening injuries to her limbs and a blinding migraine.

Friends of Ms Earth are at a loss to explain exactly what happened at yesterday's rehearsal, but did say her team; consisting of bankers, scientists, bishops, and politicians had had their own agendas for some time.

One onlooker who wished to remain anonymous, told me that Ms Earth was heard roaring at her team:

‘I am Earth, I am invincible. You are good for nothing little piss ants; too full of godly aspirations. I laugh at your arrogance...’

Ms Earth then apparently blacked out, fell forward killing her team of manipulators in the process.

My offering to the current Muse at The Tenth Daughter of Memory
go here to read other offerings

Faces of the Charm

2011-08-03T08:30:00.002+10:00

The Magpies continue to visit in their extended family group. One name given to a gathering of Magpies is a Charm another is a Gulp. Both these names are apt considering they love to gulp down food, sometimes interrupting the gulping with a little song. The one instigating the song is deviously attempting to get a little closer to the food. Works too. Once the others answer his fluting call with some impressive carolling of their own, the first one will be helping himself to their leftovers; charming.
I think you could imagine the sort of song a canine would burst into had she seen this gulp in action. Fortunately she was inside and totally oblivious

and every skirmish ends with a victor's charming taunt of flute.

A Better Ending

2011-07-25T06:19:00.004+10:00

Olaf the fisher, from his upturned boat
Did spy upon that headland high
A fury of a woman, taunting and bewailing
Her arms outstretched, flailing
Urging the stormed tossed sea
Boiling and pounding ever landwards
This tempest thought to end her days
Reciting lamentations upon the dead
But Olaf the fisher was not yet dead
And wanted naught but a chance to
Wring her selfish scrawny neck
He called upon his gods
Who were always near
At once there came an almighty roar
Followed by some terrific slashing
And eyes within an eye looked on
As Thors hammer began to swing
Towards that headland high
Too soon its progress halted
By Saga’s sharpened quill
And Forseti’s scales for law and justice
But whilst these three dithered
Loki, that wily mischief maker
Took the shape of a gigantic salmon
And leaping up from the sea, tail flipped
A book into the wailing woman’s mouth
Startled, she could only listen as
Salmon Loki quickly spoke
"Word Wytch, take this gift
Known by the name
Thesauros
It had its birth in Grecianlands
Within it you will find worlds of words
All manner of beginnings and ends
Borrowed from their great library
Just hours before it burned ...

Use it well in the weaving of enchantments"

A collective groan came from the sky
And three gods agreed, Olaf the fisher
Should have been allowed to
Ring her selfish scrawny neck.

(Brewed and offered up to the Muse at The Tenth Daughter Of Memory here )

Rip Van June

2011-07-10T14:24:00.006+10:00

Seems like a blurry June passed quickly before my book filled eyes

lots of chatter

and gatherings

much ado and wing waving

"Oi! You ducks ...
what have I told you - no line dancing allowed" said the Galah

last night the winter weaver left behind her spindle of ice floss.
I hear tell there's every chance she will be back with more this very night
almost faded to white

I'm rejoining Inkie by the fire, hot chocolate and a pile of books
I like to make the most of our winter hours they are so few and fleeting,
each day is like a sandwich made from two slices of winter with a summer filling.

So tell me, how was your June?

Where the moon steered me to

2011-05-31T20:24:00.004+10:00

morning mist stole Diva's silver fluted notes

to lay upon spider's web

to Diva's tune did spider's web sway and stretch in shape and size
until there a bridge suspended central
between trees and final note
a smirking face appeared

Comings

2011-05-17T20:26:00.004+10:00

outgrown
outworn
preened
pruned
feathers
re-arranged

Normally there's the resident family of up to five magpies keeping watch on me. But in the lateness of one afternoon a few short weeks ago a new normal flew down. I counted a dozen that afternoon. Three mornings later and twenty-two looked right back at me.

Do you suppose they've been playing some sort of avian relay game with me, five groups of four plus two refs?

Magpies are very territorial but so far there are no signs of disputes other than the younger ones getting a peck whenever they step out of line. So I'm guessing it must be some sort of extended family gathering and hopefully no one will outstay their welcome. We seem to be on a steady count of eighteen at the moment.

One for Sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret never to be told
Eight for a wish
Nine for a kiss
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss
Eleven for health
Twelve for wealth
Thirteen beware it's the devil himself.
(old superstitious rhyme)

Ol' Captain Devil has had me stuck fast in the doldrums; floundering, not drowning aboard his ship of Distractions. Hopefully I can catch an energising beam or two from tonight's full moon and reset my passage.

A morning from the month just gone

2011-04-09T08:29:00.004+10:00

... I love, love, love this,

only I've been singing "today is going to be the day you hear somebody say we need you wide awake ...

I'm certain my somebody was the eagle.

Eagles, three, flew overhead. Around and around, dispelling summer's somnolence that had

settled deep inside my head. The eagles flew the blue sky away in its place they left my favourite shade of marbled grey.

Alert at last I awaited that low, familiar but still unplaced whistle

It beckoned me to stand beneath the tree of hand and beak. There I held my breath whilst my eyes searched amongst silhouettes.

The Hawk turned away her crested head, she and I have once before met. She is wise having held my naked hazel eyes within her powerful citrine gaze. She knows them to be inferior.

On that second meeting I hand held my third eye and watched her dip and dive between the trees

Always returning to one particular treeWhere upon separate branches, her twin offspring watched and waited

(Pacific Baza also known as Crested Hawk or Pacific Cuckoo-Falcon)

And all around tall skinny saplings began to sway with slow metronomic rhythm.

Revealing what I had missed when I paused beneath the tree of hand and beak

Goanna's leathery skin would not receive morning's solar kiss

From behind me in another tree the three young crows declared rain was about to fall. Instantly the smell of ozone hit and so I turned and ran my third eye home.

The sky wore blue the following morning

and Goanna received its solar kiss

whilst two crows companionably chattered as they groomed their wet white feathers black.

Still life from a messy corner

2011-03-27T19:06:00.012+10:00

I recently treat myself to this on line photo composition course. Learning lots but I think my mind has just hit a mental wall, lots of thinking, thinking, thinking before clicking ;) Kent also has a couple of night photography courses running in April, if you are interested go take a closer look, I'm definitely tempted*!*

Better late than never

2011-03-21T07:01:00.004+10:00

A wet cloudy weekend didn't bode well; I didn't think
it possible to show its current face to me...

5am Monday morning and Supermoon lives up to its name*!*

Still quietly observing

2011-03-17T14:49:00.005+10:00

"The further you enter into it; the deeper it becomes" Dante

Frazzled

2011-03-02T22:34:00.002+10:00

This is Currawong. Her usual appearance is very sleek and glossy but with three demanding youngsters you see her in her frazzled summer state of dress.

