Sunday 22nd December 2013, 3.55pm (day 850)
Sometimes one just has to return to a theme. Taken from near my sister’s place in Sabden, Lancashire, where we went today for a pre-Christmas gathering.
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: bird
Parakeet in Lamorbey Park, Sidcup
Monday 16th December 2013, 3.05pm (day 844)
This blog has featured three photos taken in this park, each on one of my biannual trips to Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, one of the University of Manchester’s collaborative partners — the park and the college grounds are all basically the same place. I like Lamorbey Park, one of those ‘nice spots’ that the world still retains. Among its interesting and attractive birdlife are a colony of parakeets, clearly escaped pets, and unconcerned by the imminent winter despite their tropical origins. I know this is another out-of-focus shot, but the light was so dull and grey today, and in the end I was happy enough with the exotic fauna to live with the picture’s technical defects.
The Muscovy duck finds a space for the night
Friday 6th December 2013, 7.05pm (day 834)
This Muscovy duck now lives permanently by the canal in the centre of town, opposite the Railway pub. (The wood beneath it on this photo is the gate of the dry dock.) It has been here for nearly two years now, and this is its third appearance on the blog, making it the first animal to definitively appear on here three times (as many times as my mother-in-law, I note…). According to Avian Web, the species is native to South America but is spreading through North America. It is certainly not native to the UK, or even Europe. Either it got blown a long way from home or — more likely — it is an escaped pet. It seems to have found for itself an amenable spot to retire to, either way.
Nice weather for ducks
Thursday 19th September 2013, 10.20am (day 756)
‘”Nice weather for ducks”, they said. “Come to sunny Yorkshire”, they said. Well, this sucks. And all my friends have buggered off to Spain this morning without me.’
Ducks, Brisbane River
Tuesday 30th April 2013, 2.30pm (day 614)
Last day of April, the third full month in a row spent outside the UK, but the last on this current run – by the end of May I will be home. Either way, it’s about time we had some more ducks on this blog. I like ducks, and whatever sub species these individuals are an example of, they arranged themselves rather fetchingly along the Brisbane River bank this afternoon.
Cassowary
Thursday 28th March 2013, 11.50am (day 581)
This is a female Southern Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, the second-heaviest and third-tallest species of bird in the world. They have the lowest bird-song of all, a near-subsonic rumble, just at the edge of human hearing. Cassowaries play a vital role in maintaining rainforest in a healthy state, distributing many seeds, and it is unclear whether any other species perform this role for many plants. They have large territories and are thus a good ‘signal’ species: if the cassowaries are in good shape, the ecosystem’s in good shape. Except that there are only 1,500 cassowaries left in the wild in Queensland. Half of them die in car crashes.
Be nice to cassowaries. I find I am quite taken with them as a species: even in a continent full of beautiful birdlife, it stands out. This lovely resides at the Lone Pine zoo, and this shot was the culmination of a 15-minute modeling session in which Ms. Casuarius was cajoled into posing by yr. humble photographer.
Georg and the weka
Tuesday 26th February 2013, 6.35pm (day 551)
First day on the Heaphy Track. To save all three of them being just landscapes here is some human – and animal – interest. The bird is a weka, a flightless relative of the kiwi, unique to New Zealand and – this particular one anyway – seemingly well practiced in the art of thievery. This was taken at the shelter/campsite of Gouland Downs, a very atmospheric spot; comedy value was high as Georg, camping out, kept having the weka sneak up behind him, only to scurry away as he turned around. Here the nemeses come face to face with each other.
Heron, in Geelong
Friday 15th February 2013, 4.05pm (day 540)
Although I flew into Melbourne yesterday I’m not actually staying there this weekend, instead, I’m hanging out in Geelong which is a smaller city a bit further round the bay. I’m staying with an old university friend I haven’t seen in about ten years since she emigrated out here for work. There’s not an awful lot to Geelong but, like the rest of this country, it does have some cool wildlife. I was stalking this heron for a good 20 minutes from along the path by the bay near the marina, and got a few good shots, but this one I chose because the reeds just beneath the water give it a sort of texture, and the S-shape of its neck is just beautiful. It’s the second heron to appear on the blog and the first one was beautiful too.
Emu, at the Emu Ridge distillery
Wednesday 6th February 2013, 9.20am (day 531)
Toured Kangaroo Island today and saw plenty of interesting creatures both in the wild and in sanctuaries of one kind or another, including kangaroos, koalas, goannas, seals, wombats and more. Good landscapes too, but as I did a landscape yesterday, the wildlife theme is more appealing – and this emu wins because I love its deep red eye sitting in its otherwise bland plumage like a jewel. Vicious-looking thing however – was glad it was behind a fence.
Being 42 