I must confess to having an addiction ~ I simply can’t resist taking photos of kookaburras. My addiction began many years ago when I met my first tame kookaburra, who I named Larry.
When I saw this beautiful boy atop my clothesline this morning I first took a photo from afar. Until I approach a kookaburra, I am never sure whether they are tame or shy. Kookaburras with both characteristics visit my garden these days.
Recently, I have noticed several kookaburras have become more trusting, and allow me to hand feed them. This has created something of a dilemma for me, as once upon a time I had just my one tame bird, Larry. I recognised this bird just after I approached him and spoke to him though ~ it was faithful old Larry. While the other tame birds view me with caution, Larry is cool. Nothing phases Larry. Nothing phased this bird.
When I wanted to walk past the clothesline to take a photo of Mount Warning, I politely told him not to be afraid, I just wanted to take a photo. He calmly looked at me without even so much as flinching. That confirmed it was Larry.
When we heard the distance chorus of kookaburra laughter, Larry became alert. He stopped and listened, and I felt sure he would fly away to investigate the commotion. Instead, he shook himself, and fluffed up his feathers.
Larry looked this way and that, listening, completely ignoring me clicking away with my camera directly beneath where he sat.
With his feathers fluffed up, Larry shook out a wing, as if to fly away, but instead he stayed. His stance shows the expanse of his wing, and the brown and beige stripes running the length of his tail. They are magnificent birds.
I could not believe the change in his feathers! I have seen kookaburras fluffed up against the cold before, but this was the first time I have seen it closely, and in warm weather. Their individual feathers are surprisingly fine and delicate for such a robust bird.
Larry had been the perfect model for me, so definitely deserved a reward. 🙂
When he saw the food, Larry flew down to the fence to eat. He may have had to share his reward with a fly – it’s there if you look closely – then with a full belly and flattened feathers, off he flew to parts unknown. ❤
If I could bottle up the sea breeze I would take it over to your house
And pour it loose through your garden
So the hinges on your windows would rust and colour
Like the boats pulled up on the sand for the summer
And your sweet clean clothes would go stiff on the line
And there’d be sand in your pockets and nothing on your mind ~ Josh Pyke.
Summer wasn’t shy today about letting us know it had arrived. At 31°C and 88 percent humidity, it felt like the middle of summer and not the first day. Tomorrow’s prediction is for 35°C (95°F).
Regardless of the weather, I had a very special visitor today, my daughter Emma and her three-and-a-half month old son, Eli. Today, Emma turned 28. I apologise profusely every year for having her at such a hot time of year, which also happens to be the month of Christmas so her birthday can easily be overshadowed by another significant event. This birthday though, as Emma is now a mother herself and realises the futility of my tongue-in-cheek comment, we agreed that babies usually arrive on the day of their choice.
After Emma and Eli headed home, I spent some time Christmas gift shopping online. Even though Australia is travelling incredibly well Covid-wise, I’m still a bit of a scaredy-cat about spending time in crowds. Perhaps more to the point, it saves me time to shop online when I’m still sorting, cleaning, tidying and decluttering my house.
Maggie in a Tizz.
During the afternoon I heard a commotion out in the front garden. Noisy Miner birds – who are named “noisy” for a reason! – were kicking up a ruckus in the tree at the top of our garden, their squawks intermittently interrupted by the sound of a distressed Magpie.
I tried to ignore the noise, but it got the better of me. Even the two dogs sprawled out beside me got up and peered out the door, as if investigating the situation. The dogs know, just as I do, that magpies and miners are friends. If a miner carries on a treat as they were doing today, there’s a threat. I imagined one of the neighbours cats may be lurking around the tree.
Ignoring the noise wasn’t working for me, so I ignored the heat instead, and trudged to the top of the hill to investigate. Whatever the threat was, it seemed to be in the tree, which meant it could be a snake wrapped around a high branch sheltering from the heat of the day.
This is what I found –
A Pee Wee!
We occasionally see Magpie Larks in the garden, and I have noticed recently we have one dropping into the back garden each morning after the other birds have finished eating the food I give them. Magpie Larks are another native Australian bird, affectionately known as Pee Wees. They have a very pretty song and seem completely harmless, so goodness knows why the magpies objected so much to the visit. Maybe the magpie family feel that they “own” my yard, and the tree being in our yard belongs to them.
Satisfied that one tiny pee wee posed no threat to my lovely magpie family, I paused to take a photo of Mount Warning, which could be seen today, although not as clearly visible as it could be (first photo).
Later tonight at around sunset, I took another photo of the mountain. Dark patches of cloud had rolled in, and we didn’t see the beautiful orange sunset sky we have had lately.
The opening words of today’s post are song lyrics from Josh Pyke, an Australian singer, whose creativity with words conjures images of immense beauty when describing the most mundane moments of everyday life. This song is called The Summer, so very appropriate for today. I love this song as the words romanticise the one season of the year that I struggle to cope with. For anyone interested, here’s the rest of the lyrics to The Summer ~
But every year it gets a little bit harder
To get back to the feeling of when we were fifteen
And we could jump in the river upstream
And let the current carry us to the beginning where
The river met the sea again
And all our days were a sun-drenched haze
While the salt spray crusted on the window panes
We should be living like we lived that summer
I wanna live like we live in the summer
We should be living like we lived that summer
I wanna live like we live in the summer
We should be living like we lived that summer
I wanna live like we live in the summer
And I’ll remember that summer as the right one
The storms made the pavement steam like a kettle
And our first goodbye always seemed like hours
In the car park in between my house and yours
And if the summer holds a song we might sing forever
The winter holds a bite we’d never felt before
But time is like the ocean
You can only hold a little in your hands
So we swim before we’re broken
Before our bones become
Black coral on the sand
We should be living like we lived that summer
I wanna live like we live in the summer
We should be living like we lived that summer
I wanna live like we live in the summer
We should be living like we lived that summer
I wanna live like we live in the summer
So if I could bottle up the sea breeze I would take it over to your house
And pour it loose through your garden ~ Josh Pyke.
For a while now, husband has been trying to convince me to go to a local kitchen installation showroom to find some inspirational ideas for our kitchen renovation. What with uni, I have constantly resisted, but now we are actually getting into the reno, I made an appointment for 11am today.
As soon as my daughters heard I planned to go out, they organised me to have morning tea with them first! So we met at a lovely little coffee shop beside the Tweed River in Tweed Heads.
Little Aurora just loves her special “coffee” – a babycino – so seeing her so excited when her cup arrived, I just had to take a few photos.
For a two-year-old, she manages a “big girl’s cup” very well. (I think she’s had a lot of practice!)
And she didn’t plan on leaving one tiny bit in her cup! Her face looked very chocolatey by the time she had finished. 🙂
I had limited time though, so had to have a quick cuddle with both Aurora and Eli before I left. Aurora wanted to play her new favourite song for me, which is from a movie I haven’t seen yet.
And I had a big cuddle with handsome little Eli before I had to leave too. 🙂
When I arrived back at my car, I could see three pelicans in the distance, so had to take a quick photo of them before I left.
It was really worth the trip to the kitchen showroom. Everything I have on my wish-list was there – the doors and door-knobs I like, tiles, taps, cupboard fittings … we were so impressed that we have a rep coming to our house tomorrow to quote on a complete new kitchen. That will save a lot of time and effort for husband who has a million-and-one other projects to work on anyway.
The down side is that they are booked up until February next year, but we can still install the new range so we can use it over Christmas. It’s a free-standing cooker, so the new kitchen can be fitted around it.
In Mount Warning news, the valley is a tad hazy this afternoon, but we haven’t had a storm today for a change. It’s awfully humid though, so there’s probably rain about.
It’s our Labour Day long weekend, so husband and I spent the day in the front garden today. (I should also mention that daylight savings started for us this weekend too.) We had already spent a lot of time out there during winter, weeding, pruning, planning and mulching, but of course, now the weather is warming up the grass is growing faster and the occasional weed peeks through the mulch.
We pulled out a few random weeds in the garden beds we’d already tended, then while husband mowed the lawn – it takes a while because it’s a pretty big area – I finished weeding a garden right up the top of the hill, next to the road. I took the photo of the mountain today from right next to the garden bed I was working on.
For the past couple of days I have been hearing the cheeping of a baby bird. Up until today I haven’t sighted it, but today, I did. Mama magpie spent the day either searching for food, or sitting on the branch high up in my Lemon Scented Gum Tree next to her fledgling. I took some photos, and this is the best I could get.
You should be able to see some downy white feathers there. Hopefully it won’t be too long before the parents bring the baby down to the garden to “introduce” their newest addition. I didn’t see father magpie today, so I’m wondering if there might be another fledgling that he’s taking care of elsewhere. I don’t even know if that’s something birds might do – split the care. I’m sure I will soon find out.
I’ve been feeding magpies for so many years now, and every year when the baby birds arrive it’s still an exciting event. 🙂
In My World 