Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.
Like River I generally run with a theme. Today I am going back to another of my obsessions and posting pictures of some of the birds that have visited us this month.
This somewhat motheaten looking galah has recently fledged and doesn't have all its adult plumage yet. It does have a healthy appetite though.
As does this eastern rosella. Apple, particularly green apple is a prime favourite with it.
The corellas ALWAYS have healthy appetites - to the extent that they will challenge cockatoos who are much bigger for space on the feeder. They mostly succeed too.
And another young bird. This pied currawong will be be predominantly a lovely glossy black when it has all of its adult feathers.
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life. The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.
Like River I generally run with a theme. Today I am going back to another of my obsessions and posting pictures of some of the birds that have visited us this month.
This somewhat motheaten looking galah has recently fledged and doesn't have all its adult plumage yet. It does have a healthy appetite though.
As does this eastern rosella. Apple, particularly green apple is a prime favourite with it.
The corellas ALWAYS have healthy appetites - to the extent that they will challenge cockatoos who are much bigger for space on the feeder. They mostly succeed too.
And another young bird. This pied currawong will be be predominantly a lovely glossy black when it has all of its adult feathers.
It must be amazing to have such beauty like that around you all the time. The birds are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLynn: It is such a treat. They are messy, they are destructive, and we love them.
DeleteYou could open a bird sanctuary and charge money if you lived anywhere else!
ReplyDeleteBirdie: We do know how lucky we are.
DeleteI miss the currawongs (for other readers - they do not live in my northern area.)But red-tailed black cockatoos are back, showering terminalia seeds on everything.
ReplyDeletedinahmow: Ooooh, red-tailed cockatoos. Very occasionally we get the yellow-tailed cockies, and it is always a red letter day. No red-tails here. Sadly (which is greedy I know).
Deleteso lovely to have such pretty birds at your feeders. Here, while there are some nice birds, the starlings and pigeons, sparrows and squirrels get into the feeders and throw seed all over the grass. We had to redo a whole section of lawn last year. No more feeders for us.
ReplyDeletemybabyjohn/Delores: We also get pigeons and sparrows - but they are quite low in the pecking order. And yes, seed IS thrown everywhere. Including in the garden beds where it sprouts and has to be laboriously weeded. And we still think it is worth it. Possibly not entirely sane.
DeleteWhat ... do you live in Paradise? Endless flowers, fruit and colorful, interesting birds. I think you should have an Open House and invite all of us over to share in you blessings ... what do you think? If you can't tell ... I love all of it :)
ReplyDeleteAndrea @ From The Sol
Andrea: I would love to see your raptors and your cranes and your geese and Izzi and, and, and... Magic on both sides of the world. Just the same, if ever you were in the neighbourhood I would love you to drop in.
DeleteAre these magnificent birds all in your backyard?
ReplyDeleteWendy aka Quillfeather: All of these photos were taken of the front yard. The bird feeders hang from the front veranda and we are able to sit and watch them from the living room. Which means that we spend a lot of time doing so when (perhaps) we should be doing other things.
DeleteWow. How positively fantastic! I've got a property that backs onto a native bush. Consequently there are a lot of birds, but sadly nothing like the range you have in Australia. Although saying that we do hear kookaburras (quite rare in New Zealand) quite often - and what a joy it is to hear them laughing :)
DeleteWendy aka Quillfeather: It is quite some time now since I have heard kookaburras. And I miss them. I see them on the telephone lines from time to time, but I do miss their call. A lot.
DeleteI really miss hearing Currawongs, their songs delight me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your birds Elephant's Child, they are lovely.
Mia McPherson: Thank you. The Currawong call is very special isn't it? It and the magpie gurgle spell home to me. Oh, and the raucous screech of the cockatoos as well.
DeleteYour bird obsession is one of my favorite things! I am so glad to see these colorful and interesting birds. I was also thinking that our first day of spring was your first day of fall, bringing you hopefully nice cool weather! :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan: For reasons I don't understand, we signal the start of Autumn on the first of March instead of the equinox. Just the same, the weather is finally starting to mellow. Which is wonderful.
DeleteYes - why do we do that, EC? I always puzzle about it when all of our Northern hemisphere friends are saying, "First day of fall" etc, and we are already well into our first month of the opposite season. Just another symptom of our contrariness, I guess - how cheeky of us to live on t'other side of the globe, and do things differently.
ReplyDeleteIt's getting cooler here, too - but still no sign of rain.
