In the presence of royalty and Friday song day.

Dear Readers, can you guess from which song the title of this post comes?  It is the song that I have chosen as my Friday song day pick.  Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.  This week my mood is decidedly buoyant.  After being down in the dumps over the past month, there was only one way to go, right?  Yep, chasing pure, unadulterated sunshine from pure desire.  In other words, a bird.  And not just any bird.

I earned my twitching stripes yesterday, ladies and gentlemen.  My True Love (who is currently on holidays) and I got a tip off from No. 1 son that there was a special visitor in town.  Aussies, can you guess who it was?  Now it goes against my principles to go on a bird quest.  My philosophy is more about enjoying the birds I’m with.  You know, the one in the hand.  However, if in the hand could be just a five minute drive away, well then, what’s the harm?  I had to convince my True Love though, because he is not one for crowds.  Have any Aussies guessed the identify of the bird yet?  Well, let me tell you keep you guessing.  The anticipation grew.

So we rocked up to the place where this special visitor had been sighted.  What a desperately parched place it was.  However, some yellow box (a species of eucalypt) were flowering.

There was a gentleman twitcher already at the designated site.  He had a very big camera so I knew this was serious business.  We were soon joined by a number of other keen bird enthusiasts and the small crowd assembled a short distance away from the tree where the bird had been sighted last and waited.  All of a sudden, a ripple of excitement ran through the crowd.  “There it is”, the shout rang out and in unison, cameras were raised and a barrage of shutters clicked incessantly.  It was like Meghan Markle herself had arrived.  No doubt about it, we were in the presence of royalty.  Have you guessed the identity of the bird yet?  Or what about the song?

To be honest, I really couldn’t see the bird.  Occasionally there was a flutter in the branches, and I would point my camera in that direction and snap indiscriminately in the hope of that once in a lifetime lucky shot.  But nothing.  Well, not nothing, I did snap two noisy miners enjoying a feast.  In my mind’s eye, I convinced myself that I saw the occasional flash of yellow.  More likely though, it was just the excitement that had gone to my head.  Still, my soul was on fire.  You’ve guessed the identity of the bird and the name of the song now, right?

As I glanced across the paddock, I saw my True Love heave his camera to his breast and pause, then he calmly took the shot.  It was like an arrow to the heart.   I felt the love come over me.  It was enough that I was there.  In his/its presence.  My love and the Regent Honeyeater.  And ten other bird enthusiasts, or maybe 20, or even more.

Now let’s see.

rh

Have you ever seen anything so gorgeous?  Except for maybe, your own true love ….

regal honeyeater
©Reflections Of An Untidy Mind (TL)

Shall we sing the song?

The Regent Honeyeater is critically endangered.  To find out about the Regent Honeyeater conservation program, see here.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt — Nothing, and
Cee’s Hunt For Joy Challenge — Say Cheese.

54 thoughts on “Sunshine From Pure Desire”

  4. YouTube has “Body’s in Trouble “ by Mary Margaret O’Hara I recommend it to you. The Steve Winwood song is one of my favourites. Thank you Tracy.

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      1. I notice that her album “Miss America “ is on eBay. ‘’Body’s in Trouble” originally had no words as it evolved as she and the band were rehearsing or so the mythology goes. Her famous sister is the actor Catherine O’Hara. Did you ever see the television comedy series SCTV, Catherine was. Part of that.

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  8. What a wonderful twitching experience! Your TL’s photo is magnificent and you’re so fortunate to have seen a regent honeyeater. I believe there are some to be found in area near Capertee and hope that they have some habitat left after the fire.
    I expect the twitchers in your family have read Sean Dooley’s book They Big Twitch’? It’s very entertaining.

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    1. It was nice, Jane. Also to just get out of the house. I hope the regent honeyeaters escaped the Capertee fires too. I can’t bear to this about it.
      Yes, the lads have read Sean Dooley’s book. 🙂
      My No. 1 child gave his father Sean’s other book, “Anoraks to Zitting Cisticolas” for Christmas. Isn’t it nice that bird appreciation has now gone mainstream?

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  12. This is one gorgeous bird and I’m so glad that True Love got a photo of him – her? We don’t have these birds in So Cal or any part of the US that I know of. In fact, our bird populations have been decimated by civilization – as have so many native species. I miss the birds of my childhood in New Jersey and Hawaii. You really had me guessing what strange avian had shown up in your neighborhood. I wasn’t close, guessing a flamingo – well, you said it was rare! Thanks for the shared treat, Tracey.

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  17. An absolutely gorgeous creature, how sad that he is critically endangered. Hopefully he has a mate and is working on it. As for your post, I absolutely loved your description of your own mate patiently waiting for and then getting the perfect shot. The mark of an excellent photographer! Kudos.

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    1. Thank you, Tina. It is sad. A critical breeding ground may have been destroyed in the fires. But in the,meantime, the visit was a gift that I will treasure.
      I will pass on the compliment to my husband. He is a great inspiration to me.

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  18. Being a child of the 80s I so love this song! It puts a silly smile on my face whenever I hear it. 😊
    Oh that bird! It’s just gorgeous! So very, very beautiful – definitely worth a short (or longer) drive! ❤

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      3. Confess I had a thing for Susannah Hoffs from the Bangles at around this time, for not dissimilar reasons. I had long since stopped watching ‘Top of the Pops’ but Susan’s parents had cable and I saw some MTV when I was there – back when it was still a music channel!

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