The sky above you (SkyWatch Friday)

Another in my occasional series of sky shots with no sky! Aim of the game is to make it clear what the sky is doing without really showing the sky.

So on a bright and sunny day in the Grampians I found this shadow on a stump – not a cloud in the sky, not a flaw in the shadow.

Hope you like it.

You can find pictures which probably contain the sky at SkyWatch Friday.

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 skies!

World Bird Wednesday - Australasian Grebe

Australasian Grebes are busy little birds, and like most of the grebes I have tried to photograph, rather nervous. When “startled, dives rather than flies” says the guide book and it’s not wrong. And they seem to be able to swim for miles underwater, often coming up a very long way away from where they dived. They look similar to the Little Grebe – or Dabchicks as we called them – that I saw as a kid, but they are a different species.

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 screen.

Enjoy the birds.

Our World Tuesday - A short walk on a long pier

Took a short walk on a long pier this weekend – as you can see! This is Swan Bay Jetty, about 2 hours from Melbourne. The Crested Terns sat on the rails for a while but most of the other birds took flight.



You can find more pictures at Our World Tuesday.

Hope you enjoy them!

Macro Monday - Grampian Flowers

Despite the howling gale that was blowing I did manage to get some flower images during the trip to The Grampians – in fact I got rather more decent images than I expected!
The Grampians is famous for its Spring flowers and has a wide range of native orchids. I think I may have been there about two weeks too early as there were large numbers of orchid shows leaves only and no flowers (boo!). But tucked away in quiet warm spots I did find a few.

Wax Lip Orchid




Pink Heath







Pink Fingers Orchid




A type of pea (there are lots in the Grampains!)




Mantis or Spider Orchid




Nodding Greenhood Orchid

Blue Tinsel-Lilly



Grampians Thryptomene (each flower is only about 8 -10 mm across)



You can find more close up / macro images at here at Macro Monday.

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

Enjoy the close ups!

Grampian Skies (Skywatch Friday)

Greetings – keen followers will know that I was The Grampians last weekend. (That’s in the west of Victoria if your geography of Australia is a little bit rusty!) Wonderful place. The best sky I saw that weekend was as I got out of the car in Halls Gap when I arrived. Huge sky, full of stars, with the streak of the Milky Way cutting the sky on half. I just looked – could not bring myself to try some picture after a very long drive – added to that was the fact that I wanted a glass of wine! (or 2)


So, these are two other pictures. It was blowing a gale for much of the weekend and the sky did not really put on a show. However, a number of people have mentioned the clear blue skies we get here – so I’ve posted one of them! Also (when almost being blown off my feet!) I noticed the other sky. I was drawn to it by the idea that the rock face and the cloud are sort of opposites of each other. Tell me what you think!
You can find more skies here at SkyWatch Friday.

You can find the latest post for my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the screen. The most recent post is about Fishing rather than the Grampians!

Enjoy the skies!

World Bird Wednesday - Pied Currawong

I’ve been visited by a few Pied Currawongs of late. They seem to have designs on my lunch. These are magnificent (if not always popular) birds that can grow to about 50cm. Their lack of popularity may be due to their tendency to eat the chicks of other birds.

They have a wonderful, strange voice that always greeted me on autumn mornings at my last job. It’s just about the only thing I miss about it.

I’ve taken another step down the “colourful” as these don’t really even make it grey scale – they are black and white. I admit the eye may be a bit crazy looking and that have what can only be described as a “clanking great bill” (all the better to eat you with!).

They seem to be smart and have bags of character – I have to admit I like them!

You can find more world birds here at World Bird Wednesday.


You can have a look at the most recent post from my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention button on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the birds.

PS: This is my 100th photo-blog post!