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. This week is a bit of a hodge podge.
The birds I promised.
Young crimson rosellas, yet to develop their adult plumage. They look a bit ratty - but are surprisingly difficult to see in foliage...
Then some snaps of the garden, also as promised. We have had a LOT of wind, and several of our tree dahlias (dahlia imperialis) have come crashing down. All of them were over twelve foot tall, and they have brittle stems so their fall is not surprising. Disappointing, but not at all surprising. And they DID flower before the first frost which is another bonus. Those that remain have been a splash of colour - and a haven for the bees.
And then to the skies. Again.
We did get some blessed rain last week. Not much, but it was very welcome. And followed by a rainbow.
Dawn and dusk have been their usual treats too.
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. This week is a bit of a hodge podge.
The birds I promised.
Young crimson rosellas, yet to develop their adult plumage. They look a bit ratty - but are surprisingly difficult to see in foliage...
Then some snaps of the garden, also as promised. We have had a LOT of wind, and several of our tree dahlias (dahlia imperialis) have come crashing down. All of them were over twelve foot tall, and they have brittle stems so their fall is not surprising. Disappointing, but not at all surprising. And they DID flower before the first frost which is another bonus. Those that remain have been a splash of colour - and a haven for the bees.
And then to the skies. Again.
We did get some blessed rain last week. Not much, but it was very welcome. And followed by a rainbow.
Dawn and dusk have been their usual treats too.
ahhhh
ReplyDeleteI love bees, clouds, and rainbows. :O)
I love clouds & rainbows, too--but I'm allergic to bees!!
DeleteR. Mac Wheeler: I love them too - as you know.
DeleteFishducky: I am careful around bees. The last sting I got I blew up in spectacular fashion, but I love to watch them anyway.
I too am allergic to bee stings but fortunately not dangerously so but keep well away from them. Just admire them from afar.
DeleteMy mum is allergic to bee stings too. I hope they stay away from her!!
DeleteBees, according to old Jamaicans, mean good-luck.
I think I know now what they mean. No bees is a bad thing.
Great captures on the rainbow, and the bees, and the skies, and the birds, EC. Those last few shots are so similar to a sunset I caught last week; I will share them next week on my blog if you'd like to see. It continues to amaze and delight me that while so much is different around the world, so much is the same. I'm sorry about your trees breaking. It's hard to lose treasured trees; they are with us so long they become a part of our lives.
ReplyDeletejenny_o: I am really looking forward to seeing your skies. Global magic.
DeleteThe tree dahlias will be back next year. Each year they spring to the skies from nothing. Some years they flower (hooray) and some years the frost and the wind cut them back first.
I didn't realize that about the tree dahlias. That helps! By the way, how is your cold/flu coming along? Thriving, or receding? The second, I hope.
Deletejenny_o: Thriving. This too will pass.
DeleteAaargh. Keep hydrated, my dear friend.
Deletejenny_o: I am afloat...
DeleteNothing like a rainbow to warm the heart. Rain is rarely blessed in the UK. :D Great set of photos as always.
ReplyDeleteLL Cool Joe: We very rarely have enough rain. It is almost always blessed here. And blesses the land it falls upon. And rainbows are an extra bonus.
DeleteLovely combination of bird, flower and rainbow. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
A Cuban in London: They fill me with joy, and I am glad you enjoy them too.
DeleteLove the tree dahlias I had found some along the coast in California. Not even my sister-in-law who has a botany degree could identify them. And the colorful parrot...
ReplyDeleteSue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: I remember you telling me that your botanist sister couldn't identify them. She will know now...
DeleteNature loves you, showing you her best!
ReplyDeleteCloudia: If she does, it is a shared love. I am so impressed with the wonders she displays.
Deletebeauty finds beauty everywhere
ReplyDeleteMartin Kloess: It IS everywhere. Which is wonderful.
DeleteThe plumage on the baby rosellas look like they have been painted on by an artist. And I do like your experimentation with the camera lens this week EC. Congratulations!
ReplyDeletecarol in cairns: An artist who doesn't paint between the lines. I do love them, and watch with wonder as they develop their adult plumage.
DeleteFaantastic sky shots and I havenever sseen a young Crimson Rossella before so that was great to see. they do look a bibbt moth eaten like that anad I can image very difficult to see in the trees. I hope you have a great weekend
ReplyDeleteMargaret Adamson: I assume that the camoflague is a survival technique. And it is very, very good. Even knowing they are there they can be tricky to see.
DeleteAnd a lovely weekend to you too.
What a gorgeous hodgepodge of colors on that bird!
ReplyDelete(Not to mention in the other photos too!)
Sandi: Isn't it delightful? Like the birds. And thank you.
