Hi, and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Our local newspaper ran this very headline (above) in the last couple of weeks. It got me to thinking of Chicken Little a character from early childhood Golden Books who thought ‘the sky was falling’.

Well the sky actually did fall a couple of weeks ago! But a few miles away from home. In a severe storm with gale force winds over a half hour period there occurred a dumping of several inches of hail the size of golf balls across the suburb of Bateau Bay (on the Central Coast of NSW, in the merry old land of Aus downunder!)   A beachside suburb turned white as depicted on a Christmas card! Sadly it was accompanied by significant damage, but the beautiful and unusual scenes it created sort of softened the impact.

On the lake shore of the Quiet Side that morning were the Red-necked Avocets. They are relatively new to the Quiet Side. They were happily wading in the sunshine using their bills to sweep backwards and forwards in the water to catch their food.

The storm came in quickly and caught so many of us unaware.

Pretty scary!

The lake did what it always does when storms hit stirring up angry white caps, waves and spray.

Fortunately the Quiet Side appeared to be on the edge of the storm as we only received marble sized hail for five or so minutes. The rain and wind lasted much longer.

The storm terrified the flock of Avocets. The began running along the shore looking for shelter.

Poor little guys. Even a marble-sized ball of ice coming down with any force would hurt their little heads. They could have run under the trees which would have given them some shelter. Instead they chose to stand out in the water. Lucky the hail didn’t last too long. Had they suffered the same fate as Bateau Bay did with golfball-sized hail, there could well have been fatalities.

I gave quiet praise that God spared this little flock.

It’s interesting in the significance of the storm, the damage it did and the media interest it drew, that something as simple as the welfare of these little birds was the aspect that brought to me the most attention.

It made me think of how much our God loves us.

“…not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31NLT)

Hi, and thanks for dropping by my blog,

Yes, Spring has sprung! Lots of new babies on the way on the Quiet Side of the Great Lake.

It begins with the constant cheeping of new babies in new nests.

These little Noisy Miner babies (below) can cheep between 80 and 100 times per minute according to those who study them. Their cries are very faint at first but increase as they grow. These little guys below are not long out of the nest and their mother spends all day feeding them. We complain when we have to manage children and housework looking for time out to put our feet up. The mother of these little ones virtually never stops from dawn to dark. She flies around grabbing little insects and the like and toting them back to hungry little mouths. I think I’d settle for the housework!

This is a fig bird, who has been checking out the umbrella tree next door. He is a nectar loving bird the same as the Noisy Miners above. He also doesn’t look very old. I know he’s a male as the females of the species are drab in colouring. Us girls all have one thing in common, we have to work hard at looking good! Unless we are genetically blessed of course.

There is three-way competition for nectar on the Quiet Side of the Great Lake (the focus of all my Tales from a Lake stories). The third player in the triangle is the Wattle Bird. Not called a Wattle Bird in regards to the Wattle tree. Rather it has a red wattle on the side of its face. This little one is very cute like all little ones. Children, animals and birds are very sweet when tiny.

Below are fledgling Kookaburras. I love Kookaburras. Particularly their laughing, as it is so uplifting. Although it’s said their call is simply territorial and a warning to other birds, they make you smile and you can’t help but check out the sky when you hear them. We were taught as children that Kookaburras laugh when it’s going to rain. Probably something like, cats wash behind their ears for the same reason!  Who knows? Maybe it’s true!

Lastly, little magpies. Now they are funny little things when they are young. Our magpies know us and trust us – we haven’t had any attack during nesting season. However there was one further around the lake that was a problem.

Keep your eyes peeled, who knows what you will see in Spring, new babies, new blossoms. Stop to smell the roses. When you do, think of the Sunday School hymn:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

The second verse says it all:

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.

Our God is truly amazing!

So, what’s going on in your garden and around where you live? My Spring begins in September as I live the world of Aus, for you in the northern hemisphere you will be travelling through the falling leaves of Autumn. Wherever you are enjoy!

Marilyn

Hi, and thanks for dropping by my blog,

We have many trees surrounding our home, plus there are many more on the lake front only metres from the house. They provide shelter and many places for perching and nesting for all of our garden variety birds. Even for some of our water birds (as you will see below). These unexpected observations surprised me. It’s amazing the birds you might find at the top of a sixty metre tree.

