Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Sunday, 18 September 2016

Sunday Selections #294

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?  Changeable weather.  Spring is most definitely here, and more comes out in the garden each and every day.  However, sometimes she forgets, and allows Winter back in on a temporary basis.


I had to go out early one day last week.  The dawn promised a bright and beautiful day...







It was beautiful, but the clouds were scudding past very, very fast.  Less than an hour later this was the view.



It dribbled down for most of the day.  Not really raining, but not dry either.  And the sunshine was missing.

The sunset was fairly half-hearted too.



And then it relented and blushed beautifully.



And a little proof that spring really is here.


The king parrots continue to brighten each and every day too.


140 comments:

  1. Spring is inching towards summer here.And we still have showery weather.Perfect Black Spot days!

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    1. dinahmow: Wash your mouth out before you speak of summer. And yes, black spot is likely to be an issue here, after all the moisture. A price I am prepared to pay.

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  2. Gorgeous skies! Makes we wish we were coming into spring not autumn.

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  3. Such lovely skies! And birds. Happy spring dear friend. :-)

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  4. Replies
    1. lynners: There are more coming out each day. Mostly the red ones so far. A double in the back yard... And Floriade opened yesterday.

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  5. How quickly the weather can change.
    That first set of images show clouds that look like a dog.
    And we are to be in the upper eighties this coming week. Really like to know where our autumn is hiding.

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    1. Alex J. Cavanaugh: Still in the upper eighties? Bleah. I hope you get some relief. And, how nice to see another adult who looks at the shapes in clouds.

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  6. Love the king parrots. Envious you are heading towards summer whereas we are going towards winter

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    1. Sue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: I am not looking forward to summer at all. A stop on time in any of the other months is more to my liking.

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  7. Hard to think it is spring for you...but the tulip speaks. In the western US there is already snow in the Tetons and Yellowstone. Id rather think about your spring!

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    1. Bookie: The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence isn't it? I am dreading summer. Enjoying spring, but not ready for the sweaty season.

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  8. Absolutely breathtaking skies. Love the parrots.

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    1. Rasma Raisters: We love, and welcome, the King Parrots too.

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  9. Forget Luke Skywalker...I'd rather be Lee Skywatcher!

    I went out briefly yesterday and not very far, but in the short distance, a crane, a pheasant and a scrub turkey crossed my path...not all together or at the same time, though. And a flock of white cockatoos were grazing in the yard of a property.

    Have yourself a wonderful week, EC...cuddles to the two Js. :)

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    1. Lee: Skywatchers of the world unite. Your first three birds are not seen here, but the cockies graze in our yard.
      A wonderful week to you and your furry overlords.

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    2. I think the crane followed me home...either that or beat me home because a little while later I saw him out from my kitchen window.

      I think they enjoy visiting my landlords' ponds up yonder - where they discover there is such a thing as a free lunch!

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    3. Lee: And free breakfast, and dinner and snacks. Cranes are gorgeous things. The birds here only pay by being beautiful. Which is enough.

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  10. isn't it wonderful, the different palettes we find in the sky. I think it is one of our life-gifts. Each is special. Here in Tampa a simple blue sky isn't 'simple.' Depending upon the humidity/season, it can be robin-egg-blue, or as azure as the desert sky. I'm rambling.

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    1. Author R. Mac Wheeler: Your rambling is a song which I sing too. The sky is a gift. A huge gift. In all its moods.

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  11. The weather is just so changeable at the moment. Your sky photos clearly show just how it changes in a day. Great photos

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  12. this morning at our market the clouds were beautiful almost as nice as your cloud photos, then minutes later they were gone.

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    1. Linda Starr: Sky colour is fleeting isn't it? I have learnt (the hard way) that if I see it, I need to head outside. Then.

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  13. The change of season is so unpredictable. Tonight is rain, rain, rain, but moving fast. The marching band show will go on, and muddy uniforms will require another trip to the cleaners!

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    1. Joanne Noragon: Marching in the rain and the mud sounds like no fun. The cleaners might like it, but I suspect they are the only ones.

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  14. Those gold clouds are just beautiful and I love the lacy quality of those trees. The pik one looked like a teddy bear to me.

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    1. Kathleen Valentine: The lacy filigree across the sky is one of the reasons I like winter. It is gorgeous isn't it? Hooray for seeing shapes in clouds. Teddy bears and dogs today...

