First of all is this beautiful female Bower Bird who is a regular visitor to this part of my garden.
I think it's because of that blue pot. She's partial to the colour blue.
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Apart from the fact that it matches her stunning blue eyes, she might be thinking it's a gift from her mate who woos her with gifts of blue items arranged perfectly within his bower. I hope to be fortunate enough to photograph it one day.
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She also enjoys taking a drink from her own special blue bowl.
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In another part of the garden, Mr and Mrs Blackbird have been tirelessly constructing a nest. The wind has been blowing strongly for most of this month so far, and we've watched them working hard.
We've left little offerings for their nest, which they've taken.
Here's a long distance shot I was able to get of their nest. It's in the Pineapple Feijoa tree, which is starting to blossom. It's a sturdy nest in the crook of the tree.
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This sweet Spotted Turtle Dove popped in for a quick stroll around my pot plants...
... then, just as quickly, flew off.
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Further down in the garden, this gnarly Eucalypt was being flown at and pecked by a couple of Kookaburras.
We're not sure if they were after grubs, or had intentions of nest making in the hole.
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Another couple we'll keep our eyes on.
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♥ The pigeons are cooing as well, so the garden will be full of new life before we know it! ♥
Spring is definitely in the air.
You certainly have a knack of capturing birds. Birds have to be zonked on Valium for me to get a good shot as they see me with a camera and they are off. Only joking about the Valium.
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb, I can gaze at them for hours. Also, if I'm missing any of the action outside, often as not MD will have seen it and gives me a call. He was the one who started noticing Mr and Mrs Blackbird making their nest :D)
Deletejust LOVE all of your birds! that bower bird looked like a painted statue in the garden, at first! so beautiful!
ReplyDeletenow that I look at it, yes, it does look like a statue - cute :D)
DeleteWhat a beautiful sight, the bird with blue eyes...I think you're right, she's attracted to your blue surroundings! And, those two Kookaburras are amazing. Everything looks so fresh and happy around your yard. Hope you're having a good weekend Susan! Hugs!♥
ReplyDeleteoh I'm just entranced by her eyes Susan ... have hundreds of photos of the female Bower Birds. Funny though, I wouldn't know a male BB if I fell over him!
DeleteDear Susan, lovely to meet you, thank you for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed with your photographs. The birds are wonderful. You have really captured them with your camera, and you seem to know so much about them. This is my first visit to your blog (via Deb's blog) and I will be back.
Hi Jean, and welcome to my blog, and thank you very much for your lovely comments too :D)
DeleteIt's me again Susan. I forgot to ask. Do you mind telling me about your camera? My camera for the moment is my iPhone, which is useful because it's always with me, but I would love to take my photography more seriously, and you have taken some beautiful pics.
ReplyDeleteAlways happy to chat about cameras Jean. It's a Nikon D3100 Digital SLR. It came in a kit with two lenses (18 - 55mm and 55 - 200mm), however, after watching how I used the camera, MD (My Darling Hubby) bought me a Tamron 18 - 270mm lens which fulfils my every need. Long distance, mid range and closeups. Together they weigh a little bit, but I have become so used to that and, besides, when photographing I just seem to go into another world and forget everything else!
DeleteWe were to do it again, we'd have just bought the camera body and then chosen a lens rather than a pre-chosen kit, but, of course, it's an individual choice.
The function I use a lot when photographing birds is the "Sports" mode - they're always flitting or moving. Same for water shots.
Have fun with your photography. MD literally pushed me into a camera shop a year or so ago and since then I've never looked back :D)
Susan, thank you for all the tips about cameras and lenses. I'm quite excited about it.
DeleteHi Susan, I've bought my new camera. It's a Nikon coolpix P510 so all I have to do now is work my way through the instruction book.
DeleteWow Jean, you made a great choice of camera! I've just been reading a Digital Photography review of it. Fantastic zoom range and macro mode - you will have fun indeed. Happy snapping :D)
DeleteWhat a lovely post...I so enjoyed meeting all of your feathered friends.
ReplyDeleteLinda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Hi Linda and thank you :D)
DeleteBeautiful photos Susan...wonderful shots of the birdlife. A really lovely post, thank you for sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Maria :D)
DeleteWe have heaps of birds here too but I cannot get a decent photo of them. You take lovely photos.
ReplyDeletei missed this weeks Scavenger Hunt, again!, hoping I remember next week!
Barb.
I'd love to see your photos of the birds over there Barb :D)
DeleteHey Susan, a great post love all the photos, particularly the Bower Bird. Such lovely colour and markings.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to have them visit your garden and be able to enjoy their company.....
Hope you are enjoying the weekend,
CLaire x
Hi Claire, lovely to see you here and glad you enjoyed them. Keep enjoying New York, hope the weather is ok :D)
DeleteBeautiful photos Susan! We also love watching the antics of the black birds as well however after our seedlings are planted out we wish they would visit our neighbors garden instead as they are forever scratching the seedlings out.
ReplyDeleteHello Linn and welcome to my blog. Yes, the black birds can be just like chooks with their scratchings... lol, but I make excuses for them and say that they're aerating the soil. Mind you, I make sure my seedlings are netted though!!! :D)
DeleteLooks like you have an amazingly active garden and you got some great action shots with the birds in flight. Wish I could be so lucky. What a treat to get the shots of the Bower Bird also and to have her as a regular visitor. TFS
ReplyDeleteHi there Chris and nice to have you visit my blog. Yes, our garden is a busy little spot. I'm glad I planted a lot of natives a few years' ago, they certainly encourage the birds. We really love the Bower Birds and their noisy visits too :D)
DeleteThe birds are beginning to return to our garden. Saw some delightful tiny yellow breasted ones out the kitchen window this week (no camera at hand) and am also looking forward to seeing the bower birds sometime soon too. You've caught some great images here.
ReplyDeletearen't we lucky to have them live so close to us. I love this time of year, nest building and courting :D)
DeleteSusan, I am so envious! Your garden is lovely, and your feathered friends are really, really special!
ReplyDeleteCherri *hugs*
aw, thank you Cherri... we love each and every one of them too :D)
DeleteGreat bird photos. Especially like the one of the dove taking off.
ReplyDeleteHi Kate, and many thanks. I really get excited when I've captured a bird in flight, something special about it isn't there.
DeleteWelcome to my blog too :D)
I love all the birds in your garden, Susan. It shows a healthy garden.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have bowerbirds here, so I learned the hard way about not putting out blue things while we were on holiday. I used the blue lid of a container to put seed on and left it out on the deck. Minutes later, I saw it disappearing over the edge of the deck. Somewhere there is a male bowerbird with a lovely new addition to his bower. I hope it attracts the girls. :)
wow ... yes, somewhere there's a bower with a HUGE offering to some lucky female Bowerbird. I did hear that blue lids were quite the thing in Bowerbird-land ;D)
ReplyDeletehow cute ...the bower birdies taking blue things. Do they all like blue..or is it just your guy? ... and his gal.... I must go look it up....
ReplyDelete