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Australian bird life, a precious Australian resource.

26/2/2012

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A Kookaburra in the natural woodland above a stream

Bridgeman Downs, Brisbane Australia.
A short walk from our daughters house there is a wonderful park with a large area of natural woodland. This area has several walks and trails spread out through the woods. The first thing you notice is the cacophony of sound coming from the tree tops. This is comprised of the calls, of the many varieties of birds that live here, all claiming and demonstrably staking out their individual territories. The incredible variety and colourful plumage of some of these Australian birds is breathtaking. The State of Queensland government is to be applauded for their foresight, in setting aside areas such as this, where the natural wildlife and birds can exist in their near natural environment, alongside the encroaching development of the Brisbane city suburbs.

A slideshow of some of the many varieties of birds I came across during our visit to Australia. ϡ ❦ ϡ ❦ ϡ ❦

I have a great interest in bird life and all things avian. I have always admired the way birds make use of the different natural resources, and their ability to forage and survive.The great adaptability that ensures their survival using flight, and camouflage, or not, in the case of the more colourful species.

Galahs and Friarbirds feeding and foraging.

I made this slideshow presentation by using some of the photographs composed of just two of the more colourful varieties that I encountered.
The Galahs were feeding on some scrub vegetation and weeds in front of a house that was being developed. Sadly the area they were feeding in was concreted over while we were there.
The Helmeted Friarbird would arrive several times a day to feed on a Grevillea bush in the garden, there would be a loud harsh sort of a squawk as he or she came in to feed. I think this was designed to frighten away any smaller honey-eating birds that were already feeding on the bush.

Love in the treetop canopy

These two Cockatoos were very high in the tree top canopy. I was on a very early morning walk when a loud squawk and a flash of white alerted me to their presence. I was very lucky to freeze myself, aim the camera and I got this wonderful video of them greeting and actually locking beaks together passionately.

Bush Turkeys set up home in the woods.

I was strolling along a track in the woodland, in the early hours one day, when I came across a Bush turkey standing in the middle of the path in front of me. I stopped, and noticed he was watching something happening off the track. Two other Bush turkeys were in the process of setting up home and building a nest. I love the way the male, fusses around the female, giving her encouragement as she literally digs in ready to lay her eggs.
Listen to the birds in the background.

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A Sign of the Times?

16/2/2012

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Margaret and I were wandering around an indoor market, taking shelter from a showery and cold day, in a pretty, but seedy looking, run down area on the outskirts of a large seaside town. There were numerous stalls set out selling everything from knick-knacks to new clothing and home grown local produce. The market was packed with many families and people of all age groups. Some from the local area, and many visitors from further afield taking advantage of the shelter afforded by the market.
We were both a little weary from wandering around, and we decided to have a refreshing cup of tea in one of the several café's, that were strategically dotted around the market area. We sat in a seat at a table by a large window, overlooking some purpose-built stalls, one of which, was a smart looking little construction, occupied by a smartly dressed, well turned out young man, with a re-assuring manner and smile to match. The sign emblazoned above this stall in very large eye-catching letters shouted! ANY GOLD BOUGHT.
The market was extremely busy in this indoor area as many people were drawn in by the inclement weather. As we sat enjoying our refreshment, we noticed quite a number of people in conversation with our young gold merchant, obviously negotiating, and he appeared to be doing quite a good trade. We then took to remarking on the people who were doing the business, there were quite a number of fairly young people, some housewives and some more mature adults. A very mixed set of folk, who overall, looked as unlikely to have enormous amounts of gold to sell as Midas or Aladdin had before their wishes were granted.
After some idle thought and speculation, the obvious conclusion we drew, was that as a result of the economic situation and the general tightening of belts; Grannies gold was being sold, along with many other family heirlooms to fund peoples bills and lifestyle. A very sad reflection of the times indeed!

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A Walk on the Wild and Wintry side

15/2/2012

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Margaret and I had volunteered to take part in a two mile walk, visiting the woods, parks and seashore of Gunton in Suffolk, which is about one and a half hours drive, from where we live in Norfolk.
We assembled outside Gunton Hall. About twenty people, mostly on the mature side of fifty years old, and our erstwhile, knowledgeable leader and guide Michael. The rain was falling lightly, washing away the final traces of the snow that we have been experiencing in this part of the world recently.
Michael gave us an illuminating, fact filled talk on the structure and history of Gunton Hall, then we cheerfully set off on our two mile wintry walk. Our first stop was the lake, which was partially frozen over and looked pretty bleak, there were several Mallard ducks skating on, and enjoying the frozen parts of the surface,

The bird life around here is prolific, and we encountered many types of ducks and common woodland birds. We wandered along a quite muddy trail through Gunton woods, observing the trees and learning much from Michael about the make up and history of these woods. The wonderful variety of woodland trees on display, and the incredible amount of uses that the woodland is put to by the local community, not least as a communal resource for local schools and general entertainment.
We then arrived at Gunton church, which is an eighteenth century, round towered church, these round towered churches are quite common along the Eastern coastline. We visited the interior of this thriving village church, before setting off on our walk again.

We then took to the road and walked for quite a distance to the coastline, past fields and common land covered in bracken in it's brown Winter foliage. The rocky coastline is bleak, with the relentless waves rolling in covering the man made breakwaters. Coastal erosion is a major problem along this coastline and Michael was able to illuminate our walk with many interesting facts about past houses that are now under water.
From the seashore we made our way along the country lanes back to base, tired but cheerfully seeking a welcome cup of tea and a comfortable sit down. A walk to remember! 〤◕‿◕〤

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A National Trust visit to Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk

13/2/2012

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As an antidote to the extremely cold winds and snowy weather we are currently experiencing here in Norfolk, I thought I would go through some of last years photo albums and deliberately select the "polar" opposite. These pictures were shot on a visit to the National Trust property, Felbrigg Hall, which is not very far from where we live.
There is a very well kept walled garden in the grounds of the hall, we spent a very rewarding couple of hours just wandering around the gardens, taking in the colourful display of flowers. The walls built around the garden shelter the plants, and allow all sorts of exotic plants and flowers to thrive. There were also a couple of open greenhouses that contained many potted chillies, cacti and other hot house plants. We were also surprised to see quite a good crop of conference pears, and apples on some trees that had been trained to climb the gardens walls.
The National Trust are also promoting "grow your own" allotments, and there were some very well maintained allotment kitchen gardens on display. These were rented out to members of the local community, who with the support of the Felbrigg Hall full time gardeners, had done a wonderful job of laying them out and keeping them producing some wonderful crops. I was very impressed with the unique choice of crops, and different gardening styles of the local gardeners. Each allotment had a notice board saying who was responsible for creating it, and telling visitors something about themselves and their allotment. There were also some free range chickens roaming around, who was responsible for these was not immediately apparent, but they fitted into the scene beautifully.
We enjoyed a very interesting day there, and we would recommend the visit to anyone planning a trip to East Anglia.

(Except the baby bird which I had photographed earlier in the day in our garden, I could not resist leaving him in the album.)

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Painting with used tea bags!

11/2/2012

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Margaret and I had the pleasure of attending a water colour instruction course run by Jackie Devereaux, a watercolour artist who lives in France. We were both very impressed with her style of teaching and the wide range of elements of watercolour painting she was able to cover in a very short space of time.

One very interesting element of the course was her introduction to the assembled class of
an unusual idea and technique of painting on used tea bags. Jackie said the idea came out of Africa.
"First take a tea bag-, make and drink and enjoy a refreshing cup of tea.
Keep the used tea bag and cut its top off, open the bag, empty the dregs of tea and rinse the bag.
Leave the bag to dry, then glue the bag to a piece of paper and begin to paint on it"

Here are some of the results! Very interesting and lovely effects.

Check this Slideshow out of Jackie at work!

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Nonsense!

10/2/2012

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I downloaded this surreal odd image from the web as I could not resist thinking abut the logic that must have been applied by the person that constructed it.
There is a birds nest, which two of our Avian friends have gone to a lot of trouble to construct. An incredible amount of work has gone into this, selecting and finding the materials, and knitting the whole creation together.
The nest contains six eggs, which appear to be broken, not wildly smashed, but gently opened and the contents missing presumed to have been consumed. Our afore mentioned Avian friends are nowhere to be seen as they have probably got over the initial shock of discovering their labours have come to nothing and gone to raise a family elsewhere.
Such is Mother Nature, red in tooth and claw!

The illogical and nonsensical element of the pictorial construction, lies in the spoon and fork , casually displayed on either side of the nest suggesting that these were responsible for the crime. A casual observer might suppose that these are in place waiting for the next course to appear. However this raises the question of what was actually used to commit such a heinous crime, as to rob our Avian friends of their six offspring and their home, for the incredibly small amount of nourishment that these six eggs would provide.
Perhaps the constructor of this nonsensical display was creating what they considered to be a work of Art???
That is my practice rant of the day 乂⍱‿●乂.

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Australian bird life, a precious Australian resource.

A slideshow of some of the many varieties of birds I came across during our visit to Australia. ϡ ❦ ϡ ❦ ϡ ❦

Galahs and Friarbirds feeding and foraging.

Love in the treetop canopy

Bush Turkeys set up home in the woods.

A Sign of the Times?

A Walk on the Wild and Wintry side

A National Trust visit to Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk

Painting with used tea bags!

Nonsense!

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