Morning Window

Several weeks ago, I think I threatened to put up items that I can see from my window. It's all 5th floor view up here, which makes it easier to take pictures of things. It also helps that I have a really nice camera now that lets me focus on items of interest from varying degrees of distance. All the bird shots were taken from quite a ways off.

Anyway, back to a morning photo. It's nothing impressive, but I sure do like the colours. :) This was taken just as dawn was breaking. I've got two windows in my room. One faces directly east into the sunrise every morning and I get some spectacular shows when I'm up early. Which is 3 times a week, and sometimes more if I'm feeling masochistic. Otherwise I sleep in when I can.

At night, it's a different story. Especially when it's clear skies and there's a full moon. It lights up the entire area; more so than I remember it doing in the states. I don't think we're closer here. Maybe it has to do with atmosphere. We may never know. Pictures like this make me really love my camera, and I feel a need to apologize to it for not take it out and using it. Homework, readings, essays and projects take first priority however.

In fact I'm procrastinating a bit here with this blog entry. I don't really want to write up and 1000 word essay on logical fallacies. :P But who knows, it might be fun inventing examples for a few of those. If you learn these you will never been able to watch public political debates without either laughing hysterically, or becoming depressed. Depends on your point of view I guess. Up to you. Actually that 'either/or' boarders on a Black and White fallacy. Which basically means that you only have two choices or decisions possible and no other option. Keep in mind though that anything is possible, so try thinking outside a box a bit. :)

In a Tree....

Right outside my window is a big tree. It's not tall enough to reach my window, but it does fill quite a lot of space even without leaves. Currently it's winter down under and most of the trees that lose their leaves have dumped them some time ago. This particular tree did something similar, as it's nothing but a large log with tons of twigs, sticking out of the ground at the moment. All those twigs however provide wonderful places for all manner of birds to sit. Or hide. Or, when there's a storm, hang on for dear life. Or spend all freaking night singing... Here is a picture of the culprit. If you want to hear what he sounds like, try this link. Australian Magpie . Normally I wouldn't care if he was singing or not, because it's gorgeous... but not at 2:30 a.m. and not when you've only been asleep for 45 minutes. The link doesn't really do him justice as he's extremely loud. I mean loud. REALLY loud.

People opened windows and told him to shut up (I'm ad libbing, because the actual phrases used were not truly fit for the ears of mere mortals.) and at some point a shoe was thrown, and is now hanging in the tree, swinging gently back and forth. Meanwhile some extremely stressed student is contemplating, to paraphrase David Tennant while portraying Doctor Who in the proper first episode of season three,".... looking daft with one shoe." My apologies if that made no sense.

In case you're interested they're about the size of a raven. Not a small bird. They are also extremely smart. Just as smart as these I'm willing to bet. This, is the Australian Raven. They're about the same size, but the Raven is all black and he's got a little beard. Well, more like a little tuft of feathers that look like a beard than an actual beard. That little tuft puffs up when they call, and the call is quite mocking. Apparently it changes from place to place. In Sydney, it's a mocking HAAAH Haah Haaaaaaa... Here in Perth, it warbles quite a bit. Try clicking here to hear what they sound like. Sorry, it's not all that great a recording, but it's the closest I could find. The Ravens here, tend to warble a bit when they call, so it sounds mournful, rather than mocking. This particular Australian Raven spent most of the day sitting up there during a storm. I have no idea why he didn't go somewhere more sheltered.

And since I'm rambling on about birds I've seen in the tree outside, I might as well show you this one too. This is a Singing Honeyeater, and is by far the most dull coloured Honeyeater I've seen so far. I really have to go and take pictures of all the different kinds that are crawling all over a tree on campus. Everything eats off that tree... Anyway, this little guy and friends took refuge in the tree during a windstorm that was howling so loud that it was setting off the neighborhood Kookaburra family. Took me forever to figure out what it was because it doesn't really have an bold markings like it's relatives, plus it was hunched up, so it didn't look like a Honeyeater. It looks more like a thrush, and if anyone has a different answer for what this bird is, please don't hesitate to correct me. I was going on what I found in a birding guide I got from the library on campus.

