World Bird Wednesday - Nankeen Night Heron

On the last afternoon in Perth I managed to sneak away to a local lake – it was so full of life I think it may have been making coal! I had seen it the night before from Kings Park – the highest point in Perth – and it looked like a cut off section of the Swan River.



The best find was this immature Nankeen Night Heron. It was just sitting there near the water’s edge. It was so cooperative I actually began to suspect in was dead. But I did eventually see it move! Hard to believe this was taken in a place surrounded by main road in peak hour traffic!

You can find more birds from around the world at World Bird Wednesday.

You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the birds.

Our World Tuesday - Perth

I spent most of last week in Perth – hence the early posts and the late replies. Strange how exhausting a day’s work can be when you’re away from home.


Took a few pictures as I walked out to find dinner.
Perth feels much younger than Melbourne (it is!) It feels like you are visiting your energetic younger brother for the weekend! Many of the buildings in the CBD are very new – all glass and reflections. But now and them you find an older building. These are a few of the pictures I took.
You can find more places from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

You can find the most recent post to my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the pictures.

Macro Monday - 703 (or 704)

There was a ‘fun day’ at school this week – the Grade 6 kids are nearing the end of Primary School and they get to organize a day of fun and games.

One of the games was “Guess the number of Sweets in the jar” and with a guess of 703 my daughter got within one of the real figure! While the outcome may not please our dentist or the diabetic association – it caused (and continues to cause!) much excitement.


Thought the colours would lend themselves to a bit of a close up.

You can find more macro shots here at Macro Monday.

Enjoy the close ups!

School Sky - Skywatch Friday

Busy week is over. Flight back to home arrived at 11:40 pm! It’s been a long week – apologies for lack of replies – will get on to those as soon as I can fully open my eyes!

Was in involved in a school fund raiser last weekend – lots of kids trapped in a school hall by thunderous rain! Stepped outside for a moment in an attempt to regain my sanity and was greeting by this sky trapped between passing storms. Only had my phone as a camera – so I’m pleasantly surprised by the results.


Some of the ‘clouds’ in this picture are actually sheets of rain being lit up by the setting sun flashing though a hole in an otherwise solid sky. It was pretty remarkable I have to say.

You can find more skies from around the world at SkyWatch Friday.

You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the skies.

World Bird Wednesday - Australasian Pelican

Busy week ahead – so, posts are going up early!

Here we have two Australasian Pelicans – count the legs if you missed the sleeping one in the front!

I can only assume that the bird with its beak open is getting a drink – it really was throwing down with rain at the time! It would wait a few minutes in this position, close its beak, give its head a good shake and they open up again! Maybe it had eaten some bad fish!

You can find more birds from around the world at World Bird Wednesday.

You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the birds.

Our World Tuesday - Cape Otway Lighthouse

Busy week ahead so posting early!

A few weeks ago we visited Cape Otway Light house. Very splendid place, as lighthouses often are. When you looked at the rocks below you could see why I lighthouse would be needed! Also really liked the deceptively gentle looking sets of symmetrical waves.





You can find more places from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

You can find the most recent post to my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the pictures.

Macro Monday - Flatwing

Busy week ahead – so, posts are going up early!

This is a damsel fly – it’s a Flatwing of some sorts, but I’m out of my depth here! I think it may have recently emerged as one wing tip does not seem to be fully ‘extended’. I took this image early this year. Over the last week I’ve been seeing more and more dragonflies on the way to work so summer must be on its way!


You can find more macro shots at Macro Monday.
You can see the most recent post to my other blog by clicking on the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the page.

Enjoy the close ups!

Passing in the channel - SkyWatch Friday.

The waters off Point Lonsdale include The Rip – the narrow and difficult passage to Melbourne docks. One ship moves away another moves in under changeable skies. Ten minutes later it rained. One hour after that the sun was out again! It was that kind of weekend.

You can find more skies from around the world at SkyWatch Friday.

You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the skies.

World Bird Wednesday - Common Bronzewing

This rather plump looking pigeon is a Common Bronzewing – which just goes to show that ‘common’ in the name does not always mean dull or uninteresting.
I was pleased with this picture because the first thing you see of these birds is normally their rump disappearing into the distance. They tend to sit tight as you approach and then burst with surprising speed from cover. The moment they land, they disappear! This one was looking round the edge of a camp fire for scraps, so I think that’s why I was able to get within lens range.

