Early Morning

Join me! I am indulging in a my favorite morning occupation. Hot cup in hand I am sitting in my rocking chair in front of the glass sliding door in the family room. The room faces north and east and the chair is angled for me to watch the first gleams of the rising sun.

If I look a little further to the north there are several very tall stalks from my neighbor's yard. I think they are bamboo and the birds are enjoying them. At this hour the light changes very quickly. I amuse myself by trying to recognize bird silhouettes.

All during the day an assortment of birds fly on and fly off. Most of the birds are content to use the stalks as perches but the White Cockies seem to enjoy the taste. Bit by bit they break off the tops. These birds put on quite a show the other morning as they jostled for position and called raucously. Unfortunately white birds against grey sky don't make great photos. Late yesterday afternoon some Galahs flew in. I always think they are such pretty birds and against the late afternoon blue sky they looked even better.

For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday

Yard Birds

When I first came here to live I planted a lot of different palm trees in the yard. I had never lived this far north in the sub-tropics before and was delighted with all the palms that grew easily. (All you people in the northern hemisphere remember that you have an upside down view of where tropical climates are!!!!) Of all the different palms I planted this one is my favorite.It is a Bismarckia Nobilis. I love the blue color of its foliage.

Then the other afternoon I noticed a couple of Blue-faced Honeyeaters (Entomyzon cyanotis)sitting high on one of the leaves. I have tried for good photos of them over the last couple of days but when I was photographing them yesterday afternoon they suddenly started screaming and dive bombing me! I looked around and found my cat had followed me around .  These birds can be very aggressive! The dog used to keep them away from the house and in control! I wonder if they are nesting up in that palm? They are the only birds that I know that like to find a palm leaf partly folded in on itself and then build a nest closely folded in there.

For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday

Around The Bay

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I decided to go down to Tin Can Bay and enjoy looking around the shoreline. There are always numbers of boats which use this part of the Strait as an anchorage.

I have often seen dinghies at the edge of the bay with someone rowing out to the larger boats. Sometimes then one of the boats will start to motor away and sometimes I think the owner is just checking out his boat and maybe doing some maintenance.

I started out at Norman Point where there is a small sand bank that often has birds sitting at the edge of the water. I expected to see at least Gulls and Terns but was a bit surprised when there was nothing at all. Then I saw a man and his off-leash dog that was enjoying a romp through the shallows! No birds would stay around with that amount of disturbance. I heard a Pied Oystercatcher flying over and saw a pair of them roosting on the southern side of the point. These were the only birds there also and I wondered if the dog had already enjoyed running along this stretch of beach. Both birds looked as if they were resting but their red eyes were watching me.

Down at the Crab Creek end of the foreshore I was surprised to see a group of Pelicans roosting in shallow water. They were all taking the opportunity for a good preening. (I really like the way the early morning light glints across the water but I find this light creates challenging conditions for photos!)

For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday