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. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
Like River I usually run with a theme. I am continuing to experiment with the camera this week. It is smarter than I am. From time to time I get photos which please me, followed by epic failures - which are down to screw loose in the operator.
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. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
Like River I usually run with a theme. I am continuing to experiment with the camera this week. It is smarter than I am. From time to time I get photos which please me, followed by epic failures - which are down to screw loose in the operator.
The sky:
Birds. Some of the grubby corellas are still seriously dirty. Others of them shine like a good deed in a naughty world (one of my father's phrases).
This charmer is a Crested Wood Pigeon. They make a truly lovely whirring sound with their wings when they take off.
And to the garden, where I have been having a fine time experimenting with the zoom function and playing around with blurring backgrounds...
Two shots of the same rose - one with the background blurred.
I adore these double poppies and save their seeds each year.
Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteTeresa Hennes: Thank you. How are you? And your mama?
DeleteThe crested pigeon is a new one for me. I see so much new fauna and flora on your pages. Thank-you.
ReplyDeleteSue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: As I do on yours. Osage oranges were definitely new to me.
DeleteLove the flora, especially. some of the fauna (ahem!), need to wash behind their ears before future appearance before such a fine new camera.
ReplyDeleteDamn one finger typing. Forgive the missing capital.
DeleteJoanne Noragon: I have never seen corellas quite this grubby. And they have stayed that way for a couple of weeks. I am wondering if it is going to take a moult for them to be white again. Don't worry about the missing capital - to visit and comment using one finger is a truly lovely gesture.
DeleteWe see the crested pigeons sometimes, but nothing like the numbers when we were at Tamborine.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have a lot of "interesting" outings with the new toy.I have a fairly extensive list of curses if you need it...
dinahmow: I suspect my curse vocabulary will be up to it. We used to get more of the crested pigeons than we do now. I recently read that their numbers are in serious decline. Along with too many other birds. Including the kookaburra. And magpies.
Deletewe have the crested pigeons here, are they the ones I hear going coo-coo...coo-coo for hours on end between pre-dawn and daylight? And throughout the day too, but less often.
DeleteRiver: I suspect it is the 'common or garden' pigeons you hear. They are very much noisier than the crested variety.
DeleteNot the grey ones that are a pest in cities? We don't have any of those here, we have smaller brown birds like the crested ones but without the crest of course, we have some crested ones too,not many.
DeleteNever mind. The pictures in my bird book are just as confusing.
DeleteSome very nice pictures, I think. I especially like the bird crest and the branch that complements the lines. And you seem to be making very good use of that camera! Conquering it a little at a time. :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan: Thank you. There is a lot more conquering of the camera to do. A lot more.
DeleteYou have a green thumb. Such beautiful flowers. It will be a hard freeze here tonight and it all will turn brown:( I can't imagine such beautiful birds at your feeder. Just unbelievable. Tiny little yellow oriels are eating sunflower hearts at mine. They must know how cold it will be tonight.
ReplyDeletedonna baker: For some things my green thumb is decidedly black. I love the thought of tiny yellow oriels visiting - and hope that they and you survive the freeze.
DeleteBeautiful, as always!!
ReplyDeletefishducky: Thank you. Also as always.
DeleteBeautiful sky; beautiful birds; beautiful flowers...now we know where all the flowers have gone!
ReplyDeleteI stood in awe at my kitchen window yesterday afternoon...just out from my window was one of the biggest crows I've ever seen. His jet black feathers were glistening. He was the most magnificent-looking creature. I wish I'd taken a photo of him but I was too lost in the moment to even think about my camera.
I hope your coming week treats you well, EC. That man of yours must be getting homesick soon! Take care...cuddles to your two rascals of the furry kind :)
Lee: I suspect I would have stopped to watch in awe and wonder too. I am a big fan of the corvids - who are difficult to capture on a camera anyway.
DeleteHimself is home. And probably itching to hit the road again.
And a lovely week to you and your furry overlords.
