to a garden of dreams,
where worries vanish,
in a tulip trance,
while daffodils dance.
There are over seven million tulips,
in the Keukenhof gardens in The Netherlands.
A perfect place to dream your day away.
I am home for the winter at The Holler, but send you springtime cheers from Keukenhof~
If the headlines are stressing you out,
why not fly with me to visit some flamingos.
These lucky flamingos in Argentina, take off, at the slightest hint of trouble,
and flaming go!
Greater Flamingos,
and Lesser Flamingos, are just as adept at flaming going!
Wish we all could do the same.
Cheers to you from The Holler~
Note: I am currently hunkering down at The Holler and am posting some older photos you may not have seen.
Wild Australian magpies are inquisitive, wise, friendly, and fun to interact with. Like most creatures, they are usually respectful to you, if you are respectful of them.
But, they do swoop!
Swooping means they attack humans, other animals, cars, etc., causing about a thousand human injuries in Australia each spring. See:
https://www.science.org.au/curious/earth-environment/how-survive-magpie-swooping-season
They swoop if they perceive their nestlings are in danger….
or maybe, if they are having an irritating day.
Like all corvids, they have excellent memories and hold grudges, so if you bothered a corvid in the past, you better steer clear during swooping season, or else be ready to duck down really fast!
Cheers to you from Australia’s marvelous-memoried, moody-magpies~
I can so relate.
Thanks to covid, it has been seven months since my hair has been professionally cut.
I cut my hair with my husband’s buzzer and it looks much like this kookaburra.
Actually, it looks much better on a kookaburra!
My friend told me, I look, “natural,” which is nice friend speak for “God awful, but real.”
I’m cool with real.
If it’s good enough for the Kookaburra, it’s good enough for me.
Cheers to you and keep smiling~
Hungry gull,
in Coeur d’Alene Idaho,
doesn’t believe in catch and release,
and never feels too full to fly!
Yellow billed stork in Kruger National Park catches catfish at Sunset Dam,
and needs a leg up to swallow it whole!
Cheers to you from your feast & fly feathered fowl friends~
Fishing during the salmon run,
in the Knight Inlet,
British Columbia, Canada.
This set of four cubs was unusual. The smaller cubs will have a harder time in winter.
The bears congregate to gorge on salmon and pack on fat for the winter.
Fights break out over territory in the river,
but none we saw were serious.
The bears are extremely adept at swimming,
and seemed to enjoy taking rests in the cool water.
Even the cubs love to fish and eat!
This mama griz and cub we encountered on the trail in Glacier National Park. An inland bear and cub, not stuffed on salmon, is a far more threatening sight, and you can see mama go on high alert!
She soon relaxed, and even nursed in our presence, after she saw we kept our distance. (You can see these photos by clicking on the following links).
Cheers to you from the precious and endangered grizzlies of North America~
For more of my photos of coastal and inland grizzlies see:
https://cindyknoke.com/2015/09/17/grizzly-daze/
https://cindyknoke.com/2017/01/24/the-grizzlies-are-sleeping/
Note: I am going through photo archives and sharing select photos you may not have seen.
We have one in Washington.
I wasn’t expecting to see one in Sydney.
Thankfully, he didn’t seem political,
mostly just optical,
and clearly in love with the view!
He got quite ruffled up, and vociferously tweeted,
when a photographer disrupted his adored self reflection!
Cheers to you from the vainglorious Ibis in Oz~
Birdies are ballet masters.
Forget the plie’, birdies are en pointe,
and excel at the grand battement!
They extend their limbs,
with precise acumen.
Even the goosies get into the game!
Cheers to you from Oz’s high stepping hoofers~
Prima Ballerinas in order of appearance: Australian Wood Duck, Masked Lapwing, Cape Barren Goose
This gorgeous pair of red tailed black cockatoos was photographed at the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary in the Yarra Valley in Victoria Australia during our February trip.
There are five sub-species of red tailed black cockatoos in Australia, with two sub-species under serious threat.
Healesville Sanctuary is dedicated to the recovery of 27 threatened native Australian species.
It’s animal hospital treats over 1500 sick or injured native animals each year, and it has an active breeding program for threatened species.
Although I was able to photograph other black cockatoos in the wild during our February trip, these were the only red tails I was lucky enough to see.
Cheers to you from Australia’s iconic red tailed black cockatoos~
For more on Healesville’s important work see:
https://www.zoo.org.au/healesville/habitats/main-track/australian-wildlife-health-centre/
Sticking his tongue out at you!
Actually, don’t be offended. It was at me not you.
There were joey’s too!
Like babies everywhere, they spent their time eating & sleeping.
While the parents kept vigil.
Adults are well equipped for both fight & flight.
Cheers to you from Australia’s normally quite polite roos~
