December in Canberra (Australia) – So many babies; so much grass; a lot of cutting, over-committed and Christmas.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am so very tired this month. I bet you know the feeling. It has been a long year and December has been super busy. Apart from the usual mundane activities, furniture shopping and mosaic production, I did get out a couple of times into my local area for relaxation. I was surprised by how many babies I saw. Tis the season I guess. Let’s look at some.

Here is a mother wood duck with a few of her babies, and I mean a few. She had about a dozen ducklings scrambling after her.

The Eurasian coote family spend some quiet time together.*

I was chiacked by a magpie lark. I soon spotted the reason why. This fluffy little magpie lark was fresh out of the nest. What a face! I bet it will tell off a few people when it is older.

I wasn’t the only one being chiacked. The young magpie had to run for cover from a swooping Willie Wagtail.*

Willie Wagtail chicks wait for mummy dearest to return.*

Young crimson rosellas are so mellow.*

A young eastern rosella is so yellow.

We could almost watch the grass grow, it grew so fast. The Australasian grebe sat high and mostly dry on its nest.*

Meanwhile a fresh outbreak of coronavirus (shorthand for SARS-Cov2), this time to our north, left Christmas up in the air. Much closer to home, a Little Red flying fox colony was in full swing.* We suspected its return when the flap of wings alerted us to a blossom party taking place in our bottlebrush tree late at night.

Despite the pandemic, life went on and the rabbits bred like rabbits. Tis always rabbit season. The two kittens were brave enough to venture out.* They were much braver than me.

“Cut it out,” I hear you say. So I did.

See here for the completed work.

We are not big on celebrating Christmas in our household. In a fit of enthusiasm or guilt, I purchased a rather large fruit cake. However, in a moment of questionable judgement, I relented and prematurely let the boys at it. Fearing an empty pantry and no fruit cake come Christmas day, I compounded my mistake by buying an exceptionally large and exceptionally awful pavlova. Everyone agreed that it looked good.

So December started with a bang and ends with a fizzle. That’s fine with me. I’ll choose ordinary over exceptional any day, month or year.

This is my response to The Changing Seasons – December 2020 photo challenge hosted by the lovely Su at Zimmerbitch. I’m also joining in with the Ragtag Daily Prompt today.

I can’t leave December without making a couple of comments and acknowledgements. Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who joined me on the blog this year. Your visits, comments and support mean a lot to me. Further, I thank my fellow hosts of the Ragtag Daily Prompt – Heather, Katherine, R, Brian, Emily, Punam, Christine and Ping. They have kept the prompt going each day throughout this very difficult year. Special thanks also goes to my True Love who contributes his beautiful photos to my blog. Finally, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the huge loss of life and hardship brought about by the pandemic. Blogs I follow are now silent. Few have been unaffected.

My interactions in the blogosphere have taught me that chronic illness, disability and old age are no barriers to making a valuable contribution to public life. Our community is stronger and healthier when our voices are heard.

Best wishes for 2021, ladies and gentlemen. My new year wish is for the Covid vaccination program to be well received, rolled out widely and rapidly so that we can begin to heal from the trauma of this year. I hope that essential workers across the world receive the recognition and thanks they deserve, but more than that, I hope they receive our support in the form of decent pay and conditions, job security, and the resources they need to do their jobs safely and effectively. My final wish is for the global community, and especially the laggards like the Australian government, to waste no time getting on with the urgent task of tackling climate change and other threats to our world and wellbeing.

Kind regards.
Tracy.

*Photo taken by my True Love

67 thoughts on “The Changing Seasons – December 2020”

  1. A beautiful post to finish off the year! The photos of the bird babies were amazing! Wishing you health, happiness and much creativity for 2021 🙂 xx

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I enjoyed all of your nature photos, except for the bats. I just can’t go with bats. Or snakes. Of course, now I want to know what has to gone wrong with a pavlova for it to be exceptionally awful.

    All joshing aside, I appreciate and echo your best wishes for the new year ahead.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Liz. I appreciate that very much.

      The pav had tones of cardboard. I only had one piece that’s how awful it was. The topping was nice though. We added that part. We’ve decided just to go with fruit and yoghurt or fruit and ice cream next year.