There are two crows here who know when I have the camera out and hide in the tree tops, when they see me without the camera, they come down and tease me on the ground.
DeleteThe Parrots are fantastic EC, and the roses, they are so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: I am fond of the birds and the garden too. Just in case you hadn't guessed. And thank you.
DeleteI have seen that.
DeleteAmazing post dear! You have a wonderful blog:)
ReplyDeleteWhat about following each other on Instagram, bloglovin, Twitter?.. :)
www.bloglovin.com/blog/3880191
Irene Thayer: Welcome and thank you. I don't play FB, Instagram, bloglovin, or Twitter (I know, I am a luddite). I was glad to track you down through Google though.
DeleteEnjoyed this. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMartin Kloess: I am glad.
DeleteI never ever get tired of your pictures! They are wonderful. thank you!
ReplyDeleteMohave Rat: Thank you. I hope Mrs Rat had a wonderful birthday.
Deleteah...you had some of your own purple fog.
ReplyDeleteAuthor R. Mac Wheeler: Only briefly.
DeleteYou have such lovely colour in your part of the world.
ReplyDeleteDelores: I am loving it while it is here. We have been promised a hot dry summer so everything will be crispified and brown too soon.
DeleteThis is what its like for me to look at your pictures-"Ohhhhh, that's my favorite." Then I see the next one and "Nope, that's my favorite." That is pretty much it.
ReplyDeleteSonya Ann: You are a shameless flatterer. Thank you.
DeleteI love those double poppies, heck, I'm in love with your whole garden!
ReplyDeleteYour skies are beautiful too.
The difference between those two Corellas is amazing! The muddy one looks suntanned.
And your site loaded here in seconds! Usually I go off and make toast or coffee while waiting for the pictures to arrive (*~*)
River: Yay for fast access. I am so glad for you. And our ISP boosted our allowance it seems. The new month ticked over this morning with double our usual allowance. Videos may be possible again.
DeleteI thought I was seeing a new species of corella - a brown one! That cactus is stunning. I have 4 which I grew from pieces I got from some of the small-leaved ones which grew in my college library, their flowers all different lovely colours. They have taken well and are growing furiously, but there is no sign of flower buds on any of them. Any tips?
ReplyDeleteYou certainly have a green thumb when it comes to plants, EC - (and a rainbow one when it comes to photos?)
Alexia: I suspect you are being too nice to them. They seem to do best if fairly cruddy soil. And like full sun. They don't seem to mind being dry either. We only have the red one (though we have a version with pink stamens as well as the white). I am lusting after a yellow one.
DeleteThe corella is just dirty? It looks so different. It must have taken a mud bath. Its only the last couple of decades that I have been seeing the crested pigeons around Melbourne.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: As far as we can tell it is just dirty. Very dirty. It, and its companion, appear perfectly happy and healthy and dominate the feeders most afternoons.
DeleteWe had lots of the crested pigeons a few years ago. None last year that I saw near home, and a solitary pair this year.
The first picture is beautiful. Love the purple!
ReplyDeleteNow why are some of those birds filthy and others are clean? Is that some mating ritual or defense mechanism?
Birdie: I *think* the filthy corellas were feeding by the road and got splashed as a car went past. Or were grubbing for seed in a muddy field. As far as I know it doesn't have any evolutionary advantage.
DeleteGreat to hear your skinny half has returned home EC. And you are getting so much enjoyment from your new camera.
ReplyDeletecarol: I am getting enjoyment and frustration in probably equal measure from the camera at the moment. It can do rather a lot of things, which are new to me.
DeleteHis high and skinniness loved his trip. Which is wonderful.
Love the rose with the blurred background! It snowed heavily here this morning but did not stick.Yuck. Your flowers and birds are nicer to see!
ReplyDeleteBookie: We so rarely get snow here that I am a bit envious. I am really, really looking forward to snowy photos from your side of the world. The grass is always greener...
DeleteI saw a crested wood pigeon in England last summer, at the Eden Project. I always envy you seeing all these amazing birds wild and free. I liked your Dad's saying by the way and I loved all these photographs.