I've been doing a lot of this lately, sitting and staring into the distance. I blame the heat it's whittled away my attention span to minus zero this summer. It's even been an effort to lift and point the camera some days. I have a feeling the feathered ones and others have been engineering their own photo opportunities. As for communicating via the blogsphere its been a case of missing words...

playing around in my head

A new month and officially the beginning of a new season. Of course Ma Nature calls the shots and she's having none of this. She put on a great light show followed by a lot of thunder and rain at two thirty this morning and as I type I can hear distant rumblings of another possibly coming this way tonight. There's also a chance of another storm on Thursday so I guess summer will be over when she says so and not before.
In the meantime I'll just have to settle for reminders of cooler days via our photos. Tian Tan Buddha or Big Buddha, watches over Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

I've mentioned before how I don't like heights. I'm in my element with feet on ground and ideally looking through a camera lens at something colourful. Mr Bimb thinks I should live a little braver ...

which is how he managed to talk me into not taking the bus ride back down the mountain

As soon as I saw the glass bottom I quickly sat down and gave him the camera then closed my eyes tight. Can I just say there were no missing words at that moment but as we didn't have the car to ourselves I had to hold them within.

Buddha would have been pleased.

Careful what you ask for...

2011-02-14T17:53:00.003+10:00

"... have we dried up?

Who's asking?

Gleds; he wants a bit of colour - thinks the wallabies have been hanging around too long

Well wave your wings about and I'll give him a moonie"

When the mist captured the sun

2011-02-04T17:22:00.004+10:00

I spied a mist this morning
as it was being brought to ground.

Together, as one artful fisher,
the trees cast their net of mist upon the rising sun

to let a mother and her joey enjoy
a game of hide and seek ...

They've been coming around most mornings this week. It's been a special treat to catch sightings of the joey - the first one outside of it's mother's pouch that I've seen for quite a few years. I didn't think I'd see such scenes this close to the house again.

... and he has been putting in an appearance wanting to play a different sort of game with the joey's mum

awww, I don't think joey likes the idea of not being her baby for too much longer.

Yasi blows

2011-02-03T07:12:00.005+10:00

It's been a long and frightening night which still isn't over for some North Queensland residents.
Cyclone Yasi has now reduced from a level 5 to a 2 which still carries a tropical warning of lots of rain and damaging winds.

Many first reports are beginning to filter through on the radio. Thankfully the cyclone didn't cross any major areas but the small town of Tully appears to have suffered the worst damage. Tully is a banana and sugar cane crops area that was completely destroyed in March 2006 when cyclone Larry hit the area. Have to feel really sad for the farmers and wildlife to have it happen in their area once again so soon. People who experienced Larry are saying Yasi was much more frightening.

Trees and vegetation have been slashed which will be bad news once again for the wildlife. The Cassowary and fruit bats suffered greatly through loss of habitat and food.

The Cassowary is an endangered large flightless bird, which can live to fifty years if conditions are favourable.

a young Cassowary looking in from here

Not there yet

2011-02-02T07:07:00.008+10:00

Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong where dogs are free to wander and dream

"One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats animals" Mahatma Gandhi

In an ideal world the above might be true but we don't live in an ideal world.

We live in a changing one and whilst there are more people appalled by the mistreatment of animals today than in Gandhi's day, there are always those amongst us in every country of our shared world who don't question the morals of their own actions.

Such as this man who turned up two days in a row to kill Huskies because his employer directed him to.

Lessons

2011-01-31T08:03:00.006+10:00

"An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox"

(Lao Tzu)

... hmmm better strike out ox and replace with Annie - I'm beginning to morph into some sort of Annie van Winkle. The number of attempts to just think about a new post has grown rounder by the passing of each day. This morning I actually got past the log in but at midday whilst washing the dishes, I'd decided to hit delete when something blowing in the wind caught my attention and I found myself swapping the dishes for my camera. Never contest the urge of the camera.

Through a camera lens everything in the cosmos has its place. At first your attention is captured by the larger shapes, vibrant colours. You don't always see the small and not so vibrant trying to get a look in. Did you see the ant leaping about in this set of photos? I only saw him when I transferred them to the computer ... take a closer look - eat your heart out James Bond!

Think of cinder toffee, lots and lots of cinder toffee - that's the sweet aroma carried on the air right now ... breath deeply and you can almost taste it. The birds and bats take pity on my wingless state and drop down gifts of blossom for me to pick up and enjoy.

It's been hot and dry this past week - La Nina's truculence hasn't abated. She's now throwing her considerable weight around and sending twin cyclones spinning to Queensland. Another metrological tantrum we can do without ... if only she could be sent to stand in the corner for her willfulness for the remainder of this summer.

History repeating - Learning from the past?

A lot of whys; what ifs; what nows are tumbling out of radio land as discussions now focus on the rebuilding and cost of what has been lost to this latest spell of floods. 2011 will take its place on our flood history graphs but will planners and developers learn from history? They haven't so far and it's not as if they have to trawl very deeply, white man's history not being ancient in this part of the world.

Two little girls, two different countries each enjoying time with their significant elder. I love witnessing that special interaction between the young and the old.

Mr Bim also noticed the animated enthusiasm passing between the elder and the younger as they made their way through the exhibits in the Parisian museum of inventions - musee des arts et metiers That's one of Foucault's original pendulums. In April 2010 the brass ball fell to the ground when the cable snapped, apparently it now sports a dint. You'll find another of his original pendulums swinging inside the Paris Pantheon.

The metro stop for the museum has a wow factor of it's own, I thought I'd stepped into a Jules Verne submarine - stunning in all its copperwonderness.

Over in Hong Kong we looked on as this little one was given a helping hand with her prayers. She knelt and he gently rocked her forward and back, forward and back.

Look at that cute top knot - I think Spike the pigeon has a new fan, don't you?

New lives and new project

2011-01-18T07:41:00.003+10:00

It seems to take the best part of a week for word to get around that we are back home - regular faces have been turning up at the back door to look in on us. Some with little ones in tow which is wonderful to see after all the devastating flood news both here and overseas. So many heartbreaking images and stories of survival it all got a bit much, I had to switch off and get outside with my camera ...

The Kookaburras have been the slowest to come and see me. If you look enlarge the photo on the left you'll see five of them sitting at different levels. I think they might have a couple of new members I could hear baby Kookaburra chatter but couldn't spot them.

In another tree a further three quietly sit as they watch the army and media helicopters come and go to the flooded areas that lie to the west and north of us.