Beautiful birds - and although you may not be "entirely sane" (reply to Delores, above) it would most definitely be worth it!
Happy Sunday :)
,
Alexia: I think the equinox makes more sense but, as you say, cheeky contrariness. I do understand why people decide that having the birds makes too much mess but it is most decidedly worth it - for us.
DeleteThose are beautiful birds!
ReplyDeleteBetty: They are, and we love them.
Deletecool birds
ReplyDeleteAdam: Thank you.
DeleteHow fun that we all would like to see each other's birds. We saw a bald eagle tonight. They are nesting along the river in the valley, and off limits to viewing. I'll bet the one we saw was a dad, out for a breath of fresh air.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Noragon. I would LOVE to see a bald eagle. Last year we saw a Wedge-tailed eagle perched on road kill. I was very sad about the kangaroo, but thrilled to see the eagle (which was HUGE). Naturally I didn't have a camera with me.
DeleteDear EC, today I read one of Molly's postings (http://mollybawnchronicles.blogspot.com/)
ReplyDeleteand she picked out a quilt featuring birds that she thought you would like and I thought, "She knows EC well!" I can always depend on you to introduce new and wonderfully exotic (to someone here in the Northern Hemisphere) birds to me. Thank you for that.
I hope all is well and that you are taking care of yourself and being gracious to yourself. Peace.
Dee: It is lovely to see that you are feeling well enough to come visiting. And yes, that quilt was beautiful and it was such a thoughtful and kind gesture of Molly's. (Mind you, I would love almost any one of those quilts).
DeleteToday, despite having many things on my to-do list, I am having a day off. Duty will resume tomorrow.
I'm loving seeing all those beautiful birds. I forgot what birds look like. So much snow outside that I think they flew away and headed back south.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the remainder of your weekend.
Gary :)
klahanie: We love seeing the birds too. It is in summer (when it is simply too hot) that our visitors are here less often - and mostly at dawn and dusk. With all the snow you are having it must be very difficult for the birds and small animals to survive.
DeleteI hope Spring (and sun) emerges from a snow-drift for you very soon.
They're just beautiful. I encourage birds...and there are many here...I just love them...I love to see them free. There is no way in the world I could have a caged bird.
ReplyDeleteLovely post and pics, EC. :)
Lee: So much of the magic is that they come and go on their own terms. Will we see them today? And when we do it is such a gift. I am so with you on leaving them free.
DeleteHow fabulous to see these birds! I was quite the birdwatcher when I lived in Oz. I even had a pet Galah (Bonzie),he was a rescued bird. I would never keep a bird capable of being free, caged.
ReplyDeleteI am truly just as fascinated with North American birds, maybe not as colourful, but still worth watching and photographing.
I envy you going into the cooler autumn months. Spring here, soon to be summer, and contrary to popular belief, summer in Canada can be dreadful, with temps reaching the 40's(C).
Karen: I have been introduced to Northern American birds in the blogosphere - and love them. This blog is a daily go to delight http://featheredphotography.com/blog/2013/03/22/short-eared-owl-with-prey-coming-at-me/
DeleteI do not envy you your summer - or indeed anyone's summer.
Such beautiful colorful birds!
ReplyDeleteSusan: They are. I cannot count how much time we spend each day watching them. And no, it is not wasted time, no matter what else 'needs' doing.
DeleteOh, I do love your bird shots!
ReplyDeleteladyfi: As I love all of your photos. I am glad you enjoy our bird though - thank you.
DeleteI'm not sure I've ever seen a currawong, we have some black birds but they have a yellow beak and there are crows of course. magpies by the dozen. Right now there are white cockatoos flying over every morning at about 8.30-9am and they're always gone by the time I get to the door.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I do love the cockatoos - noisy as they are. I will have a look in a bird book later and see what your yellow beaked black birds could be.
DeleteI am still amazed that these live right where you do!
ReplyDeleteRiot Kitty: So are we. Amazed - and grateful.
DeleteYou are so fortunate in having such lovely visitors in your garden. We get magpies, crows, willy wagtails, honeyeaters and now lorikeets (who are not local) and of course doves. We tend to see galahs and corellas on road verges and for some reason the 28s (Port Lincoln parrots) seem to have disappeared and the poor black cockatoos are almost non-existent.
ReplyDeleteEC I did look at Cheap as Chips online and they were advertising those hanging spinning solar lights. They were $12 and they also had solar wind chimes for $15 (2 different types).
