Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you. It also happens to be Christmas Day today and if you celebrate Christmas, or even if you don’t, I wish you peace and good health on this day and every day. I would also like to share with you a photo that represents my Christmas in Australia.
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Hi there, I’ve been inspired by Brian from Bushboy’s World to participate in the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge hosted by Lisa from Eyes Wide Open. The topic of this week’s challenge is birds with a “B” in the title of their name. However, before I launch into it, I would just like to make a speech on wildlife photos.
First I would like to say that the wildlife photographers I’ve interacted with online have been unstinting in their kindness and helpfulness with suggestions for taking good wildlife photos. I’m incredibly appreciative of that, even if from time to time I feel a little intimidated because my gear is not the latest and greatest; I can’t (refuse?) to get up at daybreak to take advantage of the lovely soft morning light; I don’t plan; my backgrounds are often messy, etc. I guess one might describe me as a happy snapper who likes “nature” and who just goes with the flow. I’m a total opportunist, and sometimes I get lucky (well, maybe it isn’t all luck these days).
It is not that I don’t want to improve. I do, but that’s not my mission. Anyway, I want to encourage you whether or not you have a super-duper camera, whether or not your wildlife photos are entirely in focus or not, whether or not your subject is hidden by a busy background, etc, firstly, because it is fun, and secondly, one day you might take a shot of something that is interesting to you and that something interesting might be rare, endangered or even thought to be extinct and without your photo, we would never know. Never hope. No, I haven’t taken a photo of something thought to be extinct, but it could happen, if I’m in the right place at the right time.
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Bird poetry – Little Eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides)
The Little Eagle is a small eagle about the size of a peregrine falcon. It has a wingspan of about 100cm. It is listed as vulnerable in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales.
We saw this one soaring over the Australian National Botanic Gardens in late winter. My True Love and I managed to find a break in the trees to capture this photo (cropped within an inch of its life).
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October in Canberra (Australia) – We scent a change. Spring is so poetic.
It has been six days since Canberra recorded an infection of Covid-19. Canberrans send their best wishes for the gentleman’s recovery. With only one active case in my small city, my attention has turned to living.
It has been a relatively wet and stormy month in the national capital – the wettest October in 44 years. On those days when the sun shone, I focused on my garden and on my mosaic projects. For these reasons, and due to magpie hazards, I have had little time for exploration, but it being spring, there are always flowers, and wouldn’t you know, not one rainy day photo in sight. Here’s October.
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Some art to end the week. My first mosaic this spring. I made this one for a friend. It is one of Australia’s smallest raptors, the Nankeen Kestrel. The Nankeen Kestrel is about the size of a pigeon apparently. The mosaic is not an exact likeness. I’ve taken some artistic licence with colours, but you will get the general idea. My phone camera took artistic licence with the colours too! My good camera gave me a mess of reflections.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
This article contains material of a satirical nature that may offend some readers. Please note the photos are awful, but the story is good/scary/funny.
For months now I have been in serious training. Magpie training. It’s full on magpie breeding season here in Canberra (Australia) and for the unlucky few, a walk, cycle or broomstick ride, may lead to being dive-bombed by a rampaging magpie. As of a few minutes ago, the count on the number of magpie attacks that have occurred in Australia this year is 3798, with 466 injuries (see Australia’s Magpie Swooping Map 2020). The number of attacks and injuries are likely significantly under-reported. But have no fear, ladies and gentlemen, there are a couple of ways to mitigate the risks.
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Bird poetry – a pandemic distraction. Semi-infrequent opportunity to join in. Try it. Create a pingback to this post with your bird poem. Really awful poetry welcome. Good poetry welcome too.
As a bird lover, I feel slightly intimidated about venturing into bird poetry, particularly poems about gulls. This topic has already been covered by many famous poets over the centuries so I am unlikely to contribute any words that haven’t been written before. The inspiration for this short poem therefore comes not from those wonderful poets, but from the seagulls themselves and from my camera. That is as it should be.
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Bird poetry – a pandemic distraction. Try it. Create a pingback to this post for the bird of your choice. Really awful poetry welcome. Good poetry welcome too.
Golden Whistler photos taken by my True Love.
Golden Whistlers
Shadow dancer rimmed in gold.
Flamboyant, rakish, debonair.
As he skips from tree to tree,
eats a snack for energy.
Canberra, Australia – Last days of winter. Mostly cold and wet. Still no Covid in town.
There have been no new cases of Covid-19 in Canberra for 51 days. Too good to be true or too good to last? As for the weather, it was mostly cold, wet and miserable with the occasional sunny day. It was a 3Cs month for me – cleaning, creativity and cranky. As usual, I took a lot of photos.
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Reflections of An Untidy Mind 