Remember that large limb that dropped from the gum tree last month? I noticed it had caught two large dollops of froth as the little stream began to lose its momentum to run any further. I'm now mum to hundreds of little tadpoles, lettuce leaves have been boiled and frozen for their growth spurts ... I'm expecting to see legs appearing any day now in that there red bucket.

Here's the possum that lives in the nest box. Last night she came down for some banana. On her way down she chased off a younger one and its mother before settling down on her favourite branch. As she tucked into her treat she began to relax her pouch long enough for me to see her latest joey. Wont be too long before it's riding upon her back.
The Magpies brought their latest chick to show me. They still have their older chick staying close and who appears to have absolutely no interest in lending a full beak to this noisy one. It's quite sensibly leaving all that to mum and dad to get on with while it finds a perch to practice its song... the warbling has improved and is quite strong now.

I heard back from the lady at Wildcare ... "We are looking into the PayPal situation but I’m not sure if this is something that we will be able to get up and running at short notice. We are all so swamped at the moment with animals, even getting to the computer to check emails is a struggle at the moment. But anyway, we soldier on!"

I'd also asked about making pouches for the joeys - carers need pouches all year round to keep the little ones warm and secure whilst being cared for. So this will be one of my projects this year - the thought occurred to me that some of you might like to join me and make one too - just imagine some little joey secure and warm tucked inside your made with love pouch ... Wildcare have provided me with a copy of their how to instructions - so please let me know if you want to make one or please spread the word amongst your crafting friends.

I'm also mulling over an other idea which I'll tell you about, once I've got things clear in my head as to how I'll go about it ...

I haven't felt in the mood to look at my holiday photos - it feels like we've been home for ages instead of just over a week - this flat feeling will lift I know.

Wildcare Australia need your help to keep on helping wildlife ...

2011-01-13T20:44:00.005+10:00

Hello lovely visitor

You will know by now through your regular visits here that we Rainbow Lorikeets are not camera shy. We are loud in colour and big in spirit. We have to be, it can get pretty noisy around here at times what with all the practicing of songlines and fluffing of feathers. So being the first to put myself in Annie's camera line of vision for 2011 I'd like on behalf of all the feathered, furred, scaled, bald, leggy, and spikey ones who are struggling to survive the Queensland floods to please help those who help us to keep on living ... just a dollar added to one from another has the power to keep on adding upwards.

If you can help the non government assisted volunteers simply click on the mini me photo at the top of the side bar
The wild ones thank you for caring*!*

Have emailed Wildcare Australia to ask them to add a Paypal button

International waters

2011-01-12T18:33:00.003+10:00

Swollen waters of the River Seine 29/12/10 a day or so prior the Bateaux boats had been unable to get beneath the bridges.
Yes we re-visited Paris for Christmas and New Year before heading home via Honkers

The Bounty III a replica of the original and made in New Zealand for the 1984 movie remake. The original, which just happened to be built in my old home port of Hull way back in 1784 was a coal carrier name Bethia before she had a career change and remodel for the Royal Navy. Sailing off to exotic Tahiti with one William Bligh and one Fletcher Christian plus crew to make history and a legend. The Bounty III used to be a tourist attraction in Sydney before being sold and becoming a tourist attraction in Hong Kong. She sailed past our window just as we were looking out upon the view for one last time...great timing.

The view of what was to come as we began our descent back to Brisbane
Unbelievably cruel that the sun decides to appear for the first time in days the very morning flood waters reach Ipswich and Brisbane. The image below is of the Brisbane River breaking its banks the worst will come early Thursday morning according to the experts. Lets hope they have their figures wrong.

Images from flood coverage of tired horses resting their heads against a rooftop. The people in the boat were attempting to rescue them.

Waterviews

2011-01-11T05:36:00.004+10:00

I'd hoped the rain that has been falling these past months might have rained itself out to just a drizzle by now but not so. We arrived home on Saturday and were welcomed home by the rain. It continues to fall and from what I've been reading and hearing it will be doing so for sometime yet.

In a horror flash flooding at least 7 people are reported to have died yesterday in the Toowoomba and Lokyer Valley areas which lie near west of Brisbane. You've probably seen the chilling images when a large wall of water hit the city of Toowoomba - it's been likened to an inland instant tsunami. There is now a severe flood watch warning in place for Brisbane for Tuesday and Wednesday as the floods move southwards.

Here are a few glimpses from my current room with a view - the laundry. Not quite as glam as that last photo in my previous post I know... next post will have some holiday views. Promise*!*

Winging our way home

2011-01-07T11:06:00.006+10:00

leaving the snow far behind

a rainbow resting atop of clouds

sun rise as we approach Hong Kong

our room with the view

... heading home to a different type of water view thanks to all the rain dumped on poor old Queensland. Gleds, Krissie thanks for your concerns I'll be in touch once I get settled :)

After the rains ...

2010-12-16T17:44:00.003+10:00

Out came the sun and wind then down came branches

...and big heavy limbs as though they where twigs
this much photographed and favourite flight deck limb of my lovely old tree of life
came crashing down to earth. I heard two amazingly loud cracks then saw it fall as it broke away from the tree. I was hanging out washing and had no camera to hand as I watched it fall. It hit the ground and flipped over. A couple of pieces where driven some ways into the soft ground.
The second photo above is how the shortened branch now looks... a new hollow home for one or a few feathered or furred ones and a good spot to catch a breeze on a hot day for any passing goanna looking to while away a few hours.

Fortunately the only wildlife I saw on or in the limb were little lizards, if you look close you might spot one or two of them. That's one of my welly boots that I've been practically living in, I hopped out of that one just for the photo.

Cooee Daphne was this here last week?...
oh! it was up there ... here's me thinking how high the grass had grown ;)

The Kookaburras have deserted me and my afternoon heart handouts... it's the beginning of their love-a-Kookie season. Haven't spotted their new nesting site yet... but I think I have an idea of where they might be.

The return of the sun has had shadows playing upon my walls and floor throughout the day

Unexpected flowers have been blooming

Frogs have been drying out on the washing line ;) Some sort of grasshopper with an extra long antenna on their left side was climbing over my front door. A spider with only three legs was spotted at the back door - wonder what the other spider looked like after their squabble...
The crow family continue to visit. Their eldest has been making appearances at the duck's water bowl - he's just jumping off the bowl here before managing some sort of twist mid air after deciding he wasn't going in the right direction. He's been learning the ropes from his dad, I got the giggles watching him learn the walking saunter that crows do so well.

The familiar thud followed by a shadowy shape and then voila
Brooding angry skies means summer storms and Christmas

The purple loving spider has been putting up her Christmas Decorations

me too
My reggae loving Santa
I made a few years ago

outside snow flurries of a different type float down daily

..."hold still will you. You'll have me out of here!"