Mimsie: You still get quite a number of birds though. We almost never get the willy wagtails at the moment, and don't get the lorikeets or Port Lincoln Parrots. Thank you for the tip about Cheap as Chips - I will go and have a look in a minute.
DeleteI can't even imagine living somewhere with such beautiful birds flying into my backyard. It's like you live inside of a wildlife sanctuary!
ReplyDeleteLaura Eno: Lucky, lucky, lucky. And there are kangaroos a little way up the road as well.
DeleteYou have such great bird names down under. Currawongs! Kookaburras!
ReplyDeleteStrayer: And both of those birds have wonderful calls as well as their wonderful names.
DeleteAhh, life would be very dull without our colourful, feathered friends wouldn't it?
ReplyDeleteAnd, so nice to see "the kids" growing up and into their adult plumage :)
Vicki: We have become obsessed, and over the years have learnt to recognise (or think we do) individual birds. And it is lovely when families come to visit...
DeleteThat green apple looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteKath Lockett: The birds would agree with you. For some reason red apples are not nearly as popular.
DeleteI know I keep saying the same thing, but these birds are fantastic. I love seeing them here. Most of our birds here sing great songs, but they're mostly gray.
ReplyDeleteCarol Kilgore: And very few of our birds are in the slightest bit musical. The gang-gang (the avian emblem of my city) has been described as having a call like a rusty gate.
DeleteLovely photos, EC. The only one we don't have in our garden is the Eastern Rosella, though they are in the area. We had breakfast in the garden yesterday and had an audience of Magpies and Noisy Miners, all poised to search for crumbs as soon as we moved out of the way.
ReplyDeleteCarol: Our wild birds are amazingly opportunistic aren't they? Which I love. Magpies in the city centre here beg for pie and chips - about as far from their natural diet as you can get I think.
DeleteDelightful photos as always, and I think it is both a talent and an act of appreciation to be fully present and take the time to enjoy your bird visitors, no matter what. I am guilty of being on the run so much that I rarely stop and enjoy what is on offer.
ReplyDeleteI have just been to Vision and Verb to see your latest piece; it has really made me think - what causes that kind of joy for ME. Those things are what I should be watching for and taking time to appreciate. So, thank you for making me think.
jenny_o: Thank you - and thank you for taking the trouble to drop in on Vision and Verb. I think I will have to take your advice and link to it here.
DeleteI am also guilty of not living in the present nearly as much as I should. The birds and the garden are obsessions though which drag me into the moment.
So beautiful with their colors!
ReplyDeleteCindi Summerlin: They are. Very beautiful indeed.
DeleteE.C. So glad to see you posting those wonderful bird pictures again. What bird riches you have in Australia. Glad you are both better. I hope you can just "keep on keeping on." Love from the other side of the ocean.
ReplyDeleteAnne: How lovely to see you here again - thank you. Both about the birds and your good wishes for our health.
DeleteThe corellas always catch my vote! Something about their simplicity and sassiness.
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: The corellas, the cockatoos and the wattle birds are all very cheeky - and I have a huge soft spot for them all.
DeleteIt is always such a pleasure to visit you, and today our treat was all these colorful Australian birds. I hope I will get out to Oz one day to see them for myself. In the meantime I love looking at your wonderful photos.
ReplyDeleteDEniseinVA: I hope you can get to Oz to see them in the flesh too. Thank you for your kind words.
DeleteThose vibrant feather colors are stunning. Its lovely to see them in their natural habitat rather than in cages. All birds should be able to fly free.
ReplyDeletePam:): We get so much pleasure out of them as they come to visit, and cannot imagine them any other way than free.
DeleteStunning photos!
ReplyDeleteBirds here (Virginia) are scouting around to find places to build their nests. I have three houses out and am keeping my fingers crossed. Every year we've gotten chickadees, which are sweet little things, so there's a good chance we'll see some more. You may just inspire me to take some pictures!
Ns. CrankyPants: Please take photos. Feed my birding obsession. Most of our native birds nest in the eucalypts in the hills and just bring their families down after they have fledged so I will be very, very interested in your nesting houses (and a bit jealous).
DeleteI am always amazed at the colorful birds you get at your feeder, a delight all day long I imagine. My father in law before he passed away would sit for hours and delighted in seeing the birds in my garden.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: We spend lots and lots of time ourselves watching the birds. Some may think it is wasted time - but not us.
