Saturday, April 10, 2010

Why Superb “Blue” Wrens?

I have had a terrible time working out what to post about tonight.

First I thought I’d talk about my holiday. Which was fantastic and from which I returned with far too many piccies to post here.

Then I thought I’d talk about work and the trials and tribulations of working in an inner city homeless program. As well as the usual dramas that occur when working with extremely marginalised people, I am currently plagued by the end of quarter reporting that we have to complete.
But I don’t want people to think I’m just a whining Aussie so I probably won’t come back to this.

Then I thought I’d talk about my WIP and some problems I am having with working out how much to include about the rape of one of my female characters.
This problem was something I have run into before, but my solution has been to ignore it and write another section of the book. However, I can’t avoid it forever and a couple of recent posts on Michele Emrath’s blog Southern City Mysteries has brought the issue back to mind.
But while I do want to post about this problematic theme at some point, I don’t think tonight is the night.

Instead of sorting out what to post about, I did my usual weekend trick of going for a drive. So the afternoon has well and truly vanished and I am once again posting later than is comfortable (at least for someone who is as much of a morning person as I am).
And to add to my posting problems I have come home with another 100 piccies to sort through…

So rather than talking about any of the above I have elected to post some piccies of a cute little bird.

The other day I posted a pic of a pair of Superb Blue Fairy Wrens.
Except they weren’t very blue.

As I said, that piccie was taken about four weeks ago. Well this is what the males look like now (I snapped these while I was on holiday).
What do you think Superb?
And blue?The difference is he is now in his breeding plumage which he will wear until next summer.


So to end this rather odd post I am going to include two piccies I took on my holiday.

First the Uniting Church at Terang. This church was bathed in such stunning light when we drove past it on the way to Warrnambool I just had to stop and capture it.

Also a guessing game. I am afraid I don’t have any prize to offer other than the glory of guessing right.
Can any of you guess what this odd looking object is?
Two clues: my hand which is holding it gives the scale; and it is something we took away on holiday with us.

Please forgive the poor quality of the pic, its about what you get when you hold a camera in one hand and take a photo of something in the other hand (without looking through the viewfinder).

18 comments:

Jaydee Morgan said...

Love the blue coloring on those birds. As far as a guess, I haven't a clue what that is - but I'm interested to find out.

Good luck with your WIP this weekend!

B. Miller said...

Cool post and nice pics! Is your mystery object something you had a fire in? Looks like part of a rocket, ha!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment! I hope to see you there again sometime.

Kristen M. said...

Nature is a genius at producing color, isn't she? That blue is fantastic!

And is it a charcoal starter?

More piccies please!

Al said...

Hi Jaydee,
They are so blue, and very cute.

Hi B.
Welcome to my blog.
Well you are part right you do have a fire in this object, but it has a specific purpose.

Hi Kristen,
No it isn't a charcoal starter (I didn't even know what a charcoal starter was until I looked it up. However, I can see why you think it was one, superficially they look very similar.
More piccies in general or of the object in particular? I am happy to comply with either.

Cynthia Reese said...

Hmmm, looks like an ash collector, but I could be wrong. Love the beautiful blue birds -- they ARE superb!

Good luck on the reports (aaack on red tape!) and the problems you're having with your WIP!

Jenners said...

Love the wren! Such vibrant colors!
And I've found that, when in doubt, photos are a great choice!

Lisa K. said...

Sounds like we really were of the same mindset with our posts, lol. Love the pics.

Tristi Pinkston said...

These are gorgeous pictures! No need to apologize for the quality of any of them!

Al said...

Hi Cynthia,
It isn't an ash collector.
from underneath you can see right through.
They are superb, these guys have been one of my favourites ever since I was a little tacker.

Hi Jenners,
I love the wrens too!
Piccies always seem to work well, you had some great ones up on your holiday post.

Hi Lisa,
We surely were procrastinating at about the same level! Thank you about the piccies!

Hi Tristi,
Thank you!
When I make anything I can only ever see the mistakes and the photo of the mystery object is not great.

roffe said...

Hi..Very nice bird..I had visit by two woodpeckers today, but before I find my camera they was gone...

Sarah Ahiers said...

awww! He's so cute! Much more handsome now, when he's looking for some lovin'

Talli Roland said...

Aw, what a cute bird! Love the blue bits.

Mary Gray said...

I wish the church I attended had an exterior like the one you photographed!!

Unknown said...

Awww... Those birds are adorable. So beautiful!

Not sure what that object is. All I can think of is a type of cannon? But I don't think cannons have those kind of holes in them, and it wouldn't work well for binoculars. I'm stumped.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful blue.

Is it a BBQ chimney thingee?

Al said...

Hi Roffe,
The are nice birds. I have never seen a woodpecker! It's frustrating when you get your camera right and the wildlife has moved on.

Hi Sarah.
Yes he's certainly making an effort now. Obviously female wrens have some standards!

Hi M.
It's a flash church isn't it? When towns were being established around Victoria there was buckets of gold rush money around. Hence, some very impressive public buildings.

Hi AchingHope,
They are adorable.
No it is definitely not a cannon! It has something to do with camping or picnicking.

Hi Niki,
They are a gorgeous blue.
It's not used on a BBQ, but chimney is partly right.

Lisa said...

I'm late getting to this but I would have been wrong because it does look so much like a contraption we have for starting fires.

Al said...

Hi Lisa,
Better late than never!
It does look very like a fire or charcoal starter (from the bottom and outside anyway), but it isn't one of those.