Winmalee Birds

I love photographing the birds that visit our garden.  Here are some I saw yesterday.

An Eastern Spinebill was in our flowering Grevillea bushes.
This is a new bird to our garden.

Two Laughing Kookaburras up high in our neighbour's
front garden.  Love the Kookas. 

A poem for the week

Magpies by Judith Wright

Along the road the magpies walk
with hands in pockets, left and right.
They tilt their heads, and stroll and talk.
In their well-fitted black and white

they look like certain gentlemen
who seem most nonchalant and wise
until their meal is served - and then
what clashing beaks, what greedy eyes!

But not one man that I have heard
throws back his head in such a song
of grace and praise - no man nor bird.
Their greed is brief, their joy is long.
For each is born with such a throat
as thanks his God with every note.

Judith Wright (1915 - 2000) loved to write poems about birds.  Most were written during the decade of the 1950's when she lived in the lush rainforest world of Tamborine Mountain in south-east Queensland, the happiest decade of her life.  I like this poem.  It seems to be written in sonnet form.  I like to photograph the birds in my backyard and the magpie is a regular visitor. 

A magpie at my birdbath (instagram @shirleva471 - see
my collection @shirlsbirds)

The Great River Walk at Penrith

To-day we drove down to Weir Reserve at Penrith to do a little walk along The Great River Walk.  We walked to the weir first and then back towards Victoria Bridge and the new pedestrian bridge being built across the Nepean.  It was a glorious winter day, warm and sunny and we enjoyed being outdoors and observing all the birds on the river.  We took lots of photos and then walked up to the Rowers Club to have lunch.  We sat outside on the balcony, eating our lunch and enjoying the view over the river.

The new pedestrian bridge across the Nepean is nearly
finished.

Path beside the river going under the new bridge.

Me standing at the foot of some steps leading
up to where the new bridge can be
accessed.

Ken at the weir.

Looking across the river to the other side.

A poem for the week

I shall keep singing!  - Poem 250 by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

I shall keep singing!
Birds will pass me
On their way to Yellower Chimes -
Each - with a Robin's expectation -
I - with my Redbreast -
And my Rhymes -

Late - when I take my place in summer - But - I shall bring a fuller tune -
Vespers - are sweeter than Matins -
Morning - only the seed of Noon -

I like this poem, of course, because it is about singing and birds - two of my passions!
Emily Dickinson liked to use highly condensed expression and idiosyncratic punctuation which meant that her works were mangled by editors until she withdrew from publication and resorted to self-publication.  Emily Dickinson did not give titles to her poems so they are usually known by the first line of poetry. 

An Australian King Parrot (male) on our deck  One of my
many bird photographs. Unfortunately there is reflection
of the brick wall as it was taken through a window.

Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney

On 19 July, 2018 we visited the Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.  The Calyx is a horticultural space featuring Pollination, a free floral display showcasing the role colour plays in the plant world.  There were many colourful flowers and succulents growing in this controlled temperature environment.  We could see steam wafting from vents at the top of the display wall up near the glass ceiling.  We had lunch in the cafe and then wandered through the gardens down to the harbour foreshore and walked up to the Opera House before catching the train at Circular Quay station.  A big P&O ocean cruise ship was berthed at Circular Quay terminal.

Innside the Calyx.  Succulents growing on a
"bumble bee"

Me standing at the entrance to the Calyx.

The Pacific Explorer berthed at Circular Quay.

The Opera House

A Pepperberry tree Cryptocarya obovata, common
along stream banks between Gympie and Gosford.

Poem for the Week

And Bob Dylan Too  by Mary Oliver

"Anything worth thinking about is worth singing about."

Which is why we have songs of praise, songs of love, songs of sorrow.
Songs to the gods, who have so many names.
Songs the shepherds sing, on the lonely mountains, while the sheep are honouring the grass, by eating it.
The dance songs of the bees, to tell where the flowers, suddenly, in the morning light, have opened.
A chorus of many, shouting to heaven, or at it, or pleading.
Or that greatest of love affairs, a violin and a human body.
And a composer, maybe hundreds of years dead.
I think of Schubert, scribbling on a cafe napkin.
Thank you, thank you.

Winmalee Artisan Markets

On Sunday 8 July, 2018 after church we went to the Winmalee Artisan Markets in the grounds of the Primary School at Winmalee (Whitecross Road).  I bought a little succulent from a grower from Windyridge, Mount Wilson.  I think it is Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi (Rosy Dawn) identified from my plant identifier app.

If this is Rosy Dawn it will have little flowers
all around the edges of the leaves.  However,
there seems to be a little flower emerging at the
top so it probably isn't Rosy Dawn!

Mt. Portal

The view from Mt. Portal looking down on the Nepean
River and the Cumberland Plain.  The M4 bridge crosses
the river.

Blue Mountains National Park, Glenbrook

Two Kookaburras up a gum tree at the Clearing.

On 5 July, 2018 we drove into the Blue Mountains National Park at Glenbrook and saw the kangaroos and kookaburras in the Euroka Clearing.  We then drove on to Mt. Portal for a good view overlooking the Nepean River and the Cumberland Plain.  The weather was warm for a winter's day.

Kangaroos resting in the grass at the Crossing

Nan Tien Temple trip

On 3 July, 2018 we joined the Avid Travel Club for a bus trip to the Nan Tien Temple, just outside Wollongong.  A lovely winter's day outing, warm and sunny spent wandering around the buildings and grounds, taking many photos.  The gardens at the Temple are beautiful.

It was lovely to see the sea from the park at Hill 60 overlooking the beach at Port Kembla.  We stopped here for a morning tea break.

Here are the smoking chimney stacks from the steel works at Port Kembla belching smoke into the atmosphere.

The Temple at Nan Tien.

Looking down the pathway from the Temple to a statue at the end. The bare trees looked quite striking.

Here I am standing beside a cute statue at the foot of the stairs to the Temple.