OUR WORLD - Kangaroos

Kangaroos on an overgrown road reserve between two of our

paddocks . . .

" What's up Frank, why are you pricking those ears?"

"Will you just look at that? The cheek! She's walking right

towards us."

"It's old an old lady with a camera Frank". " Ha, ya never can

tell with these ol' biddies . .

.

I'm outa here . . ."

Our World Is a fun place, show us what is in your corner!

TODAY'S FLOWERS - Australian Natives

With over 1,000 species of Eucalyptus trees native to

Australia, there are always some in flower no matter the

season.

Their leaves are aromatic and many are excellent dye plants

as well. Their colour range in flowers is from white, through

a variety of pink and orange to startlingly bright red through

all possible shades.

The flowers on this lemon variety are spectacularly large.

Another tree of many species is the Melaleuca. This lilac

pom-pom variety is a favourite of mine. A fairy young specimen

with aromatic leaves and bark, it is a large and dense bush in

my garden, a host to many nests of little birds and a very busy

place in Spring.

Eucalyptus ficifolia, a native of Western Australia, is just coming

into flower and bursting it's little caps off to reveal it's pretty

flowers. In full flower, the tree is one mass of colour.

Flowers brighten our days and you will find many more by clicking on

the Logo and adding your's as well.

SkyWatch ~ Shades of Sunset

With daily maxima having dropped from 41C to 18C I felt like

getting my winter woollies out again. All this chopping and

changing did however make for a splendid sunset.

A peek at the main event,

a slight shift to let you see the streak of greenish blue near

the horizon,

gentleness a little further south,

a complete change of mood slightly northward

and back to the main event which during these few moments

has managed to pale a fraction.

Please leave me a comment if you can. I will do my utmost to come and visit,

however, events in my life beyond my control have severely restricted my blogging.

Happy Skywatch everyone!

Our World & World Bird Wednesday - Pondlife

Sorry my posting has been rather sporadic lately, least said,

soonest mended, some skeletons are best left in the cupboard.

Haven't been anywhere much so my posts are close to home.

Another dip into the pond in our park, shooting across it hand

held, I was rather pleased with the result of my new Canon 600

with an Emron 270mm . The shot is nothing to write home about

but it is right across the pond and, to labour a phrase, a long shot.

Only when uploaded, did I notice the optional extra underneath

the platform.

Unfortunately too unfocused for a clear ID but from Stewart M's

identification of my other waterfowl, I would guess a Bush Hen.

I was amazed at the clarity I got when cropping out the Ibis

at their antics. There were many birds there that day, not just

the gander, the ducks and grebes but also a couple of cormorant

after the white-faced heron had hightailed it out of there on

hearing my approach.

The other interesting bird sighting was a pair of Emu the Prof

spotted in our little special tree woodlot at the top of our Windy

Hill paddock. That is our first sighting in over 40 years of Emu

this close to a settled area. Normally we see them in grasslands

near National Parks or Nature Reserves. There are so many

anomalies in wildlife movements this year that I wonder what

is happening.

Hope you all are having a fun and satisfying week.

SkyWatch ~ Sunrise on the Trot

Expecting more hot weather, I got up before the sun, grabbed

my camera and went for my daily constitutional walk. With

the extreme heat I had missed a few and my body had sent in a

written complaint in triplicate.

It was just light enough to see but the sun still had her sleepy

head tucked under the blankets.

As I headed up our undulating road, I stopped now and then,

usually after having attained yet another rise, to look back at

the sky. Didn't look like much . . .

At the next stop there seemed to be a bit of colour emerging,

reaching a yet higher elevation, suddenly she popped above

the horizon

and almost burned my eyeballs out but the colour was great.

Well, that's all folks! Time to hoof it back home keeping my

eyes lowered for safe keeping as well as the angle of my hat adjusted.

Thank you Skywatch Team for keeping this long standing meme going!

Our World & World Bird Wednesday - Goose on the Loose

Nothing really special, just one of my evening walks . . .

You may remember our goose forever sitting on infertile eggs?

Well, someone hearing of this at the cherry orchard our

granddaughters help out at during their holidays, offered a

gander. Granddaughter thought it was a kind gesture but laid

not much dependence on it. Imagine her surprise when next day

the lady was back with a box full of gander as a present.

The gander was duly installed in the farmyard but goosie was not

much interested as she had grown up with another gosling and a

matriarchal duck who was superseded by a bouncy, bossy bantam

who had met her untimely end by flying into the German Shepherd's

pen to steal his food.

What with one thing and another, Mr.Gander decided to

emigrate to the dam in the park where Goosie, who feels at

home among the dogs, cats and cars, occasional sheep and

horses in the farm yard, goes to visit and for an occasional swim.

Mr.Gander is more concerned with over-flying birds than with my

presence.

To get there, I climbed through a barbed wire fence, using the unavoidably

rattling chain on the gate instantly alerts the parrots who raise

the other birds.

While doing a photo session with the gander, a couple of cormorants??

lifted off our old diving platform. Sorry I can just show you a glimpse

of one, I inadvertently erased the shot of both of them.

The pond was teeming with life, the whole family of little grebes

was at home as well as a number of wood duck and black duck

and blackbirds coming down to drink.

One of the adults near the far side of the dam

and a very curious youngster who hotfooted over to within six

feet of where I was sitting on the crossing stones.

Isn't he just the cutest?

Some of the other residents keeping to the other shore

or having a quick bath on Golden Pond.

Just one more shot of the gander as the light fades, doing

his swan impression after an Olympic swim around the pond.

Since these few shots, the temperatures have been in excess of 40+C

so I have been housebound under a fan to prevent my brain melting

and leaking out of my ears.

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year and lots of fun visiting both

OUR WORLD and World Bird Wednesday. Both accessible from the

relevant Logos on my side bar.

Also linked to Weekend Walkabout, Watery Wednesday and Nature Notes

A New Year has begun . . .

The old year is washed away, a mixture of joy and pain, of

hope and utter frustration.

On New Year's Eve 2010, my beloved 22 year old cat Millie

left for good . . . no more moonlit rides on my broomstick.

A cat of distinction, my very personal friend and companion.

My broomstick sulks in a corner, I have no heart for flying solo.

Thank God for all my blogging friends who have kept me

partially sane through the shoals and shipwrecks of the past

year. I don't know what I would have done without those of

you who have become very special friends and all of you who

have left comments and/or are following my meagre

photographic efforts. My trusty Nikon became unfocused and

had to be sent to hospital. In some ways a good thing since I

replaced it by a Canon with slightly better optics. Yet both

cameras have their good and not so good points and I am looking

forward to my Nikon being resuscitated.

This year has many challenges ahead, both with the Prof and

my darling sister, I will be yo-yoing to Melbourne again shortly

to see her.

When things get too gloomy, I check out the wormholes, both

on Windy Hill, as well as a few other locations nearby.

Who knows when the call will come to step through one of them?

I wish you all the wonders that this world can provide if we just

keep our eyes and minds open. Stay well, be happy and dream . . .