Not sure what’s going on in the background – maybe a small earthquake that I was unaware of!

You can find more birds from around the world at World Bird Wednesday.

You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the birds.

Our World Tuesday - Bellarine hay bales

These shots were taken down on the Bellarine Peninsula on my last weekend away. They were all taken in space of five minutes – as you can see there is a huge change in the light during that time. This was not some form of intentional ‘project’ – but just a windy day with the weather being pushed about and never being able to make up its mind. I think it’s interesting how different the light and small changes in composition make in each picture









You can find more places from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

You can find the most recent post to my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the pictures.

Macro Monday - Large and Little

OK, so I admit that spiders may not be the most popular creatures in the world. OK, so I admit that they weird me out more than any other creature. But you have to admit that they are remarkable none the less.

The Huntsman is the classic “there’s a huge spider in the bathroom” spider of our area. Their ability to move sideways into thin cracks is very off putting to say the least. I found this one loitering on a red brick wall on the way home – the bricks give a nice sense of scale.

At the other end of the market is this jumping spider I found on the fly wire of a window this weekend. It’s not large - maybe 10mm at best. It would have a hard job intimidating a rice grain if the truth be told.

So, you may not enjoy them – but I doubt you can ignore them either.

You can find more macro shots at Macro Monday.

You can see the most recent post to my other blog by clicking on the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the page.

Enjoy the close ups!

Stormwatch (SkyWatch Friday)

The weather forecast for Wednesday evening was not good. Heavy rain, winds, flash flooding. There were reports of animals in pairs seeking a large boat. When the weather front moved over our house all the predictions felt plausible.




The clouds were going in all directions. We got some good rain – 25 mm in the rain gauge, but that’s about as reliable as a politician. Some places near us had a lot more rain, but it brought flash floods and a bit of damage. I’ll settle for 25 mm of rain.



You can find more skies from around the world at SkyWatch Friday.


You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the skies.

World Bird Wednesday - Silver Gulls

These Silver Gulls seemed very interested in out sandwiches last weekend. But like all opportunists, they could not help but keep an eye open for other sources of food!

These are our most common gull in Australia – they are the typical chip stealers that we know and love!




You can find more birds from around the world at World Bird Wednesday.



You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the birds.

Our World Tuesday - Melbourne through the Ozone

This is all the remains of the paddle steamer Ozone. It was sunk off the coast of Indented Head – a small fishing port in Port Phillip Bay - to act as breakwater. You can see the CBD of Melbourne in the background, across the bay.


This beach is a wonderful area for just wading about when it’s hot.

You can find more places from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

You can find the most recent post to my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the screen.
Enjoy the pictures.

Macro Monday - Bolt Heads

Found this bolt holding together a section of retaining wall near the sea when I was away last weekend.
The second set is on a board walk that is very popular with walkers and cyclists – hence the polish!


Rather like the effect in black and white. Not much more to say!





You can find more macro shots at Macro Monday.



You can see the most recent post to my other blog by clicking on the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the page.


Enjoy the close ups!

Point Lonsdale - SkyWatch Friday.

Managed to take a long weekend this week – with the help of the government giving us a day off for a horse race! No real interest there, but I’ll take the day off. Spent 4 days at Point Lonsdale, dodging showers, going to the beach and watching the sky change almost by the second.

This was one of its better efforts!


Melbourne sits on a large bay – and these picture are taken from its western shores. I’m tempted to call the whole post “Looking for Gemma” as another regular on these memes posts many shots from the land on the horizon of these shots. I have often wondered if we would ever end up taking picture of the same cloud, but from different parts of the bay.

Anyway, enough of this!

You can find more skies from around the world at SkyWatch Friday.

You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the skies.

World Bird Wednesday - Superb Fairy Wrens

These birds are male Superb Fairy Wrens. They were feeding in the grass and flowers around our cottage when we were on holiday. They would attack their own reflections in the windows of the house and on the cars windscreen. One bird actually landed on the car within seconds of us pulling up to the cottage.

That’s a really high degree of territoriality!





You can find more birds from around the world at World Bird Wednesday.

You can also see the most recent post on my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention picture on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the birds.