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ardysez

~ surrender to yourself

ardysez

Tag Archives: australian birds

the collins street falcons…

04 Sunday Oct 2020

Posted by Ardys in Animals, Australia

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

australian birds, birds, urbananimals

This isn’t a piece about a sports team named the Falcons…these Falcons are athletes of a different species, diving and racing up to speeds of 300kph! As you would have noticed from the last post, I’m a bit of a bird nerd. Some of my earliest memories are of my grandmother nursing an injured or fledgling house sparrow back to health. I’m sure she never realised, or would care, that the common house sparrow has come to be known as one of the most adaptable birds in the world, and very clever too! She just loved all creatures.

About a month ago I became aware of a bird project, supported by Birdlife Australia, that is rather extraordinary. It not only supports a population of Peregrin Falcons, but it has enabled the public to come along on the journey. About thirty years ago a group of avid Twitchers and lovers of the Peregrin Falcons realised that it was quite dangerous for the birds to be nesting in the nooks and crannies of the high rise office buildings in the city. (They naturally nest in crevices of rocky ledges.)  They raised money and built nesting boxes which they installed in known Falcon nesting places, one of which was located in the high rise building at 367 Collins Street in downtown Melbourne, Australia. Thirty years on the boxes were mostly deteriorated but the birds had regularly used them. So this year Birdlife Australia again raised money to build stronger, metal nesting boxes and hired a crane to help place them.

Mama falcon sitting on the eggs.

One of the long known locations, at 367 Collins Street was also the recipient of a new live stream camera! The live stream emanates from the web address at 367collinsfalcons.com.au and also is on YouTube. When I first started watching it 6 or 7 weeks ago, there were no eggs. Then, in rapid succession the female falcon laid three eggs and began the tedious task of sitting on them. Occasionally the male would come to relieve her so she could hunt for food but she did most of the sitting, so I gather. Personally, I can’t tell the two of them apart yet.

Then, on Friday just before lunch time, the chicks made their entrance into the world. I was surprised to see that Mum still sits on them and think that most of us who have had babies would have liked to sit on them once in a while to quiet them, but the rest of it, I leave to the Falcon world. The tearing up of small prey and feeding to the young ones is most unappealing, and yet, very interesting to watch as first one squawks and then another. She’s such an attentive mum.

Sitting on the chicks certainly shuts them up!

Melbourne weather is mostly cool-ish, ranging to muggy and warm in the summer, and I noticed yesterday as they were having a warm, humid day that rather than sitting on the chicks to keep them warm, she sat on the edge of the nesting box to shade the little darlings. This is very difficult for mum because she is always on alert for other birds or dangers that might harm her brood, and sitting with her back to the sun in order to shade the chicks is very awkward for her. I’ve only ever seen her close her eyes once, and only for a few seconds. I think she must get very tired.

Mama Falcon shading the chicks from the afternoon sun.

The last few days as I have watched the nest cam, I have been taking screen shots, which I share with you in this post. I hope you will go to the live stream and watch this special bit of nature unfolding. You can read more about the Falcons on the site as well. 

Feeding time. Notice on the back of the metal nesting box, they have the date stamped when the boxes were installed…August 2020.

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viewer, reader, twitcher, life…

20 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by Ardys in Books, films, Life

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

australian birds, Books, films, Mary Oliver, thetappingsolution

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morning light on volunteer basil plant

It is true, that our misery occurs, not because of what happens to us, but the way in which we react to it. Wiser persons than me have said this in very many different ways, but this is how I say it to you.

I shared with you months ago that I was seeking treatment for plantar fasciitis**, an inflammation of the fascia on the bottom of the foot. Over the last few months I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about the manifestations of plantar fasciitis, as well as the treatment. I’ve learned a bunch of other things as well, among them…patience.