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  4. Lovely photos, please thank your True Love ❣ Nice post, with a lot of great words to take us unto the next year. My wishes for you and your family to head into 2021 with hopeful hearts, good heath and as many hugs as allowed 🙏🏻🤗

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Such a beautiful post, Tracy. And the face on the bird…..what a great snap. I am looking forward to 2021 being a magical year. No pressure. But I do have high hopes. And I refuse to lower my standards. 🤨

    Liked by 2 people

  6. A truly beautiful and so delightful collection of baby photos, well done to your true love. It has been an “interesting” and traumatic year but, just maybe, there is a light at the end of this virus filled tunnel. Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2021 to you and your family Tracy

    Liked by 1 person

      1. We are fine thanks Tracy. 3 days before we were due to fly to Sydney we cancelled and decided it wasn’t worth the worry. We now have credit vouchers to use sometime in the next year. Best wishes to you and your TL for 2021

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Margaret. I am so pleased you like the flying foxes. We are rather fond of them ourselves. Of course, we try not to stand under them. We were delighted to see them again. Perhaps they will make Canberra a regular stopover now that they have found a good spot.
      Take care, Margaret. It does not sound good in the UK at the moment. I hope supplies are flowing through once more and that people are staying home as much as possible.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Tracy, this is a wonderful post. I thank you back for your dedication to Ragtag Daily Prompt, and for being a friend in the blog world, and for caring so much about the world we live in! These photos are incredible, I look forward to you and your True Love’s photos in 2021! My top three today, bunny ears, flying fox, wood duck mother giving you the evil eye. I also learned a new word..chiaked. All the best in the New Year to you and your family!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Heather. It has been an absolute pleasure to help out and be part of such a great group. I am going to take some time off from my own posts over January to start on my next mosaic project and spend more time in the garden. Take care of yourself and give gorgeous Ophelia a big hug for me.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. A beautiful post Tracy and thank you too for your inspiring prompts and thoughtful words throughout the year. We wish you, your True Love and all the family a blessed and magical 2021 🤗💖💫 xxx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Xenia. I appreciate your visits and remarks. Likewise your lovely posts and the ever enthusiastic and curious Pearl and Eivor have brought welcome relief this year.
      I wish you a magical 2021 too. Lois (Pets and Prisoners) has already put her order in for just such a year so the chances are good.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you dear Tracy, I have a good feeling about the New Year, especially if we can build on the many ways in which we appreciate all the simple things and blessings anew 💜

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Lovely photos and words, Tracy! Thank you for the time you put into your corvid challenge earlier this year, I really enjoyed it.
    I share your wishes for 2021, let’s hope they come true!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Ana. I enjoyed the corvid challenge too. I think the ravens helped me write some of my best poems. It was also great to have such wonderful company along the way when I was completely terrified. Unfortunately, I think the next six months will continue to challenge us but knowing that you and my other blogger friends are here gives me courage. Anyway, here’s to 2021.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. The supportive side of this little WP corner was probably more helpful than any of us expected it to be. I don’t comment often enough, but I love your posts and I’m so glad I discovered your blog. I agree, we still have some tough months ahead, so here’s to a happy, healthy and sane New Year!

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  12. Lovely post Tracy. The birds are beautiful, and the bats even more so.

    We’re not big on Christmas either, and managed to spend a pleasant day without getting tied up in tradition and accompanying stresses. No pav here — we all hate it — but too much Christmas cake as I made one (for the first time in years) and my sister in law made us one too (ditto timing).

    Thanks for being part of the Changing Seasons. Wishing you and the whanau good health, happiness and much creativity in 2021.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, Su. It is lovely to be part of The Changing Seasons family. You have inspired me to get off my bum this year. 🙂
      This is the year for too much Christmas cake and informality. I’ve sworn off pav. That’s my final new year resolution. 🙂
      I’m going to take a break from blogging (not reading blogs) in Jan. Procrastination is over.
      I hope your January and 2021 are uncomplicated and filled with proactive hopefulness.

      Like

    1. Thanks Bear, Teddy and Martha. These are good birds. They would like you. Yesterday I was out walking out on my own and I saw a different bird swoop a lady walking her dog. It was only protecting its chicks which wander on the ground helpless.
      I can imagine your exhaustion. It’s heavy shit. So I have saved a special photo for you. It will make your day, maybe even year. 🙂

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  15. A beautiful posy, Tracy – and I love your birds, your art and the flying foxes. We have been so busy too throughout December, that I hardly could find time for any reading or blogging. Now the new year is coming…and hopefully it cannot get worse than 2020. I want to thank you for being there, Tracy. Caring, thinking, commenting, straightening things out. And I will never forget your thinking of me when I was most in need of it. I am not religious, but God Bless you, Tracy. ♥

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh Ann-Christine, thank you. I think your caring and thoughtfulness inspires it in others. 🙂 I think we are all exhausted from the events of the year. Thank goodness we did not have to go through this on our own. I will probably blog less in January while I try to get another mosaic underway. I have however picked one favourite photo for your next challenge. 🙂 Take care, friend, and stay safe.

