Life is full of surprises. Some surprises we even get to photograph. Are you ready for some fun, bizarre and hairy surprises?

When I was out walking in my local neighbourhood the other day, I came across this happy piece of window art. Such a great way to spread cheer in this time of Covid-19 social distancing restrictions. I could not help but smile. Is this a Covid thing? I would love to know if you’ve done something similar to spread some social isolation cheer.

Once I was surprised by a big huntsman spider dropping on the steering wheel as I was driving. I couldn’t pull over fast enough. Thankfully, we spotted this lovely huntsman before it decided to drop in unexpectedly. It’s a good size. This one has found a good spot to spend the winter – the jam of the driver’s door of our car. I don’t even check if it is still there when I get in the car. We just go about our respective business.

Are you ready for the bizarre and creepy? A bra half hidden in some straggly overgrowth not far from an old, seldom used walking track. Perhaps I should have reported its whereabouts to crime stoppers? I told myself not to catastrophise and did nothing. What would you have done? There you go, writers, a plot line.

I think I need to finish on a lighter note. I’ve had to lighten up these slightly fuzzy photos because it was dusk when I took them. This juvenile cockatoo is hilarious. I found it practising its screeching. Then it fell off its branch. It was not deterred and hung on.

“Did you see that?” it seemed to ask me.

So what do you do when you fall off your branch? You get back on again.

“Hold on a moment. I’ve got this.”

“I think I can. I think I can.”

“Surprise! Did you see that? Did you? Gosh, that was fun!”

This is my contribution to the Lens-Artists Weekly Challenge – Surprise. Do check out this weekly challenge. Like the cockatoo, it is a lot of fun.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

29 thoughts on “Surprise!”

  2. Oh, Tracy–this is a wonderful mix of photos. I did scroll right past the spider–not a fan! The cockatoo–what an adorable little show-off he was for you. No need to recap the wild night with your TL in the straggly overgrowth… 😀

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    1. Thank you, Tina. I’ve learned to love the spiders. This one is quite a gentle one.
      I did monitor the local news carefully, but it was all covid-related. The bra was probably covid-related too, ie. young people getting some time away from their work-from-home parents. Let’s hope anyway. 🙂

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  4. Ha – love that cockatoo story! The spider is not my best part, but the bra – well, I think I would have done what you did, but maybe with a bad feeling and an eye in the papers for some weeks…

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  5. In Melbourne, for at least 6 months, I shared my house with a huge huntsman like your car companion. I called him Alexandrovich because I was submersed in a book about Rasputin at the time and was enjoying Russian names. He would make me nervous from time to time – sitting on the wall at head height just behind the toilet, running along the hallway waving his front legs at me, etc. But the night he decided to set up camp directly above the middle of my bed, I had to evict him. He was put in the garden. I never saw him again but I sincerely hope he lived a long and happy spider life. As for the cocky, what a clown! 🙂 I love cockies. I think their crests give their faces such character. But actually, during a heavy rain shower, when the huge flocks of galahs are about, I love looking out the window because almost invariably you can see them bathing on the power lines. They’re very likely to swing upsidedown with their wings akimbo – but not just one. There will be lines of them all preening and chattering and quarreling and performing hilarious antics. It’s just fabulous to watch. I don’t have your skill with a camera though.

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    1. That’s a fabulous name for a spider. That does sound like it was developing an unhealthy attachment to you. We have never been on such close terms with one. Our canaries have got agitated about them from time to time. That’s when we evict them to an area where the birds are bigger.
      Galahs are such galahs, lol.
      As for the photography, I take a lot of terrible photos too. I know they are going to be terrible but still I hope for a miracle.

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  8. What a fun bunch of photos and ruminations. Love that beautiful, graceful bird looking like a klutz, but that spider – ugh! I wouldn’t drive around with a spider the size of a dinner plate somewhere in my car. No wonder someone left their bra out in the woods – they were escaping that spider!

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  10. What a fab post Tracy. The cockatoo really made me smile. I’d love to have those nearby, though I know they can be mischievous vandals I think I could forgive them if they provide such entertainment!
    We don’t have mega-scary spiders here but I would take your approach too. I am pretty much live-and-let-live with animals.
    I shall refrain from commenting on the bra, except to say I hope it is not a bad sign.

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  11. We have a few spiders here such as the black widow, and the brown recluse. The wolf spider(not its proper name) is scream worthy because it is twice the size of most spiders here. The black widow and brown recluse occasionally give painful bites. But recluse suggests that they are not looking for trouble. The cockatoos are amusing. I wish we has wild ones. The Canada Goose is considered by many to be a pest but I like their assertiveness. They often nest in parks and and attack people getting too close the clutches of goslings. I wonder if the geese could be trained to enforce social distancing and mask wearing? Thank you for the photographs Tracy.

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    1. I think your black widow and brown recluse is in the same family as our redback spiders. They are toxic and a bite can be fatal. They hang out under rocks and in crevices, under chairs etc. So one needs to be careful to check tools, shoes left outside, etc, before handling/wearing. Most bites are accidental. Probably much the same as your spiders, Sid.
      Send some Canadian geese down here. We sorely need some social distance coaches at the moment.

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  12. The geese are strong flyers but they are currently over run with work stopping traffic on the freeway to walk the goslings across road. I thought your black swans might be trained for purpose.

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  13. That window art made me smile which makes it priceless! (Also it quotes one of my favourite films 😄)
    Ugh! That spider! 😂 (I’m fully awake now, thanks. 😉)
    Aww – that juvenile cockatoo is adorable! 😍

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