Weekly Pets: Friendly Feathered Friends

Good morning from a warmer but grey Hastings day.

I have been going through my archives on my external hard drive and rediscovering some totally forgotten photos.  So they will be popping up a bit more. Then I went to my Flickr account and found some of my photos that were on my Time Capsule so now I can show some of them as well.  It is like finding old friends really.

So these photos today were taken a couple of years ago at Cornwall Park.  I love shooting birds as they are more of a challenge and teaches me to move quickly and also to be more aware of what is around me.  Talk about living in the moment.

I wanted to show some common introduced birds today.

The sparrows do get up close and personal with the ducks, particularly when people are throwing bread to them.  Actually bread is the worse thing to feed both birds and ducks.  It clogs up their insides.  But most people don’t know that, and I must admit that I was guilty of heading to the park with old bread.

This chaffinch is eating a snail or something meaty.  That is their diet.  Not our diet.

https://hopethehappyhugger.wordpress.com/michelles-weekly-pet-challenge/

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Sunday Stills: Groups of Birds

Ed from Sunday Stills has asked us for groups of birds.  First up is a group of black shags.

Some ducklings.

And some sparrows fighting with a mynah over some bread.

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https://sundaystills.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/sunday-stills-the-next-challenge-groups-of-birds/

Monochrome of the Day: Hiding in the bush

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Monochrome of the Day: Mr & Mrs Sparrow

Weekly Pet Share: Bathing Beauties

Good morning from a rather frosty Hastings day. There has been a lot of snow down the South Island which is actually rather early for us – being only mid April.  Normally it would be next month.  The wind was freezing here in Hastings but the sun was out which meant we were warm inside.

For Michelle at Hope* the happy hugger‘s weekly pet challenge I have gone for something different.  Last weekend while I was at Cornwall Park with my daughter I came acrosse these sparrows enjoying a bath.  It was too cold for me to go swimming, but not for these hardy birds.  I have been trying to catch this for a while.  They tend to fly off when I come up close or as in the other day the light was too strong and my photos were a tad overexposed in parts of the image.  This time the light was a lot softer and I managed to get some cool reflections too.

There were so many sparrows enjoying these puddles. – Actually more like the public baths.

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https://hopethehappyhugger.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/weekly-pet-share-round-up-and-start-of-new-week-84/

Weekly Pet Share: Hungry sparrows

It is that time of the week to share our photos of our pets or other furry or feathered friends.

For this week I have a couple of photos of some hungry sparrows.  I threw out some bread and within minutes the birds were gathering.  They were quite possessive and were determined that they would get the best crumbs.

It was fun watching them.  I am so impressed with my new camera.  The lens is so fast compared to my other camera.  I wouldn’t have got any photos at all.  It was soo slow.

You can check out more about this challenge at Hope* the happy hugger.

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One Word Photo: Beige – A fight over some bread.

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Good morning from a sort of sunny Hastings.

I was disappointed when I moved into this house that there was no garden.  But there is an abundance of bird life and cats.  I was entertained yesterday after I threw out some bread for the birds. (The beige) and it was very noisy.  Some mynah birds were fighting with the sparrows for the bread.  Then this black cat saw an opportunity to have an extra feast.  But he left empty handed or should I say empty pawed.

The quality isn’t so good as I used my cell phone. But I thought a slideshow would be fun with this.  A bit of action so to speak.

Another piece of useless information.  In the 80’s, after one day international cricket was introduced the New Zealand cricket team had beige uniforms.  With their long hair and moustaches they had quite a following.  This following has continued and the fans still wear their beige supporters shirts and even have their own website:

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One Word Photo Challenge: Beige

One Word Photo Challenge: Beige

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Travel Theme: Freedom

Good morning from a wet and soggy Hastings.  Summer has taken a break and autumn decided to come back so it is cold as well.

I was talking to my daughter the other night as to why I always write about the weather and why I say ‘good morning’.  Hastings, Napier and Gisborne are the first cities to see the new day which is why I say  good morning from Hastings.  And the weather update?  Well it goes back to when I was overseas and when I wrote my letters back home it was a case of if you don’t know what to write about, there is always the weather.  You can always write something about how cold or warm it has been and it can fill up at least half a page or the aerogramme which is what I used to use.  I certainly didn’t want to tell my family everything!

Anyway onto Ailsa’s challenge this week which is Freedom.

Travel theme: Freedom

To start with an iconic kiwi bird the Tui among the kowhai.

Then this blackbird.

And lastly a couple of sparrows.

So why these photos.  Last week I posted a couple of photos for Steve’s Snap & Zap challenge of some parrots held captive in the aviaries at Cornwall Park.  While these photos are all of birds flying around in freedom.  I much prefer to take photos of birds in their natural habitats than in cages.

http://woollymuses.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/travel-theme-freedom/

Travel Theme: Freedom – Seagulls in Flight

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Bare Feet and/or shoes

This week Cee has asked for bare feet/or shoes for this great challenge:

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Bare Feet and/or Shoes

Rather than go for the obvious I found this photo of a sparrow with it’s feet.

And these pollen covered feet.

http://zainabjavid.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/cees-fun-foto-challenge-bare-feet/

http://woollymuses.wordpress.com/2014/10/29/cees-fun-foto-challenge-bare-feet-or-shoes/

http://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/cees-fun-fo-toe-challenge-the-toes-know/

Best Foot Forward in Piccadilly Gardens

FEET

Cee’s Fun Foto: Wild Feet and Bare feet with Shoes

http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2014/10/29/show-me-your-shoes/

http://sillarit.wordpress.com/2014/10/29/bare-feet/

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One Word Photo Challenge: Chocolate

This week Jennifer has given us a yummy colour to showcase.  I can go for months without eating chocolate and then will binge for about a week or so and then stop again.  Mostly because I can’t afford it.  Very convenient way to control the chocolate intake.

Anyway here are my photos for this challenge.

I can’t seem to get away from birds this week.  This last photo I chose for the chocolate coloured leaves, the sparrow is an added bonus.

One Word Photo Challenge: Chocolate

One Word Photo Challenge – Chocolate

http://sillarit.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/one-word-photo-challenge-chocolate/

http://nowathome.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/one-word-photo-challenge-chocolate/

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