young bird

growing up
counting off seasons
day by day

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.

young birds

fledglings
trusting and hungry
growing up

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.

neighbours

people hide
to sunbathe and swim
birds don’t care

An interesting comparison at the Middle Brighton Sea Baths in Brighton, (Melbourne) recently. Behind that screen and under the umbrellas were people who had paid to use the facilities . At the adjacent seawall some Cormorants and a Seagull rested up in the sun before taking to the water at their leisure. Same sun, same water. Isn’t the life of a bird so much less complicated?

open beach
calls birds and people
free for all

water birds

birds delight
natural refuge
water cools

For water birds there has always been a known environment to feed, rest and relax in. In these recent local photos from top to bottom are examples of, Silver Gull, Purple Swamphen, White faced heron and Black Swans. For all the other birds water is simply the difference between life and death. On our recent 40 oC days our water bowls were potentially life savers for the local Magpies, Doves, Wattlebirds, Noisy Miners and Thornbills. Tragically the drought and increasing temperatures across Australia are leading to significant decreases in the numbers of birds generally. Even our water birds cannot rely on available water or feeding/ wetland environments any more . Another reason to hold our politicians around the world to account on Climate Change NOW .

free feed

fishing bait
testing hunting skills
patience wins

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.

no ordinary duck

deceptively pretty
carniverous hunter
no ordinary duck

This is Australia’s carniverous Musk Duck. These photos show a young bird on the Moyne River at Port Fairy. They are solitary birds and spend almost all their time floating on the water or just below the surface with the bill and head partly above to breathe. They spend a lot of time diving to catch crustaceans and also stalk and grab floating fledglings of other water birds. The duck worlds Crocodile. I have only seen 2 of these in my lifetime. They rarely come out of the water as their legs are barely able to support what is a stocky, heavy body. Certainly not just another pretty duck

sayonara

writing calls

sayonara now

for a while

These latest sunset images are from two nights ago when the sun bade its glorious daily farewell to us at Ricketts Point. I have to bid a temporary farewell to you my blogging friends who have been sharing such creative and educational haiku plus poetry, photos and stories with me during these 3 years I have been blogging.

I have to stop procrastinating about completing the initial draft of my first novel. That means I have to seriously rationalise my time and that in turn means minimising my time spent on the internet. Thus  a halt to blogs and blogging and all those other fascinating things the internet throws up daily.

So its Sayonara, a longer goodbye as the Japanese would say until we meet again in WordPress space towards the end of our HOT Australian Summer in 2018.

 

painted birds

nature paints

rainbow of colour

lorikeet

A rainbow lorikeet caught in the right setting and angle looks like a Paul Gauguin painting. I have shared them in a number of haiku posts but they keep demanding new appearances. This is my contribution to the one a week Photo Challenge and this week for number  43 the challenge is PAINT . For this years 52 weekly challenges planned by Cathy and Sandra visit Cathy’s blog at  https://nanacathydotcom.wordpress.com/one-a-week-photo-challenge-2017/

 

lake

journey break

lake provides calmness

and surprise

Whenever we travel to the Grampians or very occasionally Adelaide  a lunch or coffee break at Lake Wendouree in Ballarat is planned. Charlie had many picnics by the lake and now Maggie has experienced her first two.  The circumference of the lake is around 6 kilometres and it sits in the heart of this city so there are always joggers, dog walkers, cyclists or strollers on the path or adjacent road. Ballarat is the home city of my mother who was born and educated there and my father also went to boarding school there and rowed on the lake. When the Melbourne Olympic games were held in 1956 Lake Wendouree hosted the rowing events. Ballarat is freezing cold in Winter and it usually snows. Spring and Autumn are the best times to experience the city and lake. There are many nesting waterbirds on islands in the lake and this beautiful Cygnet and its sole sibling paddled past while we ate lunch recently.

This is my contribution to RonovanWrites weekly haiku poetry prompt challenge 171 Lake  & Calm. To access a multitude of haiku responses to this prompt visit  https://ronovanwrites.com/2017/10/16/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-171-lakecalm/ 

 

golden light

golden rays

casting spring calmness

naturally

The sunsets across Port Phillip bay from Ricketts Point at this time of the year are often golden like this one.  We captured these images 4 nights ago. There were many photographers scattered across the point as it was low tide. These two in the images had a camera mounted on a mini tripod right down on the water level. The seagulls as usual glided around as they settled in for the night.