Crickets have sung most evenings in our front and back yards during Summer and now in early Autumn. They especially love water being sprayed around, either when we water the garden or when it rains and this brings on the chirping. They are elusive little things and are rarely seen. On really hot nights an occasional juvenile cricket will make its way through the gap under our outside wire mesh outer door. They are vulnerable, very soft insects and we know they are young because of the brown colouring. We never see a black adult.
soft banksia cones
rainbow lorikeet crisps
ready for snacking
We have a local indigenous Banksia tree growing by our front gate. Currently it is flowering and a variety of birds, Noisy Miners, Wattle Birds and Rainbow Lorikeets are daily visitors. The Lorikeets are big in numbers and very noisy so when they arrive anyone else feeding tends to disappear. This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 349 CRISP and Soft. Visit this site to see how other poets respond to Ronovan’s challenge.
Two of Maggies siblings at 8 weeks of age on a hot Summer’s day. Maggie was still on her feet at this stage harrassing some other sleeping pups. Afghan Hounds spend most of their time in these poses, often on their backs, on couches or beds in Maggie’s case.
live sheep export cruelest conditions weep for them
One of the most inhumane aspects of Australia’s economic fantasy world is the live animal export market. For some years there is growing demand for our Federal government to stop this practice. Sheep are exported to the Middle East and cattle are exported to Asia to be killed and eaten.
This ship I photographed some years ago at Fremantle in Western Australia is designed to carry sheep in absolutely unbearable, cruel conditions. I will not describe them however if you want to become a Vegan google Live sheep trade Australia. Most of the sheep that survive the journey are treated then killed in the most barbaric of ways. The trade of cattle to Asia is barely any better as often the abattoir processes the animals die in are as barbaric as the treatment of sheep in the Middle East.
There are 2 solutions to this deeply disturbing practice. 1. Stop the trade full stop and stop it NOW. Or if the demand for animal meat to be eaten in these markets is necessary!!!!!! then have animals humanely euthanised in Australian Abattoirs under strict humane conditions and the processed meat is exported in refrigerated ships.
Under our current valueless conservative government neither solution looks likely. Protests and lobbying for the animals will continue. Just one more battle the Australian people are currently fighting against their “elected” government. Anyone with half a brain and any compassion knows sheep and cattle are sentient beings with emotions and feelings. I am sure most farmers really know this, the conservative politicians and those who profit financially from this trade choose not to. Perhaps the latter could take a cruise on the ship above for a few days and rethink policy!! What do you think reader?
This Haiga is my response to Ronovan’s prompt for this weeks haiku. Visit his site to see more weep and sheep haiku at
smoke filled dawn climate change threatens tightrope walk
This was the rising sun looking down our street this morning through the smoke from hundreds of kilometres away. Another day of hazardous air across Melbourne however Sydney and Canberra have had weeks of this. The fires still burn and the people are becoming angrier with our Government. There is so much smoke, that it has crossed over new Zealand, the Pacific, South America, maybe your lands and is about to move over Australia again, catch up with itself and repeat the process. As well pressure from around the world is also forcing our Prime Minister to realise he can only stall, lie and ignore the realities of climate change for so long. Time has almost run out now and today he actually indicated he may make changes to his Government’s climate/energy policy, ( policy is a kind term for what is really only a weak attempt to acknowledge there may be an environmental disaster hovering). If anyone reading this was protesting outside an Australian Embassy in Europe this week , thanks, and keep it up , your pressure is helping. And yes the tightrope is for our Prime Minister, will he keep his balance?????
We have planted many indigenous shrubs and small trees across the rear of our yard and they are now flowering regularly. This young Little Wattle Bird and its mother claim the garden as their territory and aggressively defend it against other nectar eaters. These particular Wattle Birds are also insect eaters so they gain extra benefits when they are feeding. I can sit in our back passageway with a telephoto lens and photograph the birds through the window. Unfortunately very few other breeds of birds are feeding here because of the Little Wattle Birds and also the drought.
These two young birds, a Little Raven and an Australian White Backed Magpie were hanging around the Beaumaris Community Centre demanding food. The Raven had parents who were keeping a close watch however the Magpie seemed a little older and only joined its adults later. A variety of activities occur every day at this centre that includes a Library and Artists workshop/gallery, playgrounds , tennis and other sports facilities. These birds were outside the University of the Third Age outdoor eating/socialising area. Plenty of human food, not much in the way of natural carnivorous bird food though. I was involved in a Photography Workshop and could not resist the temptation of practising the art whilst my colleagues had tea and biscuits.
This Great Egret was hanging out with two fishermen beside the Moyne River jetty at Port Fairy.
Usually these birds are observed from a distance as they quietly seek out frogs, tadpoles or other small specimens of water/ swamp dwelling life. Not this bird. It was right beside the fishermen who explained it had trying to steal bait from their fishing tackle all afternoon. At one stage it was standing on one man’s car when he hid the bait inside it. Either a very hungry or very tame bird.
It seems they had decided to share some bait with the bird when it clearly was not going to go seek its own food naturally and of course more was asked for. Maybe another consequence of changing conditions out there in nature.
These trees are in the Gariwerd National park in Western Victoria in Australia. This is an ancient mountain range formed millions of years ago through geological upheaval. The forests are also ancient and regenerate after regular fires usually caused by lightning but occasionally by humans. For thousands of years, we are not sure how many, but possibly 30-40,000 at least, Indigenous Australians lived within these ranges and respected the flora and fauna. There are many thousands of years old rock art galleries sharing the culture of the Indigenous people throughout Gariwerd. Rock art sites are still occasionally discovered by current scientists that indicates the wild nature of some sections of this area . The haiku in this Haibun is a response to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #273 Forest&Whisper go to https://ronovanwrites.com/2019/09/30/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-273-forestwhisper/#comments and see lots of other haiku responses to this challenge from Ronovan.
September 20th was one of the most significant days of this century and perhaps of all times. This was the day when young people across the world responded to Greta Thunberg’s call to turn out and let world leaders attending the UN Climate Action Summit in New York to start acting, (fast) as time has almost run out to keep carbon emissions at a safe level. Here in Australia hundreds of thousands heeded Greta’s call. Jill and I attended the response in Melbourne along with over 150,000 others. Our conservative government is ignoring the science and reality, making a lot of noise about acting, however emissions in Australia have kept rising and we are exporting huge quantities of coal to Asia to be burnt. Our Prime Minister was in New York but did not attend the summit, he was not allowed to speak because of his government’s poor record. Instead he met with President Trump, attended a gala function with lots of right wing political and business people and also opened a factory with Trump. The mood has strengthened for Climate Change Action in Australia since September 20 and will continue to strengthen despite our government. They will grow increasingly irrelevant and could not possibly win the next election. I have included a short video I took on the 20th to share the mood.
Haiku hound 