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  15. The sky, the ground and in between and here we are Beautiful

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    1. Martin Kloess: Thank you. It is a gift isn't it?

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  16. You do take good sky photos and nice close ups of the king parrot. It is much better to have them wild and friendly than caged.

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    1. Andrew: That King Parrot is one of the ones who will eat from our hands. She is happy to pose for the camera too. Which is lovely. And yes, much better free than caged.

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  17. You captured the moods of day and season with this series

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  18. I can see why you're always motivated to be outside...Beautiful!

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    1. e: When I can get out I do. Healing, soothing magic.

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  19. Oooh - looking forward to the Floriade photos! Your tulip picture matches the king parrots beautifully :)

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    1. Alexia: If the weather is kind (or even if it isn't) we are planning a trip to Floriade mid week. And probably to Tulip Tops the day after. I think that the gardens at Floriade will indicate that spring is quite advanced, so we will pack both trips in next week while they are at the best.

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  20. A perfect dawn. :) Your parrots outshine the flowers! Such beautiful creatures.

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    1. River Fairchild: The parrots (and the dawn) are an ongoing joy. I suspect there is some jealousy of the flowers though. Some of the little so and so's delight in beheading treasured blooms.

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  21. Beautiful photos. As usual I love the parrots. We are at the end of summer and looking at fall. :( You know what's next, right? I don't like winter, but must experience it. :) Enjoy Spring!

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    1. T Powell Coltrin: You are dreading winter, I am dreading summer. When we are deep in the sweaty season I will look at photos from your side of the world and breathe deep.

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  22. Awesome account of your day EC. Just looking at your Read in 2016 list, thinking I should read more for pleasure.

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    1. carol in cairns: It was a very varied day. I don't think I would survive without my books. A work colleague had a stroke which took away reading and writing (and the ability to relearn them) and I still shudder thinking about it. I read to escape, to learn, for comfort, for amusement, and more.

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  23. Yay for parrots! I love all your pictures. Also, the cloud pictures look like they were taken where I live today.

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    1. Robert Bennett: It is damp again, and we have just been handfeeding the kings. Which lifted our mood.
      All of the clouds looking like home to you, or just some?

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    2. All of the pics you had. They were eerily like the weather outside the day before. haha

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    3. Robert Bennett: Some days our big world is tiny isn't it?

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  24. Sounds like the weather we haver had here too.
    Merle.........

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    1. Merlesworld: It continues too. Yesterday was quite warm and sunny. Today is grey and damp.

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  25. great photos in Poland tulips are symbols of spring too.

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    1. Gosia k: There will be lots more photos of tulips over the next couple of weeks. At home and elsewhere.

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  26. You live in a beautiful country!!

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  27. Hi, I'm new to your blog.
    What a great experience it was to see your changing day in super pictures.
    And the parrot! Silly me but I didn't realise you had them over there! Such a beautiful bird and pics, it is so well captured in your shots.
    Hearing of the advent of your spring has got me mourning the loss of our summer as we head into autumn and dreary months ahead :-(.
    I'll be popping back soon, for sure. Great post.

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    1. The Pouting Pensioner: Welcome and thank you. Not only do we get parrots on a regular basis we are lucky enough to be able to hand feed some of them. I am not a fan of summer, but do love spring.

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  28. Here in Switzerland, autumn is coming.

    You've beautifully captured the nature!

    have a great day!

    XX

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    1. The Purple Assassin: Welcome and thank you. I am a big, big fan of Nature.

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  29. Hi EC - lovely views of the sunset - the weather is always amazing as it takes our time with it. They are beautiful ... I expect the rain is welcome, especially as it's soft. Lovely tulips - Autumn is a-coming here! Cheers Hilary

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    1. Hilary Melton-Butcher: I have lived through some vicious droughts. Rain is ALWAYS welcome. It can be inconvenient, but it is welcome just the same.

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  30. Beautiful photos and thanks for sharing all of them. You certainly do live in a lovely part of our country. My mum loved Canberra when she visited and so did Karen.

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    1. Mimsie: I think I live in an underappreciated place - which suits me just fine. If more people realised what Canberra had to offer it would be more crowded. Which my selfish self wouldn't like.