Just one more, and then I think I'm done for today. My food is getting cold. This next one is a Black Faced Cuckoo-Shrike. Again, I could be wrong, but that's what it appears to be to me. The link I attached to the name was really the only one I could find, so, I'm not sure what they sound like. The one in the tree was pretty quiet too. It spent it's time scratching like there was no tomorrow, but it might have just been grooming. It didn't appear to health issues. Maybe he/she was just enjoying a good scratch.

I think I'm going to have to invest in a bird book, because the one I got from the library wasn't in good shape when I got it, and it appears that traveling home in my backpack hasn't done it any favors. Oh well. I'll take it back to the library tomorrow and see if they slap me with a replacement fee. They didn't on the last one I found falling to pieces, but two times? That's probably pushing it. My poor poor pocketbook.

A Tale of a Double Yoke Banana

There are many mysteries of life out there in the world. Kookaburras that love a good windstorm. A local duck that can't get enough of basil flavored noodles. A ring necked parrot that likes to play with the aglets on my shoelaces while I wait patiently for a bus. However, the very last thing I ever expect to see was this.

Yes, I know, it's a banana and I can hear your mental gears slowly beginning to turn, wondering,"Why in God's name, is she posting about a common fruit? She's in Australia. She could be showing the world any number of amazing things and yet, she picks a banana." But before you really get going about the travesty of fruit upstaging other things of startling colours (no, I did not spell that wrong. I'm in Australia. That's how I'll spell it while I'm here. I shall observe 'proper' English... and because I got scolded by my C&DT teacher...) and variety, I would have you examine said tropical fruit closely. Please note that it is rather oddly shaped, as if perhaps that, inside that lovely yellow skin, there may be something unwholesome going on??

Lets open the convenient natural zipper that bananas come equipped with and expose the truth. Now, I've seen things doubled up before, like eggs. Sometimes a chicken will decide to hold up the whole laying process for a day, and two squishies end up inside one hard shell. Its the miracle of the chicken. One egg, two yolks, although I do pity the chicken that has to pop that sucker out. Ouch. Neat party trick, but the consequences to the old egg chute can be problematic.

Enough nonsense. Back to the matter at hand. When I went shopping I found this among the bananas and got it just to see what was inside. Here is the truth revealed. Yes inside was a double yoke banana! And they were delicious! I had them with oatmeal, fried apples, brown sugar and some cinnamon sprinkled on top just to be sure I had a good case of indigestion by the time I got to class that morning. Actually I'm kidding about going to class afterwards. It was a Wednesday and I stayed home to work on a project for one of my classes. But the bananas were still really good.

In all seriousness, generally when I find a veggie or a fruit like this, they don't taste good, but this one (two?) was very sweet without tasting like it was going bad. Really good with the oatmeal hodge-podge, and thus it must be recorded somewhere for posterity... Not that any self respecting future generation is going to look at this blog. I can hear them now,"You want me to look at a blog?! Are you trying to make me look totally uncool?" That's assuming they're still speaking a language that I can understand.

Little 'bots.

Yes, I know, I haven't been posting, but I'm coming up on a crunch time for school. I've got assessments coming up that need to be done in two weeks. Before you ask, yes, I have started them, but they're intensive for me, because I'm attempting to do a good job, without having even the barest glimmer of what the expectations are. Oh, it's been fun! I can tell you that much.

So, I shall leave you with a picture I took. I'll have to go hunt down something really random, because I haven't been able to go picture taking. Too much school work, and not enough time to run around exploring. So, I'll have to leave you with this to tide you over until I can do a longer post.. which may or may not be soon.

(Sorry. I know the picture isn't all that great.)

I found this little guy in Paddy's Market, all the way at the back and to the right. The stall was the last one on an end which was difficult to see because it faced the opposite direction. To tell the truth I was looking for the bathroom. They moved things around in there, and a lot of the little shops were gone. Kinda sad actually. Some of the newer vendors are -really- aggressive about getting your attention, and it changes the feel at Paddy's. Anyway, I was about to go right on past, but I saw the little robots! Who can pass up a little robot with bendy arms and legs, and little jewel eyes! .... okay, so a lot of you are saying,"Who would want that thing?!" Well, I would. He's got a little zipper tab on his front and everything. I have yet to attach him to my backpack, because I'm afraid I'll lose him somewhere, or he'll get chipped. The black paint you know. Mustn't scratch the paint.