DeleteBeautiful birds! Such vibrant colors! I love the flowers too. I am such a big fan of rainbows and the shots you shared were a real treat. :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete~Jess
DMS ~ Jess: Thank you. Any day I see a rainbow is automatically a good day.
DeleteRainbows! My favorites, along with stunning skies and beautiful birds. Well done, EC. Thank you for this lovely Sunday visit. :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan: I am very pleased you enjoyed your visit. And even more pleased your knee has largely recovered.
DeleteSome really brilliant skies this week. I don't really know tree dahlias but I was at a friend's house last week and asked him what this tall flowering thing was and it was a tree dahlia. Anything that grows that quickly can't have much strength.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: Twelve feet and more in a season is fast isn't it? And they don't need to be strong...
DeleteOh Child, I'd think I've died and gone to heaven seeing birds like that in the wild. I saw my first Baltimore Oriole at the city house the other day. It was a rare treat.
ReplyDeletedonna baker: A Baltimore Oriole? Pictures please. And I never, ever tire of the feathered visitors we get.
DeleteThe Crimson Rosellas are beautiful, and the rainbow, love that.
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: I love them both.
DeleteBeautiful photos as usual. I still an envious of your birds. Even ratty they are more brilliant than any I see in my yard.
ReplyDeleteAnd your sky photos are magnificent!
My college roommate's father grew gigantic dahlia's . I am so glad to see pictures of some more because I have not seen any since I was 19. (Which seems like it was just a few years ago, which says a lot about my state of denial)
Anne in the kitchen: Denial. Not just a river in Egypt is a place I spend a lot of time in. Lots of our birds are less colourful than the rosellas and I love them all.
DeleteA perfect selection of Sunday Selections :)
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: Thank you.
DeleteAnother great selection of lovely shots. Those tree dahlias are brilliant!
ReplyDeleteAlexia: Our winter has been delayed and they are flowering very happily. I was given a red one a few years ago, which is yet to flower. Perhaps next year. Hopefully next year.
DeleteWhat an incredible rainbow!
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: Wasn't it? We very, very rarely see such a 'full' rainbow. And any rainbow, or snippet of one, makes me smile.
DeleteNice bird pictures. Nice rainbow pictures. Nice bee photos too. I was looking at my cherry tree, and see very few cherry starts. I was fairly sure this would happen. When it was blooming there were no bees to be seen. I went out many times to watch closely for bees on the blossoms and saw only a couple. I guess I'm to have to start a hive or something, if I want cherries. Too many pesticides, every homeowner sprays, then the bees land on the flowers and they get contaminated.
ReplyDeleteStrayer: I try very hard not to use poisons in the garden for similar reasons. Poison is NOT generally selective. We need our bees. And because I remember a cat dying a truly horrible painful death when it was in a tree which a neighbour sprayed.
DeleteI have never seen a young rosella, they do have quite interesting plumage.
ReplyDeleteLovely to see you got some rain, not so lovely the wind to go with it though.
CountryMum: I think we got more wind than rain. Certainly more powerful wind than rain. The little we got was lovely though.
DeleteThe adolescent rosellas are charmers. It doesn't take long for their full adult plumage to come through, but I like this stage too.
You could turn your home into a B&B. People would come to your home to see its beauty.
ReplyDeleteBirdie: What a lovely thing to say. Mind you there are some 'dodgy' bits as well. There won't be a B&B here anytime soon.
DeleteA new day has dawned...a new week is about to dawn in a few hours...and all is well.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week, EC...tell your two furry mates not to overdo things. :)
Lee: My furry overlords are asleep. Again. They don't usually overdo things. At all. As you know. Have a great week.
DeleteYou are lucky we haven't had rain for agers but we have had those beautiful red skies too.
ReplyDeleteI love rosellas if only they were not so noisy.
Merle...................
Merlesworld: We didn't get a lot of rain (less than 10mm in two days) but it was welcome. Loved the skies.
DeleteAnd yes to the rosellas. They aren't as noisy as the cockies though.
Do like your rainbow, it's not often we get the chance to photograph a full one like that.
ReplyDeleteMargaret-whiteangle: It is a long time since we have seen a full rainbow too. A very long time.
DeleteI love that 6th sunset photo with the gold sweeping across the sky. I'd say the ratty plumage on the young birds is excellent at camouflage for their protection.
ReplyDeleteI've never been able to grow dahlias, but I did once have a neighbour in Victoria who grew show quality dahlias and had a room full of ribbons to prove it.
River: The ratty plumage is indeed really good camouflage. Which I am pleased about. Dahlias like sun and water. And the tree dahlias grow themselves. Which I like. Set and forget plants have a lot of charm.
DeleteThe parrot is so lovely. Do you see them every day, as often as we can see, for example, pigeon, crow or seagull here ?
ReplyDeleteThe flower is beautiful and the sky in the sunset is really magnificent.
I do not often see a rainbow in full, it's wonderful.
Have a happy new week.
orvokki: We see the rosellas often. Not every day, but three or four times a week if we are lucky. And, as I said in an earlier comment, we don't often see a complete rainbow either. A treat.
DeleteA wonderful week to you too.
You have such a good eye for beauty. Your photos are art. At the bottom of a rainbow you don't find gold, you find people like you! thanks so much for sharing these pics with us. It is a real treat......
ReplyDeletemohaverat: I have been lucky. I am a beauty addict, and even on the darkest days if I keep my eyes, heart and mind open it is there. Always.
DeleteBeautiful birds, lovely flowers (what a shame the wind got them). Spectacular rainbows (I could see a blown up picture on my wall) and the ever changing clouds. All so wonderful and thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMimsie: One of the tree dahlias is happily blooming lying down on the ground. They are hardy beasts despite their brittle stems. That rainbow was a joy wasn't it? I was so lucky to have spotted it, because in less than ten minutes it was gone.
DeleteThe dahlias are just wonderful and I'm pleased to see you have captured some of the recent skies.
ReplyDeletexo
kylie: I think the street has grown accustomed to my mad woman with camera dances in worship of the sky...
DeleteHi EC - wonderful shots of dawn and dusk - they are magical moments as they evolve and lead us on to light or darkness. Your parrots would blend in so well with that mottled colour array, however bright. I've never seen tree dahlias in flower before - a delight .. have a good week -cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: Dawn and dusk are probably my favourite moments of the day. Every day. Hope and or comfort. And beauty.
DeleteOh I love the young crimson rosellas. I can tell why they would be difficult to spot among the foliage.
ReplyDeleteGranny Annie: We love them too. They were back just after first light this morning. An adult was enjoying the apple we put out, and the young were watching intently. Perhaps tomorrow they will broach the apple for themselves.
DeleteThose Dahlia's are spectacular. I also love the orange clouds above the horizon :)
ReplyDeletemshatch: The dahlias are a short lived marvel. When we get our first hard frost they will be burnt back to nothing. At the moment they are thriving and I am smiling.
DeleteMy fav is the bird pics! These darling look like a palatte of paint was thrown on them for modern art! Sweet!
ReplyDeleteBookie: They are charmers aren't they? Their palette will be largely crimson and blue in a few weeks. And they will still be beautiful.
DeleteThat's sad about your dahlias. I hope others will grow quickly to replace them. Love the rosellas. :) They don't look ratty. They look festive. I rather think they've rolled in piles of confetti for a celebration.
ReplyDeleteRiver Fairchild: The dahlias will be back next year and those that survived the wind will continue their brave (and joyous) flowering until the first hard frost.
DeleteWhat a lovely bird! Are they all that tame that you can get that close? Sorry about your dahlias. Great photos!
ReplyDeleteGinger Dawn Harman: Not tame at all. I took these photos looking out of our lounge-room windows. Smiling all the time.
DeleteThe bird is cute and looks as if someone had squirted colored paints. I love dahlias. Regards.
ReplyDeleteGiga: Welcome and thank you. I like the coloured paint analogy.
DeleteSoosie what a wonderful bird, the Young crimson rosella....like a tie dye painting. And look at your amazing sky! Brings me joy to see it.
ReplyDeleteDonna@LivingFromHappiness: The birds and the sky bring me joy too. Lots of it.
DeleteNo matter when I stop by, I always find your photos fascinating. I especially like the one of the sky with the mountain (ridge) in it. It speaks of wayward travelers. Have a wonderful week, my friend.
ReplyDeleteMason Canyon: Not high enough for a mountain. A ridge. And a lovely place. Thank you.
DeleteI think you live in an enchanted place. Everything is so lovely - especially the ratty rosellas!
ReplyDeleteLynn: My city is known as the 'bush capital' and I love that nature is never far away.
DeleteThe birds are beautiful but I have to say the sky pictures are stunning. I too, like to take pictures of the sun setting but I guess its just not as pretty over here. Or maybe its the photographer.
ReplyDeleteSonya Ann: How is your MIL? Blame the camera for any photos you take which are less than stellar. It works for me.
DeleteThose crimson rosellas are amazing. I can imagine how the color splotches make them difficult to spot in the foliage. Lovely sky you have there.
ReplyDeletecleemckenzie: I never, ever tire of the crimson rosellas. Of course.
DeleteWhat a beautiful and colourful world you live in!
ReplyDeleteladyfi: As you do.