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    1. Thanks, Ann. Also, no need to be embarrassed. You are right. They are bats. The big fruit and nectar eating ones are called flying foxes. Not sure why, probably their cute little foxy faces. 🙂 I wrote about them last year. I should have included a link.

      Liked by 1 person

  17. What a wonderful array od avian babies. Thanks for sharing (especially as I’m still housebound and missed Spring outdoors entirely).

    And Ditto to all you have also said….particularly the environment. I’d also like to see more recognition to frontline workers, their safety/pay/hours/conditions.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Vicki. We’ve had so many Eastern Koels and currawongs this year, that I am surprised there are any other chicks at all. The diversity of insects is greatly reduced so it seems as though our normal ecosystems are really showing the strain. However, I focus on what is still there for others to enjoy.
      Your site is not active anymore. I hope you are okay?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I deleted my ‘Living in Nature’ and ‘Sunset, Sunrise’ blogs and have started a new one of my favourite quotes coupled with some old photos from my archives while I recover from my hip replacement surgery. ‘A Moment in Time’ is located at https://amomentintime992025389.wordpress.com. Just an occasional post until I get back outdoors on nature walks and photography (i hope). At the moment, it seems like….. one step forward – two steps backward each day. Unfortunately the surgery re-activated all my old knee/shin & ankle ortho probs and I seem to have tendonitis above my right knee from all the extra strain. Still, I walked a few steps without the walking stick yesterday and today so hope to be able to walk without relying on assistance by the end of January.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Thanks Tracy. I have been able to walk a bit unaided in the early part of the day in recent days, but after lunch I start to tire and get sore in the afternoon. But I might be able to walk from the taxi to the 5th floor surgeon’s rooms by next Monday’s appmnt at this current improvement rate (with the walking stick along just-in-case). From the start I had surprisingly good balance and a strong core and it really did help. I never had the feeling of overbalancing or anything. I did practice and move everything in my apartment (including all daily used items) in preparation. Secondly, after 2 back surgeries and many years of chronic severe pain & other symptoms, I was well exoerienced in post surgery pain. Admittedly, I was almost wishing I didn’t have the surgery for the first 10 days at home.

        Liked by 1 person

  18. Such a wonderful, positive post Tracy. I love all the babies, of course, but I smiled at your Christmas fare. We had the usual seafood and then Christmas pud, which we (the adults) love for the fact it comes with brandy butter! I love pavlova as well.
    I echo your thoughts and hopes for 2021, especially for the ‘frontliners’ , they deserve recognition and care. Best wishes for the new year. Jane

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hello Jane. Seafood and pud with brandy butter sounds wonderful. We had perfect weather here. Hope you did too.
      I like your word ‘care’. That is definitely what our frontliners need.
      Best wishes to you too, Jane. The situation feels rather ominous at the moment. I am not a fan of the NSW government’s strategy as you may have guessed. It risks messing up regional economies. It is hard enough for some regions to get fruit pickers as it is.

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  19. Pingback: The Changing Seasons, December 2020 | Zimmerbitch

  21. You have beautiful light Tracy which shines bright. Happy New Year.
    AND…OMG….Those.Flying.Foxes are ADORABLE although I may be the only one to think so. And I think that Magpie face would stop anyone in their tracks.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Hear! Hear! Couldn’t agree more, Tracy.
    Love, love, love your bird pics, they always cheer me up enormously, though this time the bats stole the show – irresistibly cute!
    Also love your mosaic-it’s perfect.
    Wishing you a beautiful, healthy, happy and creative 2021!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Sarah.
      I was so excited to see the bats again, Sarah. I think they will move on shortly from their camp soon to follow the blossom trail.
      I’m still procrastinating on the creativity. Tearing myself away from the favourite procrastination device, the computer, may get that side of my brain working again. 🙂
      I hope 2021 is full of creativity for you too.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I hear you about the computer, Tracy! I’ve been thinking I should start painting at night when there’s much less to distract me, but unfortunately I’m always too tired then. 😂

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