Curlews

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Australia Photo ~

Bush Stone Curlews, Queensland, Australia

Bush Stone Curlews

If you hear a mournful wailing sound in the night, these are the birds  responsible for the eerie call.

Curlews are nocturnal ground feeding birds, which during the day shelter where their plummage will best camouflage them.

This family of birds have taken to resting in the grass just outside our office gate, on the South Moreton Bay Islands.

In some areas of Australia they have become extinct, as urbanization has taken over their feeding ground.

Various mythological tales are associated with their night cry ~

Have you heard it?

 

Kookaburra Sitting in the Old Gum Tree

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Australia Photo ~

Kookaburra

This Kookaburra flew ahead of me as I walked through the shady glady gum tree woodland this week.

Image: Kookaburra

“Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Eating all the gum drops he can see.
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
Gay your life must be!”

Image: Kookaburra

“Kookaburra sits on the electric wire,
Jumping up and down, with his pants on fire.
Ouch, Kookaburra, ouch! Kookaburra,
Hot your tail must be!”

This Australian children’s nursery rhyme was written by Marion Sinclair (1895 – 1988), in 1932.

It was an entry in a Girl Guides competition to create a ’round’ and after being launched at a Girl’s Guide Jamboree in 1934 has become an Australian classic.

I’ve been to a few school concerts and enjoyed it.

Do you remember singing it?

Editor’s Note: Here are the 3 most common verses:

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Eating all the gum drops he can see.
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
Save some there for me!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Counting all the monkeys he can see.
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
That’s not a monkey, that’s me!

And some of the alternative verses sung:

Kookaburra sits on the electric wire,
Jumping up and down, with his pants on fire.
Ouch, Kookaburra, ouch! Kookaburra,
Hot your tail must be!

Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail,
Gets a boo-boo in his tail.
Cry, Kookaburra, cry, Kookaburra,
Oh how life can be!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Eating all the gum drops he can see.
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
Gay your life must be!

Expedition to an Island Beach

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In the dunes that back the beach, it amazes me that anything can grow ~

No nutrients in the soil, and such good drainage no water will hold between the fine white grains of sand -

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Yet, defying possibility, these coastal plants produce luscious yellow blooms.

Flower_186Keeping close to the ground, hugging the sparkling shard minutia, they duck the salty sea winds.

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Just their pollen rich blooms stand proud to catch the attention of passing pollinators ;)

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Between the plants, signs of animal life leave their marks.

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Not everyone is in hiding ~

Who goes there?

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Who’s asking?

Not sure who is taken more by surprise ~ The wallabies or us!

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Then, finally, through the bushy scrub between the trees the first glimpse of the sea.

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There is possibly no more beautiful a sight than that first view through the she oaks

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Once down onto the beach ~ I like a patch of shade from where I can look out to sea…

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And wonder at the waves and the scale of the Pacific Ocean ~ Nothing lying between me and South America.

Where is your favourite beach?