Monday 26 January 2015

My Happy Australia Day

   

After finding a red-bellied black snake in the chook house this morning,
  this beautiful Glasswing Butterfly was a bit of light relief when it appeared in my garden!
  It is an interesting butterfly, the only Australian
 representative of a mainly African species according to my butterfly book.
It's wings are quite translucent and indeed glass like.




Our son-in-law came to the rescue on his day off to help us fix a computer problem.
 We had sausages for lunch (well it's Australia Day remember?!) 
Then more visitors in the shape of a couple of yellow-tailed black cockatoos.
 These birds never cease to catch my eye and make me want to fly up there with them,
 soaring over this wonderful countryside.




These bright spots of red in my neighbour's garden were a lot more welcome
 than the one in the hen house this morning!  
But that's Australia, and I've grown used to things here now.  It's my home.
( I wrote that last sentence and crossed it out so many times.)  
Can a person have more than one home?  My home is England and my home is Australia.  
I have no desire - no will - and see no need to choose.
  Come to think of it that makes me very lucky indeed!

What do you think? 

Happy Australia Day to you!

Saturday 24 January 2015

A baby wren graces my garden



How delightful it was today to watch a family of Superb Fairy Wrens flit amongst the flowers in my garden. By the time I raced for my camera and returned the only one left was this little fluffy baby, perhaps a little too scared to take off from his safe place.  So vulnerable and at the same time so resilient. My bird book describes their call as 'thin zizzing musical trills' and confirms that they do indeed inhabit open forest, swamps, coastal areas, rain forest and yes...gardens. 








The day started out fine then a misty rain crept up the valley towards us.
  By late afternoon it had cleared to a wispy duvet of cloud hovering over the farmland.
  A sliver of moon was visible in the soft pink evening sky.


I'll see if I can catch the colourful adult male in my camera for you next week.  He's a stunner!

Saturday 17 January 2015

Nine months gone


Nine long months since I posted on this blog.
 I could have hatched a sweet baby in that time. 
Well, maybe not!
But I do have a third grand child and a garden full of flowers. 
  



The evening sun sets in my rather English garden
 amidst the Australian rain forest. 




White-headed pigeon makes a "slow deep 'wooop-wuk', second part a soft gulp" sound.
 It really does, because I hear it in the background as I hasten to catch images of penstemon, salvia, catnip and daisies as the sun goes down behind the hill after a hot summers day.






This pigeon  inhabits rain forest, scrub and gardens according to 
Simpson and Day's Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. 
It's right! 
Can you hear it's soft sound beneath the whirr of bees and the cicada's chatter?




So can I !  
Lovely to be back!