As this is my last post for the year I thought I'd leave you with some of the locals wishing you a Merry Christmas as only they can ... I'm heading off in search of some of the more traditional white flurries but I'll be looking in from time to time. Smiles to one and all*!*

Rain continues to fall

2010-12-07T19:14:00.002+10:00

Do you suppose dogs can become malingerers? I'm thinking they can and I suspect Chloe has enjoyed being a patient following her recent brush with death. So much in fact, she's in no hurry to return to her regular canine lifestyle! Can't blame her really our weather continues to be damp to wet with the blue sky making brief appearances inbetween the two. No moaning from me as we've been enjoying a good ten degrees cooler temps to what we normally can expect but today there was a definite feel of humidity upon the air...not looking forward to that increasing!

Some wet and bedraggled feathered ones waiting for the sun.

... I saw this the other day
it's a very sweet Russian tale - it'll warm your heart and make you smile*!*

It's beginning to look and sound a lot like summer ...

2010-12-01T05:50:00.006+10:00

Summer officially starts today, after a couple of sunnyish days the rain has returned this morning

The cicadas and crickets are beginning to sing louder and snakes are beginning to soak up a little warmth from the sun. This beauty is a carpet python about 2.5 metres long I found it Monday morning when the youngest Magpie was issuing its alarm call that there was something scary (to it) in the grass. If birds can shrug I swear that was what passed between his onlooking parents.

Yesterday I found it in the same spot again. The patterns and colours look like living, breathing beautiful mosaic tiles, warm to the touch.

Faded to grey again

2010-11-25T10:02:00.002+10:00

Look quick or you'll miss the patch of blue sky. Too late it's back to grey again.

Crow conversations fill the gap between me and the leaden sky. There's been another nest spotted very close to the second and crow calls of warning and discontent are carried upon the wind which comes crashing through the trees like waves upon a beach

As I stood watching and photographing this little war scene over avian air rights the old Snoopy v Red Barron (Royal Guardsmen) song popped into my head ... as you'll see the little bird here has plenty of pluck.

In the grey skies over Bimbimbie
came a roar and a thunder
which Crows had never heard
like the screamin' sound of a
big war bird ...

(sorry Snoopy for taking liberties in my adaption of your song)

how could I not include this 80's classic - it's currently playing on a loop with some others

Colour the grey

2010-11-22T12:42:00.004+10:00

There seems to be no end to the damp grey spring that has descended upon my corner of the world. Whilst I'll admit to having some fondness for melancholic grey sky days, today I'm leaving the grey outside and focusing on some sunshine colours indoors.

I hope you have plenty of colour in your day today - inside or out*!*

Time for some TLC

2010-11-19T16:40:00.003+10:00

(back in January)

Chloe gave us quite a scare early in the week and had to spend a day in the doggy hospital. I noticed she was having trouble with her back legs which were wobbling under her. Suspecting it was due to a Paralysis tick these things kill in a horrible way if not treat quickly. She now has to be kept quiet for the next couple of weeks to prevent a possible relapse - easier said than done when you have a rotti who likes to muck about.

I'll be catching up with everyone's blogs this weekend - sorry I'm running a few days behind.

That's Cinders having a wing stretch, desperately trying to keep up with sibling number two who has been traveling very nicely around the tree. Do you see sibling number one in bottom corner looking very cool and aloof because it has been making trips beyond their tree. The photo was taken yesterday and this morning the tree is empty - they are following mum and dad from tree to tree, I can hear them but have only seen mum and dad coming for a feed and some water. I think the Kookaburras were getting a little aggressive, they consider this patch as their own and weren't happy or laughing ;) about the crows presence*!*

Between the showering sunshine

2010-11-15T10:25:00.006+10:00

Early the other morning I met a snail. She told me to the races she was agoing. Scarlet petals were to have adorned her shell; alas she had woken hungry in the night and eaten them so a brown leaf must now suffice.

Our spring weather continues to be a pleasant mix of cool and damp with intermittent sunshine.
Like all good things it can't last and this weekend there was a feel of the coming summer heat and humidity and this morning I can hear the first cicadas tuning up.

So a few captures from the inside looking out ... tender moments between these two drenched rainbows taking shelter from the downpour

Walking by the window the corner of my eye glimpsed something grey in the distance that was pretending to be a tree but my brain knew there shouldn't be one in that spot...

so bend the knees and I might just catch a better glimpse before she moves away...

outside, a baby lizard keeps an eye on a dozing indoor cat

Meanwhile back at the nest, the first one is out and about on the branches. Leaving room for the other two to practice their wing exercises ... yes surprised me too! I think the two bigger chicks must have been standing on the little one each time I appeared with the camera making me believe there were two and not three chicks in the nest - might have to name that third one Cinders ;) There's lots more vocalising between the parents now - probably more stress for them now that junior number one is on the move*!*

Life in twigs and hollows

2010-11-09T06:27:00.006+10:00

There's lots of hopping in and out

with moments of balance and flapping of wings

before mad scrambles to get back inside their nest like good little chicks when they spot mum or dad flying back... honest we haven't moved an inch have we?!! They made me laugh aloud.

Look who else might be nesting, they've been sizing up the hollows*!*

Four weeks on

2010-11-04T19:35:00.003+10:00

I can't believe I've been looking up at this nest for a month now. From the suggestion of a little red dot of a mouth to a chick pushing itself up and almost out of the nest. I'm still not sure if there are two or three chicks...

The woodcutter and feathered devils

2010-10-31T05:35:00.008+10:00

Woodcutters head

distorted
rains screams upon the living.
“Raise not your axe
or the spirit of the tree
shall entomb
you
too”
his eternal warning.

for more things said in 160 characters Visit Monkey Man

Lucky me I was only waving my camera and not an axe when he spotted me ;)

Listen up all you Ravens and Crows here is your Halloween target not just for today but for the rest of time - to be passed down your generational broods

Bimbimbie's enemy number 1 goes by the name Common Myna or Indian Myna.
It is a flying rat, a feathered devil, a mobster an evil enemy to all who nest in hollows for its nesting habits are disgusting.
Last year I heard and saw my first unwelcome visitor, yesterday I saw two. I don't want to see any more of them. So hear me now:

Seek out and destroy ... mercilessly

and remember these are off the menu for today at least...
This little one flew into the window and dazed itself the other morning. After a while recovering in a dark box I put it back outside. When I went back to see if it had gone a couple of hours later it had but not in the way I'd hoped ... there was a pile of feathers and a crow wiping its beak.

Some days are bah humbug days*!*

Halloweening

2010-10-29T12:37:00.007+10:00

Prudence and Malachy congratulated themselves on their foresight.
Early preparations had paid off unlike last year.
arrk arrk
Their three were now ready and eager wanting off the tree.
They sensed where the doves and wrens already cowered within the forest.
Halloween: it was going to be their first spy and snatch.
arrrk arrrk arrrk

above said in 55 words for G-Man's Friday 55

The second nesters are already out of their tree hopping and flapping, these were the last sightings I captured of mum or dad playing follow me.

