Saturday, July 3, 2010

Merimbula Day 1

There is intermittent wi-fi coverage where we are staying at Merimbula, so I am going to try to put up a post.

After a six hour drive we arrived just before dark on Thursday evening.
In the morning I awoke to the screeching of parrots.
High in the trees the Yellow Box flowers were out. These little guys, Rainbow Lorikeets, were feeding on the nectar.

Because they were high in the trees I was content with a few (not very good piccies).

After brekky we went for a stroll down to the beach. Because of the winter cold (looks nice and sunny doesn’t it?) there was no question of swimming so we poked around the rock pools on the headland.I snapped a few piccies of starfish and

Sooty Terns, these guys fly thousands of miles to Oz shores where they winter.

I thought these weather ravaged rocks were worth a piccie.After the beach we drove into town for lunch. The girls headed back first and when Deb and I got back we found they had made some friends.

These Rainbow Lorikeets are wild birds, but with the tourists around they have clearly become used to being fed.They are so comfortable with people they will perch on hands (this is E’s).Lu was getting covered with cute little birds.They were using any vantage point.I have included this piccie because as I snapped it a wing flicked across the shot.This little guy was giving photographic direction to Io.Finally, a close up to give a real indication of the spectacular nature of these guys’ plumage.

19 comments:

Kristen M. said...

Love the lorikeets! Their colors are like a tonic.

And I had to go look up your sea star. I don't think we have any eight armed ones up here. We have the little five-armed guys and then the massive sunflower stars with like 15 arms. But I see that the eight-armed guys are common where you are. Fun!

Jayne said...

When I was a kid I used to get given those pre-determined pictures that you make from felt, and they nearly always were of marvellously coloured birds (when outside the window all I could see were sparrows). Now I know what birds they must have been - aren't they lovely?! Especially like that wing flicking across the lens.

Hope you are having a lovely time!

Kathleen Jones said...

These are spectacular Al! Cheered me up and made me long to be in Oz again. Hope you're having a good (and well deserved) holiday. I had to laugh at your mention of the 'winter cold'. I noticed you were all in T-shirts! Obviously you Aussies don't know what winter cold really is. Put a T-shirt on over here in teh winter and you die of hypothermia!!

Charmaine Clancy said...

Love Merrimbula, my inlaws live there, so might try and make a trip down during the hols. Internet and mobiles are very iffy, but that might actually help me get some writing done!

Great photography, colours are amazing.

Natasha said...

They look too good to be true. Someday, I hope I able to see one of them.

Love the new look of your blog too - we seem to have picked the same template- only yours has the information column on the right.

Old Kitty said...

Oh my goodness those birds!!! They are MAGNIFICENT!! I love their plummage, I love their intelligence - they're not silly - they know how to get food and use the camera! LOL! They are lovely and I am very envious of your close encounters with these beauties!!!

Oooh and lovely to see your daughter! And glad you are having a wild time of it! Great to see LIVE starfish (the very rare times I've seen them were when they wash up dead on the shore!). And the sooty terns too.

The rocks were definitely worth a piccie!

Lovely pics, thanks for sharing!

Take care
x

Jemi Fraser said...

Those lorikeets are quite possibly the most beautiful birds I've ever seen. I've never heard of them before - they're gorgeous!

Kyna said...

WOW! What a cool picture of the lorikeets all lined up on the railing lol!

And I've never seen a starfish like that, that was pretty neat :)

Anonymous said...

Well, the Sooty Terns are beautiful, but the Lorikeets..... Amazing!

Hope you are having a wonderful time.

Wendy Ramer, Author said...

These birds are absolutely awesome.

Lisa said...

And all we ever get is a crowd of pigeons! Those lorikeets are amazing!

DJ Kirkby said...

Those birds are GORGEOUS!

Ann said...

Just stunning. Nature’s creativity never ceases to amaze me.

Thank you for your wonderful photos.

Hannah said...

Those birds are gorgeous!! Love it!

image_of_purity said...

the ravaged rocks,i like it..i didnt notice the beauty till i click it...awesome

Al said...

Hi Everybody,
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond, but the internet link at Merimbula was not conducive to spending much time online.

Hi Kristen
A tonic indeed, just the thing for a cold winter’s day!
Ah, the zoologist in you. I have exactly the same reaction when anybody posts about something I’m not familiar with. We also have five armed guys including some that seem to have barley any arms at all.

Hi Jayne,
I am pleased you like our lori’s, they are gorgeous. We are very spoiled when it comes to gaudy parrots down this way. I loved the wing across the lens too, sometimes the most interesting piccies are the accidents.
Thank you I had a great time!

Hi Kathleen,
I had a coat on when I was taking most of those photo’s. I think 15 or 16 degrees is cold!
I do know what real cold is though minus 17 is the coldest I have ever experienced (and that was here in Oz) but too many years in Queensland have thinned my blood.

Hi Charmaine,
Welcome to my blog.
Merimbula is fantastic. I thought the lack of internet would help with writing. But three very bouncy girls in a holiday apartment put paid to that idea

Hi Rayna,
Rainbow Lori’s are gaudy aren’t they. We have so many parrots here and many of them are as brightly coloured.
I think the template is about the same, I like your header.

Hi Jennifer,
They are magnificent aren’t they?
Parrots are very clever, very fast learners and dazzling.
The wild life around our coast is very special, and Merimbula is 100s of kilometres from large centres so it is very clean and brimming with life.
Happy you liked ‘my’ rocks and the terns.

Hi Jemi,
Gorgeous is indeed an apt descriptive for rainbow lorikeets. I have to say I think some of our rosellas (another parrot) are even more pretty. I’ll post some piccies I have of one in the next few days.

Hi Kyna,
It was a great shot of the line of birds.
Glad you liked the star fish as well.

Hi Christine,
I love birds and I think the terns are cute. But the lori’s are hard to beat.
Thank you I had a great time.

Hi Wendy,
They are great aren’t they?

Hi Lisa,
Hey pigeons can be good too :-)

Hi DJ,
Pleased you like them!

Hi Ann,
Stunning is a great word, pleased you like them.

Hi Hanna,
Happy to share!

Hi Opoie,
The rocks are great. Pleased you like them.

Anonymous said...

These photographs are amazing. I, like many other commentators, absolutely adore the Lorikeets. The plumage is amazingly vibrant and quite awe inspiring to behold. Love the pics of them being so friendly, too. :)

Jenners said...

Oh ... I love lorikeets! A lot of zoos here in the U.S. have places where you can feed them. It is fun to do ... it tickles doesn't it?

And I love the starfish shot. I've always wanted to see one "in the wild."

Have a lovely holiday! Seems like you are off to a great start!

Al said...

Hi Jenners,
They are gorgeous.
Aussie Rainbows in US zoos?
The star fish were really common all along the coast when I was young.
Now there are plenty in unspoiled places like Eden/Merimbula but only a few in busier places. I guess kids with buckets have a lot to answer for.