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 usually run with a theme. I have been a tad distracted this week so there are far fewer photos than usual.
Part of a delicate sunset.
A cockatoo watching me watching him.
And a short video of corellas toughing up pigeons. There is a spot towards the middle where I wince. I apologise for the sound - himself was watching something (I know not what) on television at the time.
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 usually run with a theme. I have been a tad distracted this week so there are far fewer photos than usual.
Part of a delicate sunset.
A cockatoo watching me watching him.
And a short video of corellas toughing up pigeons. There is a spot towards the middle where I wince. I apologise for the sound - himself was watching something (I know not what) on television at the time.
Ilove the pink wispy cloud. Sweet bird, I'd love to look out my window and see one. I'm on my iPad and for some reason the video won't play.
ReplyDeleteKaren: Perhaps you iPad has a 'violence block'.
DeleteOn the desktop...yikes! Our pigeons (mourning doves) are the bullies here.
DeleteKaren: Thank you for coming back. It is an incredible display of aggression isn't it?
DeleteI saw where you winced. Eek.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome that you've got that many birds to video right there so close to you!
mail4rosey: We often get five or six species of birds visiting each day. And I spend a LOT of time watching them. Though I rarely think of the video.
DeleteLovely Cockatoos EC, there were a few them on the video, lol.
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: It was corellas on the video. Smaller, and much more agressive than the cockatoos.
DeleteWoops.
DeleteBob Bushell: Blame the video quality.
DeleteHa ha, cheers EC.
DeleteI envy the diversity of bird life you have. All those beautiful parrot family members! I will have to make do with my hummingbirds. The finches still haven't discovered the thistle feeder I set up for them and the chipmunk destroyed the feeder for the other birds. If I had a set-up similar to yours, it would be full of squirrels.
ReplyDeleteSue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: You have to settle for hummingbirds? I am so sorry for you. Not.
DeleteI would love to see a hummingbird. Though I do love our birds too.
We have only one variety here east of The Rockies: the ruby throated. Right now 2 females are battling over my feeder making sure the other does not feed. Hummingbirds are much more diverse where my brother lives in Northern California: at least 5 kinds I've seen.
DeleteSue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: I do understand. We have lots of birds that I love and welcome - and other parts of Oz get birds I can only dream about. As do other parts of the world. And Hummingbirds have a particular charm.
DeleteAt least the cockatoo wasn't taking a photo of you taking a photo of him.
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: If he had a camera he would have I am sure.
DeleteHoly Crow...did you see that little guy grab the pigeons tail feathers and turf him off the tray?
ReplyDeleteDelores: It was truly vicious wasn't it? The corellas are like that.
DeleteWhat a mass of feathers!
ReplyDeleteLove the pic of the cockatoo watching you watching him. Such an inquisitive little face :)
Wendy: He/She was at least as interested in me as I was in him.
DeleteOh my - violent corellas indeed! The cocky is lovely :)
ReplyDeleteAlexia: The cockies menace with a look - and have no need to resort to 'beaking' the other birds off the feeder.
DeleteBirds of a feather...or feathers...
ReplyDeleteI hope you and The Skinny One have a good week, EC. :)
Lee: I was a little surprised that the corellas didn't wind up with a beak full of feathers.
DeleteAnd a good week to you and the furry dictators too.
aren't they sweet, mother nature brings such beauty and solace to us every day.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: Sweet? Not in this video - but yes, they do bring solace (and laughter) to every day.
Deleteok maybe they are Alfred Hitchcock sweet. ha
DeleteLinda Starr: Definitely Alfred Hitchock sweet. But beautiful just the same.
DeleteNow that's quite the load of birds vying for a perch! I loved watching, mostly, it was very entertaining. The background sound didn't detract, to me at least. Thanks, EC. Love to see your smiling "face" here in Blogland. :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan: I hope your expedition to the air was a success. And yes, there is a lot of jostling for position.
