Birds in our Queensland garden

We live in the Redland shire, adjacent to Brisbane City, about 2 miles from the coast. We have just over 800 sq. m with 2 large jacaranda trees, a syringa, I think, some small as yet unidentified local trees, 2 large Delicious Monsters, 2 pawpaw paw trees and smaller shrubs, flowers and half a large granadilla vine. There is also a resident carpet python of over 2m in length, who we have not met, but know of him as he left us his old skin! Further evidence of his presence is the occasional heap of feathers, usually belonging to a dove.
I take great joy in watching the birds, who may well be fair weather friends. We  feed them daily with seed cakes and pieces of bread; strangely sought out by the honey eaters, as well as magpies and others.
This is the Australian Dove who feeds and is food in our garden!   

The Australian Pelican flies over occasionally – we love to see them on the water

The Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike is a shy visitor, who seems to just sit and watch

We have a family of Blue-faced Honeyeaters who are very noisy and quite nasty to a youngster who still has yellow eyes.

This is the juvenile Blue-faced Honey eater, waiting for a chance to have a nibble.

The Blue Indian Ringnecked Lovebird is an exotic escapee, who loves the seed we put out. Very pretty and quite tame; tolerated by the other birds so long as he is polite.

Galahs are common and are the Australian idiom for stupidity – they are a very pretty combination of pink & grey.

The Pheasant Coucal is a fierce bird – we saw one chase a Goanna (monitor lizard, like a leguaan) on Stradbroke island. It is the cousin of the Burchells Coucal (Reenvoel) in Africa

The Butcher Birds have loud trilling calls and whistles with an occasional cuckoo, cuckoo! There was a youngster about who used to take food from the hand, but was chased off by a dominant adult pair

The Crested Pigeon, which we call the kuifie duifie, lives here and struts and displays to just about anyone.

Crows patrol and hang around – some hate their noise, but we love
them.

Figbirds love the syringa berries  

Indian Mynas are about, but not nearly as bossy as their African family.

Kookaburras pass through, staying for a day or 2, then move off

  Little Corellas fly over in flocks making harsh shrieks

Magpie Larks are sweet looking, tough individuals, who other birds don’t mess with. They patrol the lawn for snacks.

Magpies really do sing for their supper. If there is no bread in the basket or we are a bit late in the morning, they start shrieking and crooning in unison – quite entertaining. They are quite tame and come and sit on chair backs across the table from me, when I am eating on the verandah! We are very fond of them.
Noisy friarbirds are aptly named – they devour banksia flowers and shriekcroak their delight to all and sundry. 

The Noisy Miner birds visit in flocks to check out the scene but don’t linger – too much competition for food from bigger birds.
The Olive-backed Oriole is another lover of syringa berries. 

 A pair of Pale-headed Rosellas live in the neighbourhood and visit every now and then
Rainbow Lorikiets are nearly always there and are noisy and aggressive – only moving for crows and magpies. Amazing colours. 

The Spangled Drongo is a pretty bird with a sweet call – not as piercing as the early morning call of its African forktailed cousin.


The Sulphur Crested Cockatoo is one of the most common birds about and frequently fly over, shrieking harshly.

 Willie Wagtail is a pretty bird, not quite as delicate and captivating as his kiwi cousin.

The other visitor we have flies in at night  but is not a bird. Flying Foxes are quite numerous and in some areas near roosts, fly over in thousands just after dark. They patrol at low height seeking fruit trees and make quite a noise when they squabble over fruit.

Unstoppable

A very elegant wife of an advocate objected strenuously to a $15 fine for failing to stop at a stop sign. She was represented per amici by a colleague advocate, who rolled his eyes but called her to give evidence.

The woman agreed she had not stopped completely but had slowed right down and checked carefully to see that the way was clear.

She argued that she had complied with the spirit of the law and felt she should not be penalised. I disagreed.

A magistrate could not allow autonomy in selection of which laws to comply with and the choice of when it was suitable to do so.

I confirmed the fine, regretting that I could not treble it to shake her blinkered views. She was incensed and wanted to appeal.

(extract from “A Rough Justice – Reminiscensces of a Rhodesian Magistrate”)

I suppose she was unstoppable..?

 

Elusive

You might wake up some mornin’
To the sound of something moving past your window in the wind
And if you’re quick enough to rise
You’ll catch a fleeting glimpse of someone’s fading shadow
Out on the new horizon
You may see the floating motion of a distant pair of wings
And if the sleep has left your ears
You might hear footsteps running through an open meadow

Don’t be concerned, it will not harm you
It’s only me pursuing somethin’ I’m not sure of
Across my dreams with nets of wonder
I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love
You might have heard my footsteps
Echo softly in the distance through the canyons of your mind
I might have even called your name
As I ran searching after something to believe in
You might have seen me runnin’Through the long-abandoned ruins of the dreams you left behind
If you remember something there
That glided past you followed close by heavy breathin’Don’t be concerned, it will not harm you
It’s only me pursuing somethin’ I’m not sure of
Across my dreams with nets of wonder
I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love

 

Bob Lind 1965

Thank you for showing me there was poetry in music

Sanctuary

The Church was a sanctuary where all could seek and receive refuge in the Middle Ages.

The function of  holy people was to interpret Gods’ ways to those in power. They did this by educating themselves so they could advise wisely. In turn they were protected by those in power because it was believed that they could invoke the Gods’ protection.

Rituals and liturgies were developed which ensured continuity which in turn gave comfort to the followers.

Much of the other work of the religious has been to care for the sick and the poor and it still is. Many people have been granted succour and sanctuary since time began.

Sadly as we know, power corrupts and few  can withstand the seductive corruption of power.

We should not let the sad perversions of power relations in institutions obscure the great good done by selfless servants of Gods.

Places of worship are still sanctuaries for many – places where we can escape the buzz, rush and pressure of modern life to think and pray and lose fears.

 

The origin of this philosophy (?)

We stand for quirks and whimsy; serious looks at silliness and silly looks at seriousness

The institution of Silly Socks on Friday occurred in Africa in the early 90’s. It was intended to place some focus on the silly side of serious, or vice versa, the internal debate rages on. Ex Africa aliquid semper novus.
There is one rule for aspirant followers: On Fridays, wear silly socks.
It is a very simple but strict rule:
No monotones, with one exception, different colours on each foot is acceptable.
If one forgets, rectification must be immediate.
If no silly socks are to hand, go sockless as the rule only applies if socks are worn

The same silly socks on successive Fridays is seen as counter revolutionary and unacceptable

We stand for quirks and whimsy, serious looks at silliness and silly looks at seriousness.

Our current campaign is a global war against that yoke of uniformity, the neck tie.

There can be no logical explanation why people continue to tie strips of cloth tightly around their throats and then dangle them on their chests.

As you can imagine, this will require some fortitude because it is an ingrained habit and the Big Kahuna likes to be told how smart he looks, not how idiotic and antiquated … so take care. May I suggest baby steps?

As you can see, this is faintly revolutionary blog!

 

This is a repeat of a blog by me a.k.a. Mickey Dee, published on 16 October 2005.

Carefree

It’s a choice!

I am older and was nervous about blogging again but I am not anymore, because I choose not to be. So voila!

Rereading my old blogs (some over 10 years old) gave me a lift and injected some helium (ha! ha!). Not that I ever needed it in my head, being prone to unsolicited noise emissions and contrary viewpoints.

Remembering times from the early 90’s, I was called “windgat” by some colleagues, I think because I was outspoken. It was meant as an insult but I was quite pleased because it endorsed the fact that I didn’t go with the flow.

Not quite carefree but getting there.

 

*windgat is an  Afrikaans word

 

Aluta Continua (mark 2)

Hellooo, hellooo – good to be back, good to be back…. wanna be in my band, my band? Gary Glitter sang that many years ago. OOps! – he was a nasty.

The Struggle Continues…..

The Silly Socks on Friday (SSOF) movement originated in Africa over 20 years ago in the vicinity of the deepest man made hole in the earth’s surface.
It has 1 simple rule:
SOCKS WORN ON FRIDAY SHOULD BE SILLY

The underlying stimulus leading to establishment of the movement was reportedly a revolt against the corporate look, a need to take the challenge beyond cartoon ties. A main objective of the movement  is the outing of ties as one of the most illogical, impractical and indefensible habits of mankind.
Strive to be different! Question the status quo! – it quickens the heart and chases thoughts into new directions.

More Blog Paranoia

I wonder if people who blog are of a certain type …?

 

I noticed that after my last blog (Where were we ?/ are we? / are we going to be?) that ad-tags for counselling and personality assessment attached  to my blog

 

I also note that 1 or 2  fellow bloggers appear to have suffered mental frailty from time to time

 

Maybe I am not only depressed but paranoid as well – I noticed the Man watching my blog in ’06, because I happened to blather on about the struggle to be free of the yoke of the necktie …..

 

I suppose it is just ad-people intruding to impose their products on anyone who may be disposed to consider them. They assume propensities from blog-utterances …

 

That can be risky because most people try to shield their true thoughts … ah well, I am happy to lead people down avenues of my thoughts …maybe they will glimpse sanity & reality !

 

On another tack … I have always tried to look at things from both sides, to try and understand the motivation of the most maligned side.

 

No-one can applaud or rejoice in the deaths of so many innocents in the Gaza tragedy.. but, if someone kept on shooting at my house and wouldn’t stop, I would probably send my soldiers to stop the problem too.

 

Subtlety & patience tend to disappear when bullets fly – the usual response is to retaliate with all you have until the attack stops.

 

I just wish it would stop ….

Where were we ?/ are we? / are we going to be?

No urge to splurge for 814 days… good to see old friends are still around.
Very prolific ABE! I guess you are my inspiration … you keep on writing.

Much prefer the old editor, which starts with:
F U K D which usually sums me up my quite well.

I suppose I need to get up and steer the ship & drive it towards the destination I want to reach … but where is that?
Must do better than that – let me sleep on it.

What do you teach your children about life?

Do you have a Hero? What is it that you admire about your Hero? I have been trying to find a role model for my children. It is not easy …! What are the virtues of a role model? Do they have any vices?
Yes … they must have some vice in them ,,, I mean even Jesus lost his temper and threw the moneylenders out of the Temple; Lord Buddha  lived the life of Reilly before he disobeyed his father, witnessed real life, embraced temperance and renounced desires.

Aquinas’ Cardinal Virtues ring a bell with me, they describe real models of behaviour for good people:

  • Prudence
  • Temperance
  • Courage
  • Justice

A quick flick through Google on Aquinas and Temperance described models for behaviour that seemed real and achievable. Of course, there will be shortfalls and lapses … the idea is that we recognise this and get up and re-direct ourselves, with  these virtuous beacons.
Why don’t they teach them in schools? They are surely universally recognised as conduct which would maintain harmonious, productive societies?

This is something real which politicians and role models should give to all of us! Spread the word! Shake the trees!
Help our children choose the best way of Life!