Stretch

2010-10-26T08:32:00.006+10:00

Each day they get a little louder a little more demanding as they stretch to meet an incoming beak. We are all creatures of habit and this pair are no different. One will fly to and from the nest directly whilst the other will fly to a lower branch stop and have a look around and then hop up to the nest from branch to branch. When it leaves it goes to a branch above the nest has a look around before flying off.

I'm surprised they both can be away from their nest at the one time. I see them strolling about the ground peering in through the shrubs for offerings from smaller unguarded nests ...do you suppose the thought never crosses their mind that the same could happen to theirs?

I mulched my secators

2010-10-24T20:53:00.006+10:00

It wasn’t my intention
for willful destruction
just simple inattention
pray
l’ve learnt a lesson
and pay
better attention
to avoid marital tension

Hehe not the best day in the garden but it gave me something to say in 160 characters (spaces included). Thanks Brian :) Visit Monkey Man

PS the mulcher is still alive and mulching and alI was forgiven over a cuppa*!*

This morning

2010-10-21T13:58:00.015+10:00

Sat a feathered fubsy
in a grey tree
infectiously
chortling
look at me.

Aerial clown
dispels

frowns

One of my favourite yearly visitors is the Dollarbird. They always arrive ahead of the rains and make for their tree. They nest high in a hollow in the big gum - 'tree of life ' and love to perch on the tree of hand and beak waiting for passing insects.

Early morning guard duty.
- parents busy, busy, chicks hungry, hungry

Coloured sunshine reaches in

Another tree, another family. Two of three chicks

out of their nest and on a limb

shhhhhh says mum

and open wide

hurry back mum with more!

Last years chicks - soon to be just like their dad or potential wifeies?

Can birds smirk? I think old King Red is smirking!

A few days ago I had one of those special hold my breath moments ... I held my breath so much I almost forgot to put the camera to my eye ... almost ;)
A pair of Wedge-Tailed Eagles flying so low they must have known they had me in a daze - they kept circling back over me to give me this show.

Just spotted an open wide

2010-10-17T14:32:00.005+10:00

Do you see the little red hungry mouth? :) might even be a couple, hard to tell from down here.

Somehow I managed to lose this from yesterday's post - perhaps the wind blew it off the page ;)

Blow winds blow

2010-10-16T18:13:00.009+10:00

A clear blue sky can be very welcoming after a couple of wet weeks but it can also be sneaky and deceptive. It's been blowing a gale since late Friday: cold and fresh the sort that makes the trees groan and has me reaching for warm woolens again. It's blown away the grey wet days which didn't seem to want to move on elsewhere and given us a chance to mow and pick up the fallen limbs and take a few photos of course.Do you like Kookie's new hair do?

Blow dry courtesy of Mother Nature's Salon

Thankfully the crows nest is still in place and life goes on regardless of the battering they have been withstanding. I watched as the parents swapped roles. This one came to sit on the nest after the other had vacated but must have found it too unnerving and hopped back out preferring to cling on to the branches instead; this was when there was a bit of a lull.

Two Crows and their nest

2010-10-14T05:13:00.010+10:00

It's been wet, very wet. The best rain we have received in almost ten years and our wet season is still a couple of months away. The regions dams are full and the gates have been opened to allow the excess to spill into the rivers something only dreamed of this time last year when the dams were at their lowest.

Hasn't been pleasant weather for the feathered ones sitting hunched and bedraggled upon the branches. We've had periods when its been really squally and any bird sitting on their nest must have had a miserable time of it, these trees are so pliable in the wind.

Last Friday the crows were being harassed by a group of eight or nine others - teenage crows probably I thought something had happened to the crow's nest, both parents were flying about the tree seeing off the invaders. I've read that only the female will sit on the eggs but both will feed their young - seeing both of them away from the nest made me think something had possibly gone wrong for them. The three photos were taken that afternoon when I saw this one hop up the tree instead of flying directly to the nest then look in and wander around it before flying off and standing on a higher branch waiting. Next came another who flew directly to the nest and then settled down into it. A few moments latter the first one came down to the nest I'm guessing he probably wanted to know where she had been.

Yesterday afternoon I was working in the garden not too far from that tree when I kept hearing a faint noise similar to a fly trapped inside a jar. When I realised it was coming from the tree I thought it must be a cicada or a frog until I noticed the sound increased with the coming and going of the crows - they have got one or more hatchlings up there :)

If you listen really hard you might just be able to hear the sound of the hatchling as the parent flies on to the nest. The chortling noise is from a pair of Dollar Birds who are nesting in another tree and there's a frog giving a steady clonk to be heard too - it didn't seem to be that noisy when I aimed the camera up into the tree this morning.

One feeds and the other stands guard, wonder how they decide who is going to do what.

Crows and Owls

2010-10-07T06:07:00.006+10:00

The crows/ravens have built a nest way up in a large gum behind our garage. My hubby was the first to notice the comings and goings with sticks as the nest began to take shape. The grass directly below soon had the tell tale signs of rejected twigs of various types and sizes. All was quiet for a few days which had us thinking this might have been a dummy run by a young bird trialling it's nest building skills. Yesterday afternoon when I looked up I saw this tail sticking up so now we know it's occupied. In the past couple of weeks we have been woken around 2am with the sound of crows calling to one another, not every night thankfully but they were at it again last night. It's the first time they have nested this close to the house so I'm not sure if they are keeping in touch with other family members about possible prowling owls or watching out for one of the cuckoos who will be waiting for the chance to sneak an egg of their own into this nest.

When all the birds suddenly go quiet, especially after an alarm call has been made. It can only mean something big is out and about - in the far distance I spotted a wedge-tailed eagle.

Once the all clear calls sounded Mr Crow paid a reassuring visit
hopefully he didn't go empty beaked

Once he left a little rearranging and stretching
of her wings was to be seen

Last night we found ourselves in the middle of a Boobook Owl sing off. One was in the gum tree behind us and the other somewhere in the creek at the front of us - they went on for quite some time ... I think the one behind us won ;) here's a little bit of their sing off. The louder of the two is the one in the gum tree.

Grey Swallows Blue

2010-10-03T08:50:00.007+10:00

Another Not Fred sighting. This one seems to have replaced him for the time being - it comes and sits on the kitchen window for a brief moment when he spots me there. This one is a Grey Butcher bird - Fred was a Black one. Like Fred this one seems to enjoy sitting in the gutter watching clouds go by, although it was more likely it was stunned to see a bit of blue sky - it's been grey and wet all week.
A few moments later the sky was grey once again and a little family of Welcome Swallows where perched on the tv aerial. Mum and Dad were catching plenty of insects with all their swooping and diving. Their little ones were perched there for some time before they all took off to become tiny black dots against the grey.
Last Sunday morning and the only bit of colour all week was from a pale-headed Rosella. Giant budgie birds I call them ;)The mower was given the ok to return to duties and the weeds are now being tamed in between the rain spells. This week I've been hearing the familiar calls of the summer migratory birds who time their arrivals with the rain. I think it's going to be a good year for them all.

Feathered clowns

2010-09-25T11:41:00.006+10:00

We're having a wet and grey skies start to our spring. The weeds are almost to our knees - our mower decided to be uncooperative and has spent the past week in pieces at the mower hospital having a fix up and make over ;) It's another wet weekend so the weeds will continue to grow ...

It's that time of the year when we get invaded by bored adolescents - thankfully of the feathered variety. Parents have told last year's brood to go find a new family so they've been looking to connect with others of their age and a sizable gang is building up - the other day I noticed up to fifty of them on the ground of a neighbours property. Luckily we are only seeing a dozen on the ground and up to twenty in the trees. They spend most of their day flying between the tall gums flapping wings and squawking at one another. Pity any unfortunate possum who has been spied curled up fast asleep, they soon get a rude awakening.

I'm pretty sure that's what the bird in the middle of the tree (in the video below) is doing, at first I thought he was just being a clown swinging upside down by his beak - he probably was at first but then spotted a possum and started opening his wings for added effect to his squawks.

More of Fred

2010-09-13T14:53:00.009+10:00

With no recent visits from Fred the Butcher Bird the following photos are of his time with us in August.

Bright eyed

soaked through

learning the ropes from one of the younger Kookaburras

breakfast of porridge leftovers with the Magpies

and a Currawong

not Fred - this one plus two others turned up on Sunday afternoon
for a very short visit and quick feed...

Fred having his elevenses - I haven't got the hang of this video feature of my camera - especially whilst drinking my tea ;)

Meet Fred!

2010-09-04T12:06:00.007+10:00

Do you remember this bird we found sleeping on the floor one cold July morning? Well he came back and adopted us for a few weeks but seems to have taken off once again following a bit of bullying from a grey butcher bird cousin of his. A surprise for us as the grey's have not come close to us before he obviously wasn't very impressed with his young pied cousin making itself at home on their patch. A shame really Fred is a bit of a character and we were getting to like having him look through the window at us.

So here's Fred having elevenses with me one wet August morning... I had tea and a biscuit and that's the cat's plate he's eating off.

I've had a bit of a break from the land of blog, tv and radio these past weeks - even my camera has been ignored somewhat. Books are to blame - all my viewing time has been spent inside a couple of novels which I couldn't put down, I'm not a fast book finisher; I have a preference for short stories so for me it came as a surprise that I actually finished them as quickly as I did - probably helps that they were borrowed from the library and had to be returned. Hope life's been treating you well and I'll start catching up with what I've been missing. Smiles *!*

Morning mists

2010-08-11T07:15:00.002+10:00

I thought I'd group together some of the photos from my recent mist-filled mornings into a little slideshow... the music is Harpy Music by Maja Petrovna, hope you like it.

My latest weird Wednesday snippet is also up "The doctor, returning from his pre-dinner ambulation ..."

A tale of two Kookies

2010-08-10T09:24:00.010+10:00

Kookie tale number 1

Kookie come see what arrived for you ...

"did it come out of the food dish ... can I eat it?

I never realised we looked so impressive

and she captured my best side too..."
thank you S Love Kookie x

and Kookie tale number 2 via the UK's daily mail, prepare yourself for a big awwwwww*!* moment

What Ol' Yellow Eyes saw

2010-08-06T06:40:00.014+10:00

So what was it that caught my eye the other morning?

Currawong thought it rude that I was focusing beyond him

and acted nonchalant whilst

overhead the young son of Red was slightly wary

about joining his handsome dad

the resplendent Red
beacuse the wood ducks, down below

grazed like sheep

but son of Red bravely followed dad to the lid of blue
where they enjoyed a breakfast shared
and left a little for Currawong to return to
he however, soon sensed someone looking over his shoulder

and when they are larger and fond of screeching

then it's best to be off ...

Eyesattention

2010-08-04T18:35:00.004+10:00

All this Currawong needs is a camera around its neck to pull off a good impersonation of me. Seems like there has been so much coming and going with the feathered ones these past few days that I haven't seen much of the computer. Keep an eye out for me I'll be visiting to catch up with all of you over the next couple of days. If you follow my Weird Wednesday I've posted the latest ... follow the hand ;)

Add mist with a hint of summer to a July winter

2010-07-31T06:16:00.005+10:00

Morning mists have returned, as I sit here typing another is pushing its way down and through the trees, it wasn't there two hours ago but now it is and I'm itching to get outside with my camera before its magic vanishes just as quickly as it appeared. Yesterday the mist was thick and far reaching making it difficult for plane and car travel, it was still hanging around at 9:30 which is unusual ... and I came back indoors with over three hundred images; some a little spookier than others - I love grey mist mornings.

Mid day and summer had arrived, the warm weather will be with us for the weekend before a return to more typical winter weather.

Garbage bandits

2010-07-23T06:00:00.009+10:00

What's that noise ?
what the...
move over, let me in
you ate them all?!

nope

but I would have

got anymore?

By torchlight

2010-07-20T08:24:00.005+10:00

In the past week I've been spoilt with four early mornings of mist to wander

with camera flash off and hand torch at the ready into the blackness I stepped

and out stepped a strolling tree

faces of mist linger between branches
(I see a calf's and a cat's, do you?)

some sort of light life caught in the canopy of my tree of life
(I've no idea what it was - that tree is tall and broad)

I don't think that was a stream of possum pee ...

The one that got away

2010-07-16T13:28:00.010+10:00

Late the other afternoon Butcher Bird and Kookaburra
surveyed the ground for any signs of something tastey moving below it

some movement detected here

or was it there?

dig deep with beak
and eject soil

hmmm, perhaps it was over there after all

no luck for the Butcher either

That night something disturbed the Butcher's sleep. My hubby narrowly missed stepping on it in the early morning darkness. It was fast asleep head tucked deep under wing, sitting on the path leading to the garage. The morning was cold and the Butcher's reactions were too slow so we put it to bed in a box for a couple of hours. Once there was warmth in the sun out went the box for the sun to work its magic on Butcher who was now wanting to leave the box and head for the trees

and away it flew ...