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  31. Beautiful golden clouds, but you're right, they're going so fast over.
    Green parrot is wonderful, I do not cease to admire it.
    Have a really nice new week.

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  32. Your tulips are up!! I'm so happy for you and the birds are beautiful as always. I love the golden clouds. Our day started sunny, but then we had a bit of rain, before the sun came back out. The barbecue lunch was really lovely, chicken, salads, roasted vegetables and then a walk around the block before dessert.

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    1. River: I am very glad that your barbecue went well. We had rain for most of the day yesterday. Not heavy (mostly) but not barbecue weather either.

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  33. The blush is pretty as is the dawn. The tulips remind me of my grandpa, his were even the same color and he loved them so. :)

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    1. mail4rosey: At the moment we have only two colours of tulips out, these ones and a couple of white ones. I can never decide which I like most - but revel in them all.
      How lucky you are to have memories of your grandfather.

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  34. It is still in the 90's here in Lower Alabama as everyone anxiously awaits the cooler fall weather. The summer heat lasts so long here that anything under 85 is a welcome relief. How lovely to know that spring is blooming somewhere in the world. Enjoy it! :-)

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    1. We are: Clamco: I am loving spring - and hope that you get some relief from your heat.

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  35. I always try to see something in clouds. One of your pictures looked like a dog
    Swimming in a pool.
    R

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    1. Rick Watson: There are a few of us who watch/interpret/marvel at the clouds. Which is lovely.

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  36. I call spring the schizophrenic season, where one minute it seems winter is back, the next, bright sun heralds summer, but its back and forth. Now we are transitioning to winter. Sometimes we get Indian summers with cold nights and sunny days that aren't warm but aren't the cold of winter either. It's been raining two days now.

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    1. Strayer: The inbetween seasons are indecisive aren't they? I hope your winter is kind to you - and our summer to us. I am so not ready.

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  37. I always love your photos! And clouds are one of my favorites. Although I've known for quite some time now that Australia has the opposite seasons of the US, it still is strange to see your spring photos as we're nearing our fall season!

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    1. BECKY: When we are sweltering in the sweaty season I will look and snow and ice from your side of the world with envy.

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  38. My sister called the other day and asked what I was doing. I said I was lying by the window watching the clouds' shapes; felt a little sheepish to be doing something so childish and lazy. But, you are doing much the same in your photos. Spring - wonderful. Winter - awful. I guess I'm in the fall of my life and dreading the winter.

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    1. donna baker: Childish and lazy? Perhaps, but there are lots of us who marvel at the clouds. And I hope to never stop.

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  39. Always enjoy your Sunday Selection of photos. There's something about clouds that seems magical or mysterious to me.

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    1. Mason Canyon: Thank you. I think clouds are magical, mysterious, and just plain beautiful.

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  40. Looks and sounds like a most enjoyable beautiful day. I love seeing your birds as compared to ours. Hug B

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    1. Buttons Thoughts: Isn't the blogosphere generous, allowing us to see beauties world wide? Hugs.

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  41. You had me at your first picture!!!

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  42. PARROTS! And those cloud/sky shots of yours are worthy of enjoying again and again :)

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  43. I love how the birds change from their drab winter attire to their attractive spring colors. Ours will soon be changing back as the first day of fall is only a few days away. I'll miss our bright yellow goldfinches flashing about!

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    1. mshatch: Perhaps because our seasons are not as extreme, our birds keep their colours once they reach adulthood.

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  44. The sky can change very fast here, too - and all these photos of the changes could have been taken where I live, too. It makes me feel that the world is surprisingly small. Looking forward to your Floriade photos!

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    1. jenny_o: The world is very small indeed some days. We have another grey day here, and I am snotty (again). Floriade later. And more garden photos from here too.

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    2. Another cold/flu so soon? That doesn't seem right or fair. Rest, hydrate, and distract (read, garden, whatever distracts the best). That's my approach, anyway. I hope you come through this one quickly.

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    3. jenny_o: Snot fair is how I feel about it too. Fortunately himself seems to be immune.

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  45. I love seeing your pictures. Hope you have a good week ahead and that you get to eat lots of yummy things, and take lots of fun pictures.

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    1. The Happy Whisk: Thank you. I have a few treats ahead this week, so long as my snotty self is up to it. Food? Not at the moment. Soon I hope.