I have only just twigged that, for me, this time around, is a much longer process of healing than my first encounter of it some 15 years ago…if, in fact, it will heal at all. It is nothing ‘serious’, as when I had cancer, except that it is. It has threatened the quality of my life significantly. Since October my movements have been very, very curtailed. Even though I had faithfully followed the stretches, the shoe and orthotic support recommendations etc, progress has been slow and frustrating.

Until…

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My collection of shedded gecko skins

I renewed an old acquaintance with a man called ‘Dances with Wolves’, felt a kinship in pain from the death of a tree (Avatar), wept at the horrors of Japanese treatment of soldiers in WW II (The Railway Man), delighted in the wisdom of a Maremma guarding penguins (Oddball), learned about historic figures like Queen Victoria (Victoria and Abdul) and Winston Churchill (Darkest Hour), and felt the anguish of a person who suffers greatly from a wrongdoing they cannot change (Japanese Story). I’ve wept with William Thackeray’s (Hugh Grant) friends for at least the 10th time (Notting Hill), and been completely charmed by a bear named Paddington. I have seen that the chasm of differences that sometimes exist between humans can be traversed more easily than the tinier things that separate us.

Through the porthole of reading I have been allowed inside the suffering and resilience of people who have survived the worst day of their lives (Any Ordinary Day – Leigh Sales). I have gone on a journey with the child of alcoholic and abusive parents, and seen him triumph (Boy Swallows Universe – Trent Dalton). For some ‘light’ relief I learned a new way to meditate that had an immediate and profound effect (The Tapping Solution – Nick Ortner). And then I plunged back into the gritty, horrific reality of someone doing something I could never do (The Trauma Cleaner – Sarah Krasnostein).

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daily twitcher, caffeine and landscape fix

I also became a ‘twitcher’ and joined the week-long annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count with Birdlife Australia. I’ve always been a bird lover, but taking more time to sit and watch has made me keener. ‘The Genius of Birds’ by Jennifer Ackerman has given me a deeper appreciation for their habits, humour, intelligence and social structures.

I’ve taken fewer photos in recent months, having not previously realised how dependant on mobility I had been for inspiration. I began to look more carefully at the light, and the detail in my own surroundings. Experimenting taught me a couple of new editing processes as well.

Our daughter sent us a jigsaw puzzle that has occupied a few hours, so far…. it is a hard one! The photo is by Australian Wildlife Photographer Georgina Steytler who is based in Western Australia. (@georgina_steytler on Instagram). Her photos are stunning and she also works toward conservation. A portion of the cost of the puzzle goes to Georgina and other artists whose work you can select to be made into puzzles as well, @jigsaw_gallery on Instagram.

jigsaw puzzle photo taken by award winning photographer, Georgina Steytler
jigsaw puzzle photo taken by award winning photographer, Georgina Steytler
don't judge...it's a 1000 piece puzzle...
don’t judge…it’s a 1000 piece puzzle…

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light coming into the kitchen in a rare moment of cooking

The summer weather has not been kind to us. We have broken record after record from heat duration and intensity. If ever there was a summer to have to ‘sit things out’ this one would have been an easy choice for me! Since cooking has been very unpleasant, both for the time on my feet, and the heat, I’ve created quite a few meals in the way of salads. I’ve been grateful for some resources in my freezer, and also sourced some new recipes online. The new barbecue/grill that my husband bought before Christmas, and his willingness to use it, has been a godsend!

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feather amongst the withering leaves and bark from summer heat

So. What have I learned?

  • To love and respect my body more.
  • To spend more time reading.
  • New Depths of Compassion.
  • New depths of Patience
  • To live in the present more. I was anxious. I’m less so now, focus in the present.
  • I was reminded that Things/People are often not what they seem.
  • To try and keep an open heart about every situation. We never know what a journey will teach us.

I close with this favourite quotation, because it seems so appropriate, and because once in a while there is a celebrated artist/person whose passing deeply stirs me. With sincere appreciation to you dear reader, and for the wisdom and words of the great poet, Mary Oliver who died last week…

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.