A winged extra

2010-07-09T09:22:00.010+10:00

Nails polished, feathers groomed

perfect rear, not a tatty feather in sight

Koooookie!
did you just snack on a grub?
you've got beetle juice on your breast!
dear oh dear

hide that stain, fluff out your feathers,
we're going for a profile ... say Meat*!*

don't go far you two,
you're next...

Photographer Andrew Zuckerman has another wonderful book to drool over ...

BIRD

sit back and marvel at these visuals ... now where did I put my white sheet ;)

A little

2010-07-06T05:54:00.007+10:00

fireside
glow
kindles
word
worlds
imagined

fancy has
word worlds warming

BLOGGER SEEMS TO BE TURNING CANNIBAL AND IS EATING COMMENTS AS THEY COME IN - IF YOURS GET'S EATEN I WILL EMAIL YOU A REPLY
COME ON BLOGGER TEAM GET THIS SORTED PLEASE *!*

The perpetual race

2010-06-29T08:55:00.006+10:00

With challenge soundedbeak to beakfootfall to footfallwith balanced wingsFairywren and usurper self scale their king-dome

Cover up Scarefolk

2010-06-27T07:42:00.004+10:00

Yesterday we headed out for breakfast and encountered scarecrows gathering for their annual festival

Some were in a little less of a hurry to get there

... and something even scarier, please take the time to listen to this woman, her original clip was seen by over 100,000 viewers but has been pulled as was the video from this story by Australian 60 Minutes just 24 hours from being posted!

Beyond the window; winter jewels play

2010-06-24T05:25:00.007+10:00

One

Two

Weeeeee

A drive, walk, picnic kind of Saturday

2010-06-22T05:54:00.015+10:00

A beautiful winter's day
and hubby's birthday

We walk

where light with shadow play
to delight a waking moss child
from it's bed of tree

picnic
where mountains ripple into sky

and local feathered ones spy
an invite.

Later, back home

Kookie surprised me and the feathered ones by landing on the seed container I was holding at my side. I lifted the container and yelled for Mr B*!* to come and take a photo whilst Kookie and I exchanged a few oohs and aahs before she flew off.

Superb Lyrebird

2010-06-18T15:26:00.003+10:00

... following on from my previous post

I came across this BBC recording with the wonderful David Attenborough and a Lyrebird,
makes you wonder what sort of noises the Lyrebirds of fifteen million years ago were mimicing!

A couple of tales

2010-06-17T06:55:00.006+10:00

The other day I was looking through some papers that I've been squirreling away over the years and came across this lovely Aboriginal story that I'd scribbled down after reading it somewhere. As with myth and folklore from any country in the world, variations are known to occur between regions from the retelling of them by travelers down the years, which I think makes them even more enchanting.

Back in the Dreamtime all the bird tribes were the same colour, and that was black.

One day the Peaceful Dove caught his foot on a sharp prong of wood on a broken tree branch. The Dove called out piteously for help, and all the other bird tribes heard his cry and came to the place where the Dove lay. The Dove was in great pain and his foot had swollen up.

The other birds gathered and provided shelter for him with their wings. Some brought water for him to drink and some bathed his foot with water. All except Crow, who was in a bad mood and was angered by the attention the other birds were giving the little Dove.

Crow harangued the other birds and told them that they were wasting their time, the Peaceful Dove was done for. And indeed the foot was festering and swelling more all the time. But the other birds paid Crow no heed, and finally they had had enough of him and chased him away.

Then the Galah had an idea. She rushed forward and bit the Dove's swollen foot with her sharp beak. The Dove cried out in pain and a myriad of colours, all the colours in nature flowed out of the Dove's foot and splashed all over every bird gathered 'round.

Some got only a little colour, and some got one or two colours only. Some were splashed with many colours, and the Rainbow Lorikeet was splashed with so much colour that he looked like a rainbow himself!

And so it was that all the bird tribes got their beautiful coloured plumage, except for the selfish, bad-tempered Crow who remains in his original black to this day.

Did you know DNA has now shown that Australia is the original nest to the world's many songbirds?" Back in 1986 this theory was shot down by critics of two scientists who dared to question the belief that songbirds such as robins, wrens and nightingales originated in the northern hemisphere. After 15 years of research Dr Christidis and Dr Schodde proved that the world's 4,500 species of songbirds can all be traced back to Australia ... link 1 link 2

And because the Lyrebird gets a mention in link 2, as belonging to the oldest group of songbirds, some fossils have been dated to fifteen million years ago, here's another Dreamtime story which fits nicely in with science and I think you'll enjoy

Observing the observor

2010-06-11T16:09:00.003+10:00

dining room window

kitchen window

toilet window

Faces in stone

2010-06-06T10:33:00.010+10:00

I've missed a couple of my Sunday Paris posts, so this week I thought I'd time travel a little further back from Napoleon ... still wandering the Louvre.

Should we tell Bes Parisians have a dress code?
Whilst I loved wandering around the ancient Egyptian artefacts

my eyes were opened wide to what I saw from the Palace of Darius I's (Iran)
the size and details of the statues and wall friezes were stunning.

End of a Rainbow

2010-06-04T13:22:00.005+10:00

Found ourselves blanketed in a colder deeper mist this morning
which made taking photos an interesting challenge

the moon became an eye

our outdoor lamp plus mist created the strange glow

a nest of flowers seems only fitting when burying a rainbow

Peekaboo!

2010-06-03T09:28:00.004+10:00

In damp and windy weather

we all need

a little extra

cover

A nightdark start

2010-06-01T06:19:00.006+10:00

Five of the morning
torch in hand I wander
breathing in night jasmine
beneath the last hour of nightdark
where
Flying fox wings uplift from blossoming trees,
a lone owl lulls into boo-book rhythm
and a pair of eyes, red and devilish
stare down from a pear shaped possum.
June has arrived
bringing the gift of extra
nightdark to nocturnals
and a welcome later start
for the dawn chorus*!*

A bird on my glove

2010-05-28T13:02:00.012+10:00

A little dazed following its flight into one of my windows, this Lewin's Honeyeater wasn't in any hurry to leave my gardening glove, I had to pick it up after it kept trying to fly back into the reflected windowtrees poor thing. We had a little chat about how easy it is to lose sense of direction so with my glove pointed in the right direction, away it flew.
The other day I was watching as two little Scaly Breasted Lorikeets were attempting to get a beak full each of porridge. Being a little smaller and less aggressive than the Rainbows they often get beaten back by them but these two kept trying until they were able to dip their head over the side.

and at teabreak, a paper daydream was splashed

When I wasn't looking the two birdgirls decided to flip a feather, the winner flew inside an envelope and spent days traveling by snails to a northern wood. The other chose a page within my journal to reside and is currently awaiting some written words to keep her amused.

