Welcome to Week 5 of my Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge. Corvids are birds belonging to the Corvidae family, encompassing ravens, crows, magpies, jays and nutcrackers. So check out your corvid photo, poetry, music and story archives and join the challenge.
Over 170,000 people have died from Covid-19 since December 2019, and yet, I can still enjoy this little corvid challenge. There’s something about minutely concentrating on one thing and just one thing that helps me keep my sanity. It is a triumph of bravado over pessimism. So are you ready? Let’s go corvid-hunting. Read more
A black hat perspective. 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.
After a buoyant few days, I’ve stopped to think. It is necessary, albeit depressing, but it helps me get things weirdly acceptable in my head. I still haven’t heard anything definitive about how much of the new corona virus, Australia, is prepared to live with. Some apparently. However, no-one in authority is yet prepared to be upfront about the costs of this suppression strategy. It is one thing to be reassured that there will be a (net?) benefit, but without being specific about what is being traded off — who and what is to be sacrificed — how can the community have ownership of any virus-related actions and outcomes?
My arm was twisted last year (not very hard) to make a mosaic for a blogger friend. My friend’s property was burnt in Australia’s huge summer bush fires. Fortunately, his house survived. Some of my readers may know Brian from Bushboys World. One of Brian’s favourite little birds is the Eastern Yellow Robin. So that was the first mosaic that I made for him. I’ve also made a second one of a Red-Browed Finch. I had to make two mosaics otherwise the first one would be lonely. Unfortunately I attacked the second with a sharp knife today because I didn’t like the shape of its head. Not that anyone would have noticed the problem because it is not as though people will be looking at it close-up once its hung. I would have known though, so it met its fate. I’ll need to fix it, then I can share it with you. Stand by for that one. Read more
Welcome to Week 3 of my Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge. Corvids are birds belonging to the Corvidae family, encompassing ravens, crows, magpies, jays and nutcrackers. So check out your corvid photo, poetry, music and story archives and join the challenge.
My son, the naturalist, tells me there are two types of corvids in Canberra, Australia — the Australian Raven and the Little Raven. He also tells me they are about the same size and he can’t tell them apart. I don’t know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but I find that a tad confounding. Read more
March — Australia creeps toward lockdown. The weather is good but. Warning: this story contains many bird and nature photos.
It seems an age ago that the smoke of bushfires polluted my lungs and we hunkered down for the summer in our small abode. Then the drought broke and the new corona virus reached our shores, causing chaos and disruption, and threatening to kill a generation. I confess that my summer experience made me hyper-vigilant for danger. Like the virus, my preparations and anxieties gathered momentum as March marched in. Read more
Hello Readers, I know we are all busy just trying to stay alive (welcome to the world of many trapped in refugee camps and in poverty), but if you have enough time (and photos, stories, poems in your archive), you may wish to participate in a new weekly challenge. I am calling it the Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge. No, the virus hasn’t evolved. A corvid is a type of bird. The challenge will come out each Tuesday, all being well (if you know what I mean). Read more
Given the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment for health workers and the shortage of test kits, Australia appears unprepared for Covid-19 to accelerate rapidly. Governments have a duty of care to take all necessary steps to prevent infection or face another catastrophe. If the Australian government is not getting this advice, it is consulting the wrong people. If Government is getting sound, evidence-based advice (including on the level of preparedness) and ignoring it, then that is a significant issue. The advice of the Australian Medical Association should be heeded now. Is this a re-run of the bushfire disaster? I’m hopeful for a better response this time around. Much is at stake.
Irrespective of official advice, organisations that run public events and employ staff should consider the legal implications for their organisations, including the potential personal liability of directors/officials, if their event or business acts as a host for the spread of Covid-19. They should also consider their duty of care to participants, staff and the wider community, including the impact on local health systems and critical supply chains. Risk management should be part of all organisations’ planning. Thankfully, many are doing just this and are leading the way in responding to the crisis. Organisations/companies should not expect governments to indemnify them for bad decisions taken, should they?
Without a vaccine, enough PPE, or test kits, social distancing appears to be the only practical option to buy more time. This is not business as usual. Now where have I heard that before?
There is no time to waste, Australians. I went to my doctor for my pneumococcal vaccine last week. I overheard the receptionist talking on the phone about a potential Covid-19 patient who they had sent back to their car to wait to be triaged there. The office staff gave the distinct impression of rabbits caught in a spotlight.
UPDATE – I have been hearing from friends who work in the health system that our governments have been too slow to ban community gatherings. Those are on the front line are asking citizens to voluntarily quarantine themselves right now. NOT TOMORROW BUT TODAY. Act now to prevent the transmission of this virus in the community.
We (governments and the community) must do everything possible to protect front line staff and if that means being overly cautious, so be it. Be calm, but act.
How apt this video seems now. Sorry about the political stuff tacked on the end of it though. Let’s keep politics out of it and be guided by best practice.
From a respected immunologist at Westmead Hospital, Sydney. Share widely (and not just because he’s a Dan… 👍)… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…— Daniel Jolley (@djoll) March 14, 2020
This is my response to the Ragtag Daily Prompt — Moustache. Well, it’s not my work. It is a song from one of my favourite folkie teams, The April Maze.
I’ve included a link above to their website because they have albums that you can actually buy. Give it up for The April Maze, ladies and gentlemen.
The carnivores have moved into the neighbourhood. Over the last couple of years, we have had the occasional grey butcherbird visit but they don’t normally stick around. February has been the exception. The butcherbirds must have a nest nearby because a juvenile has been practising its maniacal cackle. It is very endearing. On the other hand, there have been few smaller birds around. Too tasty, I guess. Read more
I got very excited this morning, ladies and gentlemen. Looking out the back window, I could see that there was a male and female pumpkin flower open at the same time. Because of a hail storm last month, my pumpkin vine has only one pumpkin growing at the moment. So I took this fleeting opportunity to fly outside and manually fertilise the lady. I found the flowers crawling with bees, which was also very exciting, because the numbers of bees have been much fewer due to the recent hot weather and smoky days.
It was lucky I did because a bee was trapped below the stamen of the boy flower! Read more
Reflections of An Untidy Mind 