A couple of locals..........

We had two months rain fall over the weekend - which put a literal and metaphorical dampener on most of my plans!  Just over 100mm of rain - which is just about what we would expect in all of December and January combined!!

So, here a couple of shots I took the weekend before:  Australian Magpies lookinggood.  I really like these birds, they seem to have both intelligence and personality, so what's not to like.

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

Wild Bird Wednesday 279 - Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeets are a reasonably common bird in my neck of the woods - we get them in the trees in out garden, and at this time of year they are active around many of the holes that form in our older street trees.  I'm trying to track down some nest sites, but as yet I have not found any.

The Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) is about 25 - 30cm long and can be found along the eastern side of Australia from northern Queensland to South Australia.  This species has also been introduced into Tasmania and Western Australia.  In fact, it has also been introduced into New Zealand as well.

The first part of the birds scientific name means 'Hairy-tounge' - and this refers to the birds brush like tongue, which it use to feed on nectar and pollen.  Given its diet, it will be no surprise to find out that you can often see this bird on gum trees when they are in flower.

These birds are wonderfully colourful, noisy and great fun to watch.  I can't help but think that the 'jumping parrot' is shouting Tally Ho!

To join in with WBW just click the blue button below the thumbnails - SM.

An InLinkz Link-up

In a plant pot...

When we were staying near Apollo Bay, the house we rented had a number of large plant pots scattered about the garden.  I noticed that they were popular with some of the local Eastern Spinebills.  The amount of plants in the pots made it difficult to get any shots - but I managed these two.

So, this is a bit of a different take on My World Tuesday.

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

Through Cloudy Skies

So, more shots from Switzerland!

Just to show that it was not all sunshine and scenic cows, here are a couple of shots on a very cloudy day.

I really like the atmosphere in these pictures.  And being in this kind of location in less than perfect light (and weather generally) was really rather good value.  For all the fact that there were other people about, there was a great sense of privacy.

Both of these pictures will look much better if you click on them to see a bigger version.

You can find more skies from around the world at Sky Watch Friday.  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 278 - Royal Spoonbill

This weeks WBW is brought to you by one of the better beaks - or maybe bills - in the world of birds.  The Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia) is generally spotless white, sports a 20cm long spatulate (spoon-shaped!) bill, and in breeding plumage also has a few patches of colour.  All in all its an impressive bird.

The breeding plumage a buff 'wash' on the breast - although this bird seems to have more than I would call a wash - long plumes off the back of the head and yellow patches of skin over the eyes and a pink patch in the middle of the forehead.  As far as I am aware, the male and females both have this set of colours.

This bird was loafing around in some shallow water near a boat ramp, which is not where I normally expect to see them.  My experience of these birds is that they are rather more shy than that.  As you may anticipate, I did not complain about its cooperativeness!

To join in with WBW just click the blue button below the thumbnails - SM.

An InLinkz Link-up

Out and About

A number of people seem to assume that I spend my life jetting all over the globe - and only rarely call Australia home!  Well, thats not really the case!  The truth is, that when I am overseas I take huge numbers of pictures - and when I'm at home, I'm (far too) often at work.

So, in an attempt to redress the balance and provide some Australia content, here are some picture from a recent trip down to Apollo Bay - which is a costal town in Victoria.   The beach scenes are from Apollo Bay, and the forests are from a grove of Californian Redwoods, which were planted near a settlement called (rather confusingly under the circumstances) Beech Forest!

As you can see, this was a trip of beaches and forests and sunshine and showers.

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