Songbirds a Plenty

Here in New Zealand I've noticed - and I'm not alone - that there are a lot more songbirds around this year than usual: a very lot more!  

My Dad always said that one should never hate anything and I used to pass that advice on to my partner's young daughter.  One day when she said that she hated something (probably Marmite) and I gave her 'a look' she immediately said "Oh very well Graham, I don't like it a very lot".  Since then 'a very lot'  has become part of family usage.  I digressed.

There are a lot more song birds and they are building nests in the bushes round The Cottage as if it was about to go out of fashion.  Perhaps it is.  Perhaps they know something I don't know.

This is the first nest from the olive tree just outside The Cottage deck/verandah

and this is it's occupant

I can't say that he/she is the prettiest little baby I've seen.  In fact 'fearsome' is more how I'd describe the visage. 

Thrush

Why, I wondered, was this thrush not just taking the food to the nest? My next wonder was 'where is the nest?' I could see why the bird was trying to sound an alarm call which is difficult with your beak full but her pose said a lot. Comet (The Cat) was on the deck with me. The nest, I discovered later, was in the olive tree which has now grown considerably near the front of The Cottage. 

Be Careful

Despite being attributed as an old Chinese Proverb (which it may well be) and to Goethe and W W Jacobs the imprecation to be careful what you wish for because it may come true is actually difficult if not impossible to attribute to an original source.  In fact it has probably come from so many independent and different sources there is no one origin.  In any case so far as I am concerned I said it - albeit I was not the first.  "And what" may we ask "are we to be careful about?"  Actually in this case it is a warning from me to me.  

I haven't written a blog post a for days (why oh why does the spillchucker not recognise blog and Blogger?) and I am really missing it.  I have been in Blogland reading though.  Why have I not posted?  Because life back in NZ has been busier this time than ever just as my last summer in Europe was one of the busiest I can remember.

I almost found myself wishing that I wasn't so busy.  Then I stopped myself.  Just think if I couldn't play croquet; if I couldn't drive and travel and see all my friends; if I didn't have all those friends and family; if I were housebound; if I didn't have the money to travel to tournaments; and so on.  The list is endless.   The lifestyle I enjoy so much may have its frustrations but those frustrations are born out of a lack of time to do everything that I want to do.  How much more frustrating it would be if I had all the time and I didn't have those things to fill it.

One day I may well not be able to do everything.  One day time may be in such plentiful supply that I will look back on my life at the moment and be very, very grateful.

In the meantime I shall be very careful what I wish for.

On a lighter note here are a few titbits for you:

A female (possibly immature) Chaffinch 2 metres from me on the deck watches me as she clears up the night's bugs

"I'm watching you."

The Honeysuckle is doing well this year.

Life's good and I'm going to tell the world

And who are you looking at?

Been Shopping

What I would love to know is how she managed to get it into her beak rolled up like that and then keep it all there.  It must affect the aerodynamics too.

Thrushes Like Snails

I made the mistake recently of not putting jandals on to go to the car.  I trod on a shattered snail shell on one of the paving slabs.  Ouch.  The culprit using them to break open the snails shells could have been the subject of these photos or one of the many others who live around here feasting on the plentiful supplies of food.

   

Thrush Day

A few days ago the washing basket was outside the bedroom window on the deck waiting for the washing to dry.  I came home and picked it up to collect the washing.  In it was a dead Thrush.  It had obviously tried to fly into The Cottage through a closed ranch slider.

Later that afternoon I was sitting at the table in the living room when a Thrush flew in and started walking round the floor about two metres from me and seemingly unconcerned by my presence.  It then flew into the bedroom and decided to exit via a window - which happened to be closed!  It stood on the window ledge with its beak open for about ten minutes quite oblivious to me taking photos (although I kept in the next room so as to frighten it as little as possible).   Then it hopped onto my bedside clock.  Then it disappeared.  I assumed it had flown out through the open ranch sliders in the bedroom.  So a while later when I went into the room I was a bit surprised (to say the least) when my foot landed at some thing on the floor - the Thrush - which I narrowly avoided kicking.  This galvanised the bird into action and it again tried to exit via the closed window.  I decided to see if I could open the window even though the Thrush was on the sill.  As I put my hand towards the catch the bird hopped onto it and stayed there until I had opened the window and put my hand out.  At that point it flew off seemingly undamaged by the incident.

What Is That Noise?

I was quietly having breakfast yesterday when I heard a banging outside. On looking up I realised that there was a thrush breaking open a snail for his breakfast. Yum. Snail or muesli and yoghurt? I've seen many snail shells on the path flagstones but this is the first opportunity I've had to photograph the act. It also explains the knocking which I have so often on the roof which can be really jump-inducing.