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 I am returning to familiar obsessions.
Starting with the sky.
Then to the garden. Spring is very almost here. Everywhere we look there are splashes of colour.
The wattle is our national floral emblem and while it causes grief to many sufferers of hayfever, it is a strong hint that the cold weather has almost gone.
There are other things making me smile in the garden too.
I am resorting to bad language in the garden too. The cockatoos are indulging themselves again. They are beheading daffodils and jonquils, nibbling on other blooms, ripping the leaves off tulips, digging up bulbs, munching on their tender shoots and generally vandalising the garden.
I have been employing the pump-action water pistol with glee. And today we wrapped the area of most damage in chicken wire. I do hope it reduces the destruction. They only play this game for a month or so, but last year we got no tulips or double daffodils to bloom in the front yard. We lost most of the spring star flowers too.
The King Parrots aren't entirely innocent either. The camellias show signs of their presence. Camellia buds are obviously crack cocaine for parrots.
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 I am returning to familiar obsessions.
Starting with the sky.
Then to the garden. Spring is very almost here. Everywhere we look there are splashes of colour.
The wattle is our national floral emblem and while it causes grief to many sufferers of hayfever, it is a strong hint that the cold weather has almost gone.
There are other things making me smile in the garden too.
I am resorting to bad language in the garden too. The cockatoos are indulging themselves again. They are beheading daffodils and jonquils, nibbling on other blooms, ripping the leaves off tulips, digging up bulbs, munching on their tender shoots and generally vandalising the garden.
I have been employing the pump-action water pistol with glee. And today we wrapped the area of most damage in chicken wire. I do hope it reduces the destruction. They only play this game for a month or so, but last year we got no tulips or double daffodils to bloom in the front yard. We lost most of the spring star flowers too.
The King Parrots aren't entirely innocent either. The camellias show signs of their presence. Camellia buds are obviously crack cocaine for parrots.
Illegitimate spawn of thieving illegitimate spawn!
ReplyDeleteI can cope with starving animals eating my plants, but the sulphur crested cockatoos are just plain vandals!
dinahmow: If it was hunger I too could cope. It is destruction for destruction's sake. So far today they have been absent. Other birds have visited and played nicely.
DeleteOh, no! Not the anemone! The feathery bastids. Do squirt them with glee. They need to make this association. You leave them pounds of seeds to feast on and throw around.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Noragon: I DO squirt them with glee. They are welcome to the seed and the apples (and it is a generous supply of both). They are NOT welcome to my bulbs.
DeleteI once lived in an area where deer vandalized everything I planted, even if they didn’t like the taste of it. Maddening. At least the birds are beautiful to look at.
ReplyDeleteThe orange clouds are awesome!
River Fairchild: I hear you on the one bite of everything even if we don't like it. Mind you, one of my brothers had structural damage to his house by bored cockatoos.
DeleteHahahaha.... no wonder that king parrot looks a bit dazed!
ReplyDeleteYou have beautiful flowers in your garden. And the colours of the sky are breathtaking.
Are you feeling better?
Hugs
Caterina: Thank you. The rashes are receding. Just as well, they made me very, very irritable and the cockatoos would not have liked me.
DeleteAw beauty. If it weren't the birds it would be some other critter. Very hard to take after winter.
ReplyDeletedonna baker: Our winters are much milder than yours. I do find the widespread destruction hard though.
DeleteSuch beauty in your skies, flowers and yes, even those naughty little birds :)
ReplyDeleteDenise inVA: They are beautiful, noisy, incontinent vandals. And mostly welcome. NOT at the moment.
DeleteFortunately, I don't suffer from any allergies...other than an allergy to certain people
ReplyDeleteThe wattle, flowers and birds are glorious.
Have yourself a good week, EC. Cursing in the garden is good for you...it lets out all the pent up frustrations...better out than bottled up inside! Cuddles to Jazz. :)
Lee: You are fortunate. I have a number of sensitivities, and people are in that list.
DeleteEvery year as you begin to write about spring I start to feel the whispers of fall. Today is quite cool. I am wearing a light sweater and have a blanket on my legs. A hot coffee sits by that I will regret having drunk when it’s time for bed.
ReplyDeleteI would result to bad words if birds did that to my yard.
