03 September 2019

44. UNDER A RED ROSE

I had a new job as a commercial radio announcer in north Queensland. Bernie, my pet Budgerigar, was beside me as I drove to the tropics.

31 August 2019

43. INTO THE BLUE

The car needs servicing, the annoying reminder to get the oil changed lights up each time the engine is started. Unfortunately, my husband promised I could make it to the city dealership  before 9 am.

18 August 2019

41. EAGLE EYES AND EYASSES


Weeks ago, out in the Can-Am with my husband, we saw 2 eagles gorging on a kangaroo. An ear torn off, brains out, intestines strewn on the ground, the kill was so fresh it hadn’t begun to smell. 

12 August 2019

40. MINI DIAMONDS


We had such warm autumn on the farm, some birds were confused and thought it was spring. Diamond Firetail Finches breed August to January but have already fledged some dainty fellas in mid-winter.

04 August 2019

21 July 2019

38. WHERE I LIVE IN DROUGHT

A farm in the mountains
once full of grass fed cattle,
a home near a cliff edge
where Wedge-tailed Eagles soar.

16 July 2019

37. PIZZA OVEN BUCKET BIRD


 
Every one of the last five years there is a peck, peck, peck against the metal of the pizza oven. 
 

Pizza Oven Bird pecks the holes in the chimney for an energetic dust bath. Either that, or to take revenge on the rival he thinks he sees reflected back.

11 July 2019

36. FEATHERS AND MIST


Waking before six this morning, I looked out the window to see the valleys where we live shrouded in fog, in thin cloud, in ghostly mist.

30 June 2019

35. THE RAPTOR AND I


Driving home from work, I saw a Brown Falcon. It was almost 5 and the sun seemed impatient to set.

18 June 2019

34. MORNING CANTICLE


          Birds chime in halfway through dawn singing in a fresh winter day. 

  

16 June 2019

33. GOOD MORNING SCREECHERS


There isn’t usually screaming at 6:30 am at our place. But a flock of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos went on a flypast and then there was.

Two stayed behind to nibble the seeds off Cypress Pine trees.