DeleteThose sky photos (sunrise? sunset?) are absolutely gorgeous.
ReplyDeletejo(e): Both dawn and dusk. The early ones were dawn and the later a sunset which had me doing mad woman with camera dances.
Deleteall your photos are lovely
ReplyDeletebut the bird is amazing as i have never seen one.
Tammie Lee: Welcome and thank you. A quick visit to your place shows me that you have some lovely things I never see (the deer) and I always love a ladybird.
DeleteBeautiful birds and blooms. Rainbows are so special, so are those skies, lovely!
ReplyDeleteKaren: I can't imagine looking at a rainbow and not smiling. Ever.
DeleteWe dont get to see birds like that here in North Carolina but we do get the cotton candy skies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these lovely pictures.
Lisa
Lisa: Cotton candy skies is a lovely term. Not one we use here, but it fits beautifully.
DeleteSky, rain clouds, amazing rainbow, and lovely (and shaggy) rosellas--visions!
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: Lucky, lucky, lucky. And grateful with it.
DeleteWe saw a rainbow this weekend!
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are beautiful and the rosellas look like they've been playing paint ball:)
Sandra Cox: Any day when I see a rainbow is a good day. Immediately.
DeleteI love your photos today..the rainbow is fabulous! Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful evening.
ReplyDeleteTerri @ Coloring Outside the Lines: Thank you. Tuesday late morning here. I hope life is treating you kindly - and is full of colour/color.
DeleteI don't do photography, but I do love your photos. I love your skies and rainbows, and even though we get a lot of rain, we don't often get rainbows ... alas. Our skies in Fall/Winter/Spring are often 50 shades of grey.
ReplyDeleteWebster: My camera does the photography. Point, shoot and marvel. We very rarely have grey skies, and when we do I get excited hoping for rain. Today is blue. Yesterday was blue. Tomorrow will be too.
DeleteYes, it's hard to imagine that those rosellas can camouflage themselves in foliage. Sneaky little birds.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely images.
Keep smiling, EC.
Rawknrobyn: Sneaky they are. Successful they are. Cute they are (even in ratty mode).
DeleteOh my, these are so beautiful. I love the rainbows, the purple flowers, all of them. Great job.
ReplyDeleteT.Powell Coltrin: Thank you. I loved them too.
DeleteAmazing colors only nature can bring. Just look at that bird, the flowers and the majestic sky.
ReplyDeleteLux G.: They are beautiful aren't they?
DeleteLove sunset skies! Would love dawns' too, had they not been such hard work to see and snap :) Getting up early is not my thing...and btw, the bird doesn't look ratty to me
ReplyDeleteNilanjana Bose: For a variety of reasons I see most dawns. They are often very beautiful, but usually subtler than sunsets. The young crimson rosellas will be a smooth blue and crimson (without the green patches) in a few weeks. They are still beautiful though.
DeleteYou create such a lovely, safe place.
ReplyDeleteI can feel the bad vibes from too much negative stuff online flooow away.
neena maiya (guyana gyal): Thank you. I hope the bad vibes stay away.
DeleteTwelve foot dahlias. Wow! Sorry the winds were unkind to them:(
ReplyDeleteSandra Cox: Sometimes they are taller. Which blows me away. It is a huge amount to grow in one season...
DeleteFunny to think it, but this is almost surely the first Australian I've ever seen. Most of what you photograph seems to exotic to me, but here was a splash of familiarity.
ReplyDeleteSnowbrush: Nothing exotic here...
DeleteDear EC, oh, those baby rosellas are wonderful! We rarely see them in our garden, perhaps too many rainbow Lorrikeets. My tree dahlias have thrived this year, still flowering in spite of some high winds. It's still very warm, not at all like autumn, and our deciduous trees are showing very little colour, which is disappointing, and I'm wondering if we will get much winter. And hoping that summer will be bearable...
ReplyDeleteCarol: We rarely see the rainbow Lorrikeets. The crimsons are here often. And welcome. Winter is hinting at its arrival here. We have had single digit temperatures over night. And I refuse to think about summer. Not yet.
DeleteBeautiful, beautiful Dahlia imperialis. This is one of my favourite flowers, and yours too, I think.
ReplyDeletelynners: They are. I really hope that the red one I was given flowers next year.
DeleteEvery time I see a pretty bird here, I am reminded of the photos that you post. Some of our birds are lovely - but yours are exquisite!
ReplyDeleteSusan F.: I suffer from world-wide avian envy. I love our birds - and would love to see some of yours. So much.
DeleteBeautiful birds, glorious skies, rainbows and flowers.
ReplyDeleteSimple joys in life.
That's all that matters.
xx
Vicki: The little things are huge in my world. And I am very grateful for them.
Delete