Birdie: Very bad words. And ensuring that the water pistol is loaded and by the door.
Deletethe birds and flowers and the sunsets are very pretty and colorful.
ReplyDeleteJamie Ghione: Thank you.
DeleteI know it’s damned annoying for you, but I had to chuckle. Those birds can do some serious damage, but they must look at your garden as a smorgasbord laid out for them. We have rabbits marauding in our backyard but they don’t do anything like the damage you describe and portray. Maybe it’s the price you have to pay to have the daily companionship of those beautiful birds.
ReplyDeleteDavid Gascoigne: It is very, very annoying, but they are leaving the house alone. One of my brothers has had to have his shade sail replaced (twice) because the cockatoos enjoyed ripping holes in it.
DeleteSeems that the avian population has as much attitude as the human population!
DeleteDavid Gascoigne: Most definitely. And personality (and sometimes poisonality).
DeleteIt's a shame & a conundrum that such beautiful creatures wreak utter havoc in your garden!!
ReplyDeletefishducky: The cockatoos are intelligent, curious and easily bored birds. And, like most of us, when bored they turn (very successfully) to destruction.
DeleteAll of the photos so lovely and the flowers and the birds so colorful. Loved this.
ReplyDeleteRasma Raisters: I am glad.
DeleteDelightful post--- I love the flowers-- and the parrot and even the Cockatoos. But I'd squirt them too.
ReplyDeleteBill: The cockatoos haven't even attempted vandalism today. When they assuredly do, the water pistol is loaded. And I will smile.
DeleteHi EC - wonderful flower posts ... and 'bad cockatoos, let alone the King Parrot, who I suppose feels he has to lord it over all ... lovely to see flowers I recognise and then those that are 'down under' plants ... love learning about new ones. The golden wattle is glorious ... as too the sunrise photos - Have a good week - cheers
ReplyDeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: The king parrot is very low one pecking order. Even much smaller birds lord it over them. At least they eat the camellias they pluck, unlike the rotten cockatoos - who also prune the camellias.
DeleteBad birds! And they look so innocent and pretty!
ReplyDeleteMarie Smith: Butter wouldn't melt in their mouths, but the plants are shredded.
DeleteI do love seeing your spring flowers blooming, EC - a definite sign of spring coming to our part of the world. It's a beautiful day here today, and I too have been swearing in the garden; not at the birds, but at a couple of shrubs that I want to get rid of, which insist on gripping tight with all their strength. Get them out I shall, however.
ReplyDeleteThat last handsome fellow looks as if he's planning another raid any minute!
Alexia: Some plants do indeed have 'roots all the way to China'. They are always the ones we want gone too. Good luck. And take care of your back.
DeleteIt is a lovely day here too. We had rain predicted yesterday and today. Not a happening thing, but the sunshine is lovely. Not as much needed as the moisture though.
LOVE the wattle, which doesn't bother my hayfever at all. My problem is the headier scents of jasmine and earlicheer jonquils along with many of the daffodils.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear the cheeky cockatoos have been pillaging, I wouldn't mind if they'd drop in here and raid the enormous river of jonquils in a house just up the street. I have to breathe through a hanky every time I walk past for a couple of weeks each August.
River: A river of jonquils? That would be a sight to see (and an assault on sensitive noses). I really resent their attacks, and they just keep going until there is nothing left. I hope I have discouraged them, but fear they will simply attack in a different area.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear of the destruction in your garden. All your hard work! But the water pistol is an excellent, humane way to help the birds learn not to do it. They must be getting something out of tearing the plants up. If it's a cure for boredom, maybe you need to start teaching them to do crossword puzzles or blogging or something :D
ReplyDeleteBeautiful skies and beautiful flowers. Beauty when you look up and again when you look down. I went to the plant nursery today to get a few annuals to fill in where my hanging basket died, and they had hardly anything. The woman working there said the late frost in the spring and the excessive heat in the summer really destroyed their plants. I bought three straggly specimens and will try to coax them into lusciousness with my black thumb.
jenny_o: Where potted plants are concerned my thumbs (and hands) are black. I wonder whether I could teach the cockatoos different games to play. The water pistol is surprisingly good fun.
DeleteThe sky has obliged you again. Why do cockatoos bite buds off? Because they can. They looked very fluffed up against the cold. There is a lot of colour in your garden. Some parts of the Australian bush will be ablaze with colour never seen at any other time of the year, thanks to the wattles.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: The biting buds off is bad enough, but digging bulbs out, taking a bit, and discarding them really gets me crabby. Wattle really does blaze doesn't it? And have you noticed how many of our natives bloom yellow?
DeleteHooray for spring, and boo to the critters that destroy gardens. We get no figs from our trees because of the birds.
ReplyDeletemessymimi: I remember fig thieves. It was my job to collect the partially eaten fruit. As a result I cannot face fresh figs.
DeleteBeautiful spring flowers - sorry about the birds.
ReplyDeleteSharon: Thank you. The birds are beautiful too, but at this time of year infuriating.
DeleteI happily share your obsession with the sky!
ReplyDeleteGreat to see the wattle out, but it is the daffodils that are my favourite. They always remind me of my late father.
CountryMum: It is autumnal berries which make me think of my father. And to a lesser extent, bearded iris. They are very strong memories aren't they? Bittersweet.
DeleteBeautiful photos! A shame the birds destroy the flowers though. Why do they do that?
ReplyDeleteCarolyn McBride: Because they can. Cockatoos are well known vandals. And gardens are the start, not the end. One of their tricks is to peel away the insulation around street lights, and swing from it, shrieking estatically. And shred shade sails.
DeleteJust this week I saw video of a
ReplyDeleteCocky removing a brick which was holding the bin lid down. The world us their playground.
The skies are stunning!
Enjoy your hopefully itch free week
kylie: I can well believe tha the cocky removed the brick - just to see what was there. My itches are reducing day by day. Which is very, very welcome.
DeleteDear EC
ReplyDeleteIt is lovely to see your beautiful Spring flowers, although not the ones which the birds have attacked. It is so demoralising when you get damage like this - particularly after the mammoth bulb planting sessions. I am just starting to order bulbs for next year.
Gorgeous skies as always!
Best wishes
Ellie
Ellie Foster: Hours of work gets sacrificed in seconds when the cockatoos start to rampage. I do hope I have discouraged them.
DeleteWhat bulbs are you leaning towards?
Beautiful flowers, so pretty. And the Parrots, they are wonderful EC.
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: Thank you. I do love the garden, and the feathered visitors (despite them being vandals.
DeleteYour birds are being vandals, true to their nature I guess. The flowers are still very beautiful, and it makes me so happy that your signs of spring are everywhere! Always nice to visit you, EC. And you are such a faithful visitor to my blog that I feel I know you intimately. :-)
ReplyDeleteDJan: Thank you so much. It is getting more springlike by the day (though some rain would be very, very welcome).
DeleteThose dirty birds!
ReplyDeleteSandra Cox: They had a day off from vandalism yesterday. Fingers crossed for today.
DeleteAs we, in the Northern Hemisphere, approach Autumn … I still find it strange to think you are approaching Spring!
ReplyDeleteI liked all your Spring flowers, although of course those birds!!! They are vandals aren't they.
Do hope you have a good week
All the best Jan
Lowcarb team member ~Jan: Thank you. The birds were here before any people, but just the same I do wish they were content with the feed we put out for them.
DeleteI hope you too have a great week.
The parrots are beautiful. We have a lot of wild birds here but not wild parrots. That's so cool!.
ReplyDeleteMary Kirkland: We are lucky with the birds that visit us. There are several different species of parrot (not all of them destructive) in the mix.
DeleteYour photos are always so beautiful and never fail to make me smile. Love them.
ReplyDeleteMason Canyon: Thank you so much.
DeleteWell, you do attract more exotic birds and vandals. Here in Minnesota, we just get deer and rabbits who eat up all our produce and blooms!
ReplyDeleteMary Aalgaard: Deer sound pretty exotic to me. Some parts of Australia get them, but we don't. I would mind much less if the cockatoos ate the plants they destroy. Sadly they just rip them apart and move on to the next.
DeleteThey don't look innocent, you're right! LOL. I love being with you
ReplyDeleteCloudia: Thank you, oh sister across the seas.