DeletePersistent pigeons win though, it seems
ReplyDeleteAndrew Maclaren-Scott: Sometimes. Though you will notice they were relegated to the smaller feeder.
DeleteLove the images, EC. And the video had me giggling at the dominant, competitive Corellas. Survival of the fittest. The pigeons are nothing if not persistent, as are the Corellas... and their beaks.
ReplyDeleteWishing you and SP a happier week - no horrid distractions, just healing and recuperation.
Vicki: It isn't all of the corellas who are so agressive. But when they are, they stop at very little. The pigeons have the weight of numbers on their side - and persistence. I don't think I would keep coming back.
DeleteMy goodness - Corella violence! The Pigeons are put up a good fight though. :) Love the Cockatoo.
ReplyDeleteLynn: I love them all. But am amused (and sometimes horrified) at just how violent the pigeons can get.
DeleteDamn, one comment lost in the aether already.
ReplyDeleteI think the background noise adds to the tension of the film, they are as you say pretty violent. I enjoyed seeing through your eyes for a few moments then. Here's something I always meant to ask and forgot - do you have to clean up an absolute ton of bird crap off the veranda?
All Consuming: Mountains of crap. And some of them eat concrete. Much scrubbing involved. A price I am happy to pay. And the little rotters also eat my mulberries so some of the crap is purple. And well nigh indelible - on the veranda which is ok(ish) and on my washing...
DeleteI have often stood at the edge of the bayou bordering our blood center and very still, I have watched an egret fishing for his lunch. On my balcony, I have watched an owl watching me! Your photos, as always, are beautiful. :-)
ReplyDeleteRoland D. Yeomans: Egrets and owls. Oh my. As I said in response to an earlier comment, I love our birds, and envy others for the magic they see. Feathered enchantment the world over.
DeleteMy goodness those corellas are tough! You could hire them out as guard birds!
ReplyDeleteLove the cockatoo watching you.
Everything okay with his highness? (SP)
River: Classic bully boys. They take on things much bigger than they are too.
DeleteHis high and skinniness is ok(ish). Which is wonderful.
The corellas are tough -- and persistent! I wonder why they want to pull the pigeons off; wouldn't it be so much more effective to just do as the pigeons do and squeeze into the crowd?
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a quiet, no-news-is-good-news kind of week. Or month. We all need those, but especially after a marathon of worry like you and SP have just had.
jenny_o: Intensely territorial? The had the bigger feeder pretty much to themselves when they were throwing pigeons off the smaller feeder.
DeleteAnd yes, a quiet week/month/life sounds good. Very good.
We know what's been keeping you busy this week and you still turned out some very good photos. Many thanks. I really aprpeciate this psot knowing evething that is going on in your life. Best weishes to you all.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
A Cuban in London: Thank you. I use beauty as a life saver - and it hasn't ever let me down.
DeleteThose two guarding their tray were amazing toughies. That one actually caught an invader momentarily and held on. What was it going to do with that big bird if it could have hauled it in?
ReplyDeleteGrannie Annie: They don't care. The aim seems to be to drag the pigeons off the feeder. Which they do. Violently. Classic bully boys.
DeleteLove the cockatoo watching you watching him. :) As for your video, I've decided Hitchcock would have been honored to hire your birds for his movies! Hope you're getting some down time and rest after the frenzy of activity you've seen lately.
ReplyDeleteRiver Fairchild: Gardening frenzy again today when it is light. But a smaller frenzy than other days. So, some rest is happening.
DeleteI hadn't considered the Hitchcockian nature of the corellas - but will probably never see them any other way.
fantasy: all birds and animals get along, loving and enjoying and respecting each other's company in a simple, sweet co-existing kind of relationship:) silly birds....why can't they just get along:)
ReplyDeleteI just have to say how GLAD I am that it wasn't terrible news, the diagnosis. Cheering over here:)
peace to the birds and the rest of us:)
-Jennifer
Jennifer Richardson: 'Little birds in their nest agree'? Doesn't cut it here does it. Though no blood is shed.