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: You see some things I envy too. The blogosphere makes the world smaller doesn't it? Father had a number of sayings. That one was innocuous.
DeleteThe flowers are gorgeous as always. :) I've never caught corellas dust bathing - I do wonder if it is as hilarious as when my chooks do it. :) Because that is funny to watch..
ReplyDeleteSnoskred: I have never seen the corellas (or the cockies) dust-bathing either. The pigeons and the sparrows love it. And the sparrows make little dust nests in my garden...
DeleteI especially love your roses!
ReplyDeleteThat one dirty corella facing you seems to be mighty pissed that you took his picture. I believe he's thinking of an appropriate revenge.
River Fairchild: I don't like having my photo taken either. And would be particularly unimpressed if I was as grubby as the corella. So I don't blame him. (Do you think that grovel makes me safe?)
DeleteNo, but it was a valiant effort on your part. ;)
DeleteI love birds and flowers and yours are especially nice...one day, I'll tell you the story of meeting my first woodpecker...and I really need to find the directions to the small camera I have...Have a good week.
ReplyDeletee: Thank you - and I would love to hear the story of you and the woodpecker. Which sounds sooooo exotic to me.
DeleteYour roses and cacti flowers are lovely. Mastering the camera, I see.
ReplyDeleteMy word those parrots are dirty.
Margaret-whiteangel: Not mastering yet. Practising. Hard. And have you ever seen such filthy birds?
DeleteNo I haven't seen such dirty parrots. Looks like they have been bathing in mud :)
DeleteI truly enjoy your pictures of birds I've never seen and your flowers make me smile with their beauty.
ReplyDeleteGlenda C. Beall: Thank you. Both the birds and the flowers make me smile as well.
DeleteAnd isn't the sky just so beautiful. Always changing!! Love your photos.
ReplyDeleteCountryMum: The sky is an endless delight. I am very fond of our soft dawns too. I love that we both featured the Crested Wood Pigeons today.
DeleteI like the first sky photo, very dramatic and beautiful, and the first bird photo, looks so joyous and mischievous, at least compared to the dirty birds. Are you getting used to the new camera? Do you like it?
ReplyDeleteStrayer: All the corellas are mischievous clean or dirty. I hope they are also joyful. Anthromorphism it may be, but they do seem like happy birds.
DeleteThe new camera is a challenge but does (when I can get it right) take good photos. It makes my head hurt, but I do like it.
Your photos are wonderful, EC, and there'll be no stopping you now. I've never seen such dirty corella either though now and then we get a grubby sulphur crested cockie. I wonder what happens to them...
ReplyDeleteCarol: I wonder whether the dirty birds had been feeding beside the road and showered in muddy water. But they are sooooo dirty I am not sure it accounts for it.
DeleteI am I think enjoying the camera, but it isn't easy. At all. Yet.
By a roadside, any muddy water may have also been greasy.
DeleteRiver: I thought of that, but their feathers don't look greasy. Just very dirty.
DeleteLovely selecttion of bird shots and beautiful flower images from your garden. stunning sky shots.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Adamson: Thank you.
DeleteAnother lovely set of photos. Hope your weekend is going well. :)
ReplyDeleteLL Cool Joe: The weekend was pleasant, but is over. Sigh. A busy week ahead. I hope what is left of your weekend is wonderful.
Delete"Screw loose in the operator" sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteExcellent photo experimentation EC. At the risk of sounding patronising, the more you take the better you will become - learning from your mistakes.
Yorkshire Pudding: Fortunately I am an obsessive, so I will be continuing to take photos. And hopefully not making the same mistakes too often.
DeleteAs someone with a penchant for dramatic skies, I found your first photo superb. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
A Cuban in London: I am an avid sky watcher, and often (and often) do mad woman with camera dances to salute it.
DeleteHi EC - these are lovely ... your birds and your budding spring flowers in full bloom ... so pleased you're enjoying the camera ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: Summer is looming. Soon now. Sigh. In the interim I am enjoying the garden - and the camera. I hope your week treats you kindly.