DeleteBeautiful, as usual. What are the plants shown after the daffodil? I just today bought mums, a lantana, 2 pentas and a 6-pac of zinnias to brighten up these late summer/ early autumn beds of mine. Glad to hear the itching is subsiding. Did you decide its cause?
ReplyDeletePatricia Laster: The plants after the daffodil are grevillea. The smaller, nectar eating birds adore them and I have several different varieties. Laundry detergent seems to have been the culprit on the itching/rashes front.
DeleteGrevillea, huh? Are they a tropical? Beautiful. Aha! detergent's the culprit. Glad it wasn't shingles. xoxo
DeletePatricia A. Laster: There are over 300 different grevilleas. Evergreen they range from shrubs to I believe trees. And cover a wide range of climate too. Here they survive our cold winters, and thrive in the hot summers.
DeleteUngrateful birds considering how well you treat them! I am happy to see your signs of spring, though of course, that means my summer is fading away...and winter won't be far behind. But it's still very nice here even if most of the flowers have gone by.
ReplyDeletemshatch: I am dreading summer - but enjoying the first hints of spring. Birds, like cats, don't do gratitude.
DeleteOh, I know too well how you feel when the wildlife destroys the garden. I hope the wire discourages them.
ReplyDeleteStarting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe: So far so good. There were three marauding cockatoos this morning (before seven) investigating the wire. I fired the water pistol at them and they left and haven't returned.
DeleteFluid fire in your skies! and in your garden too. The king parrot looks seriously guilty. I hope the chicken wire fixes things.
ReplyDeleteNilanjana Bose: Today has been good on the destructive front. There were three rampagers investigating the wire early. I soaked them, and they flew off and haven't returned. Yet.
DeleteAnd in delightful news we had four or five female Satin Bowerbirds visit. They are partial to apple, which we are happy to provide.
When we lived up north we had a woodecker that returned at the end of every summer to try and eat our house. Even the water hose wouldn't scare him off (he was two stories up and I was on the ground). He'd fly to the tree and laugh at me until I walked away. ;) Your flowers (and birds) are very lovely. :)
ReplyDeletemail4rosey: I am sure they do laugh at us. Loudly.
DeleteThe birds, flora and fauna are stunning. Our flowers will be ending their summer duty soon.
ReplyDeleteR
Rick Watson: Thank you. I hope your knee is improving each and every day.
DeleteHave you tried sprinkling cayenne pepper on everything? That's how I'm keeping the squirrels out of our window box this year.
ReplyDeleteonly slightly confused: They aren't eating anything, just ripping things apart. I am not sure there is enough cayenne in the world to distract them.
DeleteLOL - love those birds! And such great shots of spring.
ReplyDeleteLady Fi: I love (and loathe) the birds at the moment.
DeleteThose first two shots, wow and wow.
ReplyDelete(You know I love a colorful sky)
Author R. Mac Wheeler: You do? I never would have guessed.
DeleteDarn cocky cockatoos and other birds. Just because they're pretty doesn't mean they have the right to eat whatever's pretty around them.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely week, EC.
Rawknrobyn: If they ate them I wouldn't mind (as much). Tearing them apart for the fun of it sends me crazy.
DeleteBeautiful flowers.
ReplyDeletehttps://henatayeb.blogspot.com
Hena Tayeb: Welcome and thank you.
DeleteThe pretty wattle is a new one for me but so pretty. Love your birds!
ReplyDeleteSue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: In spring the countryside blazes with wattles. A truly pretty sight.
DeleteWattle:) What a wonderful name! Looks like our ragweed only way prettier. And it's good to see life springing up for you over there. I feel excited here about the little signs that cooler weather is on the way. The light has changed already and this makes me walk a little fresher:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of the skyspeak and flowerlove over here. Hope the critters leave the rest of your garden alone:)
-Jennifer
Jennifer Richardson: Sadly the vandals shifted their area of attack yesterday and made significant inroads into another bed. And I have squirted them with gay abandon this morning. Cooler weather always makes me walk taller. Hugs.
DeleteI remember when you planted many many bulbs. Looks like they are giving you gifts, while those cockatoos take it away.
ReplyDeleteYour photos always make me happy.
Susan Kane: The bulbs are emerging and being destroyed. Fortunately the cockatoos haven't (yet) discovered the back garden.
