Each month, Jude hosts a colour challenge, Life in Colour. The colour for November is black and/or grey. This is definitely my last contribution to this month’s colour challenge.
What Next?
On the lookout for smoke tendrils in the sky,
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike surveys the scene.
Each year lurching from one extreme to another,
What are we to make of the constant vacillation?

Grey expectations –
Hoping for a break in the weather.

There has been yet more flooding in parts of Australia. The rain would have been welcome had it come after harvest. British Columbia (Canada) has also been experiencing serious flooding this week. Please take care if you live in a flood affected area.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
I think these two lines encapsulate everything about life in the 21st-century:
“Each year lurching from one extreme to another,
What are we to make of the constant vacillation?”
I love that last photo. The composition, the subtle colors, perfect!
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Thanks, Liz. It was certainly a grey, cold day when i took that photo of the galahs as I was huddled on my doorstep testing the outdoor temperature.
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You’re welcome, Tracy.
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Beautiful words, beautiful birds. I hadn’t heard about the flooding in Australia or Canada. Seems the weather this year is continuing to throw a curveball. Thanks for the link Tracy. Much appreciated xx
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Thanks, Jude. I hope harvests are bountiful in other parts of the world given the difficulty we are having in eastern Australia. It’s lucky Australia is a big place. The difference between this time in 2019 and this year are stark.
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Beautiful birds! The splash of pink is very welcome, as it’s very grey here at the moment. November is one of the bleakest months here.
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I hope it brightens up with some Christmas lights. Stay safe, Sarah. There are some nut jobs out there!
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The weather continues to provide difficulties, but it looks as i we aren’t helping. Lovely photos, nonetheless.
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Thanks, Margaret. Don’t mind me. I am going through my usual pre-election year of climate change activism which largely involves talking to myself.
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It’s always good to have an interested audience. I do this too.
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Absolutely. You’re very restrained, Margaret.
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Yep three days of rain so far and almost 100mls. All is fine as the rain was/is gradual with occasional downpours
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More to come too, Brian. The front missed us last weekend but we might get rain on Wednesday. My house is smelling of wet washing hanging up inside.
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Damp inside my place too
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I saw a blackfaced cuckoo shrike for the first time in our yard last week. And (same day) two tiny wren-sized birds of olive green with yellow around their eyes flitting in the apricot trees. We also have willy wagtails for the first time this year. Today on our walk, the dog and I saw a parliament of cockies (perhaps 15?) in a front yard presided over by King Pin up on a Sulo Bin. They were arguing as often happens when parliament is sitting.
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By the way that is a beautiful photo of the shrike. They’re a stunning bird. I love that shade of grey.
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Thank you, Wormsie.
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Oh that is nice to have the joy brought to your yard. It is a special treat to get a BFCS (pronounced boofkus) visit. I was quite insistent that my TL get a nice snap of the BFCS but as it happened it landed very close to me. 😊
A little olive bird? A silvereye is the first thing that comes to mind. But it could have been a weebill perhaps?
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Hmm. I think to say the small green bird was wren sized might have been wrong. I just looked at silvereyes and weebills but neither looked right. These little birds were less round… longer in the body. And their tails continued in a downward line from their backs. And they were a darker, more consistent green.
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I give up. Olive backed Oriole? Yellow-faced honeyeater?
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Yellow faced honey eater is the closest. I am beginning to doubt my own memory now.
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It was probably a bird. 🤣
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🤣🤣
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The black-faced cuckooshrike is a beautiful bird!
Best wishes to everyone suffering due to flooding at the moment. Seems those fluctuations between extremes that you mention, Tracy, is becoming the norm these days.
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Yes, it is very good looking, Dries, and also shy so they normally don’t hang around to get a decent snap.
Apparently so re the weather. I hope the weather is nice in your part of the world, Dries. We haven’t warmed up here yet. Am still wearing my winter gear.
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We skipped spring entirely and jumped right into full-blown summer here in Pretoria. Have had some wonderful rainshowers too, which in a drought-prone country like ours is always welcome.
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I hope it doesn’t get too hot, Dries.
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Each time I scroll past this title in my feed, “Grey Expectations”, it makes me smile. Fabulous title!
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Thanks, Liz. 😄
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I always enjoy seeing photos of Galahs. It reminds me of my old pet galah – they are such characters. Always busy, cheeky, happy and active! Good capture of the Cuckoo shrike as well.
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Thanks, Amanda.
The galahs are very accommodating parrots. I really like that about them. Your little parrot must have given you years of pleasure.
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When the planes would fly overhead, he would say, “Where’s the big bird?” and a few other sayings.
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That’s so funny.
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Extreme weather conditions don’t take a break. 😦
I love the image of the years “lurching”. And I really don’t know what to make of “constant vacillation”. I can only sigh.
What are those beautiful birds with the pink necks?
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They’re galahs, Ju-Lyn.
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Such beauty in your words and clicks! Tracy, we too had unseasonal rains in the southern India.
If I am not wrong, I read about bushfires in Australia yesterday.
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Thank you, Punam.
The bushfires are in West Australia. There is another in Tassie, Sisters Beach region. Vanda and her sister, from Our Other Blog, live there. Hopefully they will be okay.
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You are welcome, Tracy. I hope everyone is okay.
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Thankfully, the emergency seems to have eased.
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