DeleteThat brown parrot is most unusual. I guess they really do come in all colors.
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: The brown colour could be described (accurately) as dirt coloured. And reminds me of a brown tabby cat we had years ago whose name was Mud. So called because while we were choosing a name for her she defiled my clean washing. Twice. And her name was mud.
Deletewhirring wings.....I can hear it! thank you for that:)
ReplyDeletedouble poppies. I never knew.
you and your world are delightful.
thank you for sharing:)
-Jennifer
Jennifer Richardson: Isn't the double poppy a joy. Broadcasting the seeds each year I hope for bumper crops. And I do love the birds.
DeleteHow did the corellas get so dirty.
ReplyDeleteLovely flowers.
Merle............
Merlesworld: I know not. I hope they can get clean - without a major moult.
DeleteLovely rose photos! But that is one dirty filthy bird. Or are there several of them? How did they get so dirty? How do they ever get themselves clean? put themselves through the car wash? you can see I am intrigued by these birds.
ReplyDeleteJenny Woolf: I really don't know quite how the birds got so totally filthy. Or how they will get clean. I first noticed it after a really good rainfall, and assumed that they would be clean again quickly. There are several that are a bit grotty and two or three which are absolutely filthy. They appear healthy and happy and it hasn't affected their appetite. Boy birds? Adolescent boy birds?
DeleteI feel all the weariness in me smooth away, looking at these.
ReplyDeleteIs number 12 a hibiscus? I can't see the leaves too well. We have hibiscus that look like that.
neena maiya (aka guyana gyal): If it is the red ones after the roses it is a cactus/succulent. And I love it.
DeleteHow do the birds get so dirty? They look awfully pretty after they get cleaned up:)
ReplyDeleteSandra Cox: Mud bath? Showered by a puddle of dirty water? I really don't know. And hope that they do clean up. Before their next moult.
DeleteFantastic photos with your new camera. There's some lovely, crisp details and good depth.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun playing around with settings - so much potential.
Would love to see the corellas rolling and splashing in their muddy puddle or watering hole. Is there a swamp nearby?
Vicki: As the crow/corella flies there is a lake nearby (five or six kilometres) and dams closer. I really don't know where the grubby ones are acquiring their patina. It is sticking though.
DeleteWhen your spring becomes our winter, you and your camera capture the most awesome works of God.
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: We live in a very, very beautiful world. Which we need to look after.
DeleteI am partial to the third sunset, the clean birds, and every last one of the flowers! I cannot take good photos to save my life.
ReplyDeleterhymeswithplague: While I was told that a poor workman blames his tools, I have to give credit to my camera. It takes good photos, and as I learn more I hope/expect it will take better ones. I am fond of the grubby birds - just as much as their cleaner relatives.
DeleteThe sky is such different colours in the first three photos of the Sister Trees (as I think of them). And all three are lovely.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is one snappy hairstyle on the Crested Wood Pigeon! What a good shot you got of him. Or her.
Hope your week goes well, EC.
jenny_o: I also think of them as Sister Trees now. And love the accent they add to the sky.
DeleteThe Crested Wood Pigeons are subtler than many of our birds - but very, very pretty.
Sue,
ReplyDeleteyour photos take my breath away.
OMGOSHHH, I love that bird w/ the yellow crown!! xxx
My Inner Chick: The cockatoo raises that crest each time he/she lands, if it is interested, or alarmed. And noisy vandals that they are we welcome them.
DeleteHugs.
Sky, birds and flowers - a fabulous combination!
ReplyDeleteladyfi: It is hard to ask for more isn't it?
DeleteI envy your courage and tenacity with the camera. Your pictures are coming out beautifully. I'm so glad you're having fun with it and capturing such a diversity of birds and flowers. All so wonderfully gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteMyrna R.: Thank you. I am as stubborn as stains and the camera is NOT going to get the better of me. Or I hope it isn't. I am very grateful for the beauty I see, and want to share it.
DeleteLovely, the very things I would photograph. I always say one day I'm going to take a class on photography. Never have, but one day!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYolanda Renee: Me too. I have been thinking about a photography course for quite a while. Some day...
DeleteI'd never seen a crested pigeon before. You're right. He is a charmer.
ReplyDeleteSandra Cox: And, unlike a lot of our native birds, their voices aren't grating. We have some beautiful birds - with awful voices.
DeleteDear EC, that photograph of a crested wood pigeon is such a gift to all your readers. I've always thought your photographs were beautiful because you see beauty in nature and have a good sense of design.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a camera for maybe twenty years and then my niece bought a new one and gave her old one to me. But I'm too lazy--and technologically backward--to figure out how to use it! Peace.
Dee: The sense of design is nature's not mine. And she is an expert.
DeleteI too am technologically challenged. But stubborn.
Those are some beautiful photos, wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteLon Anderson: Thank you. We don't do Thanksgiving here, but I hope yours is lovely.
Delete"...Others of them shine like a good deed in a naughty world..." That is a *brilliant* quote. Sounds like your Dad had a way with words - just like his daughter :)
ReplyDeleteI never knew birds could get that messy!!
Mark Koopmans: I never thought about birds getting grubby either. Father did indeed have a way with words. Some of his phrases are a part of me now. And some I do my best to forget.
DeleteI love your photos, always. One of my most favorite pets were two zebra finches: Echo and Woody. Such sweet birds. IF parrots didn't live so long I would let one own me; they are so awesome. The thoughts of it outliving me makes me sad so I won't be getting one.
ReplyDeleteAgain you photos are so pretty.
Teresa
T Powell Coltrin: As a child I had a much loved bird in a cage. I feel guilty about it now, and love seeing these ones fly free. And hope they live long and happy lives.
DeleteThank you for enjoying my photos.
Oh, by the way, the fifth sweetie down has a guilty look in his eye.
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: I am not convinced they feel guilt. Like cats, they do what they feel like...
Delete"Shining like a good deed in a naughty world" <-I like this as much as your lively photos, EC. It's always a pleasure dropping by. I hope you're in good spirits.
ReplyDeleteRawknrobyn: I am fine. I hope you are too.
DeleteIt's lovely to see a southern hemisphere sky (and sun) and beautiful blooms. I have a fondness for roses and poppies! Lovely.
ReplyDeleteCraig: Shortly we will be getting way too much sun. You would be more than welcome to it.
DeleteI love popping across to see your Sunday pictures.
ReplyDeleteClaire: Thank you so much.
DeleteI look across the open sky where I live and see the tree tops. The birds sing and the clouds waft breezily by overhead. Now thats freedom.
ReplyDeleteSpacerguy: Tree tops, bird song and sky sounds pretty close to heaven to me.
DeleteThose double poppies are pretty. So you plant from seeds?
ReplyDeleteSandra Cox: They regrow from seed spread naturally and broadcast by me every year. I collect some at least of the seed pods because they are too precious to risk losing.
DeleteHow majestic are His creations. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteLux G.: There is a LOT of beauty in this world.
DeleteHow do you save seeds that small? I always admire your photos and am jealous!
ReplyDeleteRiot Kitty: I cut the seed heads off after the flower has finished and store the whole thing in a paper bag until I am ready to broadcast it the following year. Some of the seeds will have already fallen - and that is fine too.
DeleteSo much beauty abounds in your life and that new camera is doing a great job,
ReplyDeleteShining like a good deed in a naughty world - love that! And love all your photos - that orangey rose is breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteLynn: That rose is a delight - with a gorgeous scent too.
DeleteThese pictures are amazing! I love the sky photos- because I can look at those kinds of shots over and over again. I loved seeing the different between the blurred background and clear background. Interesting effect! :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
DMS ~ Jess: Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to drop in. I hope your book does really, really well.
DeleteAnd I am a sky addict. Anytime of the day, any season.