DeleteTurn out the cat to patrol the garden? But maybe Jazz would ignore the destructive birds and curl in the sun instead.
ReplyDeleteStrayer: Jazz would almost certainly ignore them. And I really don't want to encourage him to chase birds. He is well fed (too well fed?).
DeleteOur flowers are all pretty dried up and gone, so not much color left as our summer's ending. So nice to see you're pretty beginning spring flower pictures. Thanks for the visit, always appreciated. Your sky pictures.......WOW!!!
ReplyDeleteSandy: Thank you. There will be a lot of flower pictures here over the coming months. Floriade and Tulip Tops open soon, and I hope to save most of our garden.
DeleteHard to wrap my mind around Cockatoos being a problem. Here, they exist only in cages. I think I like your world better. Chicken wire and all . . .
ReplyDeleteDianne Tolley: A big flock of cockatoos can do a LOT of damage to farmer's crops. And they do. Just the same, I am glad that they aren't caged.
DeleteEC, you are so adorable! You make me laugh! LOL! I understand so much what you are saying! You have to laugh, right? LOL! I get the same thing here, but of course, with different animals. Then, when you start yelling at them, they look at you, like you're crazy! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI hope they stop soon, and I hope the chicken wire helps!
I truly love all your beautiful photos! You always make me smile!
Big Hugs My Friend!
Magic Love Crow: The pump-action water pistol works wonders. Briefly.
DeleteSo far the wire has helped a little - except that they transferred their activity to another part of the garden. Today (fingers and toes crossed) they behaved nicely. So I did too, and didn't gun them down.
Hugs gratefully received and reciprocated.
I'm glad they are behaving! Maybe I should get a water pistol?
DeleteI hope your rash is gone!
Big Hugs!
Magic Love Crow: Do get a water pistol. It is effective, and a heap of fun. The rash is almost gone. Hugs to you too.
DeleteLove all the signs of Spring in your part of the world that you have so skilfully captured with your camera. The birds are adorable too despite their annoying habit of nibbling on flowers. But the flowers are so pretty I wouldn't mind eating them either so I empathise with them as well as with you.
ReplyDeleteThe mental picture of you with your pump action water pistol stalking these lovely birds had me doubled up with laughter. Way to go EC.
Kalpanaa M: If they ate the plants they vandalise I wouldn't mind quite as much. Instead they behead and shred. My pump-action water pistol has quite a range. The birds don't like it, and move on. Which is a big win. I am pretty certain that people in the street laugh at me too. Which I can cope with.
DeleteDarn birds! :) I am battling squirrels over here. My neighbor's eyes widened when I was sticking pointy bamboo spikes in my potted plants, so it hurts their paws when they get it to chew. I like your pump-action water pistol idea and smile at the thought of it.
ReplyDeleteLovely to see your spring photos when summer is on the wane here.
Lynn: The water pistol works a treat. And is fun. I hope your weather has settled down to reasonable levels.
DeleteGlad you have your trusty water gun. Sorry they are destroying your lovely flowers. I always love seeing signs of spring.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures of the sky. Awesome!
~Jess
DMS ~Jess: The water pistol has been employed this morning, but they do seem to be learning. Slowly.
DeleteOh the sunshine wattles look beautiful, and I think the next shot is a crocus, the sight of it took me straight back to the cherry tree of my childhood and the golden and mauve crocuses that flowered beneath it and heralded the start of spring. Those scallywag bird profiles made me smile, I could just imagine the shots with prison numbers written on them.
ReplyDeleteKim: It is indeed a crocus - I am loving them. We have the gold ones, white, deep purple and mauve. And vandal birds. Their intrusions are diminishing. They really, really don't like the pump action water pistol.
DeleteDear EC, I'm wondering how your rash is. You didn't mention it in this posting. Did you find an ointment/balm/salve to help? The one that really works for me is Aquaphor Healing Ointment--Advanced Therapy. It's produced by Beiorsdorf. The web site is www.AquaphorHealing.com
ReplyDeletePeace.
Dee: Thank you. Most of the rash has now gone, though I had to resort to steroid creams. It seems to have been a sensitivity to a laundry detergent, which required washing and rewashing clothes and bed linen.
Delete