Wild Bird Wednesday - Hooray for Big Birds!

Nipped down to Goolwa for the day and spied these below the 

barrages on the Murray River.

Three pelicans pole sitting

our pelicans are really big birds up to 1.9m

since that is bigger than me,  even I can see them

getting into the swing of things

this White-faced Heron

also a bird of some stature that looks deceptively small at a

distance but can be up to 1m

I have stood next to one that was higher than my waist

put them all together and it looks like a dwarf next to 

the big pelicans

Stewart, any hope of an ID for the waders in the background?

I know they are not very clear,

unfortunately, due to a senior's moment, I had drained the 

battery on my canon with the 500mm lens

No idea what kind of ducks they are either.

With thanks to Stewart for hosting

WIld Bird Wednesday

OUR WORLD & Nature Notes - A Different Perspective

Last week I went to visit a dear friend in Waikerie 

on the Murray River.

I took the upper road along the river, with views of the swollen

river on one side and dry-land farming on the other.

It is a hundred mile trip one way so I stopped to stretch my legs

and met this sweet little stunted succulent plant with the prettiest

little flowers.

The last ten miles were through citrus groves and the air was 

drenched with the heady, heavy scent of blossom.

I rolled down all the windows and became saturated  and almost

overpowered by the pervading perfume.

At my friend's orchard the oranges were heavy with fruit and

covered in blossom.

Her little dog Muffy came along everywhere we went

and as soon as they were let out, the Guinea Fowl made a sprint

for the orchards

Orchids in the shade-house as we headed back for a cup of tea.

Laden with fruit and tired from the 200 mile drive in one day,

I got home to my very different farm well after dark, 

a very happy bunny indeed.

Joining OUR WORLD

and Nature Notes

Wild Bird Wednesday - Masked or White-Breasted?? Woodswallow

A few hundred yards down river from that noisy water-skier

(post below)

where there is a patch of wetland, these swallow came in to 

roost in their hundred as the sun sank lower.

Hard to say whether they are Masked, or White-Breasted

swallows, I need Stewart's expert opinion on to put me right on 

that one.

Whatever they are called, they were an inspiration to watch

and photograph.

Aren't birds wonderful?

Linking to
Wild Bird Wednesday

OUR WORLD - Curved Balls and Water Skiing

As some of you may have noticed, my blogging and visiting

have both gone to the dogs. Life has been serving me a 

succession of curved balls and my fielding skills have 

unfortunately deserted me.

I have missed you all.

Here are a few shots I took in March, when times were happier

and we had a bit of a holiday in Renmark on the Murray River.

This chap was having great fun raising lots of spray to show off.

In fact, so much spray, he became invisible.

Then, like a ghostly apparition, there he was again.

I sincerely hope you are all having a great time where ever you are

in OUR WORLD!

Our World & World Bird Wednesday -- Riverbank Birds

Life was chucking rocks at us for a while but I'm more or less 

back again.

A few shots from our trip to Renmank on the Murray River.

The well kept lawns at the Holiday Park offered ideal foraging

for this immature Dusky Moorhen, Gallinula tenebrosa,

as well as any number of Purple Swamphens, Porphyrio porphyrio.

These two look innocuous enough 

but I certainly wouldn't want to mess with this chap!

Small wonder this Masked Lapwing, Vanellus miles, looks a

little wary. 

Although the Lapwing has spurs on it's wings, it was not about 

to get too close to this big fella.

It did get a trifle windy at times and feathers flew

and even a bird can have a bad hair day. 

Just look at the expression on it's face.

I sincerely hope you are all enjoying your life, remember, it has a use by date.

World Bird Wednesday - Turn of a Tern

Sorry guys 'n gals, my camera is on the blink so I draw on a

few shots from times gone by.

On one of my trips to Goolwa, near where the Murray finally

makes it's way to the sea if the mouth is not silted up in a drought.

In the dark and decidedly threatening sky I spied an Arctic Tern,

Sterna paradisaea.

Yep, that speck in the sky is, da da!!! an Arctic Tern believe it

or not . . .

with a little iPhoto enhancement, I was even able to identify

this graceful conglomerate of feathers.

I just loved that swallow tail in the above shot and the splayed

tail at the turn below.

and the wings held high like a Cessna with it's wheels tucked up.

PS this was a lifer for me and I wondered what an Arctic Tern was doing

so close to the Antarctic.

Enjoy the many birds at World BIrd Wednesday and thanks to Springman

at Pine River Review, we can all join in.

SkyWatch ~ Wodonga Sunrise

Wodonga, on the Victorian side of the Murray River with

Albury on the the opposite bank in New South Wales. Both

cities are full of beautiful parks and gardens.

Just a few pictures for you of my sunrise walk after a night

in Wodonga. Our Motel backed onto this beautiful park with

a 1.26km walk around the lake.

The morning was chilly with frost on the ground and rising

vapours drifting over the lake.

It made for some spectacular light effects as the first birds

took to the sky

and a lone black swan enjoyed his breakfast.

It was an exhilarating walk and I circumnavigated the lake twice

enjoying the awakening wonders.

Another week, another SkyWatch, thank you marvellous SkyWatch

Team for this great meme.

SkyWatch ~ Goolwa Sunset

Last weekend I had a wonderful day with a friend in Goolwa.

We treated ourselves to remarkably good fish and potato

cakes which we ate on the riverbank and had our eyes and souls

filled with this glorious sunset.

These shots are in the order I took them. As it developed,

it was so awesome that our heads just swivelled 360 degrees

Bridge to Hindmarsh Island.

as we ooohed and aaahed at the rapid developments.

I will give you further instalments in the weeks to come.

It gets much better than this as it goes along.

All photos enlarge as always.

Click the Logo to join in or fly the skies over the world.

Thanks to all at the SkyWatch control centre for the smooth

running of this meme.

Watery Wednesday ~ Barrages at Goolwa

The glassy Murray River water banked up above the barrages

at Goolwa

noisily rushing through

providing splendid fishing grounds for this Australian darter,

Anhinga novaehollandiae.

Now you see him

now you don't.

All photos enlarge.

Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy we can all join in to this meme and

get our feet wet.

Watery Wednesday ~ The Mighty Murray Brought Low

The mighty Murray River brought to its knees by drought and
excessive plundering of its water for irrigation and water supplies
to townships hundreds of miles away.
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Barely managing a ripple.
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A lonely seagull surveys the exposed sandbanks.
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You can tell its normal width by the trees on its banks. Now
it is so shallow you can walk across where paddle-steamers
once plied their trade. The lakes further down its course have
dried up and its mouth to the sea has been silted over for
many a year.
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Click to enlarge if you wish.
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2sweetnsaxy hosts this meme. Click on the Logo to get your feet wet.