A Touch of Paradise ~ The Kookaburra Kingdom

January 25, 2013 Joanne8 Comments

“~~Flamingos~~ Kookaburras walk, and sway in peace
Seeing this, it makes my troubles cease
The sun is hiding, leaving a pink scar
That stretches right across the sky….” ~ A Touch of Paradise sung by John Farnham.

Regular visitors will have become quite familiar with the next Australian icon I am featuring here, as part of my series of Australia Day posts ~ The Laughing Kookaburra.

Every time a kookaburra visits, it really is a Touch of Paradise in my back yard. Now would be the perfect time to click on the link of the song, written by the wonderful Australian musician Ross Wilson, and performed by John Farnham.

Now back to the kookaburras….

Kookaburras are part of the Kingfisher family, growing to a height on average of 42 cm. They are native to Australia, territorial and mate for life.

Their nests are made in the hollows of trees and both parents share the duties of caring for their young.

From watching the kookaburras each day as they come to feed in my garden, there are certain points I have noticed about their behaviour. Reading through the facts, so as I can tell you all a few actual factuals about these most recognisable of Australian birds, it is interesting to read about things that I have already noted!

Territorial groups of kookaburras flock together.

For example, they don’t arrive on my feeding table in pairs only, I can have any number of kookaburras here, sometimes up to eight at the same time, who intermingle amicably with one another. The facts confirm this to be so, that they do cohabit in a set area, even sharing the responsibilities of their young.

That explains another thing I have noticed about the young kookaburras, they will take food from any of the adults at the feeding table.

A timid baby, still finding its way in the big world.

So who belongs to who? Which adults do the baby kookaburras belong to?

It seems to me that in the Kingdom of Kookaburras, it simply doesn’t matter! The babies are taken care of by the multitudes. I guess you could say they watch out for each others backs!

Creamy coloured babies, like chocolate and milk.

The beautifully pristine and gloriously coloured baby birds are still quite shy when I take their food out to them, preferring to stay on the clothesline and watch me from afar….

….and then there’s Larry.

kookie 2 — This is Larry on the left, taking care of his, or perhaps another kookaburras baby. Who knows in the Kookaburras World. They all look out for one another.

Have I mentioned my old mate Larry before? He’s my Ultimate Tame Bird, out of all the birds who visit. I can hand feed Larry, he flies straight up to me and looks straight into my eyes, often with his head tilted to one side, as if questioning me.

If only he could tell me what he is thinking! A penny for your thoughts Larry?

When I asked my daughter Emma to feed Larry for me, so as I could take a photo of him being hand fed, Larry was a tad reluctant. "Who's this?", he seemed to be asking! — When I asked my daughter Emma to feed Larry for me, so as I could take a photo of him being hand fed, Larry was a tad reluctant. “Who’s this?”, he seemed to be asking!

When I am in the garden there is usually a kookaburra nearby. As much as I would like to think they are enjoying my company, the reality is that they are hoping I will rearrange some earth, disturb a worm or witchety grub, and faster than the bug can say “kookaburra”, it’s been swooped upon, flicked against a hard surface and eaten!

"There's gotta be a worm in here somewhere!" — “There’s gotta be a worm in here somewhere!”

Kookaburras will perch patiently on the branch of a tree for hours, watching, and waiting. Their ~~eagle~~ kookaburra eyes don’t miss a thing and once spotted, their prey doesn’t stand a chance!

Watching, waiting.... — Watching, waiting….

As the old wives tale would lead us to believe the kookaburras burst out into great choruses of laughter when there is rain about, and in years gone by housewives would swear by the accuracy of this tale, rushing into the garden to bring the washing in when the kookaburras started their song of so-called warning.

The truth of the matter is that their laughter is a warning….for other kookaburras to clear off! They are telling any stray kookies who may be lurking amid the nearby foliage that this area is taken!

Yes, this area is taken, by the Kings of the Bush, who have transformed my garden into A Touch of Paradise. 🙂

Australia · music · photography

Iconically pegged out to dry

January 23, 2013January 27, 2013 Joanne8 Comments

The Australian icon I will be focusing on today is something just a bit different and no, it is not a kookaburra, although they occasionally play a part in this story, being the gregarious birds that they are!

Today’s icon is the humble clothesline, or to be more precise, The Hills Hoist.

I’ll bet you didn’t see that one coming! 😉

The Hills Hoist, an Australian invention was first manufactured in Adelaide, South Australia in 1945 by Lance Hill and has become a standard item in the back yards of suburban Australia for several decades.

I would have been lost without my Hills Hoist during the years that my four children were growing up and even these days with only two children and two adults living at home, it surely does make washing day so much easier.

And as you can see, our Hills Hoist rotary clothes lines are not only useful for hanging out the washing to dry. Where would our kookaburras perch so near to the house without a clothesline being there? Mind you, they pay no regard to the fact that the clothes are clean before they hop upon their magical merry-go-rounds.

How do the folks in cold climates manage their washing days? I’ve heard that laundry rooms are built to be far bigger in countries where the weather is….um….not the best for hanging the washing outdoors to dry, shall I say.

Seriously, how do you dry your clothes when there is snow on the ground reaching up as high as the rooftops?! Are electric clothes dryers the norm in the Northern Hemisphere? When I contemplate such thoughts, I have to admit that perhaps I do take our predominantly fine weather for granted!

Speaking of the weather, the song I have chosen for you to listen to today is “Weather With You” from Crowded House. The members of Crowded House are technically New Zealanders but they did make their name here in Australia, so we have claimed them as our own.

The video was filmed in Victoria and shows a cute little old caravan travelling around with the band, which leads me to another question. Here in Australia, taking a holiday road trip and towing a caravan behind the car is quite common place, but I wonder if this is the way families take their holidays in other countries?

As much as I love my home and wouldn’t want to part with my creature comforts for any extended amount of time, I must admit to rather enjoying travelling with a caravan. In fact I have lived in a caravan twice during my younger years. Just last year I wrote about my experience of travelling and living in a caravan for four months at one stage in my early life in a post I called “A Sea Change – (AKA An Adventure with my Reckless Parents!)”

My clothesline features in a number of the photos I add here, so the next time you see my Hills Hoist, you will know that it is yet another Australian Icon.

“There’s a small boat made of china,
Going nowhere on the mantlepiece.
Do I lie like a loungeroom lizard,
Or do I sing like a bird released?

Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you,
Everywhere you go you always take the weather….” ~ Weather With You.

Australia · music · photography · summer

Sounds of Australia

January 22, 2013January 27, 2013 Joanne8 Comments

“Out on the patio we’d sit,
And the humidity we’d breathe,
We’d watch the lightning crack over cane fields
Laugh and think that this is Australia.” ~ Sounds of Then (This is Australia) ~ Gangajang.

This coming Saturday, the 26th of January, is Australia Day and to commemorate the day I thought it might be different to add a series of posts with photos that are typically Australian. Perhaps native to Australia. Or maybe those things that when a person from overseas sees them, they may smile and say “I recognise that, it’s Australian”.

It will be interesting to see how many icons I can come up with. I haven’t planned this idea out to any great degree at all! I will simply take each day as it comes, leading up to Australia Day, in typical Aussie fashion.

“She’ll be right mate!” No, I do not speak in that way myself, but again, it is typically Australian, typifying the laid-back Australia style of taking each day as it comes, which is just what I will do.

First in my series of the typically Australian is the Australian Magpie, or Cracticus tibicen. My particular magpie friend is a black backed magpie and the one who patiently posed today for a photo shoot is a male. His wife didn’t visit with him today, (she must have been cleaning the nest, or some other such magpie activity) so he dined alone on his fresh mince.

The brown wooden table beyond the magpie is usually regarded as the feeding table as it is really fit to be thrown away, so I have kept it for the birds to use. They seem to enjoy jumping around the table and chairs and I’m not in the least bit concerned that they will dirty it at all. But, the kookaburras really want the feeding table to be exclusively for their use at the beginning and end of the day, when they are around, so I let magpie eat from another newer table occasionally.

Also typically Australian in some of these photos, if you look carefully in the background, is the weeds that have popped up between the pavers of the patio over the last couple of weeks. Throughout the year we fight a constant battle against the weeds and when the heat of summer arrives, we don’t stand a chance of getting rid of them.

Ah well, this is Australia….

I wonder if you have ever heard the song of a magpie? It is a beautiful chortling sound, one which I am often woken by in the morning, when my magpie visitors are asking for their breakfast.

Click on this link I have found on YouTube and you will hear the song of a magpie…..

“Along the road the magpies walk
with hands in pockets, left and right.
They tilt their heads, and stroll and talk.
In their well-fitted black and white.

They look like certain gentlemen
who seem most nonchalant and wise
until their meal is served — and then
what clashing beaks, what greedy eyes!

But not one man that I have heard
throws back his head in such a song
of grace and praise — no man nor bird.
Their greed is brief; their joy is long.
For each is born with such a throat
as thanks his God with every note.” ~ Magpies, Judith Wright.

They are such tame birds, once they become used to being fed by you they sometimes even come up to the door to meet you. I’ve heard that some magpies have become so tame that they will walk into a house! That hasn’t happened to me, so far they have preferred to dine alfresco, and I do hope that they don’t ever decided to come indoors as my cats may not take too kindly to sharing their home with a magpie!

Talking about Australian icons would not be complete without some Australian music. Whilst many may have heard the old classics, like “Tie Me Kangaroo Down” and “A Pub With No Beer”, there are so many other songs that scream “Australia” to me. These are the songs that if I were to ever find myself in a far off land and hear these songs, I would long for home.

One such song is “Sounds of Then” by Gangajang.

enchanting · happiness · new beginnings · photography

A year in which I shall remain enchanted.

January 8, 2013 Joanne14 Comments

“They left the path, and clambered down the olive terraces, down and down, to where at the bottom the warm, sleepy sea heaved gently among the rocks. There a pine tree grew close to the water, and they sat under it, and a few yards away was a fishing boat lying motionless and green-bellied on the water. The ripples of the sea made little gurgling noises at their feet.” ~ From the book “The Enchanted April”.

A whole week has passed by and here we are, already ensconced in another new year.

I began contemplating my new year’s resolutions during the first couple of days of this year but my thoughts were short lived. New Year’s resolutions are a habit, I have resolved, a habit which I wish to break. Every year, without fail, I plan. Plans for blogging, plans for being organised, plans for healthy eating, plans for my garden, plans to alter the fact that my work takes over my life, that family takes over my life, chores take over my life. Why must we fill our brains with such negative thoughts, concentrating on everything that is wrong, planning ways in which we can change these wrongs into rights? (As I am writing, both of the two telephones I have at home have rung…another “non New Year’s resolution” springs to mind….why must I always be the person who my family have to ring when they have a question? I shouldn’t be so accessable. I’m writing, family!!)

So here we are, a whole week into the New Year, and I haven’t written one single blog post. “Why not?” I hear you ask, when all of my blogging friends have surged on into the New Year with the same writing momentum as they had during last year.

Here, I can correct the error of my ways. I have had, perhaps, between five and ten blog posts running around in my brain during the last week, none of which have ever made it to actual, physical, on-the-computer words. I do that often, you know. All of my posts, to my mind, have to have some form and structure, they need to be heading somewhere, have a point to them, and a tangible point at that. Well, that is one aspect of this year which is about to change! Why must every blog post have a point to it? A definite point or a message?

I don’t believe it has to! If it is a simple shared pleasantry, a special moment to be remembered, photos I have taken that I am pleased with, I can share them all here.

Sometimes, (make that often) my mind simply wanders around in a very orderly circle, with words that I should be writing down. If I were to write down those thoughts and read those thoughts back at a later hour, I may just find out that I have written something brilliantly profound.

Or perhaps not. But my words have been drifting off into the earth’s atmosphere, unanchored, never having been written, never having been read, never knowing whether they held any kind of significance to anyone. Forgotten words; forgotten moments.

Every single day of every year I have a book that I am reading, and there are many times when I read a passage in a book and think to myself, “I really should share those words”, yet I rarely do so. And when I do share the magical words with someone who is physically here with me, they usually do not understand the magic in the words, so the moment somehow seems lost. My reasoning for not sharing a few meaningful words from a book here, where my blogging friends “feel” words that my family somehow miss, is that no one would understand the significance of what I have written, unless they had already read the book.

I ask you, do the words have to have total and absolute significance, for another person to feel the joy of reading those few words? I don’t believe they do, so I will share a beautiful moment, a moment which made my heart sing, as I lost myself within the pages of imagination…

Yesterday, I read these words in my latest book that I started to read just this last week. I re-read those words, then re-read them again, for to me, the words held so much joy and the promise of happy, mindless days ahead. The book I am reading is “The Enchanted April”, written by Elizabeth Von Arnim and first published in 1922. I have seen the movie, but can barely remember it as it was so many years ago. Books tell the story so much more completely than a movie does though, don’t you think?

To set the scene, Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot have escaped England and their husbands, each with a different reason for wishing to escape, and have finally arrived, after an extremely harrowing journey (during which they had thought they were about to be murdered) at the small, medieval castle in Italy, which they have leased for the month of April.

“And there they were, arrived; and it was San Salvatore; and their suitcases were waiting for them; and they had not been murdered. They looked at each other’s white faces and blinking eyes very solemnly. It was a great, a wonderful moment. Here they were, in their medieval castle at last. Their feet touched its stones. Mrs Wilkins put her arm round Mrs Arbuthnot’s neck and kissed her. “The first thing to happen in this house”, she said softly, solemnly, shall be a kiss.” “Dear Lotty,” said Mrs Arbuthnot. “Dear Rose,” said Mrs Wilkins, her eyes brimming with gladness. “

As I read this passage of words, the whole scene to me was brimming with gladness. Such a simple story, such a simple speech, yet so profoundly beautiful. So I share it with you today, in the hope that you too can feel the anticipation felt by Rose and Lotty, as the friends begin their enchanted April in Italy.

Just as I begin my “Enchanted 2013”.

As 2013 opens its doors even wider, and I travel along the path of the days, wishing for change, yet not sure yet what those changes will be, wishing for a “word of the year” yet no word seems to encompass the entirety of the changes that I do know I wish to take place, I will write down my random thoughts, publish random photos I take, and not expect excellence and total clarity of mind before I write these thoughts down and click on the “publish” button, sending my thoughts out for the world to read.

If I have just a few words, simply to accompany a photo I have taken, I will add those. If I seem to be overflowing with words, as I seem to be today, I will write for a longer time.

I will try not to edit my words as I write, wishing always for my words to come straight from my heart.

And as 2013 draws to a close and I reflect back on the year that has been, if I have made some progress through the year and I can see an advancement, some change that has taken place, then it will have been an enchanting year.

blessings · challenges · friends · gardening · new beginnings · photography

Weekly Photo Challenge ~ My 2012 in Pictures

December 31, 2012December 31, 2012 Joanne20 Comments

The people at WordPress have challenged bloggers to search through their photographic archives for the last Weekly Photo Challenge for the year and for me, it hasn’t been easy to decide on which photos to choose for my final post of the year. I wonder how other bloggers have made their final choices and what has tilted the scales in favour of one photo, against another?

My main deciding factor has been to try to choose photos that I haven’t published this year, something perhaps just a tad different, although I must admit that I am a creature of habit. Nearly all of my photos could be filed under perhaps six headings ~ birds, my pets, my garden, sunsets, natural views and my family!

When I searched back to January, I had forgotten about the floods during that month! With the humidity of our Australian summer in our sub-tropical climate always present, January is not one of my favoured months weather wise, although the flood waters in our valley do make for a different view.

When the sun took a peek at the garden in February the flowers were thrilled, breaking out in bloom all over the place! I love these little trailing violets, a beautiful ground cover between the larger shrubs.

The humidity continued into March and the day I took a drive to Tyalgum, a small village about an hours drive from my home (and away from the coastal breezes!) the heat was almost unbearable! Some beautiful scenery along the way made up for the heat and it turned out to be a very pleasant trip after all.

During April, a visit to Fingal Beach was definitely a highlight of the month. This small child also appears to be enjoying himself, exploring the rock pool between the volcanic rocks along the beach.

This is one of my favourite photos of my Indian Ring Neck parrot, Charlie. When we brought Charlie home to live with us we had no idea whether Charlie was a he or a she, so he or she needed a name suited to either sex. I have recently reached the grand conclusion that Charlie is a she, as I’m sure she would have developed a brightly coloured ring around her neck by now, if she were a he. I love Charlie regardless, although the rest of my family don’t share my love for her. I seem to be Charlie’s “chosen person”, so she coos are tweets at me, allowing me to pat her and tickle her neck. It’s another story if another member of the family gets too close for comfort though! My little angel can be quite the devil at times!

During May, the photo-bug had set in big time for me and I had become the proud owner of my new “best friend”, a wonderful new Canon Powershot SX40 camera. The camera went with me everywhere (and usually still does!) and I enjoyed many an hour at the beach, taking photos of anything and everything. I love the simplicity of this long-legged bird walking through the ripples in the water.

Like I said, mid year I would photograph anything! I loved experimenting with anything that may (or may not) look good in a photo, trying out different angles, in varying light throughout the day. Standing between a clump of palm trees in the middle of the day, blue sky above, seed pods shimmering in the sunlight, turned out to be one of my successful photos!

Through experimenting with photos I have also discovered that certain birds are very photogenic, with our beautiful kookaburras being some of my favourite subjects. I’m sure they pose for me when they see the camera!

And speaking of posers, here is my adorable little garden helper. She also helps around the house, with the washing, making the bed, washing the dishes….but even an enthusiastic little helper needs to take a break some times!

My gorgeous friends the magpies are another photogenic subject. Not a day goes by without they visit my garden for some scraps of food and I am always rewarded with their happy, chortling song.

This little Butcher Bird is a fairly new visitor to my garden and he and his little mate have made themselves right at home during the latter part of this year.

How did the year come to an end so quickly? As I finish writing, it is a mere twenty minutes to midnight and I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year! May 2013 bring you many blessings, happiness, good friends, loving family, and prosperity in everything you do.

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