press rewind (again) - january 2011

it's been so long since i've posted that blogging feels like a lost art.  i've known there were things that i'd photographed and planned to share, but just haven't had the energy or cognition required to actually assemble anything.  i'm taking a bit of time to myself at the moment though (away from a certain 'evil' social networking site) and hoping this will give me some space to finally catch up on things.

firstly to my cockatoo friends:  at the beginning of the year (just before the floods) - and then again a month or two ago - a couple of these pretty magnificent birds suddenly started visiting.  they are absolutely gorgeous to watch...slightly less gorgeous to watch eating the new railings on the verandah!   

(i wish that my photographs of taking flight did them justice, but can't resist including those to show the incredible wingspan and action - just amazing) 

what a wet possum looks like...

it's been 'raining cats and dogs' here lately...and the odd possum too. thankfully we've avoided the worst of the flooding here (at one point half of the state was under water). i've been feeling very very sorry for the animals though - especially in the worst-hit areas - but also weather refugees like this who turn up on the verandah in the middle of the day soaking wet, and with a little bub to look after.

(the RSPCA is doing fantastic work in the flooded areas and has a special appeal going at the moment if you want to donate and help the animals)

riot of colour (and a riot of noise)

the king parrots are in fine form at the moment...i suspect punch-drunk on the abundant flowering blossoms they gorge on all day. obviously not full enough to stop them from turning up at the verandah asking for more food though. yesterday they were at the back steps screaming for attention - what they got instead (and they shouldn't really be surprised by now) was a camera lens in their faces...didn't seem to perturb them at all with one just hopping up closer and closer.

i'm surprised by how much joy the birds have given me this year...yet another of those things that i really didn't pay much attention to until my life was forced to slow down so drastically. they have such personalities when you stop to watch - one of the big males in particular is plain nasty. he hogs all the food and attacks anyone who wants a piece of the action; last night i watched him chasing another male from tree to tree away from his female friend, eventually resorting to attacking his feet when he wouldn't give up and leave...ah,men!

snail adventures (the sequel)

anyone who remembers my last encounter with a snail would, i suspect, have been surprised to see how i reacted to my most recent gastropod meeting. last night i came in from the vege garden with lovely armfuls of lettuce and chinese cabbage (t, this is what the mystery 'evil' plant is apparently)...and someone catching a ride on the cabbage. he happily kept munching and exploring away on the kitchen bench and didn't seem too perturbed by all the discussion, investigations and cameras in his little face. he seemed so full of personality with the waving and retracting of his antennae and his fearless wanderings in a strange place. and i was delighted to find that you can indeed hear them eating, as elizabeth tova bailey described in her book. was actually quite reluctant to let him go and entertained fantasies about my very own snail company, but couldn't bring myself to deprive him of his liberty.

(feeling a bit introspective and insular perhaps)

(and heading off on an adventure up the wall and to try and get inside the oven...not a good idea, didn't have the heart to tell him people actually eat his species)

there's a snail in my garden...

well, there was - he's currently in the kitchen with the sacrificed beetroot leaf he was lounging about on, while i contemplate his fate. so...what does an animal-loving vegetarian do with an interloper like this?

spiderweb symphony

i caught sight of another spiderweb while watering this evening - and went running for the camera again. love the way the drops of water catch on webs and transform them into something that resembles nature's own version of jewelry. it looked so perfect...then i managed to half destroy it! so sorry little spider.

it reminds me of a pearl collar necklace my grandmother gave me, and the shots where the shutter speed was technically too slow make me think of the movement of a conductor's baton.

it's cold (and wet) outside

the local ensemble of wildlife was not too impressed with the weather here yesterday. the second i appeared in the kitchen in the morning there was a sopping little butcher bird calling out urgently to me from the balcony railing (later found out his whole family had already been through that routine once before he got to me!). when i took pity and went out to feed him a kookaburra came swooping in...then another...and another - all looking pretty sorry for themselves. and three of the butcher birds spent much of the afternoon taking shelter perched on the struts under the carport.

when i went down to the next level of the house a bush turkey was pecking at the outside bed (no idea what that was all about) and later in the day there was a turkey chase going on just outside in the same spot - think the mound isn't ready for his girlfriend yet. mama poss has been back wedged in her spot on the beam near the front door for the last three days. and last night there was a soundtrack of an owl hooting from the bush nearby and a curlew crying. sometimes i feel very very close to nature!

peek-a-boo

where not to build a nest (and snow peas!)

i was afraid this looked like a recipe for disaster when we spied a nest by the pool last week. mama bird, however, didn't seem at all concerned about the precarious position she had selected.

so there was little surprise but a great deal of sadness that met the discovery of a fallen nest and two broken eggs...

(apparently, along with all the other things i thought i would never do, i have become a birdwatcher - albeit a rather inadvertent/passive/opportunistic one...this was a blue headed honeyeater i believe)

there was some new life found today to balance the nest tragedy - the first snow peas of the season!

so...which look do you think suits me best?

(great what a bit of patience and a windy day can do!)