Generally, birds make very sure that they get properly wet, no matter how shallow is the available “bath”.
The pictured individual is a grey fantail, Rhipidura albiscapa.
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No prize for guessing that you are looking at a male of its species.
This species – Malurus elegans, the Red-winged fairywren – can only be looked at in Australia’s southwestern corner.
Shy and secretive. Difficult to observe, says The Complete Guide to Australian Birds.
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Yesterday afternoon, overlooking an “iconic” Perth beach, I had an astonishing avian encounter.
I in no way resemble any alleged version of St Francis, and Cottesloe is very far from Assisi, but…
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Indonesia’s enormous number of volcanoes includes many active ones.
Whereas an active volcano’s crater is typically stark, precipitous and raw, its flanks’ appearance is likely to be more varied/variegated, according to where eruptions have – or have not – scorched or gassed them, rained down ash and/or lava rocks/boulders, or sent molten lava flowing…
A single volcano can “author”many different things.
Gorgeous rainforests and prodigiously fertile soils can sit adjacent to “devastated”, seemingly-barren (sometimes, relatively briefly, actually-lifeless) zones.
One stream’s waters may be safe to drink, whilst another’s, nearby, could be highly toxic.
This teaser series’ final episode features what was in fact the last photo I took on Javanese soil in 2024.
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..a Bird of Paradise, at least.
The silhouetted individual is a Red Bird of Paradise, which was displaying/dancing in the rainforest canopy high above us, late in the afternoon of 14 October 2024, on Waigeo – the largest of Raja Ampat’s four “main” islands.
The silhouetted circumstance “robbed” the bird of its brilliant colours – or, more correctly, it robbed my eyes’ and my camera of their ability to discern those colours; we were looking up, straight into the sun.
Even so, you can surely see why humans have for so long hunted these amazing birds, for their feathers and plumes.
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In appearance, Lichmera indistincta – the brown honeyeater – is a strong contender for an “undesirable” title: Australia’s most plain/drab/nondescript honeyeater.
This species’ song, however, is widely considered the finest of any Australian honeyeater’s; clear recordings of it are here. (the second grab is the better one)
The pictured brown honeyeaters are young individuals who dine on pollen & nectar from plants that naturally occur only in southwest Western Australia.
However, brown honeyeaters are highly adaptable; they live across parts of all mainland Australian states and territories, except Victoria;
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In 2024 Father’s Day fell on a Sunday, and its afternoon was cloudy, but fine and mild.
Unsurprisingly, those factors made for a busy day at Perth’s largest cemetery.
By late afternoon, many Karrakatta gravestones were adorned with fresh floral (and other) tokens of remembrance.
Many Australian ravens were visible, “visiting” those gravestones.
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On the Indian subcontinent – especially in urban areas – one particular raptor usually “rules the skies”.
Black kites are especially abundant in Delhi and Srinagar.
Not coincidentally, black kites are generally rather more “opportunistic scavengers” than “majestic predators”.
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You are looking at an alpine chough, flying overhead, just as we emerged from a “suprisingly” delicious lunch.
Not all “tourist venues with a view” serve bad food, and not all Bavarian restaurant fare is decidedly “meaty” and/or “stodgy”; our local trout, served very nearly atop the Jenner, was both lovely and light.
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As dusk began on 05 April 2024, we made our way back from Peel Inlet’s edge and adjacent (unseasonably dry) samphire-dominated wetland.
Before our return to suburbia we skirted some mostly-intact, mostly-native scrub/woodland.
We “met” a few kangaroos, but by 5. 51 pm we were the only humans within view,
Unexpectedly, something lovely – something flaunting – briefly appeared..
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