SkyWatch Friday - A Grey Sky

Sometimes, even when the sky is grey there is still much beauty still to be found.  On some days the warmth of a hand, the smile of a child and the open skies are all we really need.

I don’t feel like saying much more than that.

You can find more skies (and brighter spirits) at SkyWatch Friday.

Enjoy the skies.

World Bird Wednesday - Tawny Frogmouth

As the evenings grow steadily darker I tend to see more wildlife in the half light at the end of the day. We were returning from a family dinner when we spotted a “lump” on one of the telephone wires just up from our house.  We were obligated to go and have a closer look – failing to investigate a lump on the wires outside your house is a civil crime in my opinion.

Our original identification of the lump as a possum was soon shown to be way of the mark.  This is a Tawny Frogmouth.  Often mistaken for owls they are in fact related to Nightjars.  I tend to see them most often on or near street lights where they hunt for the moths the false electric moons attract.

The have huge mouths – and when they are fully open they look more like a flip top bin than a bird.

Finding one is always a highlight.

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

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

Enjoy the birds.

Our World Tuesday - An Australian Australian.

I have just finished reading a rather good book on those most Australian of animals the kangaroo.  With the exception of some parts of Papua New Guinea, if you are looking at a native kangaroo you are in Australia.  Kangaroos and their relatives live (or lived until recent extinction) in all of the habitats of Australia, including the tops of trees!

Far from being some form of primitive, backwater, sort of animal they are a superbly adapted animal that deal with the vagaries of the Australian climate far better than the energy hungry placental mammals found in the rest of the world.  It can be argued that people only though they were primitive because of the colonial snobbery that early explorers and scientists brought with them.

These kangaroos are Kangaroo Island kangaroos – they are a sub-species of the widespread Eastern Grey Kangaroo.   As you can see from the close grazed grass (and all the droppings!) these kangaroos are doing OK here.

So, my contribution to Our World Tuesday is something really very Australian.

Macro Monday - Mushrooms

The overnight flush of mushrooms shows that we really are in autumn.  Their strange and hurried appearance in the grass, on the nature strips and untold dozens of other damp places is a clear marker we are on the path to winter.   

As clear a marker of autumn as the change of trees, but for many people less welcome, because of folk law and all that goes with it.  If you have any interest in my thought on natures recyclers you can find them here, on an old post to my other blog.

These are you classic mushrooms – Fly Agarics.  Red and white spots, lifted straight from fairy tales.  These have become known in our family, with a kind of silly predictability, as the “Impressive Shrooms” and the quality of all other fungi are judged against them – they have become the fungal bench mark.

You can find more macro shots here at Macro Monday.

You can find the latest post to my other blog by clicking on the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the page.

Enjoy the close ups.

SkyWatch Friday - Rainbows.

These pictures were taken a while ago, but I never posted them.  Given that the images contain beauty, light and darkness they seem appropriate for this week.

This has been a difficult week – my wife’s mum died yesterday after a short illness. 

“and what good is cancer in April

why no good, no good at all”

Lou Reed.

I suppose I should have tried to stop the big drops of rain falling on the lens, but I don’t think I noticed them at the time!

Enjoy the skies from around the world.

World Bird Wednesday - Welcome Swallow

There is something about this image I like.  I spent more than a few minutes trying to catch Welcome Swallows in flight – and most of the images ended up in the bin.

I think this captures the speed and movement of the bird, even if you would not use it as a ‘field guide’ shot.

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

You can find the latest post to my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the page.

Enjoy the birds.