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new editing technique using double exposures and distressedFX app on iPhone

 

**The plantar fasciitis has had a complexity to it called ‘nerve entrapment’. As well as the standard PF treatment of stretches, foot massage, strapping, sturdy shoes, orthotic inserts, I have had a nerve block and saline injections to the foot and area around the nerve. That had only minimal impact so I am currently having a series of ‘shock treatments’ to the bottom of the foot to try and ‘encourage’ the tissue to heal itself. Cortisone injections are not a panacea for this condition, but may provide temporary relief, tho are very limited in their use. The journey is ongoing. I am grateful for it all.

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Bird Camps

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by Ardys in Animals, Life

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

australian birds, birds, grandmother, parrots

Basking in morning sun

Basking in morning sun

It seems there are two camps when it comes to birds.  There is the ‘love birds’ camp and the ‘hate birds’ camp and only a few ambivalent stragglers in between.  It never occurred to me that anyone could dislike birds until I noticed our daughter’s extreme discomfort around them.  I could hardly believe it, as her very first intelligible word was ‘bird’! We could not trace her discomfort to any particular event, it is just there.  I discovered this truism about the two bird camps as I’ve related this little irony to various people over the years .  I love birds.  I feed them, photograph them, watch them and name them from my bird book.  Birds are the bees knees.  (I love honey bees too. So I guess I love the birds and the bees… a topic for another post…)

When I was a little girl growing up in Ohio, my grandmother used to rescue birds that had fallen from their nests prematurely.  It was fascinating to watch her dip the corner of a rag into some sugar water and feed them.  I believe she gave them raw hamburger if the bird was with her for a long period.  Following her lead I have rescued a few birds that have flown by mistake into our rather large windows.  One time I rescued a very tiny Mistletoe bird, scarcely 5cm long (2 inches in old money) and I was thrilled to bits when it regained its strength and hopped up onto the edge of the open box in which I was keeping it, and then onto the edge of the pergola and then onto a tree branch.  Some days later I saw what I’m certain was the same bird just outside the door sitting on the same branch and singing its heart out, no doubt to thank me!

My attraction to birds persisted despite having been twice attacked by them!  Once I was even at the happiest place on earth, Disney World, when swooped upon by a seagull who fancied my French fries!!  What cheek!!  Apparently it happens frequently as people have misguidedly hand fed the gulls fries over the years and they have developed a taste for them!

The other time I was swooped upon was by a mother Spurwing Plover who mistakenly thought I was interested in her nest.  Plovers are very territorial and especially if they have a nest in an area.  They build nests near and on the ground in high weeds and so you can go near one and not know it, which is what I, apparently, did.  Plovers have a serious ‘spur’ on the underside of their wings and if they catch you with it when they swoop you, it can do some damage, so I was not keen to be caught!

Galahs in pre-clown mode!

Galahs in pre-clown mode!

Just looking at bird images makes me feel giddy sometimes.  And always, always watching wild Budgies fly around the outback makes me joyous.  They are the most brilliant lime green.  As they carve up the blue sky in perfect  synchronicity my heart soars!

Galahs are the clowns of the outback.  They are like badly behaved 12 year old boys!!  They tease and tempt fate with their physical hijinx and they are loud and raucous to the point of distraction.  They will gobble every scrap of seed that I put out for the tiny finches, unless I screen it from them. And then they let me know with their indignant squawks, they are not happy!!

Port Lincoln Parrot

Port Lincoln Parrot

Perhaps the most beautiful bird we get on a regular basis is the Port Lincoln Parrot, the ring neck parrot, as some call them.  They can be noisy at times, but mostly they are just gorgeous and eat quietly from the native plants we have in our garden.

I’m sorry darling daughter, but my feet are firmly in the ‘love birds’ camp.

In which camp are you?         Please share with me your favourite bird photos.  I refer you to a recent post by my English friend Joanna @zebbakes.com who writes beautifully about a walk where she spotted and photographed some grey wagtails.  (Small birds in their natural habitat are very difficult for the average person to photograph.)

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