DeleteAnd yes, it was wonderful to find that his lump is a cyst.
Thank you for your cheers.
Oooh it would be so tempting to sit there with a squirt gun and give the corellas something they deserve!
ReplyDeleteKath Lockett: Now there's a thought. There is a pump action water pistol (for use on marauding cats) on the veranda already...
DeleteOh mercy, such pushy birds on the poor quiet birds. Such is life though, isn';t it?????
ReplyDeleteBookie: Such pushy, bitey birds. And one in particular was so busy being a bully that I don't think it got any food. A lesson in that - which I doubt it learned.
DeleteA lovely sky - and a pretty bird. You deserve many more such beautiful distractions.
ReplyDeleteladyfi: Thank you - there are a lot of distractions around. Fortunately.
DeleteHad Corellas around over the weekend - noisy buggers.
ReplyDeleteJ Cosmo Newbery: The pigeons were noisier than the corellas. Which is hardly surprising.
DeleteDo we have corellas here? I don't even know. But then, you know I'm not an avid birder, don't you? :)
ReplyDeleteRiot Kitty: The only corellas you have over there will be caged (hiss and spit). And I did think of you when I put the video up - the violent behaviour gives justification to some of your feelings about birds.
DeleteWhat a pretty cockatoo!
ReplyDeleteCherie Reich: It was. Very pretty. And very welcome.
DeleteThe animal kingdom is fraught with peril. Humans aren't the only ones who have to deal with bullies. But we're supposed to know better. Loved watching it, though.
ReplyDeleteCarol Kilgore: The birds probably have better reason for their bullying ways though. Or maybe not. Because they can doesn't come under my heading of 'good' reason.
DeleteGreat vignette of urban bird life! (Yike!) Nothing is ever dull around your house, is it. The nonsensical American-voiced soundtrack adds an extra surreal element. A true art film. (And the wispy pink sky and close-up of the cockie are wonderful, too.) (And I like any excuse to type "cockie" in a public forum.)
ReplyDeletePaper Chipmunk (aka Ellen): Pecking order is not a meaningless cliche is it? And cockie wants a cracker - though an apple would be closer to the mark here. A green apple. Red ones are decidedly inferior.
DeleteAaaaaw, I love parrots. All kind of them. That is such a beautiful cockatoo, and nice sky too ;)
ReplyDeleteAl Diaz: I have a HUGE weakness for parrots too. All of them. Noisy, destructive, beautiful, enchanting...
DeleteDear EC, thanks for the video. It reminded me of the frenzy that's been part of this household since February. I wrote about it in my posting last Thursday and since then I'm ashamed to say that Saturday evening I terrorized Matthew--the cat who's been doing the bullying. I hope I didn't frighten him into ill health. I have a little better understanding now of how adults can just lose it and possibly step over into abuse. I think I did that. I didn't walk away when I could have and should have. I'm ashamed of myself and regretful. And I"m trying to show Matthew how much I love and appreciate him. But I've really dashed his high spirits. Peace.
ReplyDeleteDee: How awful for you. I think, hope, believe that you haven't dashed his high spirits - more than very temporarily. And sadly, it is too easy to step over that line. For me, certainly. Walking away needs to be one of my first steps.
DeleteThe pigeons really are incorrigible. The corellas need a better plan.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: The corellas are the ONLY birds which can get the feeders to themselves if the pigeons are around. Two corellas can deal with dozens of pigeons. Briefly.
DeleteI wish we got cockatoo's in our garden. What beautiful birds! The pigeons I could do without.
ReplyDeleteLL Cool Joe: Cockatoos are beautiful. And noisy. And destructive. And welcome.
DeleteEC, thanks (really) for thinking about me. All is mostly well; just some horrible, draining, exhausting bits of life and work that have sapped me of the energy to read and write. I'll be back, in all my immature and silly glory. I miss you all. Ms. C-P
ReplyDeleteMs C.P: Good. You have been missed.
Delete