The critique's eye is not amused I gather ... bit vampish you see?

Rainbow days

2010-05-22T06:19:00.008+10:00

Had a beautiful double rainbow stretch over our place in the week.

Somebird's been standing in our porridge tsuped the littlest rainbow

two prominent taste testers arrived

and declared no spoiling of their porridge had been detected

the littlest rainbow was very happy

and soon forgot seeing Kookie's foot in their porridge.

Napoleon's Throne

2010-05-16T10:29:00.007+10:00

I'm wondering how many thrones Napoleon had, this one sits in a museum room in the Louvre's Department of Decorative Arts and was Napoleon's throne from the Tuileries Palace and currently on loan from Chateau Fontainebleau museum, a small 600 room favourite retreat of his! If you click here you can see the throne room, sixth photo down.

And here is a description of the throne itself from the Louvre
"When Napoleon was crowned emperor in 1804, Percier and Fontaine were entrusted with the decoration of the throne rooms in the Tuileries and Saint-Cloud palaces. In 1807 they were also given the task of decorating the throne room at Fontainebleau. The gilded wood throne was the work of Jacob-Desmalter, who came up with a completely new style. The throne is straight-backed. The rounded upper edge of the backrest is decorated with a laurel torus. The arm posts are in the form of pilasters topped with a ball. The throne is upholstered with embroidered, blue silk velvet. What made the design so new was the inclusion of large-scale renderings of the new emperor's heraldic insignia—the letter N, an eagle, the neck-chain of the Legion of Honor, and bees—and the shape of the throne's back."

The other side of that door ...

2010-05-09T06:19:00.010+10:00

Remember the doors from last week's post? I thought you might be curious to see what was on the other side. Napoleon III (nephew to Napoleon I), set up home in a wing of the Louvre following the destruction by fire of the Tuileries Palace in 1871 at the hands of the Communards. The Tuileries Palace was built by Catherine de Medici from 1564 and at the time of the fire the palace had grown in size and was connected to the Louvre, parts of which were also completely destroyed.

If French history intrigues you, take a look at the links, there are some interesting photos there too.

The second mist

2010-05-07T06:26:00.013+10:00

Another mistful morning greeted me yesterday, two days in a row, a treat! This time its chilling breath reached in a little deeper, hugged a little closer ...

blending little birds with big flowers

one other, pauses to get it's bearings

sunlight filters through

down onto pathways

where mist motes falland are almost caught

highways of silk linger above a strolling duck
at ten of the web, Mistress Spider went to bed

here comes the sun tweet little darlin's

Drizzlerain

2010-05-05T08:03:00.008+10:00

In and between the drizzle it rained yesterday.
Some didn't seem to mind

others, younger and wetter did.

Whilst I looked on through and out willing my kettle to boil

a temper threatened to over boil

This morning, a mist to wander through.

When is a door not a door?

2010-05-02T07:12:00.004+10:00

when it's a work of art

A figure in the tree

2010-04-30T08:20:00.010+10:00

I promised in my last post to tell you about this figure I saw sitting high in the trees recently.

That morning a familiar call was getting louder and angrier so I wandered over for a closer look. My camera eye failed to find the bird I knew to be making the noise instead it fixed upon a sitting figure of a woman, booted leg dangling... as I watched, her calmness suddenly erupted and two feathered ones were reborn. Their territorial war for no birds land was for the moment forgotten.
my paper daydream...the figure in the tree I fancied was contemplating a journey home now that the early mornings were cooling and she was reaching for her boots and autumnal coat. For the last time she flew up to say goodbye to the tree of life. Others who lived within the tree's many layered coat leaned out of their hollows and promised to look out for her next spring. It wasn't long before she heard her mate's familiar song and saw him dressed in his velvet greens as he dipped and dived and blew notes of love to her.

Sing me Home

2010-04-28T20:09:00.008+10:00

It's autumn and time for some feathered ones to start planning their return to wherever it is they return to

the other day I looked up and saw this figure sitting high in a tree above me she brought to mind my favourite quote "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" (Thoreau)

and so over a fresh brew a paper daydream was born

Daily she had gathered his notes close
as they floated down adagioly
upon dawn’s first breath.
Each she kissed before
placing inside a depleted cloud.
Their cloud, now full of heartsong rose,
the notes within composed themselves
into position as he released the final three notes to
Sing them Home.

Uncommunicatative

2010-04-23T09:43:00.006+10:00

My modem died last week
reminding me how powerful choice is
when you have no choice.

It's replacement has now arrived
and I switched on then off
returning choice to my fingertips.

Unexpectedly surprised

2010-04-13T18:37:00.004+10:00

The feathered ones were complaining, usually it means a posse of them are giving an owl or goanna a peck of their minds, neither was their victim this time. When I reached the spot all but one of the feathered posse had lost interest and were dispersing, my eyes failed to find either of their familiar shapes, then a little ball uncurled and looked my way

my heart did a little somersault as I raised my camera. Up until that moment I'd only seen one other Ringtail Possum in the garden before and never in daylight as they are nocturnal. The Ringtail is much shier than our regular resident Brushtail possum. As their names suggests they each have a different type of tail; Ringtails are tipped white and Brushtails are bushy. I tiptoed away to let the cute one return to its bed before anything spotted their lunch.

Side Street Smile

2010-04-11T18:50:00.007+10:00

I wonder what some of those earlier students of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts would make of this little portrait?

Fairy Love

2010-04-08T06:00:00.010+10:00

First they appear as flutterings to the corner of an eye

gradually their familiar shapes take form

then the painting of

song and dance begins

so in love with their window images, I gave them a mirror to proclaim to for an hour ... to see their little performance click on the Fairy Wren Love image over on the side bar.

Une Robe

2010-04-04T06:51:00.006+10:00

On a late December evening off the Rue de Rivoli, two mannequins were to be seen discussing the desirability of three gowns displayed in a shop window across the street from them. For a while, each held the same fixated glance upon the one gown. (look closely)

When Madame entered her store the following morning, a distraught gasp escaped her pursed lips at the sight of the two bodies laying on her parquet floor, broken.

In the pink

2010-04-02T08:13:00.004+10:00

A lick of pink paint, hang some images and a piece of pegboard becomes my personal art gallery

and from my own garden ... I'd love to say, but wish instead*!*

Hot seat

2010-03-28T15:21:00.003+10:00

Petit Staircase

2010-03-21T07:54:00.002+10:00

I love decorative staircases and this one in the Petit Palace surely wanted to escape outside and join those bare tree branches ...

Pruning showers

2010-03-19T11:03:00.007+10:00

Garden pruning isn't so bad between rain showers
especially if a mug of chocolate beckons
and a coat of paint

a stretch and then back out again

... how's your day?