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    2. The Happy Whisk: Getting there. It is very, very tenacious.

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  46. I hope you have a lovely spring and a better summer than we in the northern hemisphere have had this year. It has been brutal, and we are looking so forward to the coolness of the fall.

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    1. Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe: I have been watching your temperatures, and shuddering. I hope you get some relief soon, and that our sweaty season is considerably milder than yours.

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  47. I want to pluck and smell that proof of spring.
    That one in particular brought a smile.
    Take gentle care, EC.

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    1. Rawknrobyn: Spring is bursting into life and scent here. Hugs.

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  48. So glad these aren't languishing in your files anymore. Loved seeing them and enjoying them.

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    1. cleemckenzie: Thank you. More to come. Many more.

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  49. As always, beautiful pictures to brighten my day.
    Tulips! Amazing. I just planted my bulbs. The kitten has decided that would be a wonderful place for his new bathroom. sigh.

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    1. Sandra Cox: I hear you. Jewel in particular tells me that garden fertiliser is crack cocaine for cats, and has frequently dug up bulbs, snorted the fertiliser and then defiled the hole. Sigh.

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  50. Fabulous sky shots and such pretty feathered friends.

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    1. Lady Fi: The sky is magic isn't it? And I so often love your shots of its beauty.

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  51. I like the photos of when the sky blushed, the blue sky has a cloud man running. Do you see it?

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    1. Truedessa: I had missed the cloud man until you pointed him out. Thank you.

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    2. I wonder where he is running to...

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    3. Truedessa: Hopefully to find the rainbows.

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    4. Oh I do like that lets run with that happy thought

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    5. Truedessa: Too many rainbows would be barely enough.

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  52. Summer arrived yesterday, spring the day before and today we have jolly old winter back again but the flowers are blooming. and the magpies swooping and the pigeons are pooing every where, but I am alive and that is all that matters, may you all have an enjoyable day.

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    1. Vest: You can keep summer. And Pigeon pooh. I like the magpies though, and am glad you are hanging in.

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  53. Those king parrots are so pretty.
    Have a great one.

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  54. I'm so glad we get to experience spring through your eyes, while we slip into fall. I adore the transitional photos of the sky. Gorgeous.

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    1. Lynn: Isn't it wonderful being able to experience two seasons at once?

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  55. Love the golden clouds =)

    https://emierre-photography.blogspot.pt/

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    1. Marco Silva: Welcome and thank you. It was a really lovely start to the day.

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  56. I know we are opposite seasons right now, but it's hard to think of spring when I am longing so much for fall! Beautiful clouds...I've been doing a lot of sky watching myself!

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    1. Terri @ Coloring Outside the Lines: Cloud watching is always a treat isn't it? I hope your summer shows some decency and leaves you. Soon.

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  57. Pretty pictures! The color of the sky in those first ones is just intense! <3 - http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com

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    1. Gingi Freeman: Welcome and thank you. I do love the sky. In all her moods.

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  58. As always, your photos are poetry! xx

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    1. My Inner Chick: Thank you. What a lovely thing to say.

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  59. That King parrot is amazing. Where's his crown?

    Nothing beats a beautiful sunset, well maybe a photo of a parrot in front of a sunset would. Ha.

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    1. LL Cool Joe: That King is a female and travelling incognito.

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  60. There are days like that here, too. The sunless days are often rather cool as well, but as soon as the sun is there it warms up. We're heading into autumn - not that we really feel it, it's hot. I love fall here, it's so beautiful.

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    1. Carola Bartz: I suppose our sunless days are cool, but I don't feel the cold and don't notice. I do love autumn too. And spring. And winter.

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  61. Great skies and the King Parrot is a handsome bird.

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    1. DeniseinVA: The Kings are almost daily visitors at the moment - and very welcome.

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  62. Your parrots do brighten my day also! The sky was so pretty before the rain clouds moved in....We wish for rain here in Georgia now again though

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    1. Kim@stuffcould...: We have had a much wetter winter than is usual, and spring is damp too. Having gone through too many droughts I welcome the rain.

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  63. Love those stunning cloud photos and the king parrot series is lovely. I am so lucky that you photograph and share some of my favorite things in life. :)
    ~Jess

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    1. DMS ~ Jess: Isn't it nice to find kindred spirits across the globe?

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