Speaking of calendars, my husband (aka my True Love) bought one the other day.  It’s a long story.   495 words to be exact-ish.  We didn’t buy a calendar last year and by mid year, regretted that decision.  Anyway, my husband has ordered one.  From a Danish vlogger of all people!  I am as surprised as you, ladies and gentlemen.

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement (because I am not an influencer, so I don’t flog, ie. sell, things or my opinions, and as you know, I give my opinion freely), I wanted to mention that my True Love and I are rather hooked on Morten Hilmer’s videos.  Morten is a Danish wildlife photographer.  In his videos, Morten talks about his equipment, camera settings, and takes his viewers on virtual expeditions.  Then there is his annual calendar.  His vlog is pretty low key and gentle.  There’s no pressure to subscribe or follow.

My True Love and I like Morten’s photography ethos.  It is not flashy or jaded.  Morten radiates an infectious enthusiasm for his subjects and the natural world.  It is good, old-fart old-fashioned entertainment, and is especially good when there is not much of note on the goggle box.  Blimey, I am sounding like an advertisement!  It is lucky that Morten’s family is helping him send out the calendars because I suspect he is a little distractable over-committed.  You can check him out if you are so inclined via all the usual places.

Anyway, Morten is very inspiring to us.  I am practicing getting up and down off the ground (no mean feat for me) so that I can photograph on the same level as the wildlife.  It is a good thing that the birds are mostly in trees!  However, unlike Morten, we won’t be doing a calendar.  Nor do we have any intention of vlogging.  We are not that organised.  Our efforts would be more like a comedy show.  You know, how to leave your house for photography shoot by 4pm.  Nevertheless, like Morten, we share boundless enthusiasm for our photography subjects.  On that note, I thought you might like to see some chicks.  They are so sweet.

Here’s one I took — a masked lapwing chick.  I took this one from the car.  My True Love pulls up on this skinny dirt road.  There is no shoulder on the road so it is rather precarious.  The locals hoon along the road.

“Quick, quick,” my True Love says.  “There are four chicks.”

And I’m like, “Where?  Where?”  Anyway, I eventually see them.  I took a hurried and harried photo as a speeding car was coming up behind us.

masked lapwing chick

Now for a few photos of the delightful red-capped robin fledglings taken by my True Love.  I was on my break at the time so I don’t have the backstory, but I could make one up if you like.  🙂

red capped robin chickrcr3rcrc2

They need a poem, don’t you think?  Or maybe a song because …. no time.  Check this out.  I love a sub-titler with a sense of humour.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

46 thoughts on “Calendar Days”

  1. Love the photos but I could not get that damn song to stop even when I signed out of your blog! I had to reboot my computer to get rid of it. Must admit I used to like it but it was at top volume and at 11 pm just didn’t strike the right mood… ha.

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      1. No I don’t have to sign in. I don’t think it was your fault. It must somehow have been transferred to my itunes to play and I was flustered and panicked. That’s allowed after a looooong day. If this is the worst that happens to me today, aren’t I lucky????

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  3. Lovely photographs Tracy and thank you so much for introducing us to Morten Hillmer’s work! 🤗💖 xxx

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      1. Thank you Tracy, I just watched his video photographing the deer and stags and saw some of his gorgeous mountain hare images. I love the way he approaches photography and I can totally relate to him witnessing the most amazing moments without being able to always capture them 😁💖 xxx

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  4. The robin chicks are sweet. I’ve never seen one. I rarely see robins so it’s a treat when I do. I will miss my neighbour masked lapwings in Geeveston. The chicks are cute and I like how protective the parents are of them even though they squawk and swoop at everyone.

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    1. I think the robins came in from out west because of the drought. Perhaps you will come across some more lapwings. When I was at the coast, there seemed to be a couple on every corner street of the small town. I was surprised by how far that chick had ventured from its mother, but then I heard mum squawking as if to say “get back here, you lot”.

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      1. I’m sure I will they are pretty common in Tassie. I saw lots around Geeveston but was rather attached to what I thought of as generations of the same family who always brought their chicks to my driveway. It’s been very windy here so I’ve not spent a lot of time sitting outside getting familar with the local birdlife.

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  6. Oh those robin fledglings are so sweet and dainty, and what a privilege to be able to take such great photos of them. I’ll check out Morten Hilmer as well.
    We have lapwings in the paddock behind our house: they arrive every year to nest. I find them a bit screechy but it’s always nice to have birds around no matter what noise they make.

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      1. Thanks, Tracy! My husband is the one who has to deal with the clearing of the walk, salting of the walk, and snow blowing of the driveway, and clearing the blockages at the end of the driveway left by the snow plows. God love him.

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  11. A great take on the prompt — and such great photos, especially that sandpiper chick! Not our robins, though; you must be in England.
    I can’t imagine not having a calendar; we have at least one in every room. Thanks for participating in the RDP challenge today. 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Darren. Glad you liked the sweet little birds. I adore them. Obviously. 😊 You can’t go wrong with a puppy calendar. Hope you like the MH vlog. We enjoy it. Bjorn the dog makes regular appearances, so there is something for everyone.

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  15. As always I just love the pics you and your TL make, Tracy! The chick and the robin are just too cute! And thanks for pointing out Morten Hillmer vlog – going to check it out soon. 😊 Somehow, and I really don’t know why, I’m always ending up with calendars showing horses! 😄 And when I’m lucky one of my blogging friends sends me one of his and his photographs, maybe you know him, Chris from over at Milford Street?
    Unfortunately couldn’t open the song. 😯

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    1. Thank you, Sarah. The little chicks are the only things keeping my spirits up at the moment. And MH’s vlog too. It is the type of vlog you watch when you’re stuck inside your house because you can’t go outside because of the hazardous smoke, and you can’t put your evaporative cooler on because that would funnel the smoke inside. Sorry, just having a little moment.
      Horses are nice to look at and would make fine calendar material, as would a calendar of your friend, Chris’s delightful photos. No, I hadn’t come across him before.

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  16. Photos of birds – you’ll always get my attention with photos of birds. I was so very lucky a few weeks ago as I was visiting my cousins in New Jersey, one of the US most eastern states. We took the kids to the aquarium in Camden and for some reason, they had two sad hippos lumphing in an ugly undersized pool. And a kookaburra sitting in a fabricated tree, staring at all of us as we stared at him (her?) It was a fluffed up bit of ivory feathers, probably very young, and sat with Buddha repose in its glass cage. As much as I loved seeing this lovely creature, I felt so sad that it lives in a glass booth in NJ, far from its Australian home, and terribly misplaced in an “aquarium.” Thank you for your photos of birds where they should be – in the wild, while the locals hoon along. (I’m going to remember that phrase forever!)

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