DeleteWhat a pretty rosella! Such striking colors, exactly what I wanted to see before heading off for more medical tests.
ReplyDeleteJohn Wiswell. Not MORE tests. I do hope you get answers this time - and am so glad that the rosella brightened your morning.
DeleteThe first birdie is sooo beautiful, almost surreal :).
ReplyDeleteunikorna: I will post some photos of the smooth and sleek adults later. The pink and grey make them stunning looking birds.
DeletePretty birds above, and pretty cats below. Pretty flowers too, my favorite actually because they promise an end to winter.
ReplyDeleteJust so you'll know in case you don't, when I click on your blog in the comment section on my blog, it doesn't take me TO your blog, it takes me to Google Plus and wants me to sign up. I can still get here, obviously, but I can no longer get here through your link in my comment section.
Snowbrush: Hiss and spit. I signed up to Google Plus, and don't seem to be able to revert to blogging without it. Thank you for letting me know. Sigh.
DeleteOur Autumn is finally showing signs that it might get here - hopefully Spring is on its way for you.
Oops, I didn't hit subscribe.
ReplyDelete"They are messy, they are destructive, and we love them." - sounds like most of my friends. *laughs. Beautiful birds, even the poor moth-eaten one at the beggining has some charm.
ReplyDeleteAll Consuming: I should have also added 'they are noisy'. And all of the above sounds like some of my friends too - though most of them are not as decorative as the birds. And expect to come inside as well.
DeleteSue, I receently thought of you while on a trip to San Diego. The hotel we stayed at kept 6 cockatoo. At first the experience was delightful. Lovely birds, pretty birds. But then, they turned noisy. Several could talk. The others were busy squawking at the ducks which wandered into their territory.
ReplyDeleteI was sooooo glad those birds weren't under by window.
And you lucky girl, you have them right outside your window. I thought of you each time one squawked "Whatcha doin?" as I walked by.
lutheranladiescircle: They are remarkably unmusical - like most of our birds, and somehow I love them anyway. Even when they start to call before sparrow fart. As a child my mother had one and it became very good at imitating the bark of the terrier up the road. It sent that dog into frenzies. And then laughed - something else it did well.
DeleteI just love the gorgeous birds you share with us!
ReplyDeleteBECKY: Thank you - we love them too. Lots.
DeleteThat's a lot of extra beaks to feed ~:>)
ReplyDeleteHope you both are well n Happy ~:)
Pam:): It is true. And probably why we now buy seed in twenty kilo bags. Thank you.
DeleteHow beautiful. It's amazing that here in America, we'll pay an arm and a leg to have one of these beauties as pets, and you all have them as a backyard sightseeing heaven. The birds here aren't exotic, however I am a huge fan of birds, mostly owls and hawks. I have a humming bird feeder that's near the window of my office. Such a calming sight. Now that spring is arriving, I have seen so many of my favorite birds, including Mourning Doves. The sound of Mourning Doves are just so peaceful to me. I wish I could capture images like you --- if I do, I'm sending it to you! Not as exotic, but it's all I got around here!! :)
ReplyDeleteDeb: I am also very, very fond of owls and hawks. The hawks we see from a distance - and the owls very rarely. Hummingbirds would be so exotic for me to see - and my cries of excitement might drive them away. Another American blogger introduced me to Mourning Doves and I agree they are stunning birds. And any time you capture a bird or three on camera I would love you to send them to me.
DeleteWONDERFUL PHOTOS!!! Thank you so much for sharing... those Rosellas are stunning...
ReplyDeleteNicky HW: They are. We love them - lots.
Deletewhat a wonderland of feathery beauty!
ReplyDeleteyou live in a dreamlike place, it seems:)
thanks for sharing the succulence,
Jennifer
Jennifer Richardson: It is perhaps too noisy for it to be 'dreamlike' but the birds are a source of never-ending joy.
DeleteParadise birds, even if they are not "birds of paradise’’
ReplyDeleteSuch colours!
Friko: They are incredibly vivid aren't they? And yet, if they put their heads down while they are feeding on the grass their camoflague is very good indeed. Surprising, but true.
DeleteAwesome photos, I agree, but I have to confess Jazz & Jewel stole the show for me today. First spotted them on the r-h side, and then the bottom of the screen & I was off - GORGEOUS! :)
ReplyDeletewordsfallfrommyeyes: Thank you. They are both rescue cats, seriously indulged and much loved. And I think they are pretty gorgeous too.
Delete