Firstly a great white egret. It stands over a metre in height with a wingspan of 130cm-170cm .You have to wonder how they balance up there with the wind blowing a gale. But they do.

and then an ibis, another very large bird (up to 76cm tall).

So all in all we have lots of birds flying around our home most of the time.

But I always cringe when I hear a bird crash into our back windows. A few years ago a rainbow lorikeet broke its neck on impact. I felt so sad.

Of late there seems to be an increased number of kamikaze birds launching themselves at our windows. So on investigating this latest crash I expected to find either another victim or the bird had flown away. However I was in for a surprise as this little guy, (he’s classified as a feral pigeon), was sitting on the tiny ledge outside the ceiling to floor window he had hit, on our glassed-in observation room at the end of our veranda.

This photo was taken through the glass window, as he is sitting about twenty feet above the ground and there was no way I could reach him physically. So he sat on one side of the glass, I sat on the other.

I’m asking, “Are you okay?” I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The lights were on but nobody was home. Was it: “What happened?” “Where am I?” or even “Who am I?”

He didn’t appear badly hurt. Perhaps stunned. We just observed each other through the glass. I thought he would fly away, but he didn’t. So being the nurse I am, or was (I don’t think nurses ever really retire it’s who we are), I checked on him through the afternoon. It was over two hours before he eventually flew away.

It’s funny we grow up learning to feed the pigeons (probably stuff they should never eat). It’s only when we reach adulthood we realise that these birds are really a pest in large flocks. But then they are God’s created creatures and the Fall of Man altered their destiny just as He did ours.

I wonder how it would be in a perfect world?

Have a great day!

Marilyn

Hi and thanks for dropping by my blog,

A common saying these days is: “You are what you eat!” Sadly many of us eat too much and in doing so indulge in the wrong kinds of food. As I write about the wildlife on our lake I cannot help but draw a comparison. My conclusion is, that perhaps as humans we could learn healthy living from the birds of the air.

They are programmed to eat certain “foods” which they are capable of catching.

They thrive, grow and remain healthy  and in most cases don’t put on weight.

When I was young in Australia we grew up on ‘meat and three veg’ and a limited amount of sweet foods – usually in the form of homemade deserts and fruit with the occasional lollies or chocolate thrown in. We played in the fresh air in the afternoons after school and on the weekends. We were active. It was the exception for our children to be overweight, not the norm. Eating out in a restaurant was rare and only to celebrate a special occasion.

Then along came Chinese food followed by Indian, Italian, Thai, Mexican and other ethnic foods which we could go to a restaurant and enjoy. Fast foods graduated from the corner hamburger shop to the ever popular chains of McDonald’s, Hungry Jacks, Pizza Hut and a multitude of others. Clubs opened all you can eat buffets. Cooking shows grace our TV screens in prime time. Not all are bad as some demonstrate healthy cooking. But they  jerk on our taste buds, while computers, television tablets and e-readers have made us more sedentary. The result: an overweight population!

However consider the birds below.

These are Noisy Miners. Bub is on the right, Mum on the left. It is a bit hard to spot the food in this sized down version. Mum has been flying about expounding lots of energy to come by that food and this little one also has brothers and sisters. Feeding them all and herself equals a day’s exercise in the gym!  Little chance of weight gain here!

This mother Maggie is feeding a baby of her own size, so she is always on the go.

Here we have twin Channel-Billed Cuckoos being fed by a Pied Currawong. The Channel-Billed Cuckoos fly down from New Guinea each year between the months of August and October. The female Cuckoo is very adept at laying her eggs in the nest of either a Magpie, Currawong or even a Crow who feeds and raises them, while mother Cuckoo flies off to enjoy her holiday. By February or March the babies are strong enough to make the journey back with mum.

Both babies are larger than the Currawong (who, in the photo has her head right inside of the beak of the baby). Goodness only knows what the Currawong thinks of these strange-looking, noisy chicks. How on earth did I give birth to these? I hope he doesn’t eat me! And what a ruckus they make when waiting for food. The pressure must be terrible considering they are not even her chicks. Regardless, she does gets the job done. Then if she has any sense she takes a long vacation herself.

So there you have it – the answer to obesity and overweight. Self control! Eat a sensible diet and exercise regularly. If only it was that easy?

Enjoy your day!

Marilyn