Spring Has Sprung

A couple of Lorikeets

Spring has sprung at last and the warmer weather is here... Or coming along slowly yet surely. Balmy air hit my face today as I was walking down the street and also the wind seemed to be less cold as well. There were a lot of people about in the local shops with a certain energy as well where everything seems to be waking up slowly after a very wet and extremely cold winter.


Today I was walking the animals in the beautiful suburb of Ingelside and I saw some amazing bits and pieces of nature.. I saw a few very amazing birds which left me awestruck. A dog and I were just sitting near a pond in a bit of a clear area near some type of paddock, field or grass land. We were sitting in the sun when a most amazing spectacle unfolded before us... From out of nowhere came a sudden flash of blue almost like lightening landing on a branch just across the pond less then 15 to 20 feet away. Of all birds it was a Blue Kingfisher snatching up a Dragonfly in mid flight then landing on a branch. It did a usual thing of what they do to kill prey by hitting it against the branch until there is no movement. I was so surprised to see how small this beautiful little creature was and how agile and quick it was.. I didn't have my mobile phone on me as I couldn't quickly take a picture. As I was looking it up on the internet I found it could be found by several different names which I'm also going to includes links to. Here's a link to a picture of what it looks like... 

http://www.feathersandphotos.com.au/forum/showthread.php?3142-Small-Blue-Kingfisher-(Cerulean-Kingfisher)

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Todiramphus-macleayii

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Todiramphus-sanctus

A Black Swan close up

 Also what I'm trying to say is that I'm not sure about all the different types of birds out there yet I do know what I saw. I tell you what it was nature at it's best this afternoon because we also saw 2 ducks swimming on the pond, a Kookaburra flying over, the yellow Wattle flowers were out on the trees with the sun shining down with a bit of a brisk breeze. Suddenly the dog I was sitting and patting jumped up with a start because she heard a noise near the pond, poor thing, I was trying to let her relax in the sun. Around about this time another cute little bird landed on a branch only about 7 to 15 feet away from us near the pond... The bird of all birds was what looked like a little Blue Wren pitter pattering about on the branch. The blue looked so bright and he looked so sprightly as I was in awe once again... Here's a link to a picture of what it looks like... 

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2007/10/24/2068938.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superb_fairywren

Lorikeets playing & and eating

So as the Australian spring warms up the ground after a cold wet winter we remember those in the Northern climates where fall or autumn is happening heading into winter. Yet I'm giving you all the temptation to all be like birds and fly south (to Australia). The land down under that's if you can afford to and see for yourself the beautiful birds, nature, land and animals of this beautiful country. Spring has sprung and heaps new adventures await those springbabies... My birthday month September which I will blog about soon.... So I hope you enjoy your spring everyone... May you have a bounce and spring in your step....

A Cockatoo or Cocky

Dog statue down at Balmoral