The stall purveyor spoke very little English, and I speak absolutely no ... um... I'm ashamed to say I have no idea what dialect he was speaking. He must have been quite new to Australia. We ended up using a note pad to draw little pictures to each other when it came to actually buying a little robot. I've haggled before in Paddy's, but never using a note pad and pen. It was actually kinda of fun. :)

Anyway, in the end, I got a little black robot with sparkly eyes, bendy arms and legs, and a rather bemused smile. The stall owner got $5.00. I figure it was a deal.

Outdoor Pet Store...

Where I'm from most pet stores have parrots of every make and model. They run the gambit from black and grey to bright scarlet, and usually they're sitting in a cage looking remarkably bored. They squawk loudly to see if you'll jump. The locks on the cages are thoroughly inspected by hooked beak and tongue, carefully checking for a way to get the doors open. Not all the parrots do this, but I've seen quite a number of the larger smarter parrots pulling the squawk trick, and the lock inspection. And generally, they're alone in their cage. Not always, but it seems to be the way of things in a pet shop.

So, imagine you go to a place were a lot of those parrots live wild. They ALL flock. Almost never do you see a species of parrot alone, and this covers all the ones I've seen. Everything from Budgies to Cockatoos have a group, depending on species. Some are small groups, some are large, and they are everywhere you go. It's like walking around in a outdoor pet store where no one has to buy a bird. Everyone enjoys their antics (there are exceptions of course).

But it's really cool to open the shades in the morning at dawn and to see a bunch of these.

Sorry about the picture being a bit small, but it was all the way on the other side of the bowling fields, and the camera just barely focused on it. This is a Galah. I don't ever remember seeing one at home at the local pet shop. They're about the size of an African Grey Parrot. Sort of on the small side, but very smart and agile. Usually I see them in flocks of 5 to 8, and they spend their time looking for food, playing and generally goofing off. Like a pack of teenage boys who are up to no good.

He does look like he's up to no good. In reality the flock was looking for standing water on the tops of the buildings so they could take a bath. They must have found some up there, because there was an awful lot of splashing going on for a while. :)

I should just start up a once a week thing on a certain day.

"Things I Can See From My Window"

... jeeze... now i feel like a peeping tom..

o.o

Scales, with a Few Feathers

I did give you all fair warning that there would be even more unasked for photos of the wide world of critters here in Australia right? Sorry to those of you who live in Australia and are getting bombarded by the familiar. Hopefully I'll be able to move on soon into something much more galvanizing, such as what my semester looks like, and whether or not I'm going to die a horrible death, smashed beneath a giant workload, and garnished with expectation. That actually sounds a lot more exciting than I had anticipated. Ok, never mind that, we're moving on to other things I found at the Wildlife Park in Sydney... which wasn't getting nearly as much attention as it deserves. However, if the moved the House of Wax next door, I'm not sure anyone would go down to that end of the wharf at all. My apologies guys, but you're not in the best of locations. :/

One of my downfalls has got to be lizards. Catching lizards as a kid was one of my favorite things to do during summer and into fall after school. I've never had a pet lizard, at least not one that I got from a pet store, but I did have a lot of wild ones, that I kept for a while and then let go. If I had been able to get one from the pet shop in the states, I probably would've ended up with a Bearded Dragon. These are Bearded Dragons in their uncorrupted form. That is to say, these are what they're supposed to look like color wise. Look at that green! Beardies love to do something else.. no, not eat. They seem to love standing on one another. Because it's not just the one doing it.

Hmm... well okay, apparently they moved before the picture was taken, but there were two more here that were standing on the heads and bodies of others. It was kind of amusing, until apparently someone had had enough, and then the lizard fight was on! Unfortunately, like the Bilby these guys move really fast, and all I got were comet shaped green blurs for all my trouble trying to catch them at their antics. Which means you'll have to settle for the 5 that were left when the tiff was done. That's alright though, because I've got other lizards to show you. Some are small and kind of on the docile side, and others will gladly eat you. :)

This little Frilled Lizard is not one of the "I will gladly swallow your entire carcass" variety. He will stand his ground, he will puff himself up, he will flare his little beard, and if you chicken out he'll chase you, but that's about all he'll do. Keep in mind he's fairly good sized (12 in.), so if he decided to bite you, you're going to get a healthy pinch. I can still remember a certain famous person getting his nose pinched pretty good because he got too close to one that was a very bold little fellow. All that aside, a Frilled Lizard is going to run like hell rather than try and face you down. The one I met at the park was very laid back, but then he'd been handled all his life.

This on the other hand WILL gladly eat you, given the chance to do so. But generally they'll stay clear of you if you look healthy and dangerous. Even then, if desperate enough, it's a bit of a question as to what decision it'll make. This would be a Goanna. Six feet of really sleepy Goanna. They are quite large, and in broader terms fall under the blanket term Monitor Lizard. They're a smaller, less lethal, cousin of the more infamous Komodo Dragon, but without the super deadly saliva, or at least not quite as potent. If you encounter one, I suggest leaving well enough alone, unless you really want to part with your skin. Yes, ladies and gentleman, this is one of those creatures that you should just enjoy from a distance. There is also another Goanna cousin, though distant....

... the Salt Water Crocodile. This picture is somewhat misleading. It makes him look sort of on the small side, but the reality is that he's nearly 16 feet long. He would probably have no qualms about hauling you into his pool, rolling you around until you drown, and then he'll stuff you in some convenient corner until you're soft enough to eat. It's nothing personal. It's just what he does for a living. He was enjoying his sunshine that day though and was acting fairly placid. He's not alone in there. If you go around the side he's got some Archer fish in there with him... Archer fish about the size of my head. Whether or not he uses them as potato chips, I couldn't tell you.

The Croc had other more colorful neighbors. These little guys are all over the place in Queensland (I saw gobs of them when I was there last), and apparently we've got some here in Perth. Rainbow Lorikeets... And their incredible streams of poop! You'll see a flock of 20 go shooting past screaming and talking to each other, and you make the mistake of stopping and staring up. Which is when you get hit with precisely aimed shots of bird diarrhea, because that's what happens when a bird's entire diet is made up of fruit and nuts. Actually this is a she and only 4 months old. She was very affectionate and left the keeper's shoulder before she shot a stream of bird poopy straight into the Croc's pond. He didn't seem to care much, but then things such as bird crap is beneath his notice. The fish all made a beeline for it though. No idea, why. I decided not to ask. Heh. :D Some things you're better off not knowing.

And there were also... these... where'd he go... He was very hard to photograph, as he was eating, and fit neatly inside the cup when his head was doing sifting through the seeds. I'm sure most of my friends who have had birds before are very familiar with this particular bird... and in one case I know she can't stand the noise they make. Here, they're all over the place in the warmer climes.

Like I said he's hard to see. I had dozens of photos with only the very top of his little grey/brown head. This is a Zebra Finch and I got him in mid chow-down on some seed. They're really cute to look at, but when you have oh... say 50 of them all making a 'meep meep' noise, it gets tiresome very quickly. Also sort of deafening with them all going about it at once. But when it's just a few pairs in a large enclosure they're actually pretty darn cute peeping out of the brush at you. Even the lorikeets were somewhat fascinated with all their hyper-active movements through the shrubbery. Lorikeets are big enough so they have to climb through the bushes like monkeys. The finches just hop around in there like it's a jungle gym during lunch time.

Anyway, this concludes this evenings broadcast of Scales and a Few Feathers.

Please join us next time, when I present birds! And quite possibly ONLY birds!

Considering I've been taking pictures of birds like mad here, it's pretty much my only remaining venue. :D

You Can't See Me!

Personally I thought he was terribly obvious, but I probably should've taken the picture standing aways from the tank, so everything else was visible as well. In any case, I bet you can spot the fish who is absolutely positive that he's invisible.

"Seriously. I'm completely undetectable. Right?"

Having said that, I know where the mouth is, but I'm not sure where his eyes are. I thought I knew and then I swear something else blinked instead.

O.O

It was sorta creepy on many levels.

Sorry this is so short, but it's late here and I have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow for a course induction. Which sounds like a horrible medical procedure, but is in fact an introduction to the course I'm taking for my B.A. and yes, I am shaking in my rubber booties. Basically tomorrow I get to find out if I made a horrible mistake or not. :D

Go Me!