Tag: baby magpie

Australia · kitchen renovation · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · spring · Tweed Valley

Hazy, blustery, and a beautiful sunset

Joanne8 Comments

The weather has been pretty ordinary today. Although the sun has been shining, the wind hasn’t let up for a minute, and the crystal clear valley is hazy again after being washed clean by Saturday’s storm.

I didn’t know what I would end up with today photo-wise, but tonight we had a very pretty sunset. Mind you, I didn’t stay outside long to take the photo, the wind was quite cold!

This afternoon I had a sweet little visitor again. Daddy magpie turned up with baby mags, and they both got stuck into the bird seed I had left out for the honeyeaters. They seemed to enjoy it too.

This baby is still very young, but it seems to be a confident flyer. I see it often flying around up high with its parents.

On Saturday afternoon – during the power outage we had, as it turned out – we had a kitchen designer here who made us an offer to replace the whole kitchen which we simply couldn’t refuse! They are booked up with new kitchen installations until February, but it seems from what we have been told that we will have a kitchen filled with tradesmen for a few days, and everything will be finished when they leave. That includes removing the old kitchen, replacing all the cupboards, installing the new rangehood and range cooker – everything! So I’m pretty excited about that. 🙂

Australia · clouds · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · spring · subtropical weather · Tweed Valley · University

Drama in the valley, after the storm

Joanne5 Comments

We had a pretty wild electric storm overnight. I’m not sure how long the rain, crashing and flashing continued, but this morning the valley looked stunning! I could have continued taking photos all day as the appearance of the ranges and Mount Warning changed constantly. The whole atmosphere felt different, washed clean by the rain and shining brilliantly, with moody clouds arriving, swirling, creating some magic, then moving along. Even tonight after sunset, the drama in the cloudy sky continued.

We also had our first visit in the front garden from this year’s baby magpie. 🙂

I submitted one assignment yesterday morning and now I’m madly working on my final assignment which is due at midnight, Wednesday. My eyes need a rest, but the end is sooooo close …

 

5:45am in the valley

 

Condong sugar mill

 

6am in the valley

 

6:45am

 

7am

 

Recently hatched baby magpie

 

More drama tonight in the valley
Australia · birds · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · new · spring · Tweed Valley

First 2020 Fledgling Sighting

